News

April 21, 2022

Bishop Calls AWF Special Session

Bishop David Graves, episcopal leader of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, in accordance with ¶603.5 of the 2016 Book of Discipline, calls for a special session of the annual conference on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ...

April 05, 2022

Special Edition of the NewsCONNECTION: UMC Q&A with Bishop Graves

Bishop David Graves and Mary Catherine Phillips recently gathered to discuss several important topics related to the UMC. We strongly encourage you to watch this video and reach out to your pastor, district superintendent or ...

March 31, 2022

Judicial Council Memorandum Number 1433

IN RE: Clarification of Judicial Council Decision 1421 For the purpose of clarification, the Judicial Council on its own motion modifies its ruling in JCD 1421 as follows: The language of the Digest and Ruling of JCD 1421 is ...

March 17, 2022

2022 Annual Conference Registration Now Live

Registration for 2022 Annual Conference is now live. The clergy and laity sessions will be held on May 15, 2022, via Zoom and the main session is June 12-15, 2022, at the Alabama State University Acadome. Click the below links to ...

March 09, 2022

Conference Celebrates Faithful Missional Giving in 2021

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. -Hebrews 10:23   As we approach two full years into the global pandemic, we pause to give thanks to the churches in the Alabama-West ...

March 07, 2022

A Word from Bishop Graves: The postponement of General Conference

Bishop David Graves, resident bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, has responded to the news of General Conference being further postponed until 2024.  Click here to watch video. Click here for written transcript.  In ...

February 08, 2022

Bishop Announces AWF Staff Changes and Cabinet Update

Bishop David Graves, resident bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, has announced two conference staff changes and an update to the cabinet.   Rev. Ashley Davis, current director of connectional ministries and conference ...

February 01, 2022

AWF Training Workshops to Strengthen the Work of the Local Church

The cabinet of the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference is excited to announce 13 training workshops planned to strengthen the clergy and lay leadership of our local churches. These one-hour workshops will be held via zoom ...

January 27, 2022

A Word from Bishop Graves: Appointment Timeline

Colleagues and Friends,  Currently the cabinet, pastors, staff-parish committees, and churches are working on the upcoming appointment year: July 2022 to June 2023. I have found that cabinet transparency is vital in building ...

January 25, 2022

A Word from Bishop Graves: A New Year

January 25, 2022 Friends,   Greetings to you in this new year. I have hit the ground running in this conference and in the South Georgia Conference. Despite the Omicron variant, ministry continues in numerous ways.    There are ...

January 24, 2022

Alabama-West Florida 2022 Annual Conference Information

January 24, 2022 The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church will hold its 2022 Annual Conference session Sunday, June 12-Wednesday, June 15 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on the campus of Alabama State ...

January 06, 2022

Upcoming Annual Conference Deadlines Announced for 2022

Information to be publicized in preparation for the 2022 Annual Conference Session   Please be aware of upcoming deadlines specified in our Standing Rules: Any proposed changes to the Standing Rules should be received in writing ...

December 21, 2021

United Methodists reach settlement in Boy Scouts' Bankruptcy Case

(UMNS) - United Methodist leaders have reached a settlement in the matter of the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) pending bankruptcy proceedings. Upon final court approval, the settlement would resolve any claims of sexual abuse that...

December 13, 2021

How You Can Respond to the Tornado Outbreak

December 13, 2021 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ...

November 29, 2021

'We are truly sorry': Wentworth family laments KKK past with Pensacola faith leaders

(Pensacola News Journal) - With the hot afternoon Florida November sun bearing down, a group of about 50 people gathered at the Hunter Amphitheater at Community Maritime Park on Sunday to participate in an "acknowledgment and ...

November 15, 2021

The Way UMC reaches out to community with soccer league

(Kara Witherow for the AWFUMC) - On sunny Saturday mornings in the fall, the parking lot at The Way United Methodist Church in Pace, Fla. is packed. Children run across the church’s 10 acres, parents cheer, and Rev. Jennifer ...

October 20, 2021

Service of Acknowledgement & Lament Announced

(Pensacola News-Journal) - Last year the public learned that the namesake of the now-former T.T. Wentworth Jr. Florida State Museum was a leader of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s. Now, Wentworth's family and the Wentworth ...

