Join North Broadway UMC in Columbus for an Earth Care Conference on Saturday, September 30, from 9:00am to Noon. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Tim Van Meter from MTSO, with breakout sessions on living more sustainably, recycling and composting, and climate justice. Exhibitors will include the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, The Compost Exchange, Green Columbus,

FLOW-Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, Sustainable Columbus, the Urban Farm Church, and the West Ohio Creation Care Task Force. Cost of the event is $20 including lunch from Freedom a la Carte.

Last year, Church of the Cross United Methodist Church in Kettering, Ohio, searched for a creative way to be the hands and feet of Christ and expand what it means to be in ministry to their community.

Member Tiffany Washburn presented the idea of working with RIP Medical Debt to the lead pastor, Rev. Scott Campbell, and the church's leadership team.

RIP Medical Debt is a nonprofit whose mission is to alleviate the burden of unpaid medical bills for those who are experiencing financial hardship.

According to the KFF, formally known as the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, more than half of U.S. adults report they have experienced debt because of medical or dental bills in the past five years. These expenses are a result of cancer treatment, emergency medical events, or instances of insurance companies not covering care required by the patient.

Campbell and the leadership team agreed to the mission. By fundraising their goal of $10,000, RIP could eliminate $1 million in debt. With an energized congregation, the church exceeded the goal and raised $15,000. By Christmas, 2,600 families in Montgomery, Warren, Miami, Green, and Butler counties received a letter from RIP advising that, thanks to Church of the Cross UMC, their medical debts, totaling $1.9 million, were paid.

“This gives [families] a chance to breathe and know they had some prayers answered,” Campbell said.

In the future, Church of the Cross may revisit debt relief as a mission, as the effort generated much excitement in the congregation. Click here for more information on RIP Medical Debt.

Written by Amy Graham, Freelance Writer

There will be some changes to district lines to equalize the number of churches within each district. The changes include Greene County will move from Great Miami River District to Scioto River District. Fairfield County will move from Olentangy River District to Scioto River District. Paulding and Putnam counties will move from Maumee River District to the Western Lakes District. Union and Madison counties will move from Western Lakes District to Olentangy River District.

The following Clermont churches will be moved from Great Miami River District to Scioto River District:  Felicity, Laurel, Spring Grove, Batavia Faith, Emmanuel, Williamsburg, Owensville and New Faith.

These changes are effective July 1.

Barbara J. Stewart, age 79, of Oregon, and formerly of Maumee, Ohio, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 21, 2025.

Barbara was the wife of Rev. James R. Stewart who served a number of congregation in Kansas and West Ohio (Alexander EUB, Kansas 1964; Mc Cracken, Kansas  -Yoked With Alexander EUB 1966; Cherry Grove (C) 1968; Bowling Green Trinity (T) 1984; Waterville (T) 1994; Weston (T) 2005) until he retired 7/1/2001.

As a pastor's wife, she was always very active in the congregations her husband served. She was strong in her Faith leading in everything the J.O.Y. (Jesus, Others, You). Whether the women's groups, craft bazaars, the Ladies Over 80 luncheon at church, or cooking and feeding an army. She was a very faithful caregiver to her parents as they were aging and very much enjoyed being a devoted mother and grandmother.

Barbara is survived by her husband, Rev. James Roby Stewart; children, Jennifer (Todd) Wuertz and Jay (Linda) Stewart; grandchildren, Shelby (Joe) Staudinger, Madison Stewart, and Conner Wuertz; great-grandchild, Kimber; and brother, William Moritz Jr. She was preceded in death by her parents; and brother, Richard Moritz.

A visitation will be held at Maumee United Methodist Church, 405 Sackett St., Maumee, OH 43537, Friday, February 28, 2025, from 10 until 11 a.m.

A funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. The funeral lunch will follow services and be held at church. Burial will take place at 2 p.m. at Lake Township Cemetery, 3550 Walbridge Rd.

