#BeUMC

“So many people in our world need community, need belonging, need love, need hope and The United Methodist Church has that for them. So that is why I am United Methodist,” said Rev. Allison LeBrun. “Because of the people of The UMC, because of the women in my family, and the many people who call themselves United Methodist I know I’m a beloved child of God.”

The pastor of Boardman First UMC is one of many people in our Conference who have shared how The United Methodist Church has transformed their lives.

To schedule a time to record a one- to two-minute video telling your #BeUMC story, e-mail Brett Hetherington in the Communications office.

View #BeUMC stories & the EOC #BeUMC website.

Our EOC podcast, Storyboard: Faith Witness Transformation, explores what it means to #BeUMC.

Episode 48 is titled “Disciple Making: EOC Strategy for Dismantling Racism”. This episode features members of the East Ohio Conference Anti-Racism Task Group discussing the three pillars that guide their work: re-telling stories, fostering relationships, and repairing and reinvesting. We are called to tell stories to invite respect and introduce listening. We are called to build relationships that nourish support, to repair what is broken, and to reinvest so we can eliminate disparities.

For questions about Communications ministries such as the #BeUMC campaign, live-streaming, licensing, social media and more, please e-mail Rick Wolcott, executive director of Communications, or visit the Communications pages of the Conference website.

Bishop’s Office

Ohio Episcopal Area Day of Thanksgiving and Unity
“We come together with new hope and fresh dreams after the challenges of the last several years,” Bishop Hee-Soo Jung said to laity and clergy of the Ohio Episcopal Area during his Day of Unity message on November 23. “We declare together that we are a new United Methodist Church, renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Rev. Dr. Paul W. Chilcote, a renowned scholar in Wesleyan theology and Christian discipleship, was the keynote speaker for the day of prayer, worship, and learning hosted at Worthington UMC.

“My dream for The United Methodist Church is to be the most loving community that any people in our communities have ever witnessed,” he said. “If you want to find love, go to The United Methodist Church, and we can do this! There’s no barrier to us becoming that loving community.”

An article recapping the Day of Unity will be posted this week on the Conference website.

View archives of the Day of Unity livestream recordings.

Financial & Administrative Services

Virgin Pulse/Personify Health Log-in Update
On December 9, Wespath will update the Benefits Access single sign-on to Virgin Pulse/Personify Health. Virgin Pulse members who log-in via Benefits Access will be asked to complete a one-time log-in with their username and password.

On December 16, the Virgin Pulse app icon will change to Personify Health. Members may be prompted to update the app at that time. There will be an additional release of the app on January 1, 2025, that will require another update, and members will be asked to sign back in with their current username and password.

Learn more about Personify Health.

For questions about Financial & Administrative Services ministries and opportunities, please e-mail Vera Milanovic, executive director of Financial & Administrative Services, or visit the Financial & Administrative Services pages of the Conference website.

Missions & Community Engagement

EOC Mission Partners Christmas Wish Lists
We asked East Ohio Conference Advance Special ministry partners to provide a list of needs the people they serve have this Christmas season. Might you and your church family be able to help fulfill some of these Christmas wishes? Doing so will be life-changing for you and for those whom you support with your generosity. There are a wide range of items on the Christmas wish lists from soap, pillows, onesies, paper towels, and toiletries to soccer balls, gift cards, educational opportunities, and summer camp tuition.

Please keep in your prayers this Christmas season, each of these organizations, their volunteers, and the people they serve. All Advances can also receive monetary donations through their respective Conference funds.

View the mission partners’ Christmas wish lists.
Learn about and support EOC Advance Specials.

#Giving Tuesday is December 3
The Board of Missions is encouraging churches and individuals to support our more than 30 Advance Special mission partners on Giving Tuesday, December 3. The Board of Missions will match up to $500 per Advance for online donations made on December 3 through the Advance’s designated conference fund. Make plans to give on December 3 or schedule the donation now to be made that day. If you have questions about supporting an Advance Special, please e-mail Melanie Thomas, Connectional Ministries office administrative assistant, or call her at (330) 499-3972 ext. 102.

Learn about and support EOC Advance Specials.

Applications Being Accepted for New Advance Specials
We need real and authentic partnerships with each other to reach new, younger, and more diverse people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! East Ohio Conference Mission Advance Specials help The United Methodist Church to build community, engage in strengthening lives of individuals and families, and transform the world. If you know of a mission or ministry that is doing this work, please encourage its leaders to apply to become a new Advance Special. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2025.

Learn the guidelines for becoming an EOC Advance Special.
Apply to become an EOC Advance Special.

All In Community Ministry
All In Community (AIC) is a new EOC Advance Special this year, Fund 9984. The ministry, a modern-day, Biblical response to the impact and aftermath of mass incarceration, is for all who are involved in one way or another with the criminal justice system. If you make an online donation to All In Community through its designated conference fund on Giving Tuesday, December 3, the EOC Board of Missions will match up to $500 in donations.

Helping people reclaim their lives, restore their families, and heal after experiences of deep wounding infuses a life with meaning. When you give $25, you remove a basic transportation barrier for a restored neighbor to “go testify” of God’s transformative power. A $50 monthly donation provides opportunities for our justice-impacted members to experience ministry training where they make meaning out of their lived experience and find purpose in building God’s kingdom. A gift of any amount will go to restoring hope and supporting healing in the thousands of lives touching Ohio’s criminal justice system.

Learn about and support All In Community ministry.

UMVIM Awareness Sunday
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) Awareness Sunday can be observed on any Sunday determined by your local church. On that set-aside Sunday, leadership is encouraged to provide its congregation with UMVIM displays, information resources, individual/group testimonials, and opportunities to celebrate the UMVIM movement.

