April 18, 2024
By Diana Chandler
ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — Online hotel registration opens today (Oct. 1) for the Southern Baptist Convention 2020 Annual Meeting June 9-10 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Reservations opened 8 a.m. Central Time at sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc20, under the housing & travel tab.
SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd called the meeting the "premier event" in Southern Baptist life.
"We want to see churches eager to participate and excited to attend," Floyd told Baptist Press Monday, referencing participation at the 2019 meeting in Birmingham. "Only 3,428 Southern Baptist churches were represented, and we hope to see no less than 5,000 of our churches represented through their appointed messengers … in Orlando.
BAPTIST PRESS"Every church matters and at the annual meeting, every messenger matters," Floyd said. "Make your plans now to join us next June as we celebrate what God has done and hear the exciting vision of where He is taking us in the future."
Rooms are available at 25 hotels at various price points, according to the SBC EC, with special rates available until May 15. The meeting will be held in the convention center's west concourse.
The theme "Gospel Above All. Always" flows from the 2019 theme "Gospel Above All."
SBC President J.D. Greear said he's encouraged by the momentum in the convention.
"I think we're in for some really significant, generationally-defining moments in Orlando at SBC2020," Greear told BP. "[I'm] committed to #gospelaboveall, a willingness to do whatever it takes to reach people, and sending every member. Come to Orlando!”
Greear especially encouraged participation from those who have never before attended an SBC annual meeting.
"Florida (City Church of Tallahassee) pastor Dean Inserra often reminds people that Sunday morning church attendance is a Saturday night decision," said Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, a multisite congregation in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, area. "As president, I would say attending this year's upcoming Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting is an October 1st decision."
Online housing reservations are preferred, but housing may also be reserved at 1-800-967-8852 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday, or toll-free at 1-847-996-5832 during the same time frame.
Messenger online pre-registration opens Feb. 1.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ general assignment writer/editor.
