January 22, 2019/Volume 18, No. 1

Conference News

AWF Announces Hurricane Michael Recovery Leaders

The Alabama-West Florida Conference is pleased to announce two new leaders for the Hurricane Michael long-term recovery efforts. Rev. Chris Ackerman will serve as the Hurricane Michael Recovery Director and Tammy Tisher will serve as the Assistant Director. Ackerman is a licensed local pastor who was previously serving as an associate pastor at Lynn Haven UMC when Hurricane Michael came ashore. His responsibilities will include managing and overseeing all active disaster recovery activities on behalf of the Alabama-West Florida Conference and directing, assigning and coordinating the work of the regional team coordinators funded by UMCOR grants. He will also work with the Conference Disaster Response Coordinator and the Director of Connectional Ministries to create and implement a strategic plan for recovery and work in consultation on all staffing, funding and other issues related to the success of the recovery. Chris has spent many years of his life working in various kinds of construction. Most recently he owned his own custom furniture business where he built anything from farm tables to kitchen cabinets. Rev. Ackerman’s previous appointments include pastor at Shady Grove UMC and Grand Ridge UMC and associate pastor at Good News UMC. More here.

Conference Staff off to busy start in 2019

(Kari C. Barlow for AWFUMC) - The Alabama-West Florida Conference staff is ushering in the new year with a renewed focus on its 2018-2020 priorities. Those four areas—growing discipleship, cultivating exceptional talent, training and teaching and being adaptive leaders through uncharted times—are considered to be pivotal in the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the next two years. “We really wanted to start the year off right,” said Rev. Ashley Davis, director of connectional ministries for the conference. During the first week of January, Davis, along with Bishop David Graves, Rev. John Russell of St. John UMC in Mobile and Rev. Sam Parkes of Mary Esther UMC, attended the 2019 National Festival of Young Preachers in Atlanta. The annual event allows young preachers from across the country to attend master classes on preaching, to connect with mentors from colleges and seminaries and to network with other young people answering the call to full-time ministry. More here.

Prayers for the AWF Conference Appointment Process

(Bishop David Graves) - Currently the Cabinet, Pastors, Staff-Parish Relations Committees (SPRC), and churches are working on the upcoming appointment year, which spans from July 2019 to June 2020. To inform you of our process, but most importantly to ask for your prayers, I want to share the following information:
The Cabinet, consisting of the eight District Superintendents, the Assistant to the Bishop, and myself will be working to make over 650 appointments between now and annual conference, which is scheduled for June 2-5. While we may also consult with key conference staff members who represent multicultural ministries and new church starts, it is only the Cabinet who will be projecting the appointments. It is a vital process and is why I seek your prayers. There are many factors that go into this process including retirements, clergy deaths, church and pastor needs/concerns, and family considerations. This will be my tenth year that I have sat at an appointment table either as a District Superintendent or Bishop. What I have come to experience is that the Holy Spirit is in the process. As unusual as this may sound, I have been so blessed by my appointment making time. It is sacred work and the Alabama-West Florida Conference has a Godly Cabinet that makes our work deep and rich. Please pray for us! More here.

A Word from the Bishop, Cabinet and Staff

We invite you to watch and share a video message from Bishop David Graves, staff and cabinet about several exciting things happening in 2019. Click here or on the above image to view. Click here to read the transcript. Closed captioning is now available for this video and can be accessed by clicking "CC" to the right of the volume icon on Vimeo. You may also listen to this message as an audio-only podcast by clicking here, by searching for "AWFUMC Podcasts" on iTunes or in your preferred podcast player. We invite you to subscribe to these podcasts.

Around the Conference

Save the Date: 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, 2019, at Christ UMC in Mobile, AL, from 10am-2pm. All clergy are invited.

2019 Annual Conference Pre-conference Briefing Dates Announced

The Alabama-West Florida Conference will hold seven pre-annual conference briefings for clergy and lay members to annual conference. These meetings will be under the direction of Rev. Ashley Davis, AWF Director of Connectional Ministries and Conference Secretary. Rev. Davis will review the highlights of the agenda, discuss 2020 General Conference delegate voting procedures and answer any questions related to annual conference. Each briefing will last no more than 90 minutes. If you are a clergy or lay member to annual conference, please plan to attend. If a reserve delegate is attending for you, please make sure they are aware of this briefing. You may attend any briefing that works with your schedule. Click here for more.

