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The North Alabama Conference is an Annual Conference (a regional episcopal area, similar to a diocese) of the United Methodist Church.
This conference serves approximately 300 UMCs in the northern half of the state of Alabama, [1] with its administrative offices and the office of the bishop located in Birmingham, AL. It is part of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. The bishop is the Reverend L. Jonathan Holston.
The North Alabama Annual Conference is further subdivided into eight smaller regions, called "districts," which provide further administrative functions for the operation of local churches in cooperation with each other. This structure is vital to Methodism, and is referred to as connectionalism. The Districts that comprise the North Alabama Conference are: Central, Cheaha, Mountain Lakes, Northeast, Northwest, South Central, Southeast, and Southwest. [2] It used to include the former districts of: Albertsville District, Huntsville District, and Gadsden District.
The 2023 conference saw the official disaffiliation of 132 congregations, following ongoing discussions about the UMC's stance on homosexuality. [3] [4] Most of the congregations went on to form the Global Methodist Church. [5]