News
Wednesday, Jun 5, 2019
Tuesday morning worship opened as George Howard centered the house with words of faith and hope. The West Ohio praise band, led by Annual Conference music director, Chuck Bell, began with a rousing rendition of the song, "Ain't No Grave," followed by more praise music. Bishop Palmer introduced the morning preacher, Bishop Mande Muyombo, Bishop of the North Katanga Episcopal Area, a mission partner of West Ohio.
Rev. Julie Alsip shared the morning's text, Hebrew... (read more)
Wednesday, Jun 5, 2019
For the past two years, the West Ohio Annual Conference mission offering has helped fund the Light the Way campaign, an initiative to start new worshipping congregations and revitalize others within West Ohio. More than $2.5 million has been raised for Light the Way so far, with about the same amount left to raise in the next two years to meet the Conference’s $5 million goal.
Because of the Light the Way initiative:
8 new faith communities have been launched... (read more)
Wednesday, Jun 5, 2019
On Tuesday, June 4, the West Ohio Annual Conference session spent the day electing delegates to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional conferences. More than 1,000 lay persons and 600 clergy from across the Conference participated in the electronic voting process.
2020 General Conference Delegates
Clergy:
Roger Grace
Karen Cook
April Casperson
Deanna Stickley-Miner
Anna Guillozet
Thomas Rand
Rachel Miller
Laity:
Bill Brownson
George Howard
Kara Russell
Ch... (read more)
Tuesday, Jun 4, 2019
During the Corporate Session of the West Ohio Annual Conference, Ann Baird, chair of the West Ohio Board of Trustees, reported the following:
The renovation of the West Ohio Conference center is now complete, including increased meeting space and offices for the Capitol Area districts, which will save over $600,000 over a 10-year span. The project is fully paid for and there is no debt on it. Feel free to stop by for a visit!
Routine and preventive maintenance... (read more)
Tuesday, Jun 4, 2019
On Monday afternoon, the Annual Conference session turned to West Ohio’s Abundant Living Reports, including OhioHealth, Clergy Wellness and the Board of Pension & Health Report.
In addition to being one of the largest health systems in central Ohio, OhioHealth is a ministry of The West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church. Kristin Langstraat, system director for Faith Community Relations, spoke to the session about West Ohio’s focus on health this... (read more)
Monday, Jun 3, 2019
The Transformative Discipleship Team Report provides an overview of the connectional ministries of The West Ohio Conference, including camps, new church starts, campus ministries, global and local missions, and more. Highlights of the report, given by Team Chair Doug Damron, included the following:
Camping Ministries: Since 2013, we have seen 111% growth of children and youth being served by our camps. Last year, 148 campers made a first-time commitment to Jesu... (read more)
Monday, Jun 3, 2019
During the Monday afternoon session of Annual Conference, George Howard from the General Board of Global Ministries provided a report on 200 years of mission within The United Methodist Church.
The first Methodist missionary was a free Black man named John Stewart who was called to minister to the Wyandot Nation in the Upper Sandusky area of Ohio. He later became a licensed Methodist preacher who so inspired the Methodist Episcopal Church that they formed the f... (read more)
Monday, Jun 3, 2019
Monday morning during the first business session of Annual Conference, Chris Clough, chair of the West Ohio Council on Finance and Administration (CFA), offered a report on the Conference’s financial state. Since 2015, CFA has focused on prioritizing resources in order to reduce the overall level of apportioned connectional giving requested by the Conference.
“Your Council on Finance and Administration heard the local church leaders from throughout the Conferen... (read more)
Monday, Jun 3, 2019
“Call. One Word. Many Ways to HOPE!” was the theme of this year’s Laity Session at the West Ohio Annual Conference. Hundreds of laity and clergy from around the Conference came together to worship and be inspired by the stories of lay people who are making a difference in their churches and communities.
Tracy Chambers, one of West Ohio’s Certified Lay Ministers (CLM), gave the Message of Hope for the morning. She told of a dark time in her life and how God had... (read more)
Monday, Jun 3, 2019
The 50th session of the West Ohio Annual Conference opened Sunday evening with worship and the Conference memorial service. Bishop Gregory Palmer proclaimed these words of hope: “May the hope of God fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”(Romans 15:13), signaling the Annual Conference theme, “Be Not Afraid – Hope.” As the service started, a cacophony of voices sang “God of Creation” while wor... (read more)