Lay Members of the Alabama-West Florida Conference,
On March 20, 2023, The United Methodist Church’s top court (The Judicial Council) made a ruling that allows the election of new delegates to the postponed 2020 General Conference that will now take place in 2024. Decision 1472 states, “Annual conferences are permitted to hold elections to fill vacancies in the General Conference delegation due to death, resignations, or otherwise, up to the maximum number of allocated delegates, provided vacancies cannot be filled with reserve delegates.”
As a result of this ruling, we will elect delegates to fill vacancies in the General Conference delegation at our 2023 Annual Conference session this June in Mobile. While we will not know exact numbers of vacancies for our delegation until after our May 7 special called session, we do know there will be vacancies for clergy and laity that must be filled.
Based on AWF Standing Rule 13, our Conference Board of Laity has approved and presents the 2024 General and Jurisdictional Conferences Election Process for lay delegates. We ask that you would please read this document in its entirety. This process allows for self-nomination by filling out the Delegate Nomination Form found on the Conference website. Completed nomination forms must be submitted no later than May 22, 2023.
Persons with additional questions may contact me at ashley@awfumc.org.
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Ashley Davis
Conference Secretary
Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church