Home | About Us | Bishop's Office | Clergy Appointments

BISHOP'S OFFICE

Core Values of Appointment Making by the East Ohio Conference Cabinet

We, the Cabinet of the East Ohio Annual Conference, remain convinced that we have abundant resources, a compelling mission, a meaningful legacy, and a bright future that continues to be discovered. There is no more strategic resource at our disposal than creating a missional match of pastoral gifts and congregational needs and aspirations for vital and effective ministry. With this reality ever present, we strive to make transformative appointments for the empowerment of local congregations and for the overall mission that we share “to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

In recognizing the weight of our decisions and their impact upon everyone involved, we strive to be guided by the Holy Spirit, common sense, larger missional strategy, and the forms and materials produced annually by each church, pastor, and district superintendent.

It states in ¶ 202 of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016 that, “The local church is a strategic base from which Christians move out to the structures of society.” Therefore, enhancing and strengthening the ministry of the local church is of paramount importance for the overall mission of the Church. In our ministry of supervision it is our responsibility to appoint gifted pastors to serve local churches within our East Ohio Conference.

Each year there are pastoral moves. These are due to retirements, seminary graduation, growth in the church, or strategic needs in another congregation. Many circumstances can lead to the reappointment of a pastor and our ongoing consultation with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) assists our understanding of the needs, potential, and effectiveness of a pastoral appointment.

Whenever the Cabinet gathers to engage in appointment-making we begin with worship, prayer, and communion. Throughout the day, we pray often to lift up the specific congregation we are discussing and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we identify and evaluate potential pastoral leaders to serve there. Honest and seeking prayer undergirds every pastoral appointment.

Our discussions begin with the stated missional needs of the local congregation, which are identified through: our consultation process, the annual charge conference reports, and our individual impressions of the congregation. The input of every member of the Cabinet is valued as we identify, lift up, and evaluate the names of potential pastors to bring about the best possible match with the church. In doing so, we consider the entire pool of available clergy, including those appointed beyond the local church, those who may be seeking to relocate to this area from another annual conference, graduating seminary students, and local pastors who have the needed gifts and abilities.

Pastors are appointed to serve for one year at a time. Annually, each pastor and the congregation they currently serve are assessed to evaluate the missional needs, fruitfulness of ministry, and the potential for the continued match in the coming year. Understanding that there is neither a minimum nor maximum number of years that a pastor may serve in any appointment, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that the appointment: is fruitful in reaching new people, making disciples, and maturing the faith of those within the congregation and those in the wider community; and is engaging in effective mission and outreach.

As a Cabinet, we affirm our commitment to be bold and courageous in our ministry of appointment-making. Any pastor can be appointed to any church regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, physical ability, or any other dimension of their personhood. In addition, it needs to be noted that a new appointment does not always mean an increase in salary. At times a reduction in salary may be necessary to appoint the pastor who will be the best relational match with the local congregation. We recognize that this is a difficult reality for our pastoral families but our commitment to create good pastoral and congregational matches is our highest priority.

To God be the glory.
The East Ohio Conference Cabinet

---

2024 Appointments/Changes of Status

The Bishop announces the following clergy appointments and/or changes of status
which, unless otherwise noted, are effective July 1, 2024.

