NEED TO DELETE -- Unable to Gather, West African Latter-day Saints Listen to General Conference on Local Channels

For the first time in West Africa, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upcoming semiannual general conference will be broadcast to members and the general public on local television stations.

Every April and October, Latter-day Saints around the world gather in a series of two-hour sessions to hear Church leaders speak about the gospel of Jesus Christ and prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Latter-day Saints in West Africa watched and listened to Church leaders’ messages by satellite broadcast at local meetinghouses.

However, “after monitoring the changing conditions related to COVID-19 throughout the world,” senior leaders temporarily suspended public gatherings including worship services and other large gatherings.

With the new precautionary measures in place worldwide, West African Saints can no longerwatch and listen to general conference at Church buildings.

Shortly after the restrictions were implemented, West African Church leaders realized the challenge that congregants faced while on “lockdown” and contacted local television and radio stations, successfully making arrangements for the April 2020 General Conference to be distributed on their channels.

Now, Latter-day Saints and friends of the faith in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia will no longer miss out on the Christ-centered sermons and 200^th anniversary of one of the Church’s foundational events.

Church members in other Africa West Area countries including Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Mali and Senegal will be able to tune in to general conference in both English and French using various internet channels.

At the end of last October’s general conference, Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints designated the April 2020 conference as the bicentennial anniversary of Joseph Smith’s first encounter with Deity – also known by Church members as The First Vision.

“General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel,” said President Nelson.

With this in mind, Latter-day Saint leaders worked with local West African media to distribute the Church conference on their public-facing channels.

“It is just days away, you won’t want to miss it,” said the Africa West Area Presidency to Latter-day Saints in the region, after coming up with a solution to the unique challenge.

Although broadcast schedules vary by channels and stations, a variety of viewing options have been made in several West African countries.

In Ghana, the worldwide conference will be broadcast on one television channel and 4 radio stations.

Sierra Leone, like Ghana, will broadcast conference sessions through television and radio channels.

Nigerian Latter-day Saints can participate in general conference on 3 cable channels and one other television station.

In Nigeria, religious broadcasts are generally limited to 1 hour, but an exception was made to fit a 2-hour conference session. This transmission could potentially reach over 100-million people in Nigeria alone.

In addition to these broadcast transmissions, Church leaders are currently piloting low bit-rate streaming resources that would allow African households with a smart phone to use limited data to hear or watch general conference sessions, including a new option to view it on YouTube.

Latter-day Saints, along with friends and acquaintances who are not members of the Church, are invited to tune in to general conference.