Thank you all for praying for the RPIC 2020 Leadership Team as we met last evening. While there are over 1400 registrants, the restrictions necessary to meet Indiana’s guidelines are just too great for our large size conference. It is with heavy hearts that we decided to cancel the Conference for this year. Friday morning, we received the campus regulations which would be in place because of Covid-19. Because of the social distancing which would have to take place on a college campus, there would be a fundamental change in the way the conference would run. For example, no more than 600 persons will be able to be in the dining hall at a time. Standing in line would not afford the warm conversations because of social distancing. Meeting rooms would be drastically reduced in numbers of persons allowed in them. Very limited townhouses will be available. No recreation facilities will be open – the pool, climbing wall, basketballs, volleyballs, softballs, etc will not be available. We would need additional staff to cover the multiple number of places classes would be held. We don’t see how a nursery is possible.
Beyond these issues with operation of the conference itself, we would anticipate travel issues for some, especially those coming from outside the USA. Furthermore, meeting at this point in the progression of the virus would force many to make untenable decisions regarding the potential risk to their health.
These and many other reasons have led us to cancel. We will be refunding all monies.
We are negotiating with IWU to have a conference from July 20-26 next year – 2021, God willing (Dv). We realize this will hinder plans for presbytery conferences and TFY, however,in our opinion it is better to have a conference next year and again in 2024 instead of creating an eight-year gap between RP International Conferences.
We realize this is a great disappointment to many, however we believe this is the best possible decision for the vast majority. We are grateful to the staff at IWU, who have treated us as friends and Kingdom co-laborers throughout this and every other interaction we’ve had with them.
Again, thank you for your prayers and understanding as the Lord has led us to these decisions. 1) Cancel RPIC 2020. 2) Negotiate with IWU for a Tuesday, July 20 to Monday, July 26, 2021 RPIC. 3) Plan on an RPIC 2024, Dv.
Grace and peace,
- Bruce Backensto, Program Director
- Sam Spear, Assistant Program Director
- Kyle Reed, Operations Director
- Jack Dillard, Assistant Operations Director
- Kim Backensto & Lorrie Meneely, Registrars
- Dennis Wing, Finance Director
- Trevor York, Assistant Finance Director
- Tim Meneely, Website Manager