2023-2024 Appointments
Pastor	Appointment	District	Effective
Carolyn Baker	Cambridge Center, Cambridge Faith & Cambridge First UMCs – Associate Pastor	South Forest
Allan Bevere	Crestline First UMC	West Plains	11/1/23
Warren Brown	Port Clinton Trinity UMC	West Plains
Pamela Buzalka	Geneva & Harpersfield UMCs	Northern Waters
Mark Cannon	Transitional Leave
Joseph Carney	Amherst UMC	West Plains
Robert Carson	Lincoln Avenue UMC	South Forest
Ryan Cockrill	New Philadelphia First UMC	South Forest
Jeffrey Croft	Thoburn UMC	South Forest	8/1/24
Lee Cubie	Mt. Vernon Hopewell UMC	West Plains	10/15/23
Richard Darr	New Philadelphia First UMC	South Forest	1/1/24
Sandra Dennis-Greenberg	Windham, Nelson & Garrettsville UMCs	Northern Waters
Mikayla Doepker	Personal Leave		11/30/23
Lee Ann Dunlap	Gnadenhutten & Tippecanoe UMCs	South Forest
William Eckert	Navarre Otterbein UMC	Central Valley
Michael Farmer	Family of Faith & South Arlington UMCs	Northern Waters
Kimmy Farone	Creston Canaan & Burbank Trinity UMCs	Central Valley
Seth Filburn	Bell Chapel UMC	South Forest
Tom Fish	Bolivar UMC	South Forest
John Fitch	Sugar Grove UMC	South Forest	9/24/23
Allan Georgia	Good Shepherd, Pleasant Hills, & Ridgewood UMCs – Associate Pastor	Northern Waters
William Graham	Portage Faith UMC	Northern Waters	7/2/23
LaRita Hand	Mt. Pleasant & St. Paul UMCs	Northern Waters
David Haydu	Mogadore & Akron Park UMCs	Northern Waters
Jacob Heskett	Sunbury UMC	West Plains
Joyce Hoile	Western Reserve UMC	Central Valley	6/1/24
Suzanah Johnson	North Industry UMC	Central Valley
Thomas Jones	Kelleys Island Zion UMC	West Plains
Tony Jones	North Canton Werner UMC	Central Valley	11/1/23
Brandon Keck	Medical Leave		11/1/23
Julie Kirker	North Canton Grace & Simpson UMCs	Central Valley
Ed Kovacik	Norwalk First UMC	West Plains	12/31/23
George Lee	Ontario UMC	West Plains
James Lewis	Charlestown, Ravenna & Twin Falls UMCs	Northern Waters	9/17/23
Karol Lewis	Charlestown, Ravenna & Twin Falls UMCs	Northern Waters	9/17/23
Robert Ludwig	Lafayette & Spencer UMCs	West Plains	1/1/24
David MacDonald	Extension Ministry: Director at Osage Forest of Peace		1/1/24
Leslie Mahaney	Cadiz Scott Memorial & Scio UMCs	South Forest
Randy May	Willoughby & North Mentor Centenary UMCs	Northern Waters
Scott McCutcheon	Extension Ministry: City of Hope Cancer Center (AZ)		2/21/24
Carla Miner	Lake Brady UMC	Northern Waters
Jonah Mitchell	Kilbourne UMC	West Plains
Sam Mohn	Church Hill & Youngstown Trinity UMCs	Central Valley
Alexandra Parisher	North Canton Faith UMC – Associate Pastor	Central Valley
Kristen Patt	Perry Heights Trinity UMC	Central Valley
Cindy Patterson	Church of the Saviour UMC – Associate Pastor	Northern Waters
Shannon Pitorak	Ashtabula First & Madison Park UMCs	Northern Waters
Lorrin Radzik	Family Leave
David Rinkes	Powhatan & Amity UMCs	South Forest
Darlene Robinson	Cory & St. Matthew UMCs	Northern Waters
Tyler Rollinson	West Lafayette & Canal Lewisville UMCs	South Forest
Jeremy Roseberry	Jefferson UMC	Northern Waters	1/1/24
Ruth Roth	Brighton & Rochester UMCs	West Plains
Darla Schnegg	Vienna & Coalburg UMCs	Central Valley
Stephanie Scovell	Good Shepherd, Pleasant Hills, & Ridgewood UMCs – Lead Pastor	Northern Waters
Tina Siroki	Cambridge Center, Cambridge Faith, & Cambridge First UMCs	South Forest
Ryan Skelton	Galena & Kilbourne UMCs	West Plains	1/1/24
David St. Aubin	Family Leave	South Forest
Jeffrey Stoll	Mentor Plains UMC	Northern Waters	9/10/23
Michael Swab	Stow UMC	Northern Waters
Richard Thewlis	Lakeside UMC	West Plains
Jan Walsh	Willowick Shoregate UMC	Northern Waters
Preston Watkins	Vermilion Grace UMC	West Plains
Elizabeth Weed	Extension Ministry: Spiritual Care Facilitator at IBH Addiction Recovery		12/1/23
Ben Weisbrod	Danville UMC	West Plains
Ashwin Welch	Navarre Otterbein UMC	Central Valley	1/1/24
Jennifer Whitmore	Crestline First UMC	West Plains
David Whitt	New London & Clarksfield UMCs	West Plains
Doug Winner	Vermilion Grace UMC	West Plains	1/1/24
Karen Wolcott	Medical Leave	Northern Waters
Peter Wolfgang	Concord Hope Ridge UMC	Northern Waters

2023-2024 Retirements
Pastor	Retiring From	District	Effective
Lori Burdette-Steele	Creston Canaan & Burbank Trinity UMCs	Central Valley
Kate Cox	Medical Leave
Lee Ann Dunlap	Gnadenhutten UMC	South Forest	12/31/23
Georgette Gaston	Cambridge Center, Cambridge First & Cambridge Faith UMCs	South Forest
James Gaston	Cambridge Center, Cambridge First & Cambridge Faith UMCs	South Forest
Karen Graham	Lakeside UMC	West Plains
Richard Hasley	Sun City Center UMC (Florida Conference)
Jeri Johnson	North Industry UMC	Central Valley
William Johnson	Sugarcreek & Dundee UMCs	South Forest
Ed Kovacik	Norwalk First UMC	West Plains	12/31/23
Gordon Myers	Sunbury UMC	West Plains
Darlene Robinson	Crestline First UMC	West Plains	11/1/23
Ruth Roth	Brighton & Rochester UMCs	West Plains
Ron Shultz	Family of Faith UMC	Northern Waters
Linda Slutz	Massillon Epworth UMC	Central Valley
James Szakacs	Concord Hope Ridge UMC	Northern Waters
David Whitt	New London & Clarksfield UMCs	West Plains
Dennis Williams	New Matamoras & Sardis UMCs	South Forest

2023-2024 Concluding Ministries
Concluding Ministries denotes those clergy retiring from an appointment they accepted after having previously retired; and retiring Local Pastors who have not completed the five-year Course of Study.
Pastor	Concluding From	District	Effective
Robert Alexander	Danville UMC	West Plains
Norma Bates	Charlestown & Ravenna UMCs	Northern Waters	8/1/23
Allan Bevere	Crestline First UMC	West Plains
John Butchko	Kelleys Island Zion UMC	West Plains
Joseph Carney	Amherst UMC	West Plains
Sue Chidley	Bellevue Seybert Memorial UMC	West Plains
Richard Darr	New Philadelphia First UMC	Central Valley
Karen Hollingsworth	Mentor Plains UMC	Northern Waters	8/30/23
David Miller	Madison Park UMC	Northern Waters
Mike Nickolich	Green, Clearview & Uniontown (Associate) UMCs	Central Valley	3/1/24
Elgan Reynolds	Shoregate UMC	Northern Waters
Ashwin Welch	Navarre Otterbein UMC	Central Valley
Carl Schaefer	Trinway UMC	South Forest
Douglas Winner	Vermilion Grace UMC	West Plains