Memorial contributions are appreciated to Maumee United Methodist Church.

www.freckchapel.com

McCormick Carol was the widow of Rev. Michael McCormick who faithfully served  churches in the West Ohio Conference. 

She graduated from Liberty Center High School and attended Bowling Green State University. While there, she met her future husband, Michael McCormick. The two were soon married and raised a family in Vanlue.

Those left behind to cherish Carol's memory are her daughters, Deb Crawford and Susan (Gary Moore) Godfrey; son, Patrick (Lori) McCormick; grandchildren, Jessica (Kenton) Reichley, Alyssa (Eric) Hauff, Katie (Justin) Buckingham, Colleen (Alan Samaha) McCormick, Katina McCormick, Conner Moore, and Carter Moore; great-grandchildren, Blair and Jase Reichley, and Brinley and Valerie Hauff; brother, Terry Connolly; sister-in-law, Gloria Connolly; brother-in-law, Denton (Doreen) McCormick; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Mike; grandson, Sean McCormick; son-in-law, Marvin Crawford; brother, Tim Connolly; sisters-in-law, Jean Connolly and Laurie Connolly, Cathy Yoxtheimer; and Cathy's husband, George.

There will be no services per Carol's request. Final interment will be at a later date. HUFFORD FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 1500 Manor Hill Rd., Findlay, (419-422-1500) is honored to serve her family.

Memorial contributions in Carol's name may be made to Fox Run Manor, 11745 Township Rd. 145, Findlay, OH 45840.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.huffordfh.com

These forms are a part of annual Church/Charge Conference Reporting

• Sample Church/Charge Conference Agenda
• Complete set of Worksheets for Data Gathering for Online Forms  (available below in pdf and word formats)
• Presiding Elder Instructions (optional)
• Frequently Asked Questions about Charge Conferences

Additional forms that may be needed include:

• 2026 Minimum Salary Guide (for reference)
• 2026 Health Flex Premium Credit and Insurance Rates (for reference)
• Properly Reporting Health Insurance (for reference)
• ​Insurance Waiver (only if your pastor does not participate in the WOC insurance plan)
• Trustee Legal and Property Report due June 1 but a part of Charge Conference reporting
• Safe Sanctuaries Form due June 1 - submit at your Charge Conference if not already completed this calendar year
• Lay Servant Annual Report to be completed by certified lay servants, lay speakers, and certified lay ministers annually.

The complete packet of forms can be found at the bottom of this page. These forms should be completed online by the deadline provided by your District Office. 

Please complete and/or upload these forms online when possible (instructions below), or email/mail them to your District Office.   If you need online access to be able to complete your forms, contact your District Office and request to be made a Church Data Administrator.

Instructions for Completing Forms Online

Church/charge conference forms and annual reports should be entered and submitted online and added to your church’s record in the West Ohio Conference “Connection” database. 

1. Login:   Your church’s “Church Data Administrator(s)” will log in on the home page of the West Ohio Conference website (westohioumc.org). After logging in, click on “MyChurch” then "Local Church Reports” at the top black menu bar on the home page. 
2. MyChurch Dashboard:
   Your church name should automatically appear in the middle of the page. If you have multiple churches, click on MyChurch in the menu and your other church names should appear. Click on the one you want to work on now. 
3. Completing Charge Conference or Annual Reports Online:
   After selecting the correct church, click on either Charge Conference or Annual Reports in the menu.  For Annual Reports, in the middle red menu click on Annual Reporting, the appropriate year, then the report you'd like to submit.  For Charge Conference forms, click on Charge Conference then the appropriate year.  A web page with step-by-step instructions for downloading worksheets, entering data, printing copies and submitting final forms will appear.  
4. Enter data and print completed forms:
   Church Data Administrators may enter data collected from worksheets on the online forms, save, exit and return to edit data multiple times as needed. Print the completed forms to take to charge conference, along with the paper signature page. 
5. Save, edit, submit: 
   After your charge conference, make any data corrections needed, upload a copy of the minutes, upload the signed signature page and submit. 

