Question
Gramps,
If the difference between the LDS Annual General Conference and the Semiannual GC is the financial and statistical report, why is one the 190th and the other the 90th? Shouldn’t it either be 190 and 95th, or 180 and the 90th?
Larry
Answer
Larry,
Based on the details you noted in your question, I’m guessing have read my previous article on the topic of why we call it the “Annual” vs. the “Semi-Annual.”
Why is the April General Conference called annual instead of semiannual?
But you’d like to know about the numbering. Why are they not additive or possibly some other counting method used? Good question. The answer is basically, because the Prophet said so.
Remember there is no “right or wrong” about how we number them. There is nothing out there that is quite like this. We have some sort of hybrid Annual/Semi-Annual conference that has a reason to be different, yet they are so much the same. There is no verbiage to describe that. There is no pattern to follow in any language that is defined in this way. So, we just need to have a consistent system for historical reference purposes. And we have chosen this system.
We’ve used this numbering system since 1831: The annual general Conference is in April. The Semi-annual is in October. Both have the same number – the years after the founding of the Church (1830).
- Thus the April 2020 conference is the “190th Annual General Conference”
- The October 2020 is called the “190th Semiannual General Conference.”
Regardless of what other algebraic gymnastics you choose to place on such numeration, this is the numbering system that the Church has used for a very long time. And it just ain’t goin’ anywhere any time soon. So, just go ahead and roll your eyes and sigh. Then smile.
Gramps
