September 27, 2022

Conference News

Hurricane Ian: How You Can Help

In preparation for Hurricane Ian making landfall on the Florida peninsula, our conference will begin collecting cleaning kits (previously known as flood buckets) to be sent to areas in the Alabama-West Florida, Florida, and South Georgia Conferences impacted by this storm. We will be requesting 1,000 kits from the UMCOR depot in Decatur, AL and will also be collecting kits in each of our districts. Here are two ways you can assist in these efforts. More here.

A Word from Bishop Graves: Why I Remain a United Methodist

Friends of the Alabama-West Florida Conference,
In my journey around the conference in August visiting with laity and clergy, it occurred to me that it could be helpful to share with you several reasons why I choose to stay United Methodist. I shared in those sessions that I am a United Methodist bishop and I firmly believe a future UMC needs traditional orthodox members as well as progressive members and everyone in between. A church cannot effectively reach the least, the lost and the lonely if it is of one mind on every topic. It takes a big tent membership to challenge one another in our discipleship efforts and our spiritual journey. Click here for a pdf copy of the top reasons why I love being a United Methodist. Click here for more.

A Living Hope: An Open Letter About the Future Of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church

Grace and Peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ,
We are leaders who love the Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church and are praying for its hope-filled future. We believe no institution or denomination is perfect, including the United Methodist Church, but this Church has called us, nurtured us, and brought us into connection with God’s children of our conference and we will work to make it better each day.
United Methodists in southern Alabama and the panhandle of Florida have a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, and each of us has found the grace of Jesus Christ in United Methodist Churches. For us, the UMC has been a lifeboat in a chaotic world. We are committed to preaching and teaching the faith that we proclaim weekly in the creeds of the church. We affirm the traditional Methodist view that scripture is the primary source and standard for Christian doctrine. Scripture is primary to our understanding of the Triune God, the world, and ourselves, and “contains all things necessary for salvation (Articles of Religion).” We are committed to “spreading scriptural holiness all over the land (John Wesley).” These doctrines are rooted deeply in our worship, our lives, and our Book of Discipline. These are not negotiable. Click here to read more and to sign the letter.

2023 Special Called Annual Conference Sessions

Bishop David Graves, episcopal leader of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, in accordance with ¶603.5 of the 2016 Book of Discipline, calls for two 2023 special sessions of the annual conference on Sunday, May 7, 2023, and Sunday, November 12, 2023. These meetings are in addition to the already-announced special session on Saturday, November 12, 2022. All special-called sessions will be held via Zoom. More here.

Pension and Benefit Hosts Information Meetings

Open enrollment for 2023 health insurance will begin August 15-October 31, 2022. There are two health enrollment options; the BCBS PPO Plan and the BCBS HDHP Plan coupled with health saving account. Enrollment is required this year in order to continue health insurance coverage in 2023. There will be four meeting opportunities for eligible clergy to hear the options and enroll. There will also be an online enrollment option. Online enrollment instructions will be sent via a separate email. The meetings will be held at the following locations:
Thursday, 9/29/2022, 9am – 12pm, Enterprise FUMC
Please click this link to register for your meeting location. Suzanne Krejcar and BeLinda Carnegie will be on site at each meeting to assist with enrollments.

Around the Conference

Grassroots groups talk up The United Methodist Church

(UMNS) - The Rev. Cory Smith is a pastor in the Alabama-West Florida Conference, where more than a few traditionalist churches are poised to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church and others are weighing their options. But Smith is a determined leader of Celebrate UMC, a group of Alabama-West Florida clergy and laity who are waving the United Methodist flag. “The purpose of Celebrate UMC is to support, encourage and resource those who wish to stay in the UMC,” said Smith, pastor of Auburn United Methodist Church, in Auburn, Alabama. Celebrate UMC sponsored a June 13 event at United Methodist-affiliated Huntingdon College, in Montgomery, Alabama. Some 400 people nearly filled the chapel to hear the Rev. Tom Berlin, a veteran General Conference delegate and endorsed candidate for bishop from the Virginia Conference — and a strong advocate for The United Methodist Church. More here.

Charge Conference Forms

Charge Conference Forms are now available through your local church dashboard. All forms will again be completed completely online this year. Our conference staff and district superintendents have worked diligently to make the forms as clear, simple, and concise as possible. All completed forms will be due by October 7 (regardless of the date of your charge conference), and forms will not be accepted through mail. Click here for more. Questions should be directed to your regional administrative assistant.

Resources

Laity Sunday Resources

(Discipleship Ministries) - Laity Sunday celebrates the ministry of all Christians to love God and neighbor. As we (the people) grow in grace to become “all love” disciples in community, we gather with others and connect all to God’s love in Jesus Christ. So, on Laity Sunday (this year, October 16, 2022), we continue to lift up the vocation of all to follow the way of Jesus and lead others to him – particularly as we rediscover practices of togetherness that reveal “God’s presence for the life of the world” (Dorothy Bass, Craig Dykstra, “A Theological Understanding of Christian Practices,” Lifelong Faith, (Volume 2.2 Summer 2008), 5). Click here for resources.

Everything You Need to Plan Your Advent Service

(Discipleship Ministries) - Not ready for the Advent season? We’ve got you covered. From Preaching Notes to Worship Suggestions, enjoy helpful tools to inspire your worship planning experience. The theme for this season is “An Advent Song of Ascents.” Click the link below to see the break down for each Sunday. More here.

Small-group studies available for anti-racism podcast

(Religion and Race) - The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race has released small-group study guides for each episode in the first season of “Expanding the Table,” the agency’s award-winning podcast on practicing anti-racism. Additionally, the agency has added full transcripts for each episode to aid in accessibility. View resource.

Is The United Methodist Church Really?.....Part Four

(Ask the UMC) - In the fourth installment of its "Is The United Methodist Church really…?" series, Ask The UMC answers three more questions related to disaffiliation, including inquiries about the status of appointed clergy and members after their congregation decides to disaffiliate. The series is a response to widespread misperceptions or misinformation that some congregations are receiving as they discern their next steps.
Read Q and A
Read Part 1 on theology and pensions
Read Part 2 on human sexuality
Read Part 3 on paragraph 2548.2