No in-person gathering, but annual event still has plenty to offer
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — Though it will be the first time in the 146-year history of the Tennessee Baptist Convention that there will not be an annual meeting, Summit will take place virtually.
The Summit, which was scheduled for Nov. 8-11 at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, was “postponed indefinitely” in late August.
“The COVID-19 pandemic put us in the unfortunate position of having to cancel The Summit this year,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB.
“There was just too much risk in bringing people together from across the state, especially when we would have people coming from areas that have had very few coronavirus cases. Convention leadership, in cooperation with the Arrangements Committee and the TBMB board of directors made the call to err on the side of protecting Tennessee Baptist messengers and guests.
“It was a tough call to cancel, but the right call,” Davis said.
Yet, Tennessee Baptists will have a unique opportunity to participate in the convention’s first virtual Summit from 9-11 a.m. CST on Tuesday, Nov. 10. the full schedule is available HERE.
Randy C. Davis
“Throughout this year we have heard story after story of how God is moving in the lives of people and through their churches,” the TBMB leader noted.
“We felt that needed to be celebrated so we decided to develop a virtual Summit to showcase some of those stories. I’m excited we’re able to share this good news with people across our state,” Davis said.
The two-hour event will feature prayer, worship in music, “Good News” video stories, reports by Davis and convention president Bruce Chesser and more. See a message from Chesser and the schedule on page 1 and additional information on page 8.
The session also will feature a “barbershop conversation” on “The Bible and Race” by Grant Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, and Ternae Jordan, pastor, Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga.
The Summit can be viewed live or watched later at TBCSummit.org.
Individual components of Summit, such as the videos, also can be downloaded individually for churches to use as they see fit. In addition, videos from TBC entities will be available on the website.
“This is a unique opportunity to share with a larger audience some of what messengers experience when they come to the annual meeting,” said Chris Turner, director of communications for the TBMB who helped produce the virtual Summit.
“The pandemic may have canceled our in-person gathering, but I believe what we’ve put together will be a great encouragement to everyone. It is a diverse program, with several unique elements.
“Like our theme verse refers to God doing a new thing, presenting a virtual Summit is a new thing for us,” Turner observed.
No convention business will be conducted during the virtual Summit.
The board of directors will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, Nov. 11, to vote on the convention budget for 2020-21 and members of boards of convention entities and committees except for the TBMB board of directors. They cannot vote for their successors so they will serve another year as will all convention officers. B&R
