| 1863 |
The General Conference (GC) organized in Battle Creek, Michigan, on May 20, with 20 delegates present. Minutes of the first session were published in the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. Adventist Review Bulletins continue that tradition. |
| 1870 | James Erzberger of Switzerland becomes the first delegate from outside the United States. |
| 1876 | Session held in Lansing, Michigan; the first GC session outside Battle Creek. |
| 1878 | J. N. Andrews attends session in Battle Creek and reports on his missionary activities in Europe, the first such report given by a credentialed Adventist missionary. |
| 1882 | Delegates gather in Rome, New York, the first GC session outside Michigan. |
| 1887 |
The first time daily GC Bulletins record session proceedings, Oakland, California. |
| 1888 | In Minneapolis, Minnesota, O. A. Olsen becomes first GC president not born in the United States. |
| 1889 | In Battle Creek, Michigan, delegates number 109, the first time those present number more than 100. |
| 1901 | Last GC session held in Battle Creek, Michigan |
| 1909 | Held in Washington, D.C., the first session to have delegates from each of the world’s major continents. Ellen White’s last GC session |
| 1918 | Session meets in the San Francisco (California) Municipal Auditorium, the first time it was not held in an Adventist facility. |
| 1922 | San Francisco. With 581 delegates, it was the first time delegates numbered more than 500. |
| 1926 | In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a public address system was used for the first time. |
| 1946 | Session meets at Sligo church in Takoma Park, Maryland, the last session to convene in an Adventist building. Much of the audio of the session was recorded, another first. |
| 1954 | In San Francisco, 1,109 delegates gather, breaking the 1,000 mark. |
| 1975 | GC session meets for the first time outside the United States in Vienna, Austria. |
| 1985 | In New Orleans, Louisiana, the session takes up the role of women in ministry. This topic would appear on the agenda of the next two sessions. |
| 1990 | Global Mission launched at the session in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
| 1995 | In Utrecht, Netherlands, last session held outside North America. |
| 2000 |
In Toronto, Canada, session featured extensive revisions of the Church Manual, with spirited discussions on the issues of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. |
| 2005 | In St. Louis, Missouri, election of first woman as a GC vice president, and adoption of a new Fundamental Belief, number 28. |
| 2010 | In Atlanta, Georgia, delegates commission the Biblical Research Institute to set up study groups in each of the church’s world divisions to study ordination and bring a recommendation to the 2015 session in San Antonio, Texas, regarding women’s ordination. |
