December 17, 2018/Volume 17, No. 19

Conference News

Hurricane Michael Continued Coverage

The Alabama-West Florida Conference continues to walk alongside those in the panhandle after Hurricane Michael. The recovery process will be a long-term effort that the United Methodist Church is committed to leading. A dedicated Web address, www.hurricanemichaelrecovery.org was established to better organize rapidly changing information. We continue to request monetary donations be sent to the Alabama-West Florida Conference so that we may quickly disperse funds as needed. Other needs are communicated throughout the week. If you do not already receive these notifications, click here to subscribe and select the Hurricane Michael option. Below is recent information associated with Hurricane Michael relief.

Conference leaders and UMCOR consultants have assisted those who setup temporary shelter at Forest Park UMC in Panama City, FL, to find new housing arrangements. Our sincere appreciation is extended to the UMCOR team who was on the ground in the area assisting conference leaders to ensure care and dignity were shown to all temporary residents.

We also joyfully announce that the Alabama-West Florida Conference is the recipient of a $628,768 grant from UMCOR. We are grateful to UMCOR for recognizing the extensive need along the coast. This grant will allow for three volunteer coordinator sites to be established, support staff to manage these sites, construction costs for those we help and assessments for the next grant. UMCOR is sending another team to the panhandle in January to consult with the conference so that we manage the sites in an effective and efficient way.

Susan Hunt, AWF Director of Mission and Advocacy, has established a partnership program for churches to partner with Marianna-Panama City district churches. Click here to read suggestions on ways you can help provide support to those churches in need. Should you have questions, she can be reached at susan@awfumc.org. If your church wishes to participate, please contact Susan.

We continue to encourage all volunteers to register through the portal to ensure our volunteer coordinators appropriately match the skill level with the need.

Thank you for the many ways you continue to minister to those in the Port St. Joe, Marianna and Panama City areas.

Conference Seeks Housing for Relief Teams

Hurricane Michael was the most powerful storm ever recorded to hit the Panhandle. The destruction is far and wide. Trained UMC Teams from the AWF Conference and conferences throughout the United States would like to help the Forgotten Coast, Panama City and other areas impacted but housing is not available. Can you help? If you think you might be willing to let members of United Methodist teams stay with you or in a property you own, would you complete the enclosed form? By completing the form you are not making a commitment, you are simply indicating an interest in housing people from a team sometime in the next year. Most will only be in the area for a few days. Each day, the team members will be traveling from the housing you provide to one of the disaster areas and then they will return at night. You are not expected to feed them, only house them for no charge. When your accommodation is needed, you will be contacted by someone from the AWF Conference. At that time you will be able to tell them if you would be able to help or not. Click here for form.

$425,000 in Florida Disaster Fund Grants Awarded to 17 Organizations

(Volunteer Florida) - Governor Rick Scott and Volunteer Florida announced the first round of Florida Disaster Fund grants will be awarded to 17 organizations that are engaged in Hurricane Michael response and recovery efforts. Each organization will receive $25,000 ($425,000 in total) to assist with urgent activities, such as tarping and roof repairs, as well as long-term rebuilding. The Alabama-West Florida Conference is one recipient of this grant. Click here for more.

Post General Conference Regional Meetings

Please save the date for a post 2019 general conference regional meeting in your area. Bishop David Graves and AWF conference leadership are inviting all clergy and laity to join them for an overview of the called session and a question and answer time. The dates and locations are below.
Thursday, March 7, 2019, at Montgomery FUMC
Saturday, March 9, 2019, at Covenant UMC in Dothan, AL
Sunday, March 10 2019, at Christ UMC in Mobile, AL
There will also be a clergy gathering on Monday, March 11, 2018, at Christ UMC in Mobile, AL, from 10am-2pm. All clergy from the conference are invited to attend. More details will be forthcoming.

Missional Giving Year-end Deadline Information

The last day apportionment payments can be applied for the 2018 year is Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Payments must be received in the conference office by 3pm so they can be deposited before the close of business. Payments can also be deposited directly into the conference bank account at Regions Bank no later than 4pm on January 8, 2019. If a church wishes to do so, they need to call 888-873-3127 or e-mail the fiscal office so that they can provide you with the account information.

Upcoming Annual Conference Deadlines

Members and friends of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church: The Committee on Standing Rules has begun its work in preparation for the 2019 Annual Conference session, June 2-5, 2019, at Frazer Memorial UMC in Montgomery, AL. The committee will be reviewing the Conference Standing Rules and recommending revisions. More here.

Around the Conference

Competency, Camaraderie and Creativity

New Bishop’s Clergy Learning Cohort focuses on pastoral support
(Kari C. Barlow for AWFUMC) - Bishop David Graves has launched a new initiative—the Clergy Learning Cohort—to provide specialized support for clergy who could one day be pastors of fast-growing churches, pastors of large churches and district superintendents. The inaugural meeting was held Oct. 29-30 at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa and drew 40 participating pastors from across the Conference. The event featured keynote speaker Rev. Jim Herrington, co-founder of The Leader’s Journey: Coaching for Wholehearted Leadership, and a panel comprised of multiple UMC clergy members—Rev. Shawn Moses Anglim of New Orleans, Rev. Justin LaRosa of Tampa and Rev. Audrey Warren of Miami. More here.

