4/9/2013
(Bishop Paul L. Leeland) - In preparation for making appointments of clergy to serve our 640 plus congregations, I received an invitation from a student at Huntingdon College asking me to participate in his research paper by responding to some questions he had regarding “guaranteed appointments” within The United Methodist Church. This student is taking a class on United Methodist Doctrine and Church Polity, and during this specific time of the year, he became interested in the conversation ...
12/17/2012
"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Jer. 31:15) Unbelievable. Unspeakable. Shock. Our nation prays with the families of Newtown, Connecticut, in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The unanswerable questions of "why", "how", and "could it have been prevented", do nothing to alleviate the sudden horror unleashed upon these innocent children. No attempt on our part ...
12/14/2012
This Christmas letter is written specifically to all who, for whatever reasons, have been pushed to the periphery of life; to those who deeply desire their lives to be better - filled with more joy; to those who long for the safety and happiness of loved ones; and to those who wish to love and be loved by others. In the stark reality of our world, the words of Psalm 96 capture our hope: The Presence of The Lord comes, God comes to rule the earth. For this reason we can "Proclaim to the nations: ...
7/27/2012
(Bishop Paul L. Leeland) - Coming home is always a great feeling. My appointment as the resident Bishop of The Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church felt like coming home. Janet and I certainly express our gratitude to Dr. Steve Furr, MD, and Dr. John Ed Mathison, who served on the Southeastern Jurisdictional Episcopal Committee and made the appointments for every Annual Conference within the jurisdiction. There were several surprises when this committee assigned three ...
3/3/2012
The storms that have damaged areas across 10 states passed through our Alabama-West Florida Conference. Let us be in prayer for our congregations and families as we continue to receive news regarding the impact of these storms. The Montgomery-Opelika District reports the storms were north of the district, although Ron Ball is checking with his district disaster coordinator as he monitors the fallout of last night's storm. Montgomery-Prattville District reports Steve Reneau and Olivia Poole made ...
2/29/2012
Sometimes “thank you” is not enough. It doesn’t always capture the depth of our gratitude and we don’t always recognize the sacrifice that has been made by others. However, I did think about the sacrifices made by congregations in our Alabama-West Florida Conference when I looked at the large stack of certificates awaiting my signature in gratitude for the acknowledgement of paying 100% of their Missional Giving. As United Methodists, we truly represent a Movement within the world. Thank you! ...
2/6/2012
Our "101 Bowls To Tackle Hunger" was a great success for our 6th "Souper Bowl of Caring" at Mae Edwards UMC. All 101 bowls...designed by Larry Manning/potter...were purchased as a donation for our church's support of Family Promise of Santa Rosa, Inc. We presented Family Promise a check for $460 (Super Bowl is 46 years old this year); and 200 cans of soup for the homeless children and their families. We fed the flock...with 60+ members and guests (the Girls Group Home, just around the corner ...
1/17/2012
To all who Share in the Ministry of our Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church: It was another uncomfortable conversation. I had heard it before, both as a complaint and as a plea. The complaint was the lack of pastoral training, dedication and leadership needed to lead their congregation forward. The plea was, “Please send us a spiritual leader.” Phrases such as: “no one knows where they are;” “they are not accountable to anyone for their time or work;” “they don’t ...
12/9/2011
GOD WITH US “Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.” (UMH 246) The JOY of God’s Presence is overwhelming when a great light shines in our darkness. Our dark thoughts are so easily pulled toward worry and fear. Our attention is on the frailty and limitations of life rather than on the One who gives life, the One who is “the image of the ...
6/17/2011
Guest Commentary from Sharon Yancey at the Matthew Initiative Dear Prayer Intercessors and Friends of The Matthew Initiative: Thanks for all of your prayers for the VBS mission trip to Pensacola, Florida last week in partnership with Sacred Tapestry UMC here in Atlanta. Again, God was so faithful and we were all blessed beyond any of our expectations . I want to share some of the highlights from last week. I will be blogging about it tonight at TheMatthewInitiative.tumblr.com. But, before I ...