He shared video messages, participated multiple national faith vaccine forums, and even shared a photo of himself and Supervisor Richardson getting vaccinated through social media. “What we envisioned in the Eleventh District for hosting the General Conference is significantly different from what is now demanded of us,” he wrote in a statement to the denomination.īishop Richardson encouraged AMEs early on to get vaccinated, especially those attending the General Conference. Bishop Richardson, who presides over the 11 th Episcopal District that includes Florida and the Bahamas, said the task has been daunting. Campaigning has been regulated to virtual ads and a small area of the convention center.Īnd AME leaders, along with the 11 th Episcopal District, which is the General Conference host, have taken great strides to ensure the safety of participants. “Our mantra, like the political and scientific leadership in South Africa, called for a unified voice on both sides of the ocean – “safety first,” according to a statement from the AME Council of Bishops.ĬOVID-19 restrictions have tempered the normally politically charged environment. AME leaders swept into action, seeking to ensure that delegates from Districts 14-15, 17-20 could fully participate in the General Conference. Yet, on June 27, just days before the opening session, the South African government ordered a 14-day shutdown due to a surge in a coronavirus variant in the country. The West Orange County Convention Center was to serve as the host site, here in Orlando, with a satellite location in Cape Town, South Africa, at the Cape Town International Convention Center. In fact, the AME Church planned to host the General Conference between two continents for the first time in its 205-year history. It has done so since 1816, when a small band of former slaves organized the denomination. The General Conference meets every four years to elect officials, create laws and receive reports from components. So, not even a global pandemic could keep the African Methodist Episcopal Church from doing God’s work. The General Conference Commission approved a hybrid model, consisting of both virtual and in-person sessions, and rescheduled the Conference, which had been slated for July 8-15, 2020. “We won’t be the way we were in 2016 or any other year of General Conference,” Bishop Richardson told The Christian Recorder during a recent segment of TCR Dialogues, “You won’t have 12,000 people under one roof.” acknowledging that the pandemic forced change at the 51 stQuadrennial Session of the General Conference of the AME Church, which is this year’s convention. That is because the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has forced AME leaders to scale back, with Host and Senior Bishop Adam J. With each passing day, a sense of hope builds among supporters who anticipate their candidate will ascend to lead the denomination. Typically, the atmosphere is electric, with candidates and their constituents campaigning throughout the General Conference.Ĭampaign banners usually decorate the convention center, while volunteers march and chants echo through the halls. The election of Bishops and General Officers is the highlight of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) General Conference which, this year, will be held here July 6-10.

General conference 2021