Annual Conference 2026

Celebrating Abundant Grace – June 11-13

AC 2026 Recap Article with Video and Photo Links
Bishop Hee-Soo Jung called to order the 57th session of the East Ohio Annual Conference with 288 clergy and 310 laity gathered June 11-13, 2026, on The College of Wooster campus.

Download the AC 2026 recap article.
Visit the AC 2026 website.

Financial & Administrative Services

Earn Up To $410 with Well-Being Incentives 
HealthFlex well-being programs can help guide you on a path of wellness, and earn participants up to $410 annually, in four ways:

• complete your Blueprint for Wellness health screening by August 31 and earn $100 annually.
• complete a range of activities that support overall well-being by December 31 and earn $150 wellness credits annually.
• track healthy habits like activity and sleep and earn up to $160 annually.
• If Individuals and covered spouses both complete their Health Check by August 31 they will avoid a higher 2027 deductible.

Learn more about HealthFlex well-being incentives.

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.

Disaster Response

Early Response Team Member Training – June 20
The Ohio Episcopal Area is offering United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Early Response Team (ERT) member training on Saturday, April 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the East Ohio Conference office (8800 Cleveland Ave. NW, North Canton). Learn best practices for responding as a volunteer in disaster situations. Training includes how to interact with survivors and help survivors recover belongings, tarp roofs, and safely remove debris. Successful completion of the training and a background check are required to receive your credentials as a certified UMCOR ERT volunteer. The badge is good for three years. If your UMCOR ERT certification is due to expire in 2026, you are eligible to recertify and you will not need to stay for the entire class. The cost for the class is $25 and includes the training manual, an ERT t-shirt, and lunch. If you have questions about the training, please e-mail Tom King, Disaster Response Committee chairperson.

Register on the Events Registration page of the EOC website.
Download the ERT training flyer.

For questions about Disaster Response ministries and opportunities, please e-mail Rev. Ed Fashbaugh, executive director of Connectional Ministries, or visit the Disaster Response pages of the Conference website.

Mission Engagement

A New Chapter Begins for All In Community
The leadership team has grown for All In Community, an EOC Health & Well-Being partner (Fund 9984). This team oversees the ministry initiatives that serve those impacted by the criminal justice system. Embracing different perspectives and experiences is key to creating space for All In Community to expand and serve across Ohio.

Through this expansion of the All In Community leadership team, we are delighted to say that we are represented by clergy and laity from both the East and West Ohio Conferences along with voices that have experienced incarceration first-hand.  Our minds are full of the potential we have to engage with impacted individuals in new ways.  As we look to deepen our current ministries and work to establish new opportunities to break up the school-to-prison pipeline, we welcome all to this important work to make our communities safer and healthier.

Learn about All In Community.

For questions about Mission Engagement ministries and opportunities, please e-mail Mariellyn Grace, Connectional Ministries office Mission Engagement director, or visit the Mission Engagement pages of the Conference website.

Multicultural Ministries

Dancing the History of Now – June 25–27
Ohio Episcopal Area Multicultural Ministries is sponsoring an InterPlay Untensive event hosted at Ursuline College in observance of Juneteenth, LGBTQQIA Pride Month, and PTSD Awareness Month.

The three-day workshop will feature participants: dancing the moment we are living in, singing songs that liberate our hearts, sharing stories that remind us of our common humanity, practicing embodied tools that reduce stress and restore resilience, and strengthening our capacity to stay present during challenging times.

The registration deadline is Wednesday, June 10. If you have questions about the event, please e-mail Will Fenton-Jones, director of Multicultural Ministries.

Register on the Events Registration page of the EOC website.
Download the event flyer.

For questions about Multicultural Ministries opportunities, please e-mail Will Fenton-Jones, Connectional Ministries office Multicultural Ministries director, or visit the Multicultural Ministries pages of the Conference website.

Clergy

All-Ohio School of Ministry to Focus on Renewal, Connection
Clergy and ministry leaders from the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences will gather August 31 to September 2 at Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky for the 2026 All-Ohio School of Ministry, a three-day event centered on worship, learning, reflection and renewal. The theme, “You Feed Them,” invites participants to consider how the Church is called to respond faithfully in a time of uncertainty.

Featured speaker Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath will lead three plenary sessions during the event. Heath is an ordained United Methodist elder, author and theologian who serves as abbess at Spring Forest in North Carolina and formerly served as dean of Duke Divinity School and professor at Perkins School of Theology. Her work focuses on spiritual formation, healing, and the renewal of the Church.

In addition to plenary teaching, the School of Ministry will include worship, contemplative practice, small-group conversation and connection across the Conferences, designed to renew both spirit and vocation.

“It will be a joy to be together once again, following our gathering last year,” said Bishop Hee-Soo Jung. “Our speaker will help us see more clearly how the church in this time can live as a renewed, impactful, and Spirit-filled community with authentic authority. She brings together theology and practice, creativity and imagination, and she embodies these gifts through her work in new church movements. This is one of Dr. Elaine’s great gifts: helping the church imagine fresh possibilities and live faithfully into God’s future,” he said.

Registration is $50 per person, and participants handle their own hotel accommodation.

Register on the Events Registration page of the EOC website.

Celebrations of Life

Please pray for the families of:

• John D. Peterson, retired Elder, died April 27.
• Constance Dieterich, surviving spouse of the Rev. Robert R. Dieterich, died May 19.
• Anne E. Statz, clergy spouse, died May 21.

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.

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