General Conference Moved to 2021

Following last week’s announcement by the Executive Committee of the Commission on the General Conference that the 2020 General Conference will be postponed, the full Commission met last Saturday, March 21, via conference call to determine next steps to take in setting a new date.
 
After discussing possible alternatives and hearing recommendations from Sara Hotchkiss, Business Manager of the General Conference, the Commission determined that it just wasn’t viable for the General Conference to meet in 2020 as originally planned and elected to work toward setting a date in 2021.
 
“As we looked at the complex issues that we will need to navigate to reschedule the event and the lack of options available, it does not appear feasible to plan for 2020,” said Kim Simpson, chair of the Commission as well as the lead lay delegate on the Central Texas Conference delegation. “These issues include the undetermined length of the pandemic, uncertainty around travel bans in different areas of the world, delays in processing visas due to government and business closures and other questions.”
 
In giving direction for next steps, the Commission resolved that holding the event in Minneapolis is a high priority and authorized the business manager to pursue negotiations regarding other dates available at the Minneapolis Convention Center in 2021.  
 
“The Dakotas-Minnesota Area Host Team has done a wonderful job in partnering with us to prepare for this event, and we are grateful for their willingness to continue to work with us as we move toward a new date,” Simpson said.
 
“As many groups have cancelled and are being rescheduled, they are given priority by venues they have already been working with,” said Hotchkiss. “Continuing to work with the Minneapolis Convention Center and area hotels will help us avoid competing with other groups for space in those facilities if they did not already have a contract.” 
 
Once new dates for the General Conference are set and adjustments with current vendors are made, additional information will be sent out to delegations and posted on the conference website and social media pages regarding a timeline and next steps.