October 09, 2021

GBGM Announces 2021-2022 Multiethnic Ministries Grants

Below you will find information and deadlines on the various grants for 2021-2022 offered by the Multiethnic Ministries Unit at Global Ministries. 2021-2022 Global Ministries Multiethnic Ministries Unit Grants             ...

September 09, 2021

The Louisiana Conference Needs Our Help: Supply and Team Information

Friends in the AWF Conference, First I want to say thank you to all of the churches that have been patiently waiting to help the Louisiana Conference with supplies and teams. I can’t begin to express how much it means to me to ...

September 07, 2021

Alabama-West Florida Conference Gives $100,000 to Louisiana Conference for Ida Response

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. -Isaiah 40:31   Bishop David Graves, resident bishop of the ...

August 30, 2021

Hurricane Ida Disaster Response

August 30, 2021 Friends of the Alabama West Florida Conference,   In light of Hurricane Ida making landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi over the weekend, I wanted to provide you with an update on what we know so far and make you ...

August 17, 2021

Eligibility Rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program

(Wespath) - Effective July 1, 2021, eligibility rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program have been changed. This change creates a new opportunity for clergy members and other employees of not-for-profit ...

August 16, 2021

2021 Charge Conference Information

Dear Pastors, Fall is near and yet again, we are faced with the challenges of COVID-19. Many of you are navigating how to best kickoff your fall programming in your local church. We are all longing for things that feel "normal" ...

August 16, 2021

2021 Hurricane Season Reminders

(Rev. Chris Ackerman) - To our friends, neighbors, and churches in the Alabama-West Florida Conference: As I’m sure you are aware, tropical storm Fred is headed into the Marianna Panama City District today and he’s bringing with ...

August 09, 2021

Q and A interview with Patric Newton, Executive Director of Blue Lake Camp

Blue Lake is excited to announce its new Executive Director starting this month. Patric Newton is no stranger to the camp as he served as the Blue Lake Program Director from 2008-2012. He heard his call to ministry while at a ...

August 05, 2021

Updated COVID Guidelines for the Alabama-West Florida Conference Office

Effective immediately, the Alabama-West Florida Conference Office has reinstated COVID-19 guidelines, previously adopted in March 2020. Click here to read.  While most of these guidelines only affect internal staff, please note ...

August 01, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: COVID transmission rates

August 2, 2021 Clergy friends,   In recent days the COVID transmission rates have drastically increased in some areas of the Alabama-West Florida Conference. We all prayed we would not be back in this scenario yet we are again ...

July 21, 2021

Fraud Alert: Spoofing emails being sent from fake address

The conference office has been notified of a spoofing email as well as a text making the rounds to various Alabama-West Florida United Methodists appearing as a message from Bishop Graves and other conference staff. This most ...

July 20, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: 2021 Charge Conference Season

Friends,   As we move into the second half of 2021, all of us continue to shift, pivot, and adapt our leadership to win people to Jesus and make disciples for the transformation of our corner of the world. A few constants remain ...

July 08, 2021

A Response to the Preliminary Report on the History of the KKK in Pensacola, FL

On Thursday, July 8, 2021, a first preliminary report from the University of West Florida Historic Trust was released. It tells of the history of the Pensacola Ku Klux Klan based on documents discovered in the personal files of ...

June 10, 2021

Annual Conference 2021: In Review

The 2021 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference was virtually held June 6-9 with the theme, "Come to the Table." Bishop David Graves, presiding over his fifth annual conference session since becoming the resident bishop, welcomed ...

June 09, 2021

Annual Conference Day Four, June 9, 2021

Full Recap coming this Thursday! Stay tuned to www.awfumc.org/ac2021 for an an overview of the conference. You may use any content from this review in your local churches.  Morning Worship: The final day of annual conference began...

June 08, 2021

Annual Conference Day Three, June 8, 2021

Morning Worship: Day three of annual conference began with morning worship. Rev. Michael Cobb of Moundville, Stewart and China Grove UMCs offered the call to worship. Rev. Jenni Hendrix of Bethel UMC gave a prayer of illumination....

June 07, 2021

Annual Conference Day Two, June 7, 2021

Morning Worship: For the fourth year at annual conference, each day began with morning worship. Bishop David Graves made this addition so that the conference session would start with a sense of Holy time and carry that ...

