News (The 20 most recent)

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Bishop Names Daniel to the AWF Conference Cabinet
Written: 3/21/2010
(Montgomery, Ala.) Bishop Paul L. Leeland announces today that Rev. Gary Daniel has  been appointed as the District Superintendent of the Marianna – Panama City District of the Alabama – West Florida (AWF) Conference, effective July 1, 2010. Currently serving as the Senior Pastor...

Comfort and Joy: A Letter from Bishop Paul Leeland
Written: 3/19/2010
(Bishop Paul L. Leeland) As I prepare for the annual session of making pastoral appointments for our Alabama-West Florida Conference, I am reminded of how this appointment making season may allow our anxiety and fear to increase in the face of an uncertain future. Like so many others, I, too, want t...

COSROW Offers Scholarship, Leadership Award for Women
Written: 3/11/2010
(Ruth Ann Powers, COSROW President) The Alabama - West Florida Conference Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) invites women of the conference to apply for two recognitions to be presented at the 2010 Annual Conference Session. The Alice Lee Award is an annual award recognizing ...

Bishop Names Pridgeon to the AWF Conference Cabinet
Written: 2/16/2010
(Montgomery, Ala.) Bishop Paul L. Leeland announces today that Rev. Jeremy Pridgeon has been appointed as the District Superintendent of the Pensacola District of the Alabama – West Florida (AWF) Conference, effective July 1, 2010. Currently serving as the Senior Pastor of First United Method...

Thompson Named as Pastor of Frazer UMC
Written: 2/7/2010
 February 7, 2010 (Montgomery, Ala.) Bishop Paul L. Leeland announces today that Dr. Timothy H. Thompson has been appointed as Pastor of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church (Montgomery, Ala.), effective March 1. “After multiple consultations with the lay leadership of Frazer UMC, a ...

Church Mission Spotlight: Perry Hill UMC
Written: 1/27/2010
Click here to see additional photos of this ministry. (Montgomery, Ala.) When Rev. Rudy Olivo first went to Perry Hill UMC in Montgomery, Ala., he spent some time listening to his new congregation to find out what was important to them. Out of the many hours of listening and praying and l...

Bishop Challenges Conference to 'Give it all'
Written: 1/27/2010
UMCOR vehicles prepare to enter Haiti at the Haiti/Dominican Republic border. Photo credit: Mike DuBose/UMNS (Bishop Paul L. Leeland) I, along with our entire church, was stunned to hear the disappointing news that Dr. Sam Dixon, Director of theUnited Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR), did not ...

We Will Be There
Written: 1/27/2010
Haitians are shown how to purify their drinking water after the Jan. 12 earthquake. Photo Credit: Mike Dubose, UMNS (Susan Hunt, AWF Conference Director of Mission, Advocacy, and Ethnic Ministries)  Like many of you, I have watched the news about the situation in Haiti with a heavy h...

Agency Spotlight: Alabama Rural Ministries
Written: 1/27/2010
A volunteer group from Christ UMC, Mobile, AL, gathers with Cassandra on her front porch. Photo courtesy of Lisa Pierce. (Lisa Pierce, ARM Director) How do we measure the impact of any ministry as it serves within the community? It can be a great challenge if we try to quantify “fruit&r...

Conference Hispanic/Latino Ministries Thrive in 2009 Thanks to YOU!
Written: 1/26/2010
My Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ, First, Happy 2010 to all! I want to express my gratitude for your generous, missional heart for Hispanic-Latino Ministries. Your giving for 2009 totaled $4,399.22. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your connectional dollars contributed to fund mission i...

Grow Your Church With Natural Church Development
Written: 1/26/2010
(Barbara Sadler) “In all my years of ministry I have never felt so much a part of a team with my congregation as I have with this process.” So said The Reverend John Wesley Spivey upon completion of the first year of using Natural Church Development (NCD) as a growth process for Bra...

Situations are Not Always How They First Appear
Written: 1/25/2010
(Glenn Glover, Conference UMVIM Coordinator) It was a cold, rainy, and dark December morning. My wife, Flavin, and I had finished breakfast and were about to dress for our church’s 8 a.m. service. It had been windy the night before, so looking out the kitchen window I was not surpris...

B.J.'s Story: The UM Inner City Mission
Written: 1/25/2010
(Tonny Algood, UMICM Director) This past summer the United Methodist Inner City Mission took 38 boys and girls to Blue Lake for Camp Discovery. This was the best camp that we have ever had. The student counselors at Blue Lake did an excellent job working with our children. The se...

Conference Organizes UMVIM Teams to Haiti
Written: 1/20/2010
(Glenn Glover) The AWF Conference plans to develop one or more Conference-wide teams with the purpose of not only serving the people of Haiti, but also training team members to serve as future team leaders in this long-term recovery effort.  UMVIM is requiring that, at least for a while, any te...

Haiti Emergency: UMCOR Is There
Written: 1/15/2010
Click here for the latest in news related to the UMCOR relief efforts in Haiti. Photo: Reuters/Alertnet.org...

Transform Your Church with Three Pathways: Bishop Announces 2010 Emphasis
Written: 1/7/2010
(Bishop Paul L. Leeland) Holiness of heart. Holiness of life. These are the expressions of God’s Spirit at work within us. What often escapes our attention is the simple way in which this process of molding our hearts and lives into the image of Jesus takes place. While thi...

Missioners Preparing to Swarm to the Beehive
Written: 1/6/2010
(Bishop Paul L. Leeland) If you are a member of a United Methodist Church in Mobile, Ala., there is a good chance your congregation was started with the help of Government Street United Methodist Church. The Christian mission and passion to start Methodist congregations from within the Government S...

Mielke Named as Youth Director of FUMC Prattville
Written: 12/22/2009
(Montgomery, Ala.) Nick Mielke, Alabama - West Florida Conference Director of Youth Ministries, has been named as the new Director of Youth Ministries at First United Methodist Church of Prattville, Ala. Mielke's new position begins January 1, 2010. "Nick's leadership will certainly...

UMCH Bids Farewell to Selma Campus; Ministry Continues
Written: 12/21/2009
UMCH Bids Farewell to Its Selma Campus But Our Ministry Continues & Remains Open to All God's Children!   (UMCH) - In today’s childcare environment, the days of large campus and institutional-style care are quickly fading. Fewer children are being referred to large campuses – ...

Bishop Leeland offers 2009 Christmas Blessing
Written: 12/17/2009
Christmas Blessing 2009   The words of St. Luke resound again in churches, homes, and communities during this season of Advent: “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among all w...