As you know, the current COVID-19 crisis has created a unique set of circumstances for how we live, work, and worship. Over the last several weeks, the Texas FWB Executive Board has been in discussion about how this crisis and restrictions on in-person gatherings might affect our 2020 State Meeting, originally scheduled for June 2-3. After much careful consideration of current conditions, observation of trends in other churches and associations, and the best information we can obtain about expectations in the near future, the Executive Board has made the unanimous decision that it is prudent to cancel this year’s State Meeting as originally planned.
Current travel and meeting restrictions, along with the likelihood that those restrictions will continue close to, if not through, the time of our meeting, make it unwise for us to try to host an event of this size and ask people to prepare to travel to it. The safety and well-being of our church family, as well as that of our out-of-state guests and attendees, requires us to consider removing chances that might put people at risk in the current climate. The uncertainty surrounding the near future also makes it likely that, even if travel restrictions are eased, many of our usual attendees would be justifiably nervous or even unwilling to attend on the original schedule. The Board took these and other factors into account in arriving at the decision to cancel.
None of the Board members takes this decision lightly, and we are all disappointed in having to even consider it, but we believe that it is the right thing to do at this time. We are considering how we might be able to share with you online some of the activities that you would normally attend at the State Meeting. After we emerge from this current period of shelter-in-place and all of the precautions that go with it, the Board will be able to evaluate conditions then and begin planning for future in-person meetings. In the meantime, we encourage you to take necessary steps to continue to stay safe and well, shelter in place in accordance with applicable state and local requirements, and focus on ministering to your local churches and communities with the resources you have available.
We will do our best to continue to share resources you can use in your churches, and we will keep you informed on other developments within our state and national association as they occur. As always, feel free to ask any questions you may have, and we will do our best to answer them. Remember to pray for and encourage one another.
Blessings,
Marcus
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