The United Methodist Church

Our mission is: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Our vision for how we live into our mission is: to form disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.

Appointments

2025-2026 Appointments & Changes of Status
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung announces the following clergy appointments and/or changes of status which, unless otherwise noted, are effective July 1, 2026.

2025-2026 Appointments
Pastor	Appointment	District	Effective
Monique Greenfield	Orrville Trinity & Rittman UMCs	Central Valley
Angie Greenhill	Smith Chapel UMC & Oakland UMC (West Ohio)	South Forest & Hocking River
Amy Ochier	Fostoria Wesley & Amsden UMCs (West Ohio)	Maumee River
Bill Young	Braceville, Brookfield, Howland, Hubbard, & McDonald: Woodland Park UMCs – Associate Pastor	Central Valley

View the complete list of 2025-2026 Appointments and Changes of Status, including retirements.

#BeUMC

Storyboard: Faith Witness Transformation
Episode 80 Farmer to Farmer

Storyboard: Faith Witness Transformation is a podcast highlighting ministries across the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church that are transforming lives locally, nationally, and globally. Produced twice-a-month by EOC Communications, each podcast episode focuses on one of the core values of the #BeUMC campaign: Disciple Making; Belonging & Inclusion; Influence, Connection & Impact; and Experience of God through The United Methodist Church.

Episode 80 “Influence, Connection & Impact: Farmer to Farmer” features a conversation with founder Pryde Bass, Rev. Robin Dillon of Lakewood UMC (Northern Waters District) and Rev. Matt Anderson of Bucyrus UMC (West Plains District) about the origin and mission of the EOC Advance centered in Harrisburg, Liberia.

“After the 14-year-war (1989-2003) it is like 100% insufficiency there. So, we thought that agriculture would be important to help people produce enough food for themselves. They could even sell some food to help pay for things like medical bills, children’s school fees and other necessities of life,” Bass shared.

“One of the things that the teams have been doing when they go is to just help folks be able to look beyond the immediate to see what else is possible,” Dillon said. “That’s part of the work the teams have done in establishing the school and the farm and training.”

Listen to previous Storyboard podcast episodes.
View clergy and laity sharing their #BeUMC stories.

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

Already Within Grace: Wesleyan Living

“In him we live and move and have our being.” – Acts 17:28

To live each day anew is still no small task. Morning comes, and with it, unfinished responsibilities, the needs of others, the weight of decisions, the quiet ache of leadership.

For those called to pastoral life, the day can easily become a field of demands, problems to solve, tensions to carry, expectations to meet. And yet, beneath all this, I sense another invitation.

What if faith is not only the strength to endure the day, but the grace to receive it? What if ministry is not merely crisis management under religious language, but a way of living deeply, attentively, beautifully before God?

I do not mean decorative beauty, nor the performance of spirituality, nor the temptation to become some mystical manipulator of people’s emotions. The life of faith is not magic; it is not spectacle. It is not the preacher trying to sound powerful; it is something quieter. Something truer.

Read Bishop Jung’s Soul Food message in its entirety.

Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team

Unified Ohio Conference Survey
The role of the Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team created by Bishop Jung in early 2025 is to “listen, discuss, and discern about forming a new, unified Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.” Last summer 19 work groups were formed, each resourced by Conference leadership and comprised of up to 10 clergy/laity members from across both Ohio Conferences.

The members of one of the work groups invite you to anonymously complete an online survey so that your thoughts can be heard and considered. No personal identifying data will be collected. Your feedback will help inform future Conference staffing, structure, and culture so that the new unified Conference can best support local churches in the years ahead.

View the Unified Ohio Conference Survey.

Miracle Sunday

Miracle Sunday is May 17
In the United States, approximately 71% of clergy have earned a Master of Theology. Outside the U.S., fewer than 5% of clergy possess this degree. This disparity is not about calling or competence. It is about access.

The Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, Lead Courageously Miracle Sunday initiative is a denomination-wide focus on strengthening theological education for clergy in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines. The special offering received on Sunday May 17 will support a permanent endowment for 500 theological scholarships annually – in perpetuity.

Learn about the theological education endowment.

Sharing About Miracle Sunday in Your Church
In support of the Council of Bishops’ Miracle Sunday endowment initiative, Conference leadership has prepared downloadable resources to inform your church about Miracle Sunday. Each week’s resource contains a video testimony with captioning.

Sunday, April 26 – Love Boldly
Sunday, May 3 – Serve Joyfully
Sunday, May 10 – Lead Courageously
Sunday, May 17 – Miracle Sunday

View and download Miracle Sunday resources.

Annual Conference

Clergy Executive Session – May 7
This year, East and West Ohio Boards of Ministry will hold a coordinated clergy executive session from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 7 at Lakeside Chautauqua. The clergy from both conferences will be together for worship and training and will meet separately by Conference for business sessions.

Register for the Coordinated Clergy Session.

