News

December 10, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, December 10, 2018

The Alabama-West Florida Conference continues to serve those in need along the panhandle of Florida after Hurricane Michael.  Conference leaders and UMCOR consultants have assisted those who setup temporary shelter at Forest Park ...

December 07, 2018

Save the Date: Post General Conference Regional Meetings

Please save the date for a post 2019 general conference regional meeting in your area. Bishop David Graves and AWF conference leadership are inviting all clergy and laity to join them for an overview of the called session and a ...

December 05, 2018

Upcoming Annual Conference Deadlines

Members and friends of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church:   The Committee on Standing Rules has begun its work in preparation for the 2019 Annual Conference session, June 2-5, 2019, at Frazer ...

November 28, 2018

Fund Pledges Additional Resources For Hurricane Michael Relief

Hurricane Michael caused severe damage to Port St. Joe, Florida, a community with deep ties to the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 57% of structures, (homes and businesses with ...

November 28, 2018

Shelter from the Storm

First UMC Opelika offers Lynn Haven UMC Youth Group respite from hurricane recovery   (Kari Barlow for AWFUMC) - About two weeks after Hurricane Michael devastated Panama City and much of the surrounding area, Lynn Haven UMC ...

November 27, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, November 27, 2018

Giving Tuesday is today! There are many worthwhile ministries to consider. We invite you to consider giving to the Alabama-West Florida Conference for the Hurricane Michael relief efforts. This money continues to be distributed to...

November 15, 2018

A Video Message from Bishop David Graves and Rev. Ashley Davis

We invite you to watch and share a video message from Bishop David Graves and Rev. Ashley Davis related to our Hurricane Michael recovery efforts. Click here to view. Click here to read the transcript. Closed captioning is now ...

November 12, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, November 12, 2018

As we continue to assess the needs in the Marianna, Port St. Joe, Panama City and surrounding areas, we will need as many ERT teams as possible. Badged out-of-conference teams are invited to the panhandle area. All teams must plan...

November 07, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, November 7, 2018

Thank you for your continued generosity and desire to help those in the panhandle of Florida. The response from the Alabama-West Florida Conference will be a long-term effort. It is extremely important to remind local churches and...

October 30, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 30, 2018

Thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and support you continue to provide to those in the panhandle. There are a few important updates related to the AWF relief efforts.  If you did not see the release yesterday, we now ...

October 29, 2018

AWF Conference Announces New Hurricane Michael Volunteer Portal

The Alabama-West Florida Conference is announcing a new online portal that will register Hurricane Michael volunteer teams. The new portal was established through the Planning Center software, which many medium- and large-sized ...

October 25, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 25, 2018

Port St. Joe and FUMC Panama City are in need of the traditional UMCOR cleaning kits (flood buckets) that we frequently encourage churches to assemble. They have received several shipments but need more due to the severe storm ...

October 23, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 23, 2018

We continue to assess the needs in the Marianna-Panama City District. As previously stated, our greatest needs are prayer and monetary donations. We are most grateful for the outpouring of love we have received.  In relation to ...

October 19, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 19, 2018

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to Bishop Ken Carter, the Florida Annual Conference and FUMC Ormond Beach for their incredible matching challenge to raise one million dollars. Click here for article.  The ...

October 19, 2018

York Named Hurricane Michael Response Director

The Alabama-West Florida Conference is pleased to announce that Rev. Shawn York has been assigned to be the Hurricane Michael Response Director. York currently serves as the executive pastor at Gulf Breeze UMC. He will continue to...

October 18, 2018

AWF Disaster Response to Hurricane Michael: A Glance One Week After the Storm

On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael raged ashore making landfall in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. The catastrophic damage is far-reaching and the recovery process will be a long-term effort that the United Methodist ...

October 18, 2018

Gift will match up to $500,000 in Hurricane Michael donations

Sisters and Brothers in the Florida Conference, Thank you for your response thus far to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the United Methodist churches of the panhandle of Florida. Many of you began to receive offerings ...

