May 17, 2022

Conference News

Comprehensive AC Info Video Available

The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church will hold its 2022 Annual Conference session Sunday, June 12-Wednesday, June 15 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on the campus of Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL. Rev. Ashley Davis, conference secretary, outlines several important pieces of information you should know as you prepare for conference in this video. Click on the above graphic or here to watch.

AWF Proposed Health Plan Change Information

Rev. Allison Posell, chair of AWF Board of Pension and Health, issued a letter on Monday, May 16, 2022, regarding proposed changes to active and retiree health benefits. In this letter she explains the reasoning and provides several resources. If you are a clergy or lay voting member to annual conference, please carefully review this critical information. Click here for more.

2022 Annual Conference Registration Live

Registration for all sessions is now live. Please click the below links to register.
Main session: June 12-15, 2022

Around the Conference

2022 Annual Conference Working Agenda

The working agenda for the 2022 session of annual conference is live. Click here to access. Please note a few important things. The agenda is subject to change before conference. Also, please note that there is a scheduled Tuesday evening session for conference business and there is the potential to meet Wednesday afternoon.

2022 AC Book of Reports Now Online

The 2022 Book of Reports is now online. Click here to access a pdf copy. Click here to order hard copies. If you are a clergy or lay member to annual conference and will be attending in person, it is critical that you download a copy prior to conference. There will not be public Wifi and we will need as much cell data for our voting portions of conference.

Connectional News

Churches condemn hate, urge action after shootings

(UM News) — After what officials quickly identified as a racist attack, United Methodists are responding with prayers, counseling and condemnations of hate. Many church members in Buffalo are also grieving after the mass shooting at a grocery store claimed the lives of friends and loved ones. United Methodists also are responding after a gunman opened fire at a Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods, California. Heather Hahn reports. More here.

Church court: Conferences can't exit unilaterally

(UM News) - U.S. annual conferences have no authority under current church law to withdraw from The United Methodist Church, the denomination’s top court ruled. “There is no basis in Church law for any annual conference to adopt stopgap policies, pass resolutions, take a vote, or act unilaterally for the purpose of removing itself from The United Methodist Church,” the Judicial Council ruled in Decision 1444. The church court said only General Conference — the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly — can set the process and conditions for these regional church bodies to leave the United Methodist connection. More here.

Bishops seek ruling on application and meaning on Paragraph 2548.2

(COB) - The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is requesting a declaratory decision from the Judicial Council on the meaning and application of Paragraph 2548.2 in the Book of Discipline. During a special meeting the COB held May 12, 2022, via Zoom to discuss the recent Judicial Council decision, the bishops approved a request to ask the church’s top court to address eight questions relating to the Paragraph 2548.2. More here.

Pensions agency staying nimble

(Wespath) - Questions abound about the future of pensions in The United Methodist Church after the launch of the Global Methodist Church on May 1. Andy Hendren, top executive at Wespath Benefits and Investments, offers some answers in a new blog post. More here.