NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Citing a church policy regarding meeting in cities that are home to professional sports teams with Native American names, The United Methodist Commission on the General Conference has retracted its selection of Richmond as the site of the 2012 General Conference and named Tampa as the new meeting site.

The 2012 General Conference will be held April 25 to May 4 in the 600,000 square foot Tampa Convention Center.

At the time of the initial selection, commission members were unaware that Richmond is home to the Richmond Braves, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Atlanta Braves.

The General Conference is The United Methodist Church’s top legislative body. Every four years, nearly 1,000 delegates from around the world gather to set church discipline and vote on hundreds of issues related to church life.

A resolution passed by the 2004 General Conference called for United Methodist agencies and organizations to avoid holding meetings and events in cities that sponsor sport teams using Native America names and symbols. “The United Methodist Church rejects the use of Native American names and symbols for sport teams, and considers the practice a blatant expression of racism,” stated the resolution.

Tampa was a finalist in the original search process for the 2012 General Conference. When the commission reopened its search, negotiations resulted in Tampa offering the strongest proposal, Murphy-Geiss said.