Citing coronavirus, LDS church closes General Conference to public

Concerns over the coronavirus outbreak have caused the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make some adjustments to its upcoming General Conference in April.

The public will not be permitted to attend the two-day gathering at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, or in stake centers or meeting houses in areas where coronavirus has been reported, the church announced on Wednesday.

“We plan to conduct all five sessions of that conference at the Conference Center,” the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in a letter to members. “General authorities, general officers and their spouses, musicians, choirs, technicians, and others will participate as assigned. But, proceedings of the conference will be distributed throughout the world via technology only.”

The church also announced stake and leadership conferences and other large gatherings in the church will be postponed in Asia, Asia North, Europe, Europe East, the US and Canada. The adjustments take effect on Monday.

Members are encouraged to follow the guidance of their local leaders in relation to weekly worship services, activities and other meetings.

Also beginning Monday, all missionaries scheduled to enter missionary training centers (MTC) in Provo, Utah, or Preston, England, will be trained remotely by video conference. Other MTCs will continue to function as normal but will not accept new missionaries from regions were government officials are restricting activity due to the coronavirus. Those missionaries will also receive training via video conference.

Contact Rochelle Richards at rrichards@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5505. Follow @RoRichards24 on Twitter.