Bishop Tracy S. Malone calls on laity and clergy to “Do No Harm, Do Good, and Stay in Love with God.”
We live with integrity by doing no harm.
No United Methodist church or United Methodist pastor need to take any vote or make any decision about being a United Methodist. No pastor or lay member of any local church should be solicited or pressured to leave The United Methodist Church. The pulpit should not be used as a platform to bear false witness against The UMC, nor should it be used to inflict harm. These actions breed fear and mistrust, corrode community, and undermine the leadership of the pastor and the ministry of the local church. I urge you to stop the harm!
We live with integrity by doing good.
The East Ohio Conference website has discernment resources and everything that pastors and churches need to know about the disaffiliation process. No denomination or faith tradition should come into any EOC United Methodist church to recruit and/or to share information without the sharing of someone (the superintendent or their designate) officially representing the best interest and mission of The UMC.
We live with integrity by staying in love with God.
I have called for a respite from November 20 through New Year’s Day from all meetings/conversations related to matters of disaffiliation so that we can focus on the main thing: giving thanks to God and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus coming into the world and our lives to love, save, heal, reconcile and to make all things new.
Let us commit to the way of integrity as we forge our way forward together in Jesus Christ, trusting that God will make a way in the wilderness.
Read the Bishop’s message in its entirety.
Rev. Laura White shares why she is United Methodist:
“It’s in The United Methodist Church that I have found connection which has enabled me to continue to grow in my discipleship journey and it’s in The United Methodist Church where I know I get to participate in ministry around the globe. Even though I can’t be physically present, I know that I am there spiritually, emotionally, and through my tithes and my offerings,” said the superintendent of the Southern Hills District and the co-superintendent of the Ohio Valley District.
White is the first of many East Ohio Conference clergy and laity who will share how their lives continue to be transformed through The United Methodist Church. Their stories are part of the denomination-wide #BeUMC campaign that calls us to embrace our Wesleyan heritage and honors these core values that connect each of us in The United Methodist Church:
The United Methodist Church is founded on a Wesleyan theology of grace, anchored in Scripture, and based in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the continuing movement of the Holy Spirit. Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Every day offers a chance to live into this mission and to strive to #BeUMC — to be the church our communities so desperately need.
Learn more about the EOC #BeUMC campaign.
Every year the East Ohio Conference Mission Awareness Committee approves Advance Specials from among applications from interested missions and ministries. The application for 2023-24 Advance Specials is available for download on this website. The deadline for submitting completed applications to the East Ohio Conference Connectional Ministries office is Sunday, January 15, 2023.
As a Conference Advance Special, approved missions and ministries will be assigned an East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church fund number for donor-directed giving through the Financial & Administrative Services office.
Once the 2023 session of Annual Conference approves the list of proposed 2023-2024 Advance Specials in June, the new fund numbers will be added to the list of Advance Specials that is posted on the East Ohio Conference website and published in The Conference Journal. The list of Advance Specials and their corresponding fund numbers will then be promoted across the more than 600 local churches of our East Ohio Conference.
If you have questions about current Conference Advance Specials or about the process for applying for your ministry or mission to be considered as a 2023-2024 East Ohio Advance Special, please e-mail them to the Rev. Kathy Dickriede, Connectional Ministries office Missions & Community Engagement director. She can also be reached by calling the Missions & Community Engagement office at (330) 499-3972 ext. 102.
Donate to a 2022-2023 EOC Advance Special.
Access the 2023-2024 Advance Special application.
EOC STANDS AGAINST RACISM: Bishop Tracy S. Malone, the Extended Cabinet, and East Ohio Conference laity and clergy are committed to stand against racism. Visit the Stand Against Racism resource page for small group studies, videos, podcasts, books, and more to learn how you can stand against racism.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2022: East Ohio Conference clergy and laity met June 9-11 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron for the 53rd session of Annual Conference during which they worshipped, fellowshipped, and conducted necessary business. Learn more on the AC 2022 website.
DISASTER RESPONSE: The East Ohio Conference responds when disasters strike working in unison with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to do no harm and do good in assisting those whose lives are turned upside down by disasters. Learn how you can support disaster recovery.
DISAFFILIATION PATHWAY: Following consultation between Bishop Malone and EOC leadership, churches and clergy wishing to separate from the denomination must follow the disaffiliation pathway found in ¶ 2553 of The Book of Discipline of The UMC. View the EOC Disaffiliation Pathway resource.
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