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Disaster Response and Recovery
Higher Education & Campus Ministry
Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty
7/3/2019
Dear Friends, My husband Lee and I were serving as clergy in the Kentucky Conference when we received an invitation from our Bishop, Robert C. Morgan, to participate in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. After my parents offered to care for our 7 and 5-year-old children while we were away, Lee and I registered for the pilgrimage. We are both glad that we did, as this ten-day pilgrimage proved to be life-changing. Since then, Lee and I have taken four additional journeys to Israel, three of which ...
6/13/2019
Dear Friends, “And Are We Yet Alive?” Methodists have opened Annual Conferences with a rendition of this powerful Charles Wesley hymn since our inception in the late 1700s. As we sang this question at the opening worship service of the 2019 North Alabama Conference, the answer was evident. Yes, the North Alabama Conference is alive, energetic, diverse, principled and committed. We also are a Conference consisting of persons with varying perspectives on many matters. Our life together is not easy...
5/14/2019
Dear Friends, The Spring 2019 Council of Bishops meeting took place May 5-9 in Chicago. Throughout the meeting I experienced rich covenant group sharing, meaningful worship and candid discussion about the present and future of the United Methodist Church. The Council of Bishops intentionally put hope in the center of our conversation even as we grappled with the reality of the deep differences and brokenness that exist in our beloved United Methodist Church. A summary of the week’s outcome can ...
4/21/2019
Dear Friends, I have a deep appreciation for Charles Wesley, brother of Methodism’s founder, John. A prolific hymn writer and gifted musician, Charles penned more than 6,000 hymns, many of which continue to speak deep theological truths to us today. One of my favorite Wesley hymns is “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”* The words are particularly meaningful to me this Easter season against the backdrop of challenges like my Dad’s recent death, the conflict in our beloved United Methodist Church ...
4/4/2019
Dear Friends, Thank you so much for the many ways in which you have reached out to my family and me in the recent death of my father, Rev. Frank Wallace. We appreciate your expressions of support and love during this time when we are celebrating Dad’s life and grieving his death. The many e-mails, texts, cards, floral arrangements, phone calls and visits have touched us greatly. Your kindness has been a comfort to us in our loss. Again, thanks for your thoughtfulness. As always, it is a ...
2/27/2019
Photo by Kathleen Barry, UMNS Below is a video message from Bishop Wallace-Padgett from St. Louis following the close of the Special Session of General Conference. Transcript: Hello. I am Debra Wallace-Padgett, resident bishop of the North Alabama Conference. I am speaking from St. Louis, Missouri, a few hours after our special General Conference has concluded. This week has taken several twists and turns, leaving participants, leaders and observers fatigued. Some in our church are grateful ...
2/18/2019
Dear Friends, As always, it is a privilege to serve as your bishop. You may recognize the previous sentence as a way in which I typically conclude my blogs. It is more than that, though. It is also a deep-felt expression of how I feel about serving as your episcopal leader. Granted, sometimes I am disappointed and frustrated by situations related to our ministry together. I am sure that many of you are too. Mostly, though, you and your ministries inspire and encourage me! Why? Baptisms, ...
2/1/2019
Dear Friends, The purpose of the following video blog is to answer some questions about the ins and outs of our upcoming Special Session of General Conference. Introduction What is General Conference? Who votes at the 2019 Special Session? What will be determined at the 2019 Special Session of General Conference? When will any changes go into effect? Dates to Remember As always, it is a privilege to serve as your bishop. Blessings, Debra Wallace-Padgett Resident Bishop North Alabama ...
1/15/2019
Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As January marches on, the eyes of many United Methodists turn to the upcoming February 23-26 Special Called General Conference. This gathering will potentially shape our United Methodist Church’s approach to ordination criteria and same gender weddings for the foreseeable future and also define what unity means in our 21st century global church. Three plans are included in the Commission on a Way Forward report that...
1/2/2019
Dear Friends, The New Year stretching before us is clean, fresh and ready to experience! Indeed the arrival of a new year inspires many of us to resolve to make positive life changes. This is why I spend some time at the beginning of most years writing “resolutions.” This year I am incorporating my resolutions into “a rule of life” that I first developed last spring in preparation for the executive clergy session of the 2018 North Alabama Annual Conference. My new and improved “rule of life” ...