Committee-Driven Annual Reports

These forms are due every year by June 1 and are not a part of the charge conference process, with the exception of the Trustee Legal & Property Report, which should be reported on at your fall charge conference. 

• Trustees, please submit the Trustee Legal and Property Report by June 1.  This completed report should be shared as a part of your Charge Conference reporting in the fall; it does not need to be completed again then. 
• Trustees, please submit the Parsonage Inspection Form by June 1, if applicable.
• Trustees, please submit the Safe Sanctuaries Form by June 1.
• Trustees, please submit the UMC Accessibility Audit by June 1.
• Trustees, please submit the Green Church Audit by June 1.
• Finance Committee, please have the Fund Balance Report Form (audit) each year completed by June 1.  Refer to the local church audit guide for assistance.
• Church Historians, please update the Church History Form.
• SPRC Committees, the forms below are all related to the annual evaluation of a local church pastor and are all due June 1. To complete these forms, download and save them to your computer before entering data.  We also recommend typing into Word then copying and pasting your information into these forms.  These clergy evaluation forms cannot be saved and submitted online, but can be sent via email or mail to your district office. 
  • Local Church Pastor Self-Assessment
  • Pastoral SPRC Assessment Form
  • Smart Goal Formation Plan Guide

If you’ve lived for any length of time, more than likely you have come to the realization that life can be hard. While every day is a gift from God, there are certain life events that try our patience, consume our strength and steal our joy. Some events are like seasons that come and go while others redefine our life.  Depression, moving, the death of a spouse, burnout, loneliness and isolation, drug addiction, and loss of a job are just a few examples that leave us hurting.

But you’re not alone. There is someone you can talk to.

The West Ohio Conference, in partnership with OhioHealth, offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to provide short-term, mental health support. This no cost, confidential program will provide up to six visits (in person) per person each calendar year. Certified lay ministers, pastors appointed to a local church, clergy appointed to extension ministry and serving on Conference and District staffs, as well as lay Conference and District staff, and dependents, are eligible to participate.

For EAP visits, providers are currently in the following counties: Allen, Athens, Auglaize, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Green, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Licking, Logan, Lucas, Madison, Marion, Mercer, Montgomery, Pickaway, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Springfield, Union, Wood, and Wyandot. The Provider Network is ever-expanding to create greater access for all participants and their families. However, if you do not see your county, please call or email OhioHealth to locate the nearest provider.

To access the EAP:

• Call (614) 566.3348 or (800) 992.8533, or email EAP@ohiohealth.com Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• If calling outside of the scheduled hours, you can leave a detailed message and a counselor will return your call on the next business day.
• For crisis situations, call the numbers above and follow the prompts to be connected with a counselor.

Sustainable Farm Trains Future Farmers and Fights Poverty

Rife with malnutrition and poverty, Kamina is one of the poorest areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To fight poverty and hunger, Kamisamba Farm, a mission of the North Katanga Conference, provides training in agriculture and sustainability.

Kamisamba Farm is a living legacy of the late Sierra Leonean United Methodist Bishop John K. Yambasu. It was his hope to make a way for all people to have access to food.

The sustainable farm is home to multiple programs and training for other farms and interested individuals. Some of the topics include innovation and green practices, farming, and agriculture for financial security. Each year, the farm accepts two people from each district in the North Katanga Conference to be trained on the farm and return to their district to share what they learned in an effort to create more farms. United Methodist missionary and agricultural specialist Lorraine Charinda, the is the director of the farm, said the farm also provides training opportunities for women.

The farm has a staff of 50 people which includes a chaplain, police and medical staff. United Methodist Fellow, Honest Baraya from Nigeria is also serving, learning and working at Kamisamba Farm.

