La Sierra fosters relationships, builds awareness at 62nd GC Session

Get instant answers!

07/18/2025 Darla Martin Tucker

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Sixteen-year-old Rozharia Riley perused the La Sierra University exhibit booth at a St. Louis convention center on July 12 and read a university brochure. She made up her mind––she would attend the Southern California school when it came time for college.

Riley and her family flew from their home in the Cayman Islands to attend the 62^nd General Conference Session held in St. Louis, Missouri between July 3 and 12. An estimated 20,000 people from around the globe attended the session which occurs every five years to vote church leadership and decide operational issues such as changes to the church constitution and bylaws and fundamental beliefs. For this year’s session, 2,809 delegates were selected to decide world church matters. Events were held at America’s Center Convention Complex.

“She tells me a lot about [La Sierra University]. She tells me that it's a very diverse community." -- Rozharia Riley, author, student, Griggs International Academy

The pivotal sessions also offer Adventist ministries, schools, healthcare organizations, conferences and others an opportunity to promote their offerings at booths in an exhibit hall. Musical performances, daily worship programs, presentations and other events are available for conference attendees

This year’s newly elected General Conference president, Erton C. Köhler of Brazil gave the final Sabbath sermon on July 12 to a full convention center. He addressed the importance of the gospel mission, of holding onto the hope of Christ’s soon return, of meeting people at their needs, and of the importance of unity among our varied global perspectives and backgrounds.

A team from La Sierra University staffed a booth in the Exhibition Hall during the General Conference Session. Designed by the university’s marketing department, the booth offered information on university programs as well as free La Sierra t-shirts to crowds of attendees who descended upon the booth for the giveaway events. Altogether 7,500 shirts were distributed, with 5,000 handed out during the first weekend.

Many who stopped by the booth filled out information cards and conversed with faculty, staff and university president Christon Arthur. Riley, who is already a published author of a children’s book as well as public speaker and preacher, is interested in La Sierra’s creative writing program, she said. She attends Griggs International Academy, an online school based at Andrews University.

“My sister, who goes to Andrews [University], she has a lot of classmates who transferred to La Sierra, and they really enjoyed it,” Riley said. “She tells me a lot about it. She tells me that it's a very diverse community, and it's around L.A. and I know that L.A. is very known for having an international community. I'm vegan [and] they’re supposedly big on veganism, [and] vegetarianism.”

Sixteen-year-old Rozharia Riley, third from left, with her family and La Sierra University President Arthur, right, pose for a photo at the La Sierra exhibit booth on July 12.

Why attend GC Sessions?

The General Conference Session, colloquially referred to as ‘GC,’ provided moments of connection with many La Sierra University alumni who stopped for a chat about their La Sierra experience and to receive a t-shirt. They also talked about why attendance at the General Conference event is important for individuals and institutions.

Stephen Lee, president of the New Jersey Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is a 2006 graduate of La Sierra’s music and theology bachelor’s programs. He noted God’s leading in his attendance at La Sierra and the impactful relationships formed during his tenure, including with William Chunestudy, La Sierra’s interim vice president of enrollment services and former director of the noted Vocal Octet of which Lee was a member.

“It wasn’t my first choice, but God was the one who placed me there,” Lee said. “I wanted to go somewhere where my friends were going. But God had other plans in mind, so I ended up at La Sierra. But God helped me to meet amazing people. Dr. William Chunestudy was one of the first people I met over the phone and ended up singing for him in the octet. It’s the people whom I met, my friends, the staff, the professors, it’s just a warm atmosphere.”

The General Conference Session is important, Lee said, because it serves as a global hub for the church, representing more than 212 countries.“I remember the theme at La Sierra when I attended was unity and diversity and that’s exactly what is happening here,” he said. “We may be different, we may have differences of opinions, but we continue to be loving and love other people as Christians."

”We’re Seventh-day Adventists, we have a unique mission." -- Jesse Johnson, Songwriter, La Sierra University Alumnus

Zubazu George Kusekwa, director of the Kusekwa Memorial School in Tanzania, Africa and a GC delegate was excited to see La Sierra’s booth in the Exhibition Hall. Kusekwa’s late father graduated from La Sierra University’s School of Education and Kusekwa later named the 700-student Tanzanian school in memory of his father.

“When I passed by I saw La Sierra and it reminded me of the school that my father came [and I associated] how La Sierra has now affected my life,” Kusekwa said, noting the influence of Richard Rice, an adjunct faculty member with the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School. Rice also assisted Zubazu with fees when Zubazu was studying in Africa. “So when I saw La Sierra, it connected me,” he said.

Jesse Johnson, a Nashville-based songwriter with a background in business administration, finance and healthcare administration writes for various Christian musicians and renowned country artists. He completed three degrees from La Sierra during the late 1980s and early ‘90s––a bachelor’s in business administration with a music minor and then an MBA, graduating with the first emphasis in healthcare administration. He later earned an Ed.D. from the School of Education.

“I’m here at General Conference because I used to work for the church,” he said. His prior positions included serving as general manager for “It Is Written” television ministry.“Folks should come to GC session just to stay connected to the church,” he said. “We’re Seventh-day Adventists, we have a unique mission. Frankly if we’re just ‘Jesus loves me’ Christians then we’re not fulfilling the mission God said our church ought to.

We have a special message, we need to learn about what our message is,” he continued. “GC session is a great way to learn that, as well as learning the mechanics of how our church works. It’s the people that are the church, be we belong to a corporation that exists with bylaws and rules of order, and this is where the business of the world church gets done. It’s great to see that.”

"We want our world church to remember that we serve the mission of our church and our presence here reminds everyone that we are doing God’s work." -- La Sierra University President Christon Arthur

La Sierra’s president Arthur and president emeritus Larry Geraty gave video messages in which they addressed the significance of the university’s participation in the GC session.

“We want to be visible, we want to be present, we want our world church to remember that we serve the mission of our church and our presence here reminds everyone that we are doing God’s work … with global impact,” Arthur says in the video. La Sierra’s students arrive from around the United States and the world, he said. “When they leave us, they go back to those places and live out the mission that we have instilled in them. We give our students a deep passion, a thirst for more, a thirst for knowledge, a thirst to pursue truth. And when they do, they bring new information, new insights, new thinking that keeps our church relevant.

When everyone passes by [the booth], they can see that La Sierra University is a force to be reckoned with for good because we are doing the work of Christ.”

Geraty, who served as La Sierra’s president for 14 years, spoke of his extensive history attending and serving as a delegate to the conferences, as well as his selection in 1980 to help write the church's initial 27 fundamental beliefs. His GC tenure began memorably in 1962 when he and his wife, Gillian, were married the day after that year's session ended.

“Coming to these sessions is very important for the universities,” Geraty said. “We have delegates from all over the world, some of them are [La Sierra] alumni, they love to connect. Others don’t know about the university, they need to be here. This particular session we are giving out t-shirts and they are very popular. This is one way for La Sierra University to serve the members of the Seventh-day Adventist church from around the world, many of who are looking for education, for themselves or for their children, and so it’s important for La Sierra to be here to tell our story and what we do on our campus.”