News

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to participate in a service of celebrating the episcopal assignment of Bishop David William Graves at First United Methodist Church in Montgomery. Gathered tightly in the good company of ...

(Montgomery, AL) - Bishop David W. Graves was officially installed as resident bishop Sunday afternoon, September 11, 2016. A capacity crowd filled the beautiful cathedral sanctuary of Montgomery FUMC in Cloverdale Park.  The ...

We invite you to hear a word from Bishop David Graves, Resident Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference. Click here to watch video. 

The Alabama-West Florida Conference would like to congratulate Clara Ester on her election as the National United Methodist Women Vice President. Ester was elected at the national meeting on August 29, 2016, in Houston, TX. ...

Perhaps you’ve seen the hundreds of back-to-school photos in your news feed over the past month? Today is the official “First Day of Bishop” for Bishop David Graves in the Alabama-West Florida Conference and new Bishops around the...

As many of you have seen in the news, tropical storm Hermine has now been upgraded to a hurricane as of this afternoon. At this time we do not expect this storm to make a significant impact on the Alabama-West Florida Conference. ...

Beverly Maddox was elected the new Alabama-West Florida Conference lay leader at the 2016 Annual Conference session. The AWF Office of Communications sat down with her to learn more about her ministry and passion for our ...

Please join us to welcome Bishop and Mrs. David Graves on Sunday, September 11 and Sunday, September 18, 2016. 

(Susan Hunt) - Our hearts are broken with the news of severe flooding in Louisiana over the last several days. Thousands of people have been displaced and are in temporary shelters after over two feet of rain fell in a short span ...

When our Alabama-West Florida Conference Cabinet met several weeks ago, I shared St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians as a reminder of the joy and the journey that we have shared together over the last eight years. Following the ...

Dear Members of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Nancy and I are so excited to join you in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. The week of July 12-15 was ...

An overflow crowd gathered on the afternoon of Sunday, August 14, 2016, to say farewell to Bishop and Mrs. Paul Leeland. Clergy, spouses, lay leaders, conference staff and friends of the Leelands were welcomed by the staff and ...

Bishop Paul L. Leeland, in consultation with Bishop David Graves, is pleased to announce several appointments in the Alabama-West Florida Conference that are the result of Bishop Lawson Bryan’s episcopal election and assignment to...

Over eighty youth from Dadeville UMC, Dothan FUMC, Destin UMC, Greenville FUMC and Woodland UMC gathered at Blue Lake Camp for the Oakwood Experience. The Oakwood Experience began over 30 years ago in the AWF Conference with ...

The Rev. David Graves has been assigned to the Alabama-West Florida Conference and will serve as its bishop for the next four years. The assignment begins Sept. 1. Senior pastor of Church Street United Methodist Church in ...

There is no place in Methodism that has seen more episcopal elections than Stuart Auditorium on the campus of Lake Junaluska. By the close of the afternoon session July 13, five new bishops had been elected in the historic ...

Dr. Robert Lawson Bryan, of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, has been elected a bishop by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of the The United Methodist Church. He is the fourth bishop elected at the 2016 Southeastern ...

Still, it continues... The tragic deaths and continued violence reported daily appear to be creating a numbness in which we are becoming apathetic to the horrible events that destroy lives and community. In an atmosphere of fear ...

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has not been in the news headlines as much recently, but the people who live there are still affected and will be dealing with the problems for years to come. Lead-tainted water, infrastructure...

The 2016 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference was held June 12-15 in Montgomery, AL, with the theme, "The Great Commission: Sending Disciples." Bishop Paul L. Leeland, presiding over his eighth annual conference session since ...

In the News Full Recap and Bulletin Insert coming this Thursday! Stay tuned to www.awfumc.org/2016annualconference for an informative bulletin insert. It is printer friendly and we encourage you to share it with your local ...

In the News Morning Teaching Sessions: Dr. Kevin Watson, Assistant Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies at Candler School of Theology, led two morning teaching sessions titled "No Holiness but Social Holiness: The Theology ...

