The Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team Begins Its Work
Main Image

The Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team of eight members and two ex-officio staff members from both the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences met in-person last month and this month is beginning listening sessions with staff and ministry groups. The role of the task group is to actively listen, discuss, and discern about forming a new, unified Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.

“Early Church Stories for Our Visioning” was the title of the devotion Bishop Hee-Soo Jung shared with the task team during its inaugural meeting. The bishop grounded his message – and set the direction for the team – in the words of Acts 15:1-11, The Council at Jerusalem.

“Our work will be guided by the Holy Spirit, and we will rely upon the grace of God. We will focus on mission and the fruits of mission,” Jung said. “Ultimately our work is what God can do through you and me and what God can do through East and West Ohio, and what God can accomplish at such a time as this.”

Rev. Doug Anderson, the task team’s consultant/facilitator chosen by Bishop Jung said to members, “Your ultimate goal is not the possibility of creating a new annual conference. Don’t settle for that. Your ultimate goal is to create a new culture that is outward looking, missionally focused, spiritually grounded”

Anderson shared that John and Charles Wesley should be models for the work that lies ahead for the task team over the next few years.

“John and Charles Wesley figured out that what you need to do is connect with folks in the community, serve people, love people, open the doors to people and create a culture that exploded not just in England but in the United States in a profound way,” he said.

Leading Change and Managing Transitions

Task team members were asked to read two books to inform their work: “Leading Change” by John P. Kotter and “Managing Transitions” by William Bridges.

“Kotter said the first part of the change process is to create urgency. If there’s no urgency to do something different, you’re just going to stay stuck where you are,” Anderson told the task team. “The urgency is how can we as United Methodists in Ohio better connect with our communities and better reach and engage folks in those communities to demonstrate with them and connect with them the amazing possibilities that Jesus Christ holds for their life?”

Anderson shared that the first thing he learned from Bridges is that change and transition are not synonyms.

“Bridges says that changes are external, it’s figuring out how to go from point A to point B. Transition is internal, it’s helping the organization come to terms with the sense of loss that accompanies every change. It’s grief work because every change you make somebody loses something. Not everybody loses the same thing, but everyone loses something,” Anderson said.

Our Work Together in 2025, 2026, 2027

“You cannot have a new beginning if you don’t do the hard work of figuring out a new identity,” Anderson told the task team, sharing from the work of Bridges. “It’s not your plan that drives a new beginning. It’s your identity that drives a new beginning that then formulates the plan.”

Bridges stated that successfully launching a new beginning requires the Four P’s:

  • Purpose              The mission and the “why” of our work.
  • Picture                The vision and the “what” of our work.
  • Plan                     The strategy, goals and objectives and the “how” of our work.
  • Part                      The roles people will play in creating a new identity and the “who” of our work.

“The picture (vision) needs to be clear and compelling enough and the plan needs to be broad and inclusive enough that every person, every church, every pastor can find their part to play,” Anderson said.

“How do we put all those pieces together?” Anderson asked the team. “Well, that’s why God created the next two and a half years.”

Small Group Listening Sessions

To aid in developing a new identity for a new, unified Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, the task team is hosting listening sessions with groups from across the East and West Ohio Conferences. The invitation to the sessions includes three questions participants are asked to consider so that they can be ready to contribute to conversations during the session. The questions are: As you think about living into a new annual conference …

  • what excites you and makes you hopeful?
  • what are your concerns or what gives you pause?
  • what additional information would be helpful for us to know?

Task team members will meet with the following groups in April or May:

  • Fresh Starts and New Beginnings (WOC)
  • Conference Staff, including District Offices (EOC)
  • Conference & District Staff (WOC)
  • Boards of Trustees (EOC & WOC in same session)
  • Boards of Laity (WOC & EOC in same session)
  • Boards of Ministry (EOC & WOC in same session)
  • Committee on Episcopacy (WOC & EOC in same session)
  • Transformative Discipleship (WOC)
  • Commissions on Equitable Compensation (EOC & WOC in same session)
  • Appointive Cabinets & Executive Teams (WOC & EOC in same session)
  • Connectional Table (WOC)
  • Councils on Finance & Administration (EOC & WOC in same session)
  • District Boards (WOC & EOC in same session)
  • Pastors of Large Churches (EOC & WOC in same session)
  • Pastors of Small Churches (WOC & EOC in same session)
  • Personnel Committee (EOC)

Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team Members

  • Rev. Armando Arellano (at-large, EOC)
  • Daniel Cardenas (at-large, WOC)
  • Rev. Leroy Chambliss (at-large, WOC)
  • Rev. Dianne Tobey Covault (at-large, EOC)
  • Janet George (at-large, WOC)
  • Catherine Kang (at-large, WOC)
  • Thomas Lewis (at-large, EOC)
  • Rev. Hyeran Yu (at-large, EOC)
  • Rev. Wade Giffin (Episcopacy Committee chair, WOC)
  • Rev. Heidi Welch (Episcopacy Committee chair, EOC)
  • Rev. Steve Stultz Costello (CFA chair, EOC)
  • David Scott (CFA chair, WOC)
  • Julie Hurtig (Trustees chair, WOC)
  • Rev. Randy May (Trustees president, EOC)
  • Kimberly Green (Conference lay leader, EOC)
  • Leslie Hall (Conference lay leader, WOC)
  • Rev. Linda Middelberg (executive assistant to the Bishop, WOC)
  • Rev. Ed Peterson (executive assistant to the Bishop, EOC)
  • Bill Brownson (CFO/director of Administration, WOC)
  • Vera Milanovic (executive director of Financial & Administrative Services, EOC)

Learning More About the Work of the Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team

Updates of the task team’s work will be shared during Annual Conference sessions in both East and West Ohio in the next few years. They will also be communicated to clergy and laity through regular electronic newsletters and on the East and West Ohio Conference websites.

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung’s Prayer for Individuals and Churches as We Develop a New Identity

“Loving God, Bless us to seek God's renewing presence and love. Guide The United Methodist Church in Ohio land to rise again with dynamic love, bold vision, and a mission to transform the world.”