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2009 Annual Conference

The Alabama - West Florida 2009 Annual Conference 
will be held June 7-10 at Frazer Memorial UMC in Montgomery, Ala.

"Partnership in the Gospel - Celebrating Together" 

 

Conference Quick Links 

Special Awards and Recognitions - A Celebration
Alice Lee Award:   Ruth Ann Powers spoke about the mission of COSROW and presented the Alice Lee Award to Rev. Mary Elizabeth “Libba” Stinson.   A special video presentation was shown featuring Alice Lee, for whom the award is named.

Denman Evangelism Awards:  Rev. Grant Parker introduced Lane Rees, Board Chairperson of The Foundation for Evangelism for the United Methodist Church.  Mr. Rees presented the laity award to Bill Harris of Trinity United Methodist Church and the clergy award to Rev. Jason Adams of St. Luke United Methodist Church, Pensacola, Florida. 

Local Church Heritage Award:  Rev. Ed Shirley, chairperson, Commission on Archives and History, presented the Local Church Heritage Award to Daphne United Methodist Church, Daphne, Alabama.

Annual Conference Presentation:  Rev. Mike McKnight, Director of Connectional Ministries, described the work of the connectional ministries office and introduced the staff.  He presented a special award to Curtis Henderson, recognizing his sixteen years of service as a member of the connectional ministries staff.

Representative of Historic Black Colleges:   Susan Hunt , Director of Mission, Advocacy and Ethnic Ministries,  introduced Courtneika Hudson, a student at Payne College and a 2009 Black College Fund Ambassador.   Ms. Hudson addressed the conference.

Foundation Scholar:   Terri Turner, executive director of the United Methodist Foundation, presented a brief report, including ministerial scholarships information.  She then introduced the first Foundation Scholar, Rev. Matt O’Reilly.

Pre-Conference Letter to All Clergy and Lay Members
Delegate Letter, March 2009

Conference Secretary
Dr. Shirley Woodie, swoodie171@charter.net

Brochure of Reports
Click here to download the 2009 Brochure of Reports (please note: this is a large PDF file that may take a few moments to download).

Direct Billing Proposal
Click here to view a Q&A document concerning the Conference Board of Pensions Task Force on Health Insurance Premiums & Pension Contributions proposal to the 2009 Annual Conference. This is a valuable document to conference members.

**Watch a brief video discussing the Direct Bill proposal (click the play button below):

Special Guests

  • Dr. Jason Borders - morning Bible study leader: Who is He and Who are We? - Messiahship and Discipleship in Luke 9:18-27
  • Bishop Joseph E. Pennel (retired) - preacher for the Service of Ordination and Commissioning:
    The Inadequacy of Words, John 1: 1-18 
  • Rev. Jim Harnish - Teaching Pastor: Transformed Leadership for Transforming Congregations. 
    The mission of the United Methodist Church calls us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the "transformation of the world." Jim Harnish believes that the transformation of the world begins in the hearts of transformed leaders who are used by God to transform their congregations into vibrant communities that can be used by God for the transformation of the world. He will be sharing practical lessons he has learned about that kind of leadership from his experience as the pastor of a century-old congregation which has experienced that kind of transformation as described in his book, "You Only Have to Die." 

Latest News
Get your news in two new ways:

Host Church: Frazer Memorial UMC
Click here for driving directions and here to view a campus map of Frazer Memorial UMC. All worship services will take place in the sanctuary. All business sessions will take place in Wesley Hall. All meals will be served in the fellowship hall.

Laity Banquet Features Steele Brothers & Mary Ellen Bullard Laity Address
(Dr. Steve Furr, Conference Lay Leader) Laity and clergy are invited to attend the laity banquet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9 at Frazer. We are fortunate to have two talented brothers as our guest speakers. Jeff Steele is the Associate Athletics Director for Facilities and Operations at Auburn University. His brother, Kevin Steele, most recently the associate head coach and head coach of the defense at the University of Alabama, is the defensive Coordinator for the Clemson Tigers. This is the first time that this talk will be given the title of the Mary Ellen Bullard Leadership Address. The Bullard family will be present in honor of the event. Bishop Leeland and our scouting coordinator will be presenting the bishops award for scouting to one of our conference churches. Come and be inspired and renewed!

Childcare & Vacation Bible School
Due to a lack of registrations, the childcare and VBS have been cancelled for this year's Annual Conference sessions. Childcare during worship services will still be available; contact Frazer UMC and Montgomery FUMC directly for information.

