Upcoming state convention annual meetings ‘postponed’ in Mississippi and Tennessee, adapted in Georgia

The upcoming annual meetings of Tennessee and Mississippi Baptists have been “postponed” due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alabama Baptist leaders plan to make a decision soon.

Directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, officers of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the convention’s committee on arrangements voted 84 to 1 on Aug. 27 to “postpone indefinitely” the annual meeting scheduled for Nov. 8–11, according to the Baptist and Reflector.

It is the first time in the 146-year history of the convention that an annual meeting will not be held.

The vote was taken during a special called Zoom meeting and was based on a recommendation of both the convention officers and the committee on arrangements earlier in August.

The Mississippi Baptist Convention’s 100-member board learned of the postponement plans during the Aug. 25 in-person, socially distanced meeting, according to the Baptist Record.

The annual meeting was scheduled for Oct. 27–28. An alternate date has not yet been determined. The last times the Mississippi convention did not convene annual sessions were during the Civil War, in 1862 and 1863, the Baptist Record reported.

Alabama to announce soon

In Alabama, the executive committee of the State Board of Missions has been monitoring the situation and plans to make a decision no later than mid-September.

During an Aug. 14 regularly scheduled meeting held over Zoom, the trustee body of the State Board authorized the executive committee to determine how to handle the currently scheduled Nov. 17–18 annual meeting.

Louisiana and Florida leaders also plan to make final decisions about their upcoming annual meetings in the coming weeks.

Georgia Baptists plan to hold an adapted form of an annual meeting on Nov. 9 from 1 to 6 p.m. with a maximum of 400 people at Ingleside Baptist Church, Macon, and following social distancing guidelines, according to the Christian Index.

For states not holding an annual meeting this year, current state convention officers will continue in their positions until their successors have been elected.