Charlotte poised to lose 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting

CHARLOTTE — The city of Charlotte is on the verge of losing a major event in 2023, the Southern Baptist Convention.

A special meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will meet April 28 to discuss relocating the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting from Charlotte to New Orleans. The event was slated for June 13-14, 2023, and was expected to draw thousands of people to the Queen City.

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According to Baptist Press, the daily news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, attendance at the annual event has grown since Charlotte was selected as the 2023 host city in 2016. According to Baptist Press, space requirements for hosting an SBC annual meeting now exceed 400,000 square feet. The event is expected to draw more than 15,000 attendees. The Charlotte Convention Center is 280,000 square feet.

“Please understand this move comes at no fault to Charlotte other than the space they have available,” Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications at the SBC Executive Committee, wrote for Baptist Press. “The city wants to host Southern Baptists, but simply cannot. Our meeting has grown beyond the city’s capability and usable space. We will do everything in our power to honor the Queen City as this move is made, and it is our prayer that Southern Baptists will honor Charlotte for its willingness to host us.”

A spokesperson for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which controls the Charlotte Convention Center, received notice that SBC is planning to cancel the event in Charlotte and move it to another city.

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New Orleans hosted the SBC annual meeting in 2012. The 2023 event would be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The dates would not change.

“New Orleans easily meets the four main objectives for a host city,” Howe said for the Baptist Press. “We look for cities with ample space, with available dates, with available hotels, and that are in proximity to Southern Baptists. New Orleans was the only city in the southeast United States that met those criteria just 14 months from the scheduled gathering.”

A spokesperson for SBC referred Eyewitness News to the linked Baptist Press articles when asked for a statement. A spokesperson for CRVA did not respond to a request for comment about the loss of the event.

(WATCH BELOW: Charlotte convention business back; business travel still slow to resume)