The Alliance of Baptists announced Jan. 31 that it has scuttled plans for an in-person annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, in April due to continued concerns about the pandemic.
“The Alliance is committed to making every space as equitable as possible,” the group’s leaders said in an email. “During this pandemic, that means we must consider how we are to keep our neighbor safe. Because there are still many unknowns about how the next few months may play out, the Alliance has decided to take the necessary steps to create a vibrant online experience and gathering for this year.”
Like many national religious bodies, the Alliance has not held an in-person meeting since 2019. And like many national religious bodies the latest surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 caused yet another reason to rethink carefully laid plans.
“We are fatigued by these ongoing moves to online spaces,” Alliance leaders noted. “We grieve with you and long for a time when we can gather together again in person. One of the most important parts of our communal life is being together. The Alliance is committed to gathering together again when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing how this tapestry displays itself again this year in an online form.”
Eboni Marshall Turman
Rita Nakashima Brock
Keynote speakers at the April 22-24 virtual event will be Rita Nakashima Brock and Eboni Marshall Turman. Brock is the director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America and former director of the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University. Marshall Turman is an assistant professor of theology and African American religion at Yale Divinity School and formerly taught theological ethics, Black church studies, and African and African American studies at Duke Divinity School.
Alliance leaders said registration information for the online event will be published soon.
Two other Baptist organizations — the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention — currently plan to hold in-person meetings this summer, the Fellowship in Dallas and the SBC in Anaheim, Calif.
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