June 06, 2021

Annual Conference Day One, June 6, 2021

The 2021 session of annual conference began this afternoon at 4:00pm. Due to the global pandemic, the conference was virtually held once again. To accommodate a revised virtual agenda, the conference began with the Service of ...

June 02, 2021

2021 Annual Conference Pre-conference Information

As previously announced, Annual Conference 2021 will be held virtually through Zoom webinar. The four-day annual conference session will be held June 6-9, 2021. A non-voting live stream option will be available for guests. Click ...

May 26, 2021

Call for Special SEJ Conference

(SEJ) - The College of Bishops of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church, in accordance with ¶521 of the 2016 Book of Discipline, calls for a special session of the jurisdictional conference on July 21, 2021....

May 18, 2021

AWF Disaster Response Update

The Alabama-West Florida Conference continues to respond in several areas of our conference. Below is an update of the disaster response work.  Hurricane Michael Made landfall October 10, 2018 As our UMCOR grant for Hurricane ...

May 17, 2021

Graves Continues as Bishop in Alabama-West Florida Conference, Also Assumes Episcopal Leadership Duties in South Georgia

The Council of Bishops, in conjunctions with the Southeastern Jurisdiction (SEJ), announced the projected Episcopal assignments on May 14, 2021. Click here to read the published assignments.   Bishop David Graves will continue to ...

April 28, 2021

Alabama-West Florida Conference Awarded Grant for Local Church Initiatives

The Community Foundation of South Alabama (CFSA) awarded $268,600 to 22 nonprofit organizations across its service area in Southwest Alabama. These funds will support programs that provide resources and basic needs to those in ...

April 27, 2021

Your Help is Needed: Storm Damage at Blue Lake Camp

This past Saturday, April 23, 2021, Blue Lake was hit by a severe wind storm. As you can see in the photo above, the camp has suffered significant damage from trees falling on the Oakwood Lodge roof. In addition to the trees on ...

April 23, 2021

United Methodist Women Program Advisory Group Hold First Meeting of 2021-2024 Quadrennium

The 2021-2024 United Methodist Women Program Advisory Group gathered via Zoom for its first annual meeting March 11-13, 2021.  This global gathering included United Methodist Women Director, Betty Helms representing the ...

April 19, 2021

UMC, Marianna business owners team up to provide housing

(Kari Barlow for the AWFUMC) - Business owners in the Marianna area have joined forces to make home ownership a reality for several families displaced by Hurricane Michael.   “In Marianna, we are up to 11 brand-new houses,” said ...

April 07, 2021

Bishop Announces 2021-2022 Cabinet and Staff Changes

Bishop David Graves, resident bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, has announced the four district superintendents who will serve and lead the implementation of the new district model, announced on May 5, 2020.   Dr. ...

March 23, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: May 8 Cancellation

Friends,   Yesterday the Council of Bishops announced that the called session of General Conference, to be held on May 8, has been cancelled. The Council of Bishops determined that this was in the best interest of the church.   ...

March 17, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: Updated Appointment Timeline

Connectional friends,   On January 25, 2021, I shared this original timeline of the appointment making process. While the cabinet and I have adhered to this timeline thus far, we will need to adjust our schedule due to the ...

March 16, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: COVID protocols

Friends of the Alabama-West Florida Conference,    One year ago the world began to shut down due to COVID-19. It is an emotional whirlwind to think back on how little we knew about the virus and the implications it would have on ...

March 12, 2021

An Update from the AWF Delegation

Friends in the Alabama-West Florida Conference,  I hope this finds all of our brothers and sisters in the Alabama/West Florida Conference doing well and finding hope in the Lord Jesus Christ during these unusual times. It has now ...

March 01, 2021

A Word from Bishop Graves: A Response to General and Jurisdictional Conference News

Friends and Colleagues,   On Thursday, February 25, 2021, extensive plans related to General and Jurisdictional Conferences were released by the Commission on General Conference and the Council of Bishops. Without a doubt there ...

February 25, 2021

Bishops call Special Session of General Conference, issue timeline forward

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the further postponement of the 2020 General Conference, the Council of Bishops (COB) is calling a Special Session of the General Conference of The United Methodist Church (UMC) to be convened ...
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