News

May 02, 2016

Bishop Honored by Huntingdon College

Bishop Paul Leeland was honored on April 29, 2016, by Huntingdon College and President Cam West, at the Montgomery Country Club. Leeland was the recipient of the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award. This award is given to a non-student ...

April 29, 2016

2016 AC Missional Offering Recipient Announced

The annual conference planning team, directed by Bishop Paul Leeland, is pleased to announce that this year's missional giving recipient for the 2016 Annual Conference special offering is the AWF Disaster Response & Recovery ...

April 28, 2016

AWF Youth Roundtable Held at Huntingdon College

AWF youth workers and volunteers gathered on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at Huntingdon College to exchange ideas and share creative solutions in the field of youth ministry. Sessions were facilitated by Rev. Jeremy Steele (Christ ...

March 31, 2016

Postcards from the Road: Special Delivery

(Dawn Hare/GCSRW General Secretary) - I love to get packages!  From my elementary days of collecting and sending in S & H Green Stamps to be redeemed for an aquarium, to gifts ordered from catalogs or websites as shopping evolved,...

March 24, 2016

Bishop Announces District Superintendent and Conference Staff Appointments

Bishop Paul L. Leeland is pleased to announce Rev. Allen Newton has been appointed as the District Superintendent to the Demopolis District of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, effective July 1, 2016.   Currently serving as the...

March 09, 2016

Bishop Names McClellan to AWF Cabinet

(Montgomery, AL) – Bishop Paul L. Leeland announces that Dr. Darren McClellan has been appointed as the District Superintendent to the Mobile District of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, effective July 1, 2016.   Currently ...

March 03, 2016

AWF Disaster Response Update

(Amelia Fletcher) Currently our conference is responding to four disaster events: Christmas 2015 flooding in Coffee County, AL; February 2016 tornadoes in Century, FL and Pensacola, FL; and the Pensacola flooding of 2014. The work...

February 29, 2016

Graham biographer speaks at Huntingdon on Billy Graham and American Politics

Montgomery, Ala.—As Americans prepare to elect our nation's 45th president, Huntingdon College presents a Stallworth Lecture Series speaker who will explore the intersections between religion and politics in America. Dr. Grant ...

February 25, 2016

Bishop's Day Apart Draws Clergy from Around Conference

Bishop Paul L. Leeland, resident bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, invited all clergy to the annual Bishop’s Day Apart on Monday, February 22, 2016. Dr. Tom Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching and Director of ...

February 23, 2016

A Word from Dr. Tim Trent: Century UMC

Dr. Tim Trent, Pensacola District Superintendent, sent the following message to his district on Monday, February 22, 2016:  As I write this, I am in Montgomery for the "Bishop's Day Apart." These are wonderful learning ...

February 23, 2016

Postcards from the Road: Separate but Equal is Not Equal in God's Eyes

(Dawn Wiggins Hare, GCSRW General Secretary) - Do you remember the first movie that you ever saw in the theaters? I do. Mary Poppins. It was playing at the Ritz Theatre in Brewton, Alabama, and my mama took my sister and me to our...

February 19, 2016

Famed Author and United Methodist Harper Lee Dead at 89

(Montgomery, AL) - Nelle Harper Lee, famed author of "To Kill A Mockingbird" passed away today, February 19, 2016, in her hometown of Monroeville, AL at the age of 89.  Lee was the youngest of four children and was born on April ...

February 19, 2016

Steele Named AWF Youth Liaison

Rev. Jeremy Steele, Next Generation pastor at Christ UMC in Mobile, AL, is now also serving as the Alabama-West Florida Youth Liaison. He will continue his current appointment while he assumes this new leadership role. The Office ...

February 16, 2016

AWF Holds Sixth Annual Prayer Breakfast for State Officials

(Montgomery, AL) - The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church Board of Church & Society hosted a prayer breakfast on February 11, 2016, in the fellowship hall of Montgomery First United Methodist Church. ...

February 15, 2016

Clergy Health & Wellness Initiative

Beginning January 1, 2016, the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference Board of Pension & Health Benefits launched the Health and Wellness Initiative Program. The goal of the program is to encourage our pastors and their dependents...

February 05, 2016

2015 Conference Missional Giving Highest in Fifteen Years

The Alabama-West Florida Conference celebrated its highest conference missional giving (apportionments) in fifteen years. After year-end totals were calculated, the conference reported that 87.99% of apportionments were paid in ...