Deaf Prayer Service Held for those impacted by Hurricane Michael

Woodlawn United Methodist Church in Panama City hosted a Deaf Prayer Service for members of the local Deaf Community impacted by Hurricane Michael on November 24, 2018. Reverend Mark Ehrlichmann, pastor of Center Ridge United Methodist Church in DeFuniak Springs, FL, led the prayer service and through his agency – Agency for Deaf Advocacy and Services, ADAS – provided donations of clothes and other items. ADAS also donated two visual alert systems. Rev. Ehrlichmann is one of the few trained pastors serving the Deaf Community and has been in Deaf Ministry since 1998 as a lay leader and graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, in 2007 with a Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 2008 in Garfield, Minnesota. More here.

Competency, Camaraderie and Creativity

(Kari C. Barlow for AWFUMC) - Bishop David Graves, in partnership with the Academy for Congregational Excellence (ACE), 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. “I am thrilled with the success of the clergy cohort,” Graves said. “With the help of Celeste Eubanks, the vision came to life through many hours of dreaming and planning.” More here.

Connectional News

Seventy-eight legislative petitions headed for St. Louis

The General Conference Committee on Reference has determined that 78 petitions submitted for consideration by the 2019 General Conference are in harmony with the purpose of the special session to be held February 23-26, 2019, in St. Louis, Missouri. All those petitions must receive a vote in legislative committee, according to a 2016 provision in the Book of Discipline, and all those approved by legislative committee must receive a plenary vote. The Commission on the General Conference previously has decided there will be a single legislative committee. More here.

UMCOR Hurricane Response Points to the Power of Local Partnership

(Tom Gillem) - When disaster occurs – whether it is a hurricane, tornado, wildfire or other natural or human-made calamity – the United Methodist Committee on Relief is there to help people recover from the catastrophe and put their lives back together. As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR partners with annual conferences to train volunteers from local congregations to be disaster responders and then provides grants for direct support, goods or services to survivors. In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused catastrophic flooding in portions of South Carolina and North Carolina during the Atlantic hurricane season. A month after Florence, Hurricane Michael, the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Florida Panhandle, caused catastrophic damage to Florida before raging through Georgia, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina. Three devastating major hurricanes made landfall in 2017 – Harvey in Texas; Irma in the Caribbean and southeastern U.S.; and Maria in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. More here.

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

Harvest Discipleship Available

(Harvest UMC) - The Great Commission is “…go and make disciples of all nations, …” (Mt. 28:19) yet most Christians don’t know how to live as disciples, much less MAKE disciples! This is why Harvest Discipleship was written. Written in five workbooks for Small Groups or one on one discipleship, Harvest Discipleship focuses on broad, balanced, scripturally based teaching, as well as spiritual formation and ministry exercises to help Christians become leaders in their church and effective disciple makers. Written by Rev. Ralph Sigler, this discipleship curriculum has been used successfully in the U.S. as well as in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Haiti. After ten years of successful use it has now been reformatted and printed for broader use for churches, small groups and individuals. To find out more go to www.harvestdisciple.com.

4 Keys to Developing Emerging Generation Leaders

(Lewis Center) - I’ve heard many church leaders air their frustrations about the millennial generation. Many times, they see the next generations as whimsical, self-absorbed, whiny, and unwilling to remain planted where they land. It’s as though these established leaders are asking, “How can we work with and invest in transient, entitled young people? We’ve seen data that backs up our ideas about them, and we don’t like what we see. They are always trying to get ahead without putting in the work.” More here.

Scholarships available for ecumenical training

The Council of Bishops is offering up to six partial scholarships for young adults and seminary students participating in the 2019 United Methodist Ecumenical and Interreligious Training in the U.S. The training will be April 1-4 in conjunction with the National Workshop on Christian Unity. To obtain a scholarship application, email the Rev. Jean Hawxhurst at jhawxhurst@umc-cob.org. More here.