Statements Concerning the State Convention and Pastors Conference

September 14, 2020

Alabama Baptist SBOM

After months of careful and prayerful consideration of the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in our state, the decision has been made by the Executive Committee – upon authorization by the State Board of Missions – to not have the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, which had been scheduled for November 17-18 at First Baptist Church Montgomery.

The decision was made after receiving input from the medical community and from our legal counsel.

On Tuesday afternoon, November 17, at 2 p.m., there will be an hour-long online State Missions Celebration. In accordance with our state convention bylaws, no acts of business will be transacted at this time, such as voting on a budget or election of officers.

Legal counsel Jim Guenther has assured us that our current state convention officers and State Board of Missions officers can remain serving until the 2021 annual meeting. Additionally, the trustees and commissioners of boards and commissions, as well as state convention committees, will remain in their current positions until the 2021 state convention meeting.

Rick Lance, executive director, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions
Tim Cox, president, Alabama Baptist State Convention; chairman of the Executive Committee of the State Board of Missions; senior pastor, Liberty Baptist Church, Chelsea

Paul Chitwood, International Mission Board president, had been scheduled to speak on Tuesday evening of the State Convention meeting during a Sending Celebration for new IMB missionaries.

“While, due to COVID-19, we are incredibly disappointed that we will be unable to host an in-person Sending Celebration for Southern Baptists’ newest overseas missionaries in conjunction with the annual meeting of Alabama Baptists, we are excited to announce that we will move that celebration online for Baptists around the world to join in. The primary reason we wanted to host the Sending Celebration in Montgomery is that Rick Lance, the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions and its member churches are among the most generous supporters of the cooperative mission work of Southern Baptists and, of course, the IMB. The pandemic may have stopped an in-person gathering this year but, due to the ongoing support of Alabama Baptists and Southern Baptists across the country, the mission to make disciples of all nations has not and will not pause.”

Paul Chitwood, president, International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

Pastors Conference President Nathan Daniels has issued the following statement:

“In agreement with the Executive Committee of the State Board of Missions, there will not be an in-person gathering for the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference this year. In an effort to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19, we will move all the sermons to an online format. We are not cancelling the conference, just the in-person aspect of the conference. We invite any and all Alabama Baptist pastors to view all the speakers and sermons as they premiere on Monday, November 16, 2020. Tune in online as our line-up of speakers will preach on the same theme of ‘One Another.’ I am confident God will still move powerfully through these sermons and preachers.”