February 04, 2016

January Cabinet Synopsis

(Dr. Jeremy Pridgeon) - Thanks be to God! This expression of praise is certainly warranted when we consider the many good things happening in the Alabama-West Florida Conference as we begin 2016. We have reached our goal in the ...

February 04, 2016

Join us in Prayer Through the Prayer Calendar

Prayer does not equip us for greater works; prayer is the greater work.  -Oswald Chambers (John Weaver)  The Alabama-West Florida Conference is an instrument of grace and hope. We at the Town and Country Commission want to ...

January 28, 2016

Alabama-West Florida Conference Saves 100,000 Lives Through Imagine No Malaria

Updated January 28, 2016   Montgomery, AL - The Alabama-West Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church has reached its goal of saving more than 100,000 lives, thus raising over one million dollars for Imagine No Malaria.  ...

January 27, 2016

Standing Rules and Resolutions Deadlines

To: Members and friends of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church:   Greetings in the name of Christ.    As preparations are underway for the 2016 meeting of Annual Conference, June 12 – 15, 2016 at ...

January 23, 2016

Dumas Wesley Appeal Seeks to Meet Urgent Needs

Dear Friends, “My name is Peggy, I am 49 years old and I am homeless. Please let me re-phrase-- I am no longer homeless thanks to Dumas Wesley’s transitional housing program... My life has been a mess for a long time and there ...

January 21, 2016

Fountain of Love Offering Focuses On Mother’s Day

(Methodist Homes for the Aging) - For many of us, our parents and grandparents hold the most important positions in our lives. We celebrate these family members on special days during the year, reflecting on their influence in our...

January 16, 2016

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The following article was published on the United Methodist Women Website and written by Clara Ester. A Civil Rights activist looks back on her work during the Civil Rights Movement and her encounter with Martin Luther King, Jr. ...

January 14, 2016

We Remember: William W. Morris

(Tennessee Annual Conference) - Retired Bishop William Morris died this morning in his home. Please keep his family in your prayers.  William Wesley Morris was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was educated in the Baltimore school ...

January 11, 2016

Nominations for New AWF Conference Lay Leader

Dr. Steve Furr, Alabama-West Florida Conference lay leader, has announced the formation of the Board of Laity nominating committee that will consider candidates for the next conference lay leader. This person will take office ...

January 06, 2016

AL-West FL Conference Day of Prayer In Preparation for General Conference

Dear Friends, This week a movement of prayer began in our Conference. People who subscribe to our newsletter now receive a daily email highlighting pastors, churches, and daily prayer needs. It is a joy to be connected through ...

December 17, 2015

A Christmas Message from Bishop Paul Leeland

December 17, 2015 Friends in Christ, While children become more excited as Christmas Day approaches, our lives are enriched by the joy and happiness we experience as we share this day with them. The Gospel of Matthew reminds us ...

December 16, 2015

AWF and Huntingdon College Receive Lilly Grant to Identify Future Christian Leaders

The Alabama-West Florida Conference and Huntingdon College have received a grant of $596,285 for the establishment of an expanded Huntingdon Leadership Academy (HLA). The grant is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s High School Youth ...

December 14, 2015

UMVIM, SEJ Welcome Rev. Alan Gantzhorn as Board Secretary

(UMVIM) – The Staff and Board of UMVIM, SEJ wish to welcome Rev. Alan Gantzhorn of the Alabama­West Florida Conference as the new Board Secretary. Rev. Gantzhorn’s role as secretary was made official at the October, 2015 UMVIM, ...

December 09, 2015

Call to Prayer for the 2016 General Conference

(Dr. Cory Smith) - January 1 will lead off 131 days of continual prayer for the General Conference of The United Methodist Church, which meets May 10-20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon.   The Council of Bishops has invited each of the ...

December 08, 2015

Alabama and Florida Bishops Offer a Pastoral Response to the War in Syria and the Rise of ISIS

Letter to all Florida clergy: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, whose perfect love casts out fear, and who comes to us in the stranger:   As United Methodist Bishops assigned to Florida, we ...

November 11, 2015

The Inconvenience of Apportionments

(B. Kevin Smalls) - This is the time of the year when the letter comes. Yup. The letter. The letter that informs pastors of what the apportionment number is for the next year. For those who are not United Methodist, each one of ...

November 05, 2015

Dauphin Way UMC Supports Refugee Ministries

(Mobile, AL) - During late September and early October, Dauphin Way United Methodist Church invited its congregation to make a special offering to support the United Methodist Church's ministry among the refugee crisis in Europe ...

