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BISHOP'S OFFICE

All-Ohio Day of Thanksgiving and Unity

On November 23, 2024, Bishop Hee-Soo Jung invited all Ohio United Methodists to come together for an inspiring day of prayer, worship, and learning. "Hearts Strangely Warmed,” was the theme for the day that began at 10:00 a.m. and concluded at 3:30 p.m. inside Worthington United Methodist Church located at 600 High Street in Worthington.

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us". - Romans 5:1–5 (NRSV)

The event, centered around Romans 5:1-5, focused on hope, endurance, and the transformative power of God’s love. Attendees explored how these principles align with the core mission of The United Methodist Church (UMC) to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The guest speaker for the day was Rev. Dr. Paul W. Chilcote, a renowned scholar in Wesleyan theology and Christian discipleship. Chilcote, an Elder of the Indiana Conference now in retirement, served most recently as director of the Centre for Global Wesleyan Theology at Wesley House, Cambridge, where he continues as a Research Fellow. An award-winning author and Methodist historian and theologian, he was involved in theological education on three continents, having taught at Wesley College (England), St. Paul’s United Theological College (Kenya), the Methodist Theological School (Ohio), Duke Divinity School (North Carolina), and Ashland Theological Seminary (Ohio). He also helped launch two new institutions: Africa University (Zimbabwe) and Asbury Theological Seminary (Florida).

Chilcote is the author and editor of nearly forty books including Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit, Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision, A Faith That Sings, The Methodist Defense of Women in Ministry, Making Disciples in a World Parish, Early Methodist Spirituality, Active Faith, Living Hope, and Singing the Faith. In the past year (2023-24) he has published four books with Abingdon Press that seek to cast a vision of The United Methodist Church into the future: Multiplying Love, Cultivating Christlikeness, Upward! Wesleyan Formation in Three Movements (with Steve Harper), and The Fullest Possible Love. View more books by Rev. Dr. Paul W. Chilcote. He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader in applied Wesleyan studies, particularly in theology, spirituality, and Christian discipleship. He has been a Benedictine oblate of Mt. Angel Abbey for a quarter century. He and his wife, Janet, a retired United Methodist pastor, have five daughters and seven grandchildren.

The Day of Unity included opportunities for worship and celebrating our unity in The UMC.