CLEVELAND, Ohio — As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the world, many conventions and conferences are being canceled or postponed to keep people safe. For example, every year, thousands of people gather in Cleveland to attend an annual Jehovah's Witness convention. This year, the organization had to change plans.
"Holding a public meeting during a pandemic is probably not showing love," said Robert Hendriks, the U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah's Witness.
Hendriks said the decision to move the annual convention to an online format was based on two Christian principles Jehovah Witness stand on.
"It really was weighing the value of having a public meeting versus two Christian principles: one, of course, the respect for the sanctity of life. But two (is) also our love of neighbor," said Hendriks.
For the health and safety of congregations worldwide, the convention that typically brings 20,000 people to Cleveland was canceled for the first time since it started in the 1940s.
"Let's record three days of content, transcribe it, translate it into 511 languages and find a platform that the world could access," said Hendriks.
As the pandemic continues to loom, many businesses, organizations and families have to find new ways to hold large gatherings. The popular film, music, TV and technology conference, "South by Southwest" went to a video-on-demand format. The Girl Scouts National Council is now planning a one day virtual conference instead of meeting in person, and the American Bar Association will hold its annual conference virtually.
For the Jehovah's Witness, members of a family in Cleveland said they quickly adapted to the virtual convention.
Jared Wilson is an elder of a Chagrin Falls congregation.
"We've been able to connect on that format so that we can still watch all of the programs. We've split them up into six segments over the course of weekends to allow us to still be able to view the program," said Wilson.
One part of the convention that both Hendriks and the Wilson family said they look forward to are the baptisms. Even though they're not able to do baptisms as usual, they have found a way to safely do them on a smaller level.
"Recently ourselves have had an experience where we had the privilege of having someone get baptized. We happen to have a hot tub so they got baptized in our hot tub," said Wilson.
Organizers said they are accommodating people who don't have a computer or internet access. A phone line can be used to listen to the presentation.