June 3, 2015
In the News
Full Recap and Bulletin Insert coming this Thursday! Stay tuned to www.awfumc.org/ac2015 for an informative bulletin insert. It is printer friendly and we encourage you to share it with your local congregation this Sunday. A full recap article detailing all actions of the conference will also be posted on the home page by Thursday.
Business Session: Various reports were presented from the Journal Committee, Board of Pension and Health Benefits, Council on Finance and Administration, Equitable Compensation and the Cabinet. Rev. Matt Mobley recommended on behalf of the Committee for Equitable Compensation that minimum salary be $36,500. That recommendation was approved by the voting delegation.
Districts Task Force: As a result of a proposal from the floor of the 2014 Annual Conference, a task force was formed to explore the number of districts in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Dr. Shirley Woodie recognized those on the committee and updated the conference that they have have examined many factors such as the number of churches and clergy in each district and how many districts are in other conferences. They have also explored what constitutes fruitful leadership for district superintendents and have conducted many informal discussions with former superintendents, current administrative assistants and people across the US. They have inquired about the effects within other conferences when they have changed the number of districts. The committee has reviewed its own history in 2004 when the conference reduced from nine to eight districts and also looked at the last recorded role of the DS in 1998 and 1999. The next goal is to obtain systematic and broad-based input from clergy and laity in the conference. The committee has developed an anonymous online survey. All clergy under appointment will receive a copy as well as lay leaders, chairs of SPR committees and chair persons of administrative boards and church councils. The committee will complete an analysis over the next few months and will make a recommendation at 2016 Annual Conference.
General & Jurisdictional Conference Elections: As noted in yesterday's brief, the 2016 General & Jurisdictional Conference delegation is being elected during this conference session. Balloting continued throughout the morning. Results are posted in order. The complete delegation listing may be found here.
Ballot Nine
June Jernigan, clergy
Rurel Ausley, clergy
Ballot Ten
Cory Smith, clergy
Tonya Elmore, clergy
Ballot Eleven
No election
Ballot Twelve
Emily Kincaid
Ballot Thirteen
No election
Ballot Fourteen
Dan Morris, clergy
Jackie Slaughter, clergy
Allen Newton, clergy
Ballot Fifteen
Rob Couch, clergy
Approved Budget: The conference established a $10.9 million budget for mission and ministry for 2016, a 0.4% reduction from 2015.
Statistician's Report: Membership stands at 139,918, down 1% from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 63,781 down 2%. Some areas that showed increases were small groups, persons served by community ministries and Vacation Bible School participation. Children, youth and adults in Christian Formation increased again this year. There was a 1.6% increase in missional giving, which is the greatest increase since 2005.
Petitions & Resolutions: The discussion of petitions and resolutions continued this morning. Powers & Duties on page 58 of the 2015 Brochure of Reports was adopted with the addition of the word "clergy" after the word sixty in the first paragraph. A Resolution of the Administrative Board of Hope Hull United Methodist Church to Petition the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference to Uphold Our Current Denominational Standards Regarding Homosexuality on page 68 passed. Withdrawal of United Methodist Agencies from Membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice on page 69 also passed. Basis of Representation to General Conference, submitted after the Brochure of Reports was printed, was passed. All approved petitions and resolutions will be posted to the conference Website in the coming days.
Courtesies and Appreciation:
Dr. Wesley Wachob of
Pensacola FUMC entertained the audience with his delivery of courtesies and appreciations as he recapped the 2015 Annual Conference Session. He also thanked those who were instrumental in leading the event.
Sending Forth: Each district superintendent read aloud the appointment changes within their respective district. The District Lay Leaders prayed after each district was presented. The Bishop then set the appointments.
2015-2016 AWF Conference Clergy Appointment Book: The clergy appointments may be found
online here. A friendly URL has also been established:
www.awfumc.org/apt2015.
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Special Offerings Update: We continue to celebrate the missional offering for Imagine No Malaria at Opening Worship of $91,602. To date, 93,361 lives have been saved! Six of the eight districts are well above their 100% goal. To continue tracking progress visit www.awfumc.org/INMProgress. The offering collected at the Service of Commissioning & Ordination for the Ministerial Education Fund collected just over $1,875. Thank you for your generosity!
UMCOR Relief Kits: 3,269 health kits were collected over the course of the annual conference and 1,460 school kits, plus other supplies, were collected. Thank you for your donations!
Miss One? Click here to view each of the daily e-mails sent during the 2015 Annual Conference.
Post Annual Conference Survey: Click here to take the survey. This year's version is shorter–we want to hear from you!
Get a Copy: CD and DVD copies of many portions of annual conference are available for purchase. Click here for the order form.
Multimedia
Photos
View photos from the 2015 Annual Conference session (added daily, all photos by Luke Lucas).
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