October 17, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 17, 2018

Many of you have expressed interest in how you can immediately help the survivors of Hurricane Michael. Prayer, monetary donations directly to the conference and supplies are ways you can help now. The United Methodist Church has ...

October 15, 2018

Hurricane Michael Disaster Response, October 15, 2018

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to the conference newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe from Hurricane Michael updates, you may do so by following the unsubscribe link. Please carefully select your options...

October 11, 2018

Hurricane Michael Aftermath Update

10.30.18 Updated at 10:31am to include update on Parker UMC 10.22.18 Updated at 7:46am to include Williams Memorial status 10.19.18 Updated at 7:55pm to include status of Shady Grove UMC, Grand Ridge UMC and Altha UMC.  Updated ...

October 10, 2018

Hurricane Michael Recovery

The Alabama-West Florida Conference continues to collect reports from our churches, clergy and families and is preparing the best ways to help in the immediate and long-term aftermath. Churches should report damage to their ...

October 08, 2018

AWF Hurricane Michael Update

Hurricane Michael continues to gain strength in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to make landfall in or near the bounds of the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Our Conference Disaster Response Ministry is active in preparations ...

October 02, 2018

A Video Message from Bishop Graves: Conference Staff Priorities

October 2, 2018 We invite you to watch a video message from Bishop David Graves related to conference staff priorities. Click here to view. Click here to read transcript.  You may also listen to this message as an audio-only ...

September 18, 2018

A Second-year Reflection Interview with Bishop Graves

September 18, 2018 We celebrate the two-year anniversary of Bishop David W. Graves being assigned and installed to the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Hear more from him in this interview with Mary Catherine Phillips, AWF ...

September 17, 2018

Alabama-West Florida Conference announces top priorities

September 17, 2018 In an effort to better align the work and focus of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, Bishop David Graves, the extended cabinet, and the Compass leadership team (ministry area directors) have released four ...

September 16, 2018

Hurricane Florence update

Thank you for your prayers for those who have been affected by the winds, storms, and floods brought by Hurricane Florence in South Carolina, North Carolina, and its continued path up the east coast. ERT Teams: Our AWF conference ...

September 12, 2018

Conference Seeks Event Input

September 12, 2018 In an attempt to study and obtain data on conference-sponsored events, we invite you to take a brief survey. One of our goals at the Alabama-West Florida Conference office is to make the best use of our clergy ...

August 29, 2018

Winners and Losers

(Bishop David Graves for The Montgomery Advertiser) - Football season has kicked off for high school and college with the pro ranks soon to follow. Each week until the Super Bowl, which will take place the first Sunday of ...

August 28, 2018

Commission on the General Conference determines petition process

Nashville, Tenn.: The Commission on the General Conference has outlined a process for determining if petitions submitted to the 2019 Special Session of the General Conference are in harmony with the Council of Bishops’ amended ...

August 24, 2018

Foundation Celebrates Milestone: $10 Million Goal Realized!

(SSSEF) - On Thursday, August 9, 2018, the Stegall Seminary Scholarship Endowment Foundation celebrated its 11th year in ministry at the annual Dinner of Celebration. The banquet, held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown ...

August 01, 2018

New Director Named for Communities of Transformation

The Alabama-West Florida Conference and Communities of Transformation (COT) are excited to announce the hiring of a new Conference Director of COT, Ms. Katy Wrona. A leadership team from the conference and COT interviewed several ...

August 01, 2018

A Statement from Bishop David Graves

To complete the process of the complaints against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the following decision has been made:  The judicial process of The United Methodist Church cannot be used in the matter of United States Attorney ...

July 31, 2018

Way Forward report released in all four official languages of General Conference

(COB) – The final report of the Commission on a Way Forward has been released in all four official languages of the General Conference: English, French, Portuguese and Swahili.  The report will be presented to the 2019 Special ...

July 27, 2018

The Montgomery Advertiser Column: Revive Us Again

(Bishop David Graves) - In the middle of the Civil War between the North and South, William Parton (W.P.) Mackay wrote a song entitled, “Revive Us Again.” His song appeared in many church hymnals over the next two centuries and is...