Bishop visits FUMC of PSJ

(The Star) - “The best is yet to come.” Those are the words of Bishop David Graves of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church as he visited the area November 5-7. Graves traded in his bishop’s crozier for a shovel, and his robe for work clothes. He was scheduled to take his staff to a leadership retreat at the beach elsewhere, but after the storm he felt compelled to change those plans. He soon made plans to visit the areas impacted by the storm—as did many United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) emergency response teams. The bishop and his staff slept on the floor of First United Methodist Church of Apalachicola and came in to Port St. Joe and Mexico Beach to work during the day. The Bishop’s team worked hard at mucking out the Children and Youth Wing at FUMC Port St. Joe. He made a visit to the Methodist Care Closet operating at the STAC house on Eighth Street to celebrate the recovery work being done there, and then he visited the Methodist Learning Center temporarily located at the Methodist Care Closet building on Fourth Street— there the children sang “Jingle Bells,” putting everyone in the holiday spirit. Geoffrey Lentz, pastor of FUMC, said, “I could have never imagined a visit by a sitting bishop like this. He led by scraping floors and cleaning walls. His faith was shown by his works. It is an honor to have Bishop Graves visit our church, he exemplifies servant-leadership and inspires us all.” More here. Photo courtesy of The Star.

Local family blends foster and biological children

(NW Florida Daily News) - Twenty-seven steps is all it took for Dave Barkalow to fall in love with his first foster son. “They pulled up in the driveway, and I go around and he’s just dead asleep in his car seat,” Dave said of the night he met Michael. “I pick him up, and the crib is in a back room here, and it took exactly 27 steps for me to fall in love with him. From that car to the crib and I was done.” Now, four years later, the Barkalows have six children — three biological and three adopted — and married couple Dave and Laura said they feel all six were chosen by God to be theirs. “God knew exactly which kids we needed. When we first licensed for a foster kid, we wanted to just license for one because we were kind of skittish about having a ton of kids,” Laura said, adding that they were later convinced to license for two. More here.

Blue Lake Offers Winter Retreat

Registration is now available for Blue Lake Camp's Winter Retreat 2019. Students in 3rd-5th grades are invited to attend and will enjoy winter fun, worship and spiritual growth. The theme is, "I am with you always" based on Matthew 28:20. Click here for registration.

AWF United Methodist Lawyer Names Needed

The Chancellors for the North Alabama Conference and the Alabama-West Florida Conference sponsor a seminar for lawyers which focuses on church related legal matters. This seminar is important as it benefits the lawyers who help our churches in legal matters. The Chancellors have worked hard on putting this seminar together. In order for the seminar to be successful, we need your help. Please send a list of the lawyers in your congregation to my office so that we can invite them to the seminar. We will need the names, addresses and email address (if known) for the lawyers in your church. We will send invitations to each of them along with program information. The seminar is scheduled for March 28, 2019, therefore we need to send out information about the seminar as soon as possible. Please give this matter your prompt attention and send your list to Lauren Smith at lauren@awfumc.org.

Connectional News

Report shows denominational growth

(UMNS) - A new report from The United Methodist Church on the state of the church says that 50 years after the merger that created the denomination, church ministries around the world are thriving. The 2018 State of the Church report shows the multinational denomination has seen a 12 percent increase in membership from 2006 to 2016. Read press release. Read report.

Special session pre-registration now available

Guests and observers to the 2019 Special Session of the General Conference, The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly, may now pre-register online. General Conference will meet in St. Louis, Missouri at the America’s Center February 23-26, 2019. Guest and observer registration is required to attend the General Conference sessions. There is a suggested badge fee of $7 for early registration and $10 for on-site registration to offset the costs of the credentialing process. Early registration is now available through January 31, 2019. More here.

Resources

No Greater Gift than a Place to Call Home, White Christmas Offering

(UM Children's Home) - Each year during the Christmas season, we are reminded there is no greater joy for us than giving to others. Since 1930, the White Christmas Offering has enabled Methodists to share their blessings with those whose circumstances in life just haven't been fair. These children and young adults certainly didn't sign up to be in the situation they're in and with your support, they have the hope of a much brighter tomorrow. Click here for more.

Online trainings help your church foster faith in young adults

(BeADisciple.com) - Foster a sense of purpose and call in your young people with the $45 online class “Culture of the Call: Congregational Life”. Every person is called to serve God in their own unique way. Any layperson or clergyperson from your church can enroll in the $45 online class and learn practical ideas for creating a call-friendly culture in your own church. Learn what other churches are doing, share your own experiences, and make connections with area camps and campus ministries. Or, be a mentor to young people and learn how to have conversations with them about faith and calling in the “Timothy Circle Mentor Training” online course, also $45. Never fear–you don’t have to have all the answers. Simply being a listening ear and a sounding board with years of life experience can mean the world to a young person in your church or community. Both courses are a part of the Timothy Circle program, which brings all parts of the church together to support young Christians hear and follow God’s voice, and are available at www.beadisciple.com/timothy.

2020 Lay Delegate Informational Form and Profile Link Available

The Alabama-West Florida Conference will elect its delegation to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional Conferences during the 2019 Annual Conference Session in Montgomery on June 2-5. The AWF Conference is allowed four (4) clergy and four (4) lay delegates to General Conference. An additional four (4) clergy and four (4) lay delegates will be chosen to complete the Jurisdictional Conference delegation. Two (2) alternate clergy delegates and two (2) alternate lay delegates to the Jurisdictional Conference will also be elected. Those AWF United Methodists who wish to be nominated as a lay delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conference may be nominated by self-nomination by filling out the Delegate Nomination Form here. Click here for the complete informational document.