In an announcement today (April 15), Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, announced the EC has relocated the 2021 annual meeting and Send Conference to the Nashville Music City Center.
The downtown location replaces the former location of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.
Floyd said the shift was made in order to allow adequate space while adhering to local COVID-19 protocols. Floyd said the decision was made in collaboration with the City of Nashville, the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center (the original site) and city tourism officials.
Below is the announcement in its entirety:
I am pleased to announce the SBC Executive Committee has relocated the 2021 Annual Meeting and Send Conference to the Nashville Music City Center.
I want to thank the City of Nashville, Mayor John Cooper, the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, and the Music City Center for their incredible efforts in facilitating this move.
The SBC Executive Committee has secured adequate space to conduct proceedings on June 15-16 in accordance with SBC bylaws, in complete fulfillment of our order of business and in line with local COVID-19 protocols.
The shift to the Music City Center was made to provide abundant space conducive to holding a meeting that is efficient, effective, and safe for every attendee. The Executive Committee is also working to relocate events scheduled June 13-16 in conjunction with the Annual Meeting to the Music City Center and nearby venues.
The SBC has a rich history with the City of Nashville, which has much to offer Southern Baptists. It was our desire to keep the Annual Meeting in Nashville and be part of the reopening of the city to the world.
Remaining in Nashville also protects previously made travel plans for messengers and attendees. Current reservations at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and surrounding hotels booked through the Convention housing bureau remain in place, but the option to change to a hotel nearer the Music City Center will be available for those who desire to modify their reservations starting Monday, April 26 at 8:00 AM Central.
I especially want to commend the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center and their leadership for their flexibility, their understanding, and their partnership in keeping the Annual Meeting in Nashville.
Finally, I want to commend our staff team at the SBC Executive Committee for their tireless efforts to construct the plans for our Annual Meeting. The disruption caused by a global pandemic has created significant, ongoing challenges for Southern Baptists, including the cancellation of the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting.
As convention managers for the SBC Annual Meeting, our staff team has worked diligently behind the scenes to make arrangements for hundreds of events surrounding the Annual Meeting in order to create an extraordinary experience for messengers in 2021.
The SBC Annual Meeting is a time for Southern Baptists to come together and celebrate how God is moving in and through our convention and churches. In 2021, it will be a time for Southern Baptists to reconnect with one another after missing out on a gathering in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SBC is committed to complying with the COVID-19 guidelines set forth by the City of Nashville and the Music City Center. This currently includes the wearing of masks and face coverings when in indoor public spaces. Should these guidelines change before the Annual Meeting, messengers will be notified of those changes.
More information on hotel reservation changes, shuttle availability, ancillary events, and Annual Meeting programming will be released at SBCAnnualMeeting.net and through Baptist Press in the coming days.
Be encouraged. God is at work. Over the past few days, we have seen Romans 8:28 illustrated before our eyes. The Lord is on His throne.
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