November 04, 2015

Glory Sighting: Baird and Marnell Forge Clergy Covenant Group

Rev. Dave Marnell (left in photo) and Rev. Brady Baird (right in photo) are pastors in the Phenix City, AL, area. In their brief tenures at their churches, they have made self care and connecting to other clergy a priority. We ...

October 16, 2015

South Carolina Flood Response Update

An update about our brothers and sisters in South Carolina: The South Carolina United Methodist Church is actively involved in recovery efforts after the historic flooding around the state. For more information on what United ...

September 28, 2015

September Cabinet Synopsis

(Dr. Jeremy Pridgeon) - Bishop Leeland and members of the Cabinet met in a regularly scheduled session recently in Montgomery. For the 2015-2016 conference year, the Cabinet is working with Spiritual Leadership, Inc. (SLI), ...

September 25, 2015

Bishop Announces Mid-year Appointments

(Montgomery, AL) - Bishop Paul L. Leeland announces that Rev. Brennan Peacock has been appointed to serve as pastor of Wetumpka FUMC, effective October 1, 2015.  Currently serving as pastor of Providence UMC in Spanish Fort, AL, ...

September 22, 2015

AWF Delegation Endorses Bryan as Episcopal Nominee

The 2016 members of the Alabama-West Florida Conference General and Jurisdictional Conference delegation have endorsed the Reverend Dr. R. Lawson Bryan as their episcopal nominee.   Since 2007, Dr. Bryan has served as senior ...

September 18, 2015

Guest Commentary: Change in Confidence in God

(Rev. Chip Hale) - Our world has greatly changed. For every adult generation, unexpected changes have made part of our pasts disconnected from our present and our future. As Christians, perhaps we have words that can mitigate fear...

September 10, 2015

AWF Churches Forge Red Bird Missionary Partnerships

(Marsha Littleton) - A cohort of volunteers from Clanton, Prattville, Valley and Montgomery United Methodist Churches traveled to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky July 27-31 to assist members of Middle Fork UMC in replacing ...

September 10, 2015

Spanish Fort UMC is Debt Free! Q & A with Rev. Angie Long

Spanish Fort UMC, located in the Baypines District of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, recently celebrated being debt free! The Office of Communications (OOC) spoke with Rev. Angie Long, associate pastor, about this process ...

September 04, 2015

Q and A with Rev. Michael Precht at Crestview FUMC

Rev. Michael Precht is the senior pastor at Crestview FUMC and has served in this appointment since July 1, 2014. In his brief tenure, he has made it a priority to intentionally explore every aspect of ministry at Crestview FUMC. ...

August 28, 2015

Fast Facts: The AWF UM Foundation and Development Fund

Mission: To strengthen ministries of United Methodist churches and agencies by encouraging generosity through education, consulting, development and financial services. Assets: $80 + million Established: 1979 Core Ministries: ...

August 21, 2015

Fall Clergy Day Apart

This letter is being shared with all Alabama-West Florida Conference Clergy: local pastors, associate members, provisional members, all clergy in full connection (elders and deacons), and all retired clergy. We will be meeting ...

August 13, 2015

A Word from Rev. Sara Shaver

This past Sunday I heard a sermon by our colleague Hays McKay on anger. One of the lines in particular that stuck with me was when he said to “reinterpret your rage in the spirit of Christ.” He talked about all kinds of things ...

August 06, 2015

An Invitation from Bishop Leeland

Friends, As clergy serving churches in the Alabama-West Florida Conference, you are invited to attend a gathering of all clergy on October 8, 2015, at Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church with Bishop Mike Coyner, Resident ...

June 29, 2015

A statement from Bill Waddell, Counsel to the Council of Bishops

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Obergefell v.  Hodges, which struck down state laws that bar same-gender couples from marriage on the same terms accorded to couples of the opposite sex. The ...

June 18, 2015

A Statement from the SEJ College of Bishops

June 18, 2015 In response to the murders of the pastor and eight others during a prayer meeting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015, the Southeastern ...

June 03, 2015

Annual Conference, Day Four, June 3, 2015

In the News Full Recap and Bulletin Insert coming this Thursday! Stay tuned to www.awfumc.org/ac2015 for an informative bulletin insert. It is printer friendly and we encourage you to share it with your local congregation this ...

June 01, 2015

Annual Conference, Day Two, June 1, 2015

In the News Service of Remembrance and Holy Communion: Thirty-three clergy and clergy spouses who passed since the 2014 AWF Annual Conference session were remembered today during the Service of Remembrance and Holy Communion. ...
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