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BISHOP'S OFFICE

Bishop and Cabinet, Meeting to Determine New District Boundaries, Covet Your Prayers

Bishop Tracy S. Malone and the Cabinet are meeting today through Thursday for their annual Fall Retreat. They ask for and covet your prayers as they undertake the critical work of determining the new district boundaries that will be effective January 1.

During Annual Conference in June, members approved a proposal to move from our current 10 districts to four. Per The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016, the bishop and Cabinet have the responsibility of determining district boundaries. The new district configurations will be shared with clergy and laity at the end of this month, along with an invitation to suggest names for the new districts.

Flexibility, creativity, and courage guided last year’s work of the Re-Districting Task Group as well as the proposal to move from 10 to four districts. In the East Ohio Conference, the more space we create at all levels of the church for flexibility with our resources, structure, relationships, and policies, the more effective we can be in living into our mission of making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Having four districts will create flexibility in our system so that we can increase our effectiveness and work toward 100% fruitfulness to the mission and 100% connection with each other. We are committed to living into a future of creative ministry with courage, vision, and hopeful expectation.

As the apostle Paul writes in Philippians Chapter 3, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Let us strain toward what is ahead and press on toward the goal, together.