In addition to producing a variety of crops including soy, corn and sugar beans, it also provides seeds for other farms; these seeds are identifiable by their pink color. Fishponds, pigs, cows and chickens are also part of the farm. Recently, an egg incubator was donated to the farm through the generous contributions of Stonybrook United Methodist Church in the Olentangy District.

In August Lorraine Charinda will be in West Ohio to share more about Kamisamba Farm. For more information, contact Mariellyn Grace at mgrace@wocumc.org.

Click here to learn how you can partner with Kamisamba Farm.

Written by Amy Graham, Communications Specialist

Last evening, 95 churches in the West Ohio Conference received more than $650,000 in grants celebrating innovation in ministry. The Bishop’s Go Awards recognized over 120 new ministries throughout the conference.

Music filled the air. “God is on the move in West Ohio,” said Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, who greeted each award recipient.

“When we care, when we love, when we really relate to each other, when we are confident in Christ Jesus, we can be the hands of God. We can be ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We can be seed planters in the world,” he said.

Daniel Yang, author of Becoming a Future-Ready Church, was the keynote speaker. Yang previously served as the director of the Church Multiplication Institute at Wheaton College, a think tank for evangelism and church planting. He has pastored and helped plant churches in Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth, Toronto, and Chicago.

“The real challenge, and perhaps our greatest responsibility, is to tell the story of mission in a way that is beautiful and life-giving to a generation that sees the world through a lens of anxiousness and division,” Yang said. “If the Christian mission is not a part of healing their own anxieties and the ailments inside the church, then it will not be a mission worth pursuing for Gen Z,” he concluded.

Grants were awarded in six categories: Building Bridges, Community Engagement, Green Church, Emerging Generations, Greenhouse New Church Starts, and Leadership Development.

The Breakout Vision of the Year Award was presented to York Street UMC in Cincinnati for their Intergenerational Bonds Ministry, called Bridging Generations: Storytelling Through Technology, which aims to foster meaningful intergenerational relationships by connecting youth and elderly community members. This award was given by the United Methodist Foundation of West Ohio.

The Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer Award for Justice and Social Impact was awarded to Mosaic Church in Dayton for their ministry called Embrace, which creates a space for developing authentic relationships with foster, adoptive, and kinship care families.

The Christian Family Credit Union District Award, recognizing the district with the highest percentage of churches receiving grants, was awarded to the Western Lakes District. This is the third time Western Lakes has received this honor.

“Because of fear and other social phenomena, sometimes we are frozen, sometimes we are paralyzed,” said Bishop Jung. “But the Holy Spirit is defrosting us. Oh, come, Holy Spirit, defrost us. Free us to love God. Free us to love people. Free us to be the church,” he said.

Special thanks to the Ginghamsburg Praise Team, New Covenant UMC Ghanaian Choir, and Abby Gonzalez, who provided inspiring music for the event.

The event was sponsored by Ohio Health, Christian Family Credit Union, Wespath, the United Methodist Foundation of West Ohio, Discipleship Ministries, Path One, Cokesbury, eChurch, Toledo Ticket, and Cameron Mitchell.

For more information about the 2025 Go Grant recipients, click here.

The West Ohio Conference provides many grant opportunities to churches

Fresh Starts and New Beginnings - Go Grants/Missional Church Development - Go Grants

These annual grants resource new, innovative ministry ideas that empower churches to fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the world. Categories include Building Bridges, Community Engagement, Emerging Generations, Green Church, and Leadership Development. Go Grants are available annually and more information can be found here. https://www.westohioumc.org/2025-go-grants

United Methodist Foundation of West Ohio

Each year the United Methodist Foundation provides grants to missions and ministries. They include, but are not limited to the following:

Non-Profit Partners Program, Vacation Bible School and Christian Education,
Alford-Cantlin Fellows Program at Methodist Theological School of Ohio,Frazier Endowment - Clergy Leadership and education

The Foundation also provides grants to the beneficiaries of individual endowments. See more at https://umfwestohio.org/grant-making/