Annual Conference 2026 – June 11-13
East Ohio Annual Conference will begin on the morning of Thursday, June 11 and will conclude the afternoon of Saturday, June 13. We will again meet on The College of Wooster campus. The Annual Conference theme is “Celebrating Abundant Grace” and the words of Matthew 14:13-21 (NRSVA) will ground the services, sessions, and celebrations of our time together.

AC 2026 Worship Services
Thursday, June 11
9:00 a.m. – Service of Commemoration and Holy Communion
Preacher: Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, resident bishop, Ohio Episcopal Area

Friday, June 12
9:00 a.m. – Morning Worship Service
Preacher: Rev. Kil-Sang Yoon, retired, The United Methodist Church

7:00 p.m. – Service of Licensing, Commissioning, Ordination, and Retirement
Preacher: Bishop John L. Hopkins, retired, The United Methodist Church

Saturday, June 13
9:00 a.m. – Service Celebrating 70 Years of Ordaining Women
Preacher: Bishop Ruby-Nell M. Estrella, resident bishop, Manila Episcopal Area

Volunteers Needed for Annual Conference 2026
The Annual Conference Hospitality Committee is looking for volunteers to assist on campus during AC 2026. There are opportunities for all.

Complete the AC 2026 volunteer interest form.

Ministry Fair – June 11
This year’s ministry fair will be hosted in large tents along the main sidewalk between the Lowry Student Center and the Gault Recreation Center.

Mission Engagement

Midwest Mission School Supply Drive
At the end of every school year, usable notebooks, pencils, rulers, and crayons are thrown away. Meanwhile, students in Honduras often begin school without even the most basic supplies. Your church can help bridge that gap. Midwest Mission (Advance Mission Partner Fund 9944) is inviting churches to serve as local drop-off sites for our School Supply Drive. By partnering with nearby schools, your congregation can help collect gently used (and new) school supplies and ensure they reach children who need them most.

School supplies can be brought to the Midwest Mission truck in Wooster on June 11-12. Another option is to contact one of the year-round collection sites in East Ohio to schedule a drop-off, see the Disaster Response page link below for details on those locations. The truck will also be accepting items on the flyer below and any UMCOR kits during Annual Conference. Please contact Melanie Thomas, Connectional Ministries administrative assistant, by e-mail with any questions.

Learn more about the School Supply Drive.
Learn more about the Midwest Mission Collection at Annual Conference 2026.
View the EOC Disaster Response page.

Camps & Retreat Ministries

Consulting Firm Currently Conducting an EOC Camp Sustainability Study
The Connectional Ministries Office, in consultation with the East Ohio Board of Camps & Retreat Ministries, earlier this year, contracted with Run River Enterprises to conduct an EOC Camps sustainability study. The decision to explore third-party firms was made so that the Conference could approach this work with clarity, transparency, objectivity, and thoughtful stewardship.

The question at the heart of the search that led to contracting with Run River Enterprises was and is: “How do we organize, resource, and support this ministry so that it remains strong for decades to come?”

Summer campers and retreat participants encounter Christ, deepen friendships, experience spiritual renewal, and discern calls to clergy and lay ministry during their time at Camp Aldersgate, Camp Asbury, and Camp Wanake. The sustainability study is exploring how we organize, lead, resource, and measure camp and retreat ministry in ways that create long-term ministry sustainability.

Run River Enterprises is a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in camp, retreat, and nonprofit organizational development. Its team has more than two decades of experience in strategic planning, governance design, and sustainability work for camp and conference ministries across the country.

A full report of findings and recommendations is expected to be presented to Annual Conference members during the 2026 session to be held June 11-13 at The College of Wooster.

For questions about Camps & Retreat Ministries opportunities, please e-mail Rev. Ed Fashbaugh, Connectional Ministries executive director, or visit the Camps & Retreat Ministries pages of the Conference website.

Events: April 20 – May 3

Click to view East Ohio Conference Calendar.

• April 30-May 2
  Spring Flea Market at Church of the Saviour UMC

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.)

Celebrations of Life

Please pray for the families of:

• Bonnie Conner, clergy spouse, died February 26.
• Joel L. Weekley II, former Local Pastor, died July 25, 2025.
• Karl W. Hankins, clergy spouse, died April 13.
• James A. Porter, retired Associate Member, died April 8.
• Louise C. Lindberg, surviving spouse of the Rev. Dr. Melvin Lindberg, died April 4.
• John I. E. Buchanan, retired Elder, died March 29.
• John H. Wolfe, retired Elder, died March 31.

View obituaries.

To submit the obituary of an EOC clergy, a clergy spouse, a child of a clergy person, or a surviving spouse, family should contact Melissa McGee, executive secretary to the Bishop by phone at (330) 499-3972 ext. 112 or via e-mail.

Classifieds

Details of listings may be found here.

Positions Available

• Minister of Congregational Care – Mentor UMC
• Office Administrator – Willoughby Hills UMC

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

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Thursday, April 30 is the submission deadline for the next E-News. Send articles to eoccommunications@eocumc.com.