Constitutional Amendments
Constitutional Amendments will be voted on during the 2009 session of the AWF Annual Conference. These proposed amendments from the 2008 General Conference may be debated but not amended. For a PDF document of all proposed amendments, please click here. *(There is an error in Amendment XXV at the top of page 18  this document. The reference in the second paragraph in two places [one relating to the 2004 Discipline and the other to the 2008] should be to Article II and not Article I as printed).

For a PDF document of the rationale behind all of the proposed amendments, please click here.

  • Frequently Asked Questions regarding Constitutional Amendments (PDF Document)
  • Articles from Interpreter magazine concerning the Constitutional Amendments:
    Article by Rich Peck                
    Article by Scott Jones             
    Article by Eddie Fox                

Special Offering: Blue Lake United Methodist Assembly Campaign
Bishop Leeland has named the conference's Blue Lake United Methodist Assembly as the recipient of the 2009 Annual Conference Special Mission Offering. Read a letter that he wrote to all clergy concerning the campaign.

Click here to download a bulletin insert to use in your congregation.

Churches should collect donations toward the special offering in advance, make one check payable to the AWF Conference (marked "AC 2009 Special Offering"), and present it at Opening Worship on Sunday, June 7.

Conference Companion
In 2009, the AWF Conference Resource Center has once again created a journal where delegates can record the happenings of Annual Conference in order to formulate their report to their local church. Click here to download (a copy will also be available in each delegate packet upon registration).

Service of Ordination & Commissioning
The Service of Ordination & Commissioning will be held Monday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Montgomery.

First United Methodist Church of Montgomery plans to broadcast the Service of Ordination and Commissioning live via the internet. To view the internet broadcast of the service on Monday, June 8, follow the following steps:
1.        The broadcast starts at 7:00 p.m., CST, at which time the Choirs of First UMC will present a pre-service concert. The Ordination/Commissioning Service begins at 7:30 p.m.
2.       Go to the website of First UMC: www.fumcmontgomery.org
3.       Click on the blue circle that reads: “Click on the icon above to view our 11:00 am Sunday service”
4.       This will take you to the live broadcast. 

The only factor that might interrupt coverage is in the unlikely event that WSFA-TV has to break away in order to cover a breaking news story in the area. But WSFA feels there is a 99% certainty that all will go as planned.

Housing

Pictorial Directory Photos To Be Taken in 2009
The AWF Conference will be taking clergy photographs to be included in the 2009 clergy photo directory at this session of the Annual Conference. If you are a clergy member of the annual conference, please make every effort to have your photo taken on either Monday or Tuesday at Frazer UMC. Click here to view an informational flyer.

Live Online Streaming

Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church will make the following services availabele via live internet streaming:

  • Sunday, June 7, 7 p.m. - Opening Worship
  • Monday, June 8, 10:45 a.m. - Memorial Service


To access the streaming, please visit www.frazerumc.org/live . *Please note, the link will only work during the specific times listed above.

First United Methodist Church of Montgomery plans to broadcast the Service of Ordination and Commissioning live via the internet. To view the internet broadcast of the service on Monday, June 8, follow the following steps:
1.        The broadcast starts at 7:00 p.m., CST, at which time the Choirs of First UMC will present a pre-service concert. The Ordination/Commissioning Service begins at 7:30 p.m.
2.       Go to the website of First UMC: www.fumcmontgomery.org
3.       Click on the blue circle that reads: “Click on the icon above to view our 11:00 am Sunday service”
4.       This will take you to the live broadcast. 

The only factor that might interrupt coverage is in the unlikely event that WSFA-TV has to break away in order to cover a breaking news story in the area. But WSFA feels there is a 99% certainty that all will go as planned.

Special Meals, Booths/Displays , and Delegate Packet Information
If you need to coordinate a special meal, reserve a display booth space, and/or have information supplied for the delegate packets, please contact Rev. Ed Deabler 

News To Note

Deadlines

  • Information to be included in the Brochure of Reports - March 9. Contact: Traci Herndon
  • The deadline for resolutions and petitions is 30 days prior to the start of Annual Conference (page 279 of the 2008 AWF Conference Journal; SR No. 4), which would be May 7. However, to be included in the printed Brochure of Reports, it would need to be turned in by March 9.
  • Information to be placed in delegate packets - June 1 (must have prior approval from Rev. Ed Deabler)

Jane Walker Scholarship
$1000 Scholarship Opportunity for Women of the AWF Conference, provided by COSROW. Full details here.

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