December 6, 2022

Conference News

Bishop Creates New Task force on Church Planting and Revitalization

Bishop David Graves recently commissioned a new task force on church planting and revitalization, asking the Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Lentz to serve as its chair. The group has been meeting around three objectives: planting new United Methodist Churches in areas where there are not UMC churches, strengthening churches nearest to those areas, and inviting all the churches of the Alabama-West Florida Conference to experience revival and renewal in Jesus Christ. The task force is studying the conference’s statistics and the growth of these communities as they contemplate how best to make more disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In their first proposal, which has been accepted by the cabinet, there is now a system whereby members of disaffiliating churches who wish to stay United Methodist and now feel that they are without a church home can transfer to the conference’s general roll. Once a United Methodist is on the general roll the conference can help transferring members find an existing church to join or help them plant a new one. There is a quick link on the conference website’s home page that many have already utilized. More here.

Alabama-West Florida Conference Prioritizes Prayer in Coming Year

The Alabama-West Florida Conference is centering its work around prayer in the coming liturgical year. Daily conference work, meetings and conferences will all have prayer as the focus. “While it seems so obvious that prayer is the center of our work, sometimes we need to make intentional efforts,” stated Bishop Graves. “It is so easy to get sidetracked by the business and agenda items of our meetings. We add more to our plates, we find ourselves in a cycle of busy-ness and we stay in problem-solving mode. All of this distracts us from listening for God’s voice and seeking His will for our churches and lives. This collective effort will allow space for the Holy Spirit to guide our work.” Each liturgical season the conference will publish a communications piece that shows the date, scripture passage, prayer prompt, prayer description and in some cases musical selection to accompany the prayer. Prayers are being prepared by conference staff and cabinet members. More here.

Around the Conference

Blue Lake Camp Announces New Branding

(BLC) - In addition to our sleek new logo, we are so excited to announce the second and final piece of the project we have been working on our new Website. This new website is a huge blessing for Blue Lake and our community. Not only does it look modern and fresh, we hope that it will be a more helpful tool to make a professional first impression to people new to Blue Lake and what we have to offer, and the reservation and communication process easier! This update and our logo are a result of our strategic planning and supported financially through a marketing grant received earlier this year through the United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministry Association. More here.

Connectional Giving 2022 Deadline and Instructions

The last day that apportionment payments can be credited to the prior year asking is January 13, 2023. Churches sending apportionment payments after December 31, 2022, must do one of the following:
-Deliver payment to the Fiscal Office in Montgomery AL anytime before 10:00am on January 13, 2023 or;
-Mail the payment but please note that payments must be received before 10:00am on the closing date in order to be credited to 2022 apportionments or;
-Submit payment online via the Shelby portal no later than January 11, 2023. Please note that in order to use this option, the church must already be set up to give online. Please email fiscaloffice@awfumc.org if you wish to be set up for online giving and do so before 12/31/2022 as we cannot guarantee we will be able to process new access requests in January while we are in the midst of closing the year. Also, as a help to our office, on your January remittance forms only, please make a note for which year you are paying especially if you are sending in a payment early in January. In the absence of direction, we apply payments received prior to January 13th to unpaid apportionments for 2022 first before applying to 2023 apportionments.

Connectional News

United Methodists to Meet in Charlotte for Worldwide Conference

(Commission on General Conference) - The Commission on the General Conference announced that the 2024 United Methodist General Conference will be held April 23 – May 3, 2024, at Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The Commission selected Charlotte as the site that best met our varied needs. We believe that delegates and attendees will be pleased with all the city has to offer,” said Kim Simpson, Chair of the Commission on the General Conference. “Charlotte is a part of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference – but due to the shorter timeframe for planning, both the Western North Carolina Conference and the North Carolina Annual Conference will co-host the event.” In making the selection, Simpson said that the Commission looked at the suitability and capacity of meeting facilities, availability of adequate space, the proximity of hotel rooms, accessibility and convenience of travel and costs of meeting space, lodging, meals and airfare. Proposals from three cities were considered, but ultimately Charlotte was determined to be the best fit. More here.

Women’s commission at 50, still a long way to go

(UMNS) - Resistance to the appointment of a female pastor is still common, and remains one of the signature issues of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women as it marks its 50th anniversary. “It's the honest truth,” said Dawn Wiggins Hare, the top executive of the commission. “We all have friends who are bishops and we all have friends who are district superintendents, and they're the ones making these appointments.” Every appointment season, those friends have questions and requests for advice. “They reach out and say, ‘I am having such pushback; can you give me some help here?’” Hare said. More here.

Global Mission Fellows Seek Applicants

Are you looking for an opportunity to fight the root causes of injustice in the United States through deep engagement with a local community? Are you between the ages of 20-30? The Global Mission Fellow US-2 Track could be the perfect opportunity for you! Global Mission Fellows seek to combat systemic oppression and alleviate suffering while serving in partnership with their new community. They serve for two years as a cohort across the United States working in public health, migration issues, poverty situations, and much more. More here.

Resources

Advent Wreath Candle lighting Meditations for Home and Church

(Discipleship Ministries) - Advent is underway, but if you are still in need of some Advent help, check out these meditations you can do at home or in your church. And as always there is a free Advent worship series available for download today. More here.

Book offers clarity on United Methodist doctrine

(Faith and Order) - “Faith Working Through Love,” produced by the Committee on Faith and Order, sets the record straight about United Methodist beliefs and how those beliefs shape lives. The book, which began taking shape in 2014, was not written to address disaffiliation debates, but does offer clarity about United Methodist doctrine, writes David N. Field, who helped edit the book. More here.