“Abundant Grace, Fed by Christ, Sent to Feed the World, ‘You Feed Them’” was the theme of the 2026 All-Ohio School of Ministry held August 31 – September 2 at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Sandusky. The three-day event was an opportunity to worship, fellowship, learn, reflect, and spend time together in renewal.

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung called the All-Ohio School of Ministry a spiritual homecoming.

“This is a time to know one another more deeply, to learn from one another, to encourage and love one another and to listen together for the movement of the Holy Spirit,” Bishop Jung said in his opening worship service sermon.

The bishop concluded his message “Rooted in Love, Abounding in Hope” with an invitation for clergy to return to the love of Christ.

“If ministry has become mostly responsibility, return to intimacy with Jesus. If you have grown weary, let Christ hold what you can no longer carry alone. If disappointment has hardened your heart, allow the Holy Spirit to soften it again. If fear has narrowed your imagination, ask the God of hope to open your eyes to the new thing already beginning. If you have become isolated in ministry, reach out and receive again the gift of companionship. Look around this room. We are not strangers. We are companions in the gospel and members of one body,” Bishop Jung implored.

Guest Presenter Rev. Dr. Elaine A. Heath
Bishop Jung invited United Methodist elder, author, theologian, professor and former university dean the Rev. Dr. Elaine A. Heath to lead plenary sessions throughout the week. She focused on the impact trauma can have on clergy and congregations and cast a vision for fresh expressions for new faith communities that are trauma informed and trauma responsive.\

“It’s important that we as clergy can be well enough and our congregations can be well enough to meet the challenges that are coming toward us at this time so we can be faithful, be present, have creative energy and be able to practice wise discernment. To do those things we must attend to the collective trauma that we are living in right now because of war, because of the economy and because of social polarization – and then within The United Methodist Church system because of disaffiliation and the stress in the system because of decline,” Heath said in recapping the topics of the week’s teaching moments, which also featured time for table conversations and somatic self-care.

Guest Preacher Bishop Frank J. Beard
For Tuesday’s morning worship service and for the closing service with communion on Wednesday, bishop Jung invited Bishop Frank J. Beard to be the guest preacher. Bishop Beard served as resident bishop of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference before going on medical leave. He and his wife Melissa are avid anglers and in September 2025 launched the evangelical Catching Like Jesus Ministries to reach people in new ways.

“People often ask me, ‘what’s the key to catching fish?’ Here are my top five keys, and when I say catching fish, I mean catching souls,” Bishop Beard shared. “Fish where the fish are at. Fish where the fish are biting. Fish with what the fish like to eat. Fish with the right equipment. Fish with a willingness to change methodology. And I’ll throw in a sixth one for free: fish like Jesus taught the original disciples.”

Bishop Beard reminded the clergy to continue following the lead of Jesus and catch fish anywhere they can.

“There is no place in the Bible where the world is commanded to go to church. The church is commanded to go the world!” Bishop Beard declared.

Guest Musician Rev. Dr. Nia Allen

The final evening of the All-Ohio School of Ministry featured a musical testimony from a leading voice in contemporary Christian and Gospel music, Nia Allen. With five consecutive Billboard top charting hits and three #1 singles, she has built a catalog that impacts audiences and resonates far beyond the stages she has shared with CeCe Winans, Mariah Carey, Fred Hammond, Tori Kelly, Phil Wickham, Beth Moore, David and Nicole Binion and many others.

Episcopal Office Reflections: Discerning One Ohio Conference
In the closing plenary session Bishop Jung shared with clergy a handout titled “One Ohio Discernment” that outlines the ongoing process of exploring forming one new Ohio Conference. Rev. Ed Peterson then offered a brief recap of the process the Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team and its 19 work groups are using in gathering information from staff, clergy, and laity of the East and West Ohio Conferences and Rev. Linda Middelberg provided the timeline of what will occur between now and the June 2027 vote on the Task Team’s recommendation by each Annual Conference.

“There’s a very significant point that I want you to hear: no final decision has been made; the Task Team prepares and recommends; the Church listens and discerns; and the 2027 Annual Conferences decides,” Bishop Jung told clergy.

The bishop then asked that each person:

• pray and seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit rather than simply defending institutional preferences.
• learn by studying the Task Team report and the information that continues to emerge.
• listen to receive the experiences and perspectives of people whose realities differ from their own.
• discern together by asking freely, speaking truthfully and resisting the urge to create groups of winners and losers.

For the most up-to-date information about exploring the formation of a new Ohio Conference, visit this page on the EOC website or this page on the WOC website.