Watoola Methodist Church

09/02/2026

New Bishop announced!

Welcome Bishop-Elect Paul Lawler!

The General Conference of the Global Methodist Church elected all 8 of our bishops today!

The Alabama Emerald Coast Conference celebrates the election of the Rev. Paul Lawler as bishop for Episcopal Area 7 of the Global Methodist Church. Area 7 is a global family, bringing together the Alabama Emerald Coast, South Georgia, North Georgia, Central Europe, Zambia, Northern Nigeria, and Venezuela Annual Conferences.

Bishop-elect Lawler brings more than four decades of ministry experience shaped by evangelism, discipleship, church planting, renewal, and a deep commitment to the Great Commission. He serves as Senior Pastor of Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Before coming to Memphis, he served fifteen years as Senior Pastor of Christ Church Birmingham and sixteen years as the founding pastor of Chase Valley Church in Huntsville.

His ministry has looked beyond the walls of the local church. Lawler has helped lead church-planting efforts resulting in hundreds of new congregations among unreached people groups in Asia, and thousands of first-generation believers. He also co-founded the Patricia B. Hammonds Homes of Hope, serving children who have been trafficked or are vulnerable to trafficking in Thailand.

A graduate of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary, Lawler has also served the Global Methodist Church through the Connectional Council, Kingdom Advancement, and strategic planning.

At the heart of his ministry is a conviction that Methodism is not meant merely to be an institution, but a Spirit-filled movement—making disciples, multiplying churches, spreading scriptural holiness, and carrying the Gospel to the nations.

We welcome Bishop-elect Paul Lawler and his wife Missy, and we look forward with great expectation to this next season of ministry ahead! We can’t wait for you to meet him as we plan for him to visit our annual conference as soon as possible.

Please pray for Bishop-elect Paul Lawler and his wife and family as they prepare for this new chapter!

Blessings
Dr Lester Spencer
Conference Superintendent
Alabama Emerald Coast Conference

09/01/2026

Day 2 at General Conference

08/31/2026

Find out how it is going at General Conference in Johannesburg!

08/30/2026

Aug 30, 2026
“A debt to big to pay”
Colossians 2 12-15

08/27/2026

GRIEF SHARE support group sessions begin on Tuesday, Sept. 15th at 6 pm. Meeting every 1st and 3rd Tuesday. GriefShare is a safe, welcoming support group for people grieving the death of a loved one. Each weekly session includes a video seminar, a supportive group discussion, and a workbook for personal study. You are welcome to join at any point during the 13-sessions cycle. Workbooks are $15.

08/23/2026

08/21/2026

ROOTED IN CHRIST Colossians 2:6-7
Last Sunday in response to the message, scripture, and prompting of the Spirit, many of us at Watoola committed to exercising a "spiritual practice" that God is individually leading each of us to try. Such as:

engaging in worship (more often)
seeking Christian education in Sunday School
receiving the Lord's Supper
prayer 3x per day
daily scripture reading
scripture memorization
fasting (food or media)
joining or forming a bible study group
or any other "means of grace"
or spiritual discipline

The best tool for this moment is probably different for each one of us!

Let us remind each other to partake of the resources God has provided to keep our spiritual soil moist and full of nutrients! On this new day, we choose again to employ the activity which God can use to help us. May we always "continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith."

08/10/2026

Colossians 2:2-4, 8-10 “In Christ Alone” Keith Badowski August 9, AD 2026

08/10/2026

Grief is hard, but you don't have to carry it alone.
Watoola's GriefShare is a caring, confidential support group for anyone grieving a loss, and for those who want to better support someone who is.
Join us every other Tuesday from September 15th to March 2nd.

you can register at:
www.griefshare.org/findagroup