Bishop’s Office

A Call to Prayer for Nepal and Tibet From Bishop Hee-Soo Jung
Our hearts are with the people of Nepal and Tibet following the catastrophic flash floods that struck the Himalayan border region on August 26. Numerous lives have been lost, many residents and travelers remain missing and entire communities have suffered the loss of homes, livelihoods and vital infrastructure.

I invite all churches across the Ohio Episcopal Area to pray for those who grieve, those awaiting news of their loved ones and all who have been displaced. May God strengthen rescue workers and relief partners, protect vulnerable communities from further danger and provide resources needed for recovery and rebuilding.

As one body in Christ, let us accompany the people of Nepal and Tibet with prayer, compassion and generous solidarity. Churches and individuals wishing to support relief and recovery efforts are encouraged to give through United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) online here.

May this tragedy also renew our commitment to care for God’s creation, pursue climate justice and stand with communities most vulnerable to environmental disasters.

Lord, have mercy. Bring comfort, protection, healing, and hope.

Bishop Jung to Lead Holy Land Pilgrimage – November 14-23

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung invites you to The Holy Land, the Holy People Trip to Israel scheduled for November 14 – 23, 2026. The tour will be led by The Society for Biblical Studies (SBC), an ecumenical, interfaith and inclusive organization.

SBC seeks to renew the mission of the Church through this contextual experience grounded in biblical faith. You are invited to participate in a ministry of reconciliation, to reach out across geographic, religious, ethnic and cultural boundaries to new horizons of mission.

Christians travel to the Holy Land to walk where Jesus walked. But Jesus also proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” On this journey walk in the places where Jesus lived and taught while walking alongside people pursuing peace in Israel and Palestine today.

Choose one of two tracks for The Holy Land, The Holy People tour: a 10-day survey of the Bible with contemporary studies track ($4,273/each leaving from NYC) or a 10-day fact finding, advocacy, peacemaking in the Holy Lands track ($3,514/each leaving from NYC).

Financial scholarships are available, with priority given to young clergy and seminary students. E-mail Multicultural Ministries Director Will Fenton-Jones for more information.

Learn more and register for the Holy Land trip.

Ohio Episcopal Area

Exploring Forming a New Ohio Conference
The Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team is exploring a potential new, unified Ohio Conference. For the past 18 months the 19 work groups of the Task Team have been gathering information from and having discussions with staff, laity and clergy from both the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences.

The reports of each of the work groups will be presented to the Task Team on Saturday, September 12. Throughout the rest of September and during October work group reports will be presented to Conference governing bodies. The Task Team will present its final report to Bishop Hee-Soo Jung in November, and it will then be shared with the laity and clergy of the Ohio Episcopal Area. West Ohio and East Ohio Annual Conferences will vote on becoming one Conference during their respective Annual Conference sessions in 2027.

“No final decision has been made; the Task Team prepares and recommends; the Church listens and discerns; and the 2027 Annual Conferences decide,” Bishop Jung said.

View the Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team page to learn more.

2026 Ohio Vision Statement
In 2026, the Ohio Episcopal Area moves forward in collaboration, discipleship, multiplication, leadership development, and global mission – building a unified Spirit-led movement rooted in abundance, trust, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves to prayer, partnership, and courageous action as we form “One Ohio” for the sake of God’s mission in the world.

Five Strategic Pillars
The Five Pillars listed below emerged from conversations Bishop Hee-Soo Jung has had during his visits to hundreds of congregations across the Ohio Episcopal Area. In those conversations clergy and laity shared deep and faithful longings to grow in discipleship, to reach new people for Christ, to pass on the faith to the next generation, and to live in meaningful relationship and mission with their communities and the wider world.

The Five Pillars offer a shared vision and spiritual framework to guide our life together as “One Ohio” – rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shaped by trust, and attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Pillar 1: Building Relationships
Pillar 2: Shared Mission
Pillar 3: Discipleship
Pillar 4: Multiplication
Pillar 5: Emerging Leaders

Learn more about the Five Strategic Pillars.

Communications

Review Your Church Website
The website for your church is the most important tool your congregation has for reaching people who have never visited the church. That’s because people will search for your church online before visiting it in person. The following should be displayed prominently at or near the top of the church homepage:

• the time(s) of the church worship service(s),
• current pictures of church members engaged in ministry in the community,
• information about ministry opportunities offered through the church, and
• the address and phone number of the church.

The church website should also be built using a responsive platform, meaning that content layout adapts to the size of the screen on which it is viewed. Know that more than half of all internet users worldwide view website content on their smartphone.

View the Church Website 411 page of the EOC website.

Social Media
Social media is becoming an integral part of our ministries, and it can be helpful to have guidelines in place to ensure our ministries online remain above reproach. Two general rules should guide how we share content online and in the posts we make on our social media channels of choice: doing no harm and doing good.

View the Social Media 411 page of the EOC website.

Must-Haves for Your Church Phone Message
The worship time(s) posted on the church website should also be included on the audio recording that callers to the church office hear. Listed below is an example of a recording that includes information callers want to know.

“Thank you for calling _____ UMC, located at _____. We look forward to worshipping with you at _____ on _____. Please leave a message and a member of our ministry team will return your call promptly.”

The message will need to be kept current, updating it for special Sundays or for the summer when worship might be at a different time or a different location.

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.

Leadership Wellness and Renewal

Call. Grow. Support. Sustain.

The heart of this ministry is caring for the people who carry the mission.
The Office of Leadership Wellness and Renewal exists for the clergy and laity who are serving our churches and communities.

Wellness is about sustaining the person. Renewal is about sustaining the call.
This office wants people to thrive not just survive and to remain connected to the call that brought them into ministry and service in the first place.

The work begins with listening to the people who are serving.
We want to understand what is helping people thrive, where support needs to be stronger and what clergy and laity are experiencing across Ohio.

Care must become action.
The office will help strengthen what works, address gaps and follow through.

The initial focus is ministry calling, whole-person wellness and long-term sustainability.
Ministry Calling: helping laity and clergy recognize gifts, discern vocation and respond to God’s call.
Whole-Person Wellness: supporting the spiritual, emotional, relational and vocational well-being of those who carry the mission.
Ministry Sustainability: helping people remain supported, connected and fruitful in service to the mission.

View the Leadership Wellness and Renewal page of the EOC website.

If you have questions about the Office of Leadership Wellness and Renewal, please e-mail Executive Director Rev. Ed Fashbaugh.

Clergy

All-Ohio School of Ministry 2026
“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.

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung called the three days of worship, fellowship, learning and renewal 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. “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 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.

Bishop Frank J. Beard was guest preacher for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s worship services. The former resident bishop of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference reminded the clergy to continue following the lead of Jesus and catch fish anywhere they can. He declared, “There is no place in the Bible where the world is commanded to go to church. The church is commanded to go the world!”

Read the All-Ohio School of Ministry recap article in its entirety.

Celebrations of Life

Please pray for the families of:

• Kathy L. Barton, retired Local Pastor, died September 4.

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

• Executive Director – The Nehemiah Mission of Cleveland
• Organist – North Industry UMC in Canton

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

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Thursday, September 17 is the submission deadline for the next E-News. Send articles to eoccommunications@eocumc.com.