During the West Ohio Annual Conference, churches and individuals were celebrated for ministries that increased membership, grew worship attendance, and created environmentally friendly worship spaces.
Foundation for Evangelism Laity Award
The Foundation for Evangelism Laity Award celebrates a lay person who is passionately driven to invite all people into a relationship with Christ. The award winners, Dustin Cover and Camille Freking-Cover, of Lima Shawnee UMC in the Western Lakes District exemplify this through Healing Strings. This music ministry, which began as an outreach to veterans struggling with mental health challenges, now serves the entire community.
Fresh Starts Multiplier Award
The Fresh Starts Multiplier Award honors a church that launches new expressions of ministry, reaches a diversity of people not currently connected to church, raises up leaders, and partners with churches to expand the impact of the Gospel. Beloved United Methodist Church is this year’s winner of this award.
Beloved is a community with a clear vision rooted in Jesus’ command to love God and one's neighbors. As a newer church in connection with an established church, Linworth UMC, Beloved lives out what happens when people come together, say yes to the Holy Spirit, and step forward to create something new for the sake of the gospel.
Green Church Award
The Green Church Award was created to acknowledge churches moving towards adopting environmentally friendly practices. Two churches won this award this year and are both Green Church Certified: Maple Grove UMC in the Olentangy River District and Faith Community UMC in the Great Miami River District.
Maple Grove, the first church to earn the Green Church Certification, created and implemented a hard-to-recycle plastics program using the Rumpke Hefty Renew Program. Through this ministry, information and starter packs were distributed to around 40 households in their congregation.
Faith Community UMC hosted an Earth Day celebration to educate the community on the impact electric vehicles, high water usage, recycling, and composting have on the environment. This event also highlighted Creation Care as part of Christian discipleship.
One Matters Award 2026
This award recognizes one congregation from each annual conference district that has increased its number of professions of faith and baptisms from zero to at least one with a renewed focus on discipleship. This year, there was a tie between Englewood UMC from the Great Miami River District and Countryside Chapel from the Western Lakes District, both led by Pastor Wayne Karges.