In the News Service of Remembrance and Holy Communion: Thirty clergy and clergy spouses who passed since the 2015 AWF Annual Conference session were remembered today during the Service of Remembrance and Holy Communion. Bishop ...

In the News Opening Worship: A capacity crowd attended the Opening Worship Service of the 2016 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference session, which was held Sunday evening, June 12, in the sanctuary of Frazer Memorial UMC in ...

The 2016 meeting of the Southeastern Jurisdiction (SEJ) United Methodist Women was held June 1-3, 2016, in Charleston, South Carolina. The theme was, "A Fresh Wind Blowing." At this meeting, two Alabama-West Florida Conference ...

Guide to Annual Conference  The Guide to Annual Conference is now available for download. It contains all orders of worship and special announcements pertinent to annual conference. Printed bulletins will not be available so ...

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,   The General Conference of The United Methodist Church always creates great expectations and hopes for our denomination. This hope was certainly embraced by the 2016 General Conference held in...

The North Alabama Conference and the Alabama–West Florida Conference will jointly sponsor a “United Methodist Lawyers’ Forum”, to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 22, 2016.  The Forum, which will be free to all United...

General Conference delegates acted on hundreds of pieces of legislation, taking part in debates, prayerfully discerning options, and sometimes simply voting yes to consent calendars. Some of the notable legislation from GC2016 is ...

Washington, D.C.: Reviving a tradition that is more than 200 years old, the United Methodist Council of Bishops sent this letter today to the people of The United Methodist Church following the 2016 General Conference, held in ...

Rev. Ashley Meyer, associate pastor at Cokesbury UMC in Pensacola, FL, is serving as volunteer staff for the 2016 General Conference Secretary office. She also served in this capacity at GC 2012 in Tampa, FL.  This office is ...

The Alabama-West Florida General Conference delegation is comprised of ten delegates; half clergy and half lay. In addition to these ten persons, the AWF elected an additional ten Jurisdictional Conference delegates at Annual ...

The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women celebrated two milestones within the life of the United Methodist Church at an order of the day in today's plenary session at General Conference 2016. Narrated by Rev. Grace ...

Dr. Lawson Bryan, senior minister at Montgomery FUMC and AWF Episcopal Candidate, spoke to the Southeastern Jurisdiction today, May 18, 2016. Delegates and guests have gathered for the past two days during the lunch break to hear ...

Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the Council of Bishops and leader of the Minnesota Conference, addressed the General Conference today, May 18, 2016. He presented, "An Offering for a New Way Forward" to the plenary floor, as a ...

Prayer has proven to be an integral part of General Conference 2016. The Upper Room sponsored “60 Days of Prayer” leading up to this quadrennial meeting and asked conferences and local churches from around the world to participate...

Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the Council of Bishops and leader of the Minnesota Conference, addressed the General Conference today, asking for a point of privilege to discuss rumors of a plan for schism.  Bishop Ough ...

As part of the opening worship service at General Conference on Monday, May 16, 2016, United Methodist Deaconesses and Home Missioners were consecrated into ministry. Clara Ester, a retired deaconess in the Alabama-West Florida ...

Dr. Steve Furr, AWF lay leader and delegate head, was elected as the Southeastern Jurisdictional Representative for the Commission on General Conference today, May 16, 2016. Furr joins twenty-four delegates from other ...

On Thursday morning delegates returned to the discussion on the alternative legislative discernment process known as Rule 44. After much discussion, delegates voted against Rule 44 with a vote of 355 for (43%) and 477 against ...

Today began the legislative process of General Conference with delegates meeting in their assigned committees. Each legislative committee elects a chair, vice-chair and secretary. In addition, if the legislative committee votes to...

In ordering their work on Tuesday, May 10, the 2016 General Conference delegates adopted all but one rule recommended by the commission that plans The United Methodist Church’s legislative gathering. This rule, known as Rule 44, ...

  General Conference 2016 Begins Tomorrow General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church which meets once every four years. The 2016 General Conference will meet at the Oregon Convention Center in ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

(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,...

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...

(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 ...

(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...