Created on April 23, 1968 when the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist-Episcopal Church merged, The United Methodist Church is deeply rooted in the Methodist movement started by John and Charles Wesley while they were at Oxford in the 1730s. In the United States, five five regional bodies, called jurisdictions, were created: Northeast, Southeast, North Central, South Central and Western jurisdictions. More information on the history of The United Methodist Church and Methodism is available here.

Each jurisdiction is divided into annual conferences, presided over by a bishop. The West Ohio Conference is part of the North Central Jurisdiction and our bishop is Gregory Vaughn Palmer, who was appointed to serve here in 2012.

The Mission of the West Ohio Conference is to equip local churches to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world… A world of justice, love, and peace filled with people growing in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  A directory of leaders and staff is available here.

The West Ohio Conference has eight districts: the Capitol Area North, Capitol Area South, Foothills, Maumee Watershed, Miami Valley, Northwest Plains, Ohio River Valley and Shawnee Valley districts. Districts are a geographic areas of the Annual Conference. Each district is led by an Elder the bishop named District Superintendent (D.S.). Superintendents oversee the ministry of the district’s clergy and churches, provide spiritual and pastoral leadership and are part of the Conference’s Cabinet. District Superintendents work with the bishop and others to appoint ordained ministers to serve churches in the district, presides at meetings of the charge conference  and oversees programs within the district.