The Board of Trustees of the Alabama-West Florida Conference has worked diligently since Annual Conference 2023 to process local churches seeking disaffiliation under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline. They have been meeting weekly to ensure that each congregation is given due consideration before the sunset of the provision on December 31, 2023.
The board utilized the policy that was updated for clarification in June of 2023. That policy can be found here. These clarifications were made to reflect the Judicial Council’s Decision 1476 which was issued April 25, 2023. This ruling specifically addressed the Alabama-West Florida Conference, and it clarified the Annual Conference Trustees’ right to determine the local churches’ eligibility regarding disaffiliation under paragraph 2553. The clarified policy affirmed the eligibility standards in Paragraph 2553 and the limited right to leave based on “reasons of conscience” over changes made in 2019 to the current Book of Discipline (¶304,3, ¶304.5, ¶415.6, and footnote of ¶2702.1(b)).
The AWF Trustees established three subcommittees to divide the work and provide consistency to the process. One subcommittee reviewed all documents and statements related to eligibility under Paragraph 2553. Another subcommittee reviewed the 213 Report and processed the missional assessments ascertaining the viability of the local church and the Annual Conference’s missional needs in the area. A third subcommittee reviewed the Good Faith Forms and any accompanying documents. Each of the subcommittees made a report to the Trustees. The Trustees then discussed and voted on whether they agreed with the subcommittees’ recommendations.
A review form was sent to the respective District Superintendent for each of the churches. The District Superintendents were encouraged to call Church Conferences if the Trustees, in their preliminary review, indicated that the local Church’s eligibility statement was in compliance with the Book of Discipline.
Three local churches were grandfathered in under the pre-June policy because they had already completed the process before the new policy went into effect. In addition, there are several local churches that were determined to be properly before the Special Called Annual Conference on November 12, 2023, if their Church Conference voted to disaffiliate under Paragraph 2553. The full details regarding that Special Called Annual Conference and the churches to be ratified for disaffiliation will be made available by the Annual Conference in the coming days.