By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
[email protected]
FRANKLIN — In a normal year, hundreds of Tennessee Baptists would be gathered in Orlando, Fla., this week for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. But thanks to COVID-19, 2020 is not a normal year.
Tennessee Baptists who planned to go to Orlando this year expressed disappointment that the annual meeting was canceled due to the pandemic, but they certainly understood why.
“I was disappointed, but understand with the uncertainty of the virus,” said Jim Twilbeck, director of missions for Western District Baptist Association, based in Paris. Twilbeck has attended 25 annual meetings of the SBC over his years of ministry.
Gary Rickman, long-time Tennessee Baptist pastor and staff member of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, attended his first annual meeting when he was 8 years old. His father, Barney Rickman, was a long-time pastor. Rickman has attended 46 annual meetings, including 42 consecutive meetings at one point.
Rickman, too, was disappointed but not surprised the meeting was canceled. “It was the right thing to do,” he observed.
Greg Long, pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Maryville, has attended about 20 annual meetings and had planned to go to Orlando. “We were a little disappointed that we did not get to go, but our minds quickly moved off the disappointment. We had too many ministry opportunities to focus on,” he said.
Fred Shackelford, pastor of Ellendale Baptist Church, Bartlett, also was not surprised by the decision.
“While I had originally planned to attend, in light of national recommendations regarding COVID-19, I likely would not have gone this year had the meeting taken place,” he said.
Pastors also shared why they invested the time and expense to attend the annual meetings.
“As a pastor one of the largest items in our church budget was the Cooperative Program,” Rickman noted. “I felt that I needed to understand all that I could about how this money was being used and the SBC and Tennessee Baptist Convention annual conventions are where you get your best understanding. Also, I felt my church should be represented in the decisions being made since we were making this kind of investment. It would be poor stewardship on my part as their pastor to not attend.”
After joining the TBMB staff, he had assignments that required him to be present at the SBC for auxiliary meetings that coincided with his ministry role. “It was also a good time to connect with pastors and church staff from our TBC churches,” he added.
Dean Haun, pastor of First Baptist Church, Morristown, who has attended 31 SBC annual meetings, noted that in the early years he attended because it “was a battle for the Bible.” Later, he continued, it was to renew friendships, fellowship, conduct convention business and to remain informed.
Twilbeck also affirmed the need to attend auxiliary meetings such as the one held for directors of missions across the nation, but he also enjoyed the missions education element the annual meetings provide. “One of my favorite parts of the SBC is seeing us commission new missionaries to the field and hearing stories of how our missionaries are impacting the world.”
The ministers were asked if they thought this year’s cancellation could lead to an every other year format. Twilbeck said he is opposed to an every other year format because “church life moves so quickly there are some decisions that need to be made on a yearly basis.”
Rickman agreed. “It is important that we come together on an annual basis because we live in such changing times and things happen each year that the convention needs to address at that moment.”
If the convention is held every two years, “we will miss opportunities as churches to speak to these issues and to our SBC leadership,” Rickman said. He added the meetings provide a time for inspiration and celebration of what God is doing among Southern Baptists. “I have had some of my most uplifting moments at the SBC during times of worship and celebration. These seem to come at a time when I really need this, and I think it is true for others who attend.”
Haun noted he has missed some annual meetings in recent years due to scheduling conflicts. “I would be open to an every other year format unless it would be detrimental to our mission,” he said.
Long opined that this might be a good time to rethink the schedule and consider an every other year format. “A lot of the business seems to have already been decided,” he observed.
Shackelford said he favors an annual meeting. “I feel the benefits of annual meetings (increased excitement for and knowledge of the mission and ministry of the SBC) are worth the expense.”