What kind of weather can we expect during the time of the General Conference session?
I wish I could be sure! General Conference will come during the warmest time of the year, and since we have had very little warm weather for two years, next summer could be warm--or even hot! Be prepared for both types of weather without bringing a lot of clothes. A wool suit and/or an all-weather coat are suitable ten or eleven months of the year.
Will we walk or ride to the auditorium?
Our division treasurer, Pastor Erich Amelung, assured me that in the absence of other means of transportation, arrangements would be made for a special bus to take the delegates from the hotel to the auditorium in the morning and return to the hotel in the evening. Vienna does have a good transit system, and it may be that the location of most of the hotels will permit the delegates to use it. People in Europe are used to walking I would suggest that every one bring one pair of very comfortable shoes.
Your husband suggested to the ministers gathered at Annual Council that they dress conservatively, especially on Sabbath. You know white shirts, dark ties, and conservative-colored suits. What do you feel that we ladies should wear?
First, let me say that I have no desire to dictate to my sisters how they should dress. Vet on this is sue I wish particularly to share some concerns with my American sisters.
Europeans sometimes hear stories of the worldliness and modernism that a few have brought into the American church, and in the minds of people who hear from afar, exaggerated reports be come the way of the church as a whole. The hundreds of faithful, old-line Adventists are rarely mentioned. (That goes both ways across the Atlantic!) Since we are still human, even a few ministerial wives dressed in extreme fashions will make greater impressions than will the large majority who perfectly mirror Seventh-day Adventist principles.
Perhaps many do not realize how much influence an American Seventh-day Adventist exerts over seas. Because our church organization was born in the States, and, even more, because General Conference headquarters is located there, Adventists in other countries watch American Adventists for a confirmation of the confidence. They are first impressed by the dress and then by actions. When we think of our high privilege, how unimportant is a fancy or an expensive outfit, if it does not say exactly what it should!
Do you have any definite suggestions?
Really only one! My suggestion is not to wear slacks or pantsuits in Vienna, not because they are right or wrong, but because many conservative Europeans will not understand if they see ministerial wives dressed that way. In condemning someone for doing it, some will unconsciously perhaps condemn our church at the same time, and thus lose some confidence in it as the body of God's chosen people.
Where will we eat?
Pastor Amelung told me that the General Conference is arranging with the director of the auditorium cafeteria to serve "Adventist" food. Otherwise eating could be a problem in Vienna. Of course, most hotels still include a Continental breakfast in their charge.