View and download UMVIM Awareness Sunday resources.
View and download an UMVIM informational video.

UMVIM Long-Term Recovery Mission Teams Needed
United Methodist Volunteers in Mission is seeking long-term recovery teams to aid individuals whose lives have been dramatically affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, storms and disasters in the past months and years. People are still living with tarps on their roofs, work needing to be done on their homes, and their hope in need of restoration.

The East Ohio Disaster Response Committee has formed a team that will travel to South Georgia on December 2-6, please keep its members in your prayers. More teams are still needed for this life-changing ministry of presence! Pick a week or a long weekend and be an answer to a prayer. To learn more about how you can help, please e-mail Rev. Kathy Dickriede, EOC director of Missions & Community Engagement, or e-mail Rev. Dr. Tammy Kuntz, North Central Jurisdiction UMVIM coordinator.

Search the UMVIM Find-a-Project portal.

Immigration/Migration Sunday Resource
The East Ohio Conference Order of Deacons encourages pastors, congregations, and faith communities to participate in Immigration/Migration Global Migration Sunday. A worship resource has been developed for your church to use, either in its entirety or as elements of your worship service on that set-aside Sunday. The resource meets the shared vision of Conference clergy and laity to reach new and diverse people in bold and courageous ways so that we together can be God’s agents of transformation in our communities and throughout the world. Remember Christ’s words: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35

View the Immigration/Migration Sunday resource.

Poverty Simulation Experience – February 8
Poverty is a reality for many individuals and families but unless you’ve experienced poverty, it’s difficult to truly understand. The Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) on Saturday, February 8 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Westlake UMC will move participants from misconceptions to understanding about poverty. CAPS is an interactive, immersive experience that sensitizes community participants to the realities of poverty. This is a simulation, not a game.

Register on the Events Registration page of the EOC website.

Resourcing the Local Church and Non-Profit Workshop – February 13
Registration details will be coming soon for a new workshop on resourcing the local church and non-profits. The workshop is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 13 at the United Methodist Church of Macedonia. Participants will discuss grant-writing, dreaming a God-size dream, board development, endowments, fundraising, how to ask for money, and telling our mission stories so that we can live out our call to build the beloved community. The workshop will be open to all groups, faith communities, and non-profits.

For questions about Missions & Community Engagement ministries and opportunities, please e-mail the Rev. Kathy Dickriede, Connectional Ministries office Missions & Community Engagement director, or visit the Missions & Community Engagement pages of the Conference website.

Camps & Retreat Ministries

Happy Thanksgiving from East Ohio Camps
We give thanks for God’s Creation. God is great, God is good! And we’re gonna thank Him for our food. We’re gonna thank Him morning, noon, and night. We’re gonna thank you, Lord, you’re outta sight! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Yay God!

Discover Leesville Lake at Camp Aldersgate
Watch the fish jump out of Leesville Lake at Camp Aldersgate. Campers have the opportunity to fish for muskie, northern pike, bass, catfish, yellow perch, blue gill and more in the lake. Capture the moment with a photo of your first or one hundredth catch during Summer Camp 2025 at Camp Aldersgate.

Learn more about East Ohio Camps & Retreat Ministries.

For questions about Camps & Retreat Ministries opportunities, please e-mail the Rev. Gary Jones, Connectional Ministries office Camps & Retreat Ministries / Spiritual Formation & Christian Education director, or visit the Camps & Retreat Ministries pages of the Conference website.

Spiritual Formation & Christian Education

Spiritual Formation Network Gatherings – December 3 & January 7
If you are involved in spiritual formation and Christian education, you are invited to join your friends and colleagues via Zoom for devotions, support, question-asking and -answering, and sharing ideas. We will next gather online on December 3 at whichever time (9:00 a.m. or 7:00 p.m.) is convenient for you. Invite your friends involved in spiritual formation and Christian education ministries to join you and us for this time together.

We will continue to meet on the first Tuesday of the month thereafter at 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. so that you can join whichever time works best for you that day. To receive the Zoom link, please e-mail Rev. Gary Jones, Camps & Retreat Ministries / Spiritual Formation & Christian Education director in the Connectional Ministries office.

For questions about Spiritual Formation & Christian Education ministries opportunities, please e-mail the Rev. Gary Jones, Connectional Ministries office Camps & Retreat Ministries / Spiritual Formation & Christian Education director, or visit the Spiritual Formation & Christian Education pages of the Conference website.

Events: November 25 – December 8

Click to view East Ohio Conference Calendar.

• Monday, November 25
  Concert Series
• November 27 & 28
  Free Hot Meal Provided to the Community

To submit your event to the East Ohio calendar use this form. (The East Ohio Conference only accepts East Ohio United Methodist local church, conference and general UM events for listing on the Conference calendar.)

Classifieds

Details of listings may be found here.

Positions Available

• Secretary – Family of Faith UMC in Akron
• Youth Education Coordinator – Bay UMC in Bay Village
• Pianist – Peninsula UMC
• Director of Adult Choirs – Faith UMC in North Canton

Items Available/Wanted

• A loom for weaving mats for the unhoused – Peninsula UMC
• Two large filing cabinets – Grandview UMC in Cuyahoga Falls

To submit a classified ad please e-mail swilliams@eocumc.com.

To Subscribe

To subscribe to E-News and all East Ohio Conference news updates, enter your email address in the “Follow News via Email” widget on the right sidebar. Information from this E-News may be copied and used in your local church. The next scheduled edition of the E-News, Monday, December 9, will be the last issue of 2024. The first E-News of 2025 will be Monday, January 6.

Thursday, December 5 is the submission deadline for the next E-News. Send articles to eoccommunications@eocumc.com.