July 26, 2018

Join Bishop Graves at a Town Hall Meeting Near You

July 26, 2018 Friends,  I hope you are enjoying your summer with friends and family. This conference is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! If you were in attendance at the 2018 session of the AWF Annual ...

July 24, 2018

Land donation to help with Casa de Dios expansion

(Kari C. Barlow for the AWF Conference) - One year after Casa de Dios Gateway of Heaven Church found a permanent home in Pensacola, it’s celebrating another major milestone.   The growing congregation was recently presented with ...

July 19, 2018

A Word From Bishop Graves: Judicial Council Docket and Church Plan Models

July 18, 2018 Clergy and Lay Members of the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, Greetings! On July 9th, I shared with the AWF Conference about the delay in the release of the Commission on A Way Forward Report. Originally, I ...

July 17, 2018

Judicial Council releases October docket, details on proposed plans

(UMNS) - A request by the United Methodist Council of Bishops for a ruling on the constitutionality of three legislative plans heading to the 2019 special General Conference is among the docket items being considered this fall by ...

July 13, 2018

Alabama Rural Ministry Hosts Works Teams Over Summer Break

Over the past five weeks (and two more to go), Alabama Rural Ministry (ARM) has hosted several youth mission teams engaged in home repair and children’s ministry. The following churches from our Annual Conference have sent teams: ...

July 11, 2018

Students Discern Call to Ministry in HLA 2018

Montgomery, Ala.—Twenty-one high school students from 15 regional churches participated in the Huntingdon Leadership Academy at Huntingdon College, June 24–29.  The students, from rising high school sophomores to seniors, devoted ...

July 09, 2018

A Message from Bishop Graves to all AWF Clergy and Lay Members to Annual Conference

To the Clergy and Lay Members of the Alabama-West Florida Conference:   As we embark on a new conference year, I want to inform you of the status of the Commission on the Way Forward and Council of Bishops’ Report that was to be ...

June 28, 2018

A Statement from Bishop David Graves

At this time, the Alabama-West Florida Conference has received numerous complaints related to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The United Methodist Book of Discipline outlines how these complaints against a lay church member will ...

June 26, 2018

More Than Conquerors: Elderly outreach thrives at New Hope UMC

(Kari Barlow for the AWF) - Facing old age can be frightening, but at New Hope UMC in Theodore, the congregation’s most senior members—and the people who serve them—have become More Than Conquerors.   That’s the name of the ...

June 26, 2018

United Methodist Bishops ask Philippines government to release UMC missionaries

WASHINGTON, D.C.   -  The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church today issued the following statement pertaining to three United Methodist missionaries who have been prevented from leaving the Republic of the ...

June 21, 2018

Discouraged? All of us have faced it but we don't need to stay that way

(Bishop Graves for the Montgomery Advertiser) -  All of us go through times of discouragement and disappointment. At times, things don’t turn out the way we thought or planned. Moreover, situations arise that turn our life upside ...

June 21, 2018

QuadW Missional Outreach receives $100,000 Young Clergy Initiative Grant for Skunkworks Project

QuadW Missional Outreach is pleased to announce receipt of a $100,000 grant from the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. This grant will support the launch of the “QuadW Missional Residencies ...

June 20, 2018

Joint statement from Texas bishops on separated families

We are heartened to see President Trump sign an executive order today ending his administration’s policy of separating families at the border. Furthermore, we commend him for taking this action and putting the needs of these ...

June 18, 2018

A Statement From Bishop David Graves Regarding Immigration and Family Separation

As the Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, it deeply troubles me and burdens my heart that innocent immigrant children are being separated from their parents. It was difficult to celebrate...

June 15, 2018

Alabama-West Florida Conference Statement on Immigration and Family Separation

As United Methodists, we look to scripture and our social principles to guide our thinking and actions in regards to social justice issues. Specifically, the social principles state about immigration, “The United Methodist Church ...

June 07, 2018

2018 Annual Conference: In Review

The 2018 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference was held June 3-6 in Montgomery, AL, with the theme, "Imagine A Church That's the Hope of the World." Bishop David Graves, presiding over his second annual conference session since ...
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