East Ohio Jurisdictional Delegates

Clergy

Gary Henderson is chief Relationship officer of Global Partnerships for United Methodist Communications and executive director of Imagine No Malaria. He has been a delegate from East Ohio to four General Conferences and previously been the Annual Conference secretary, a member of the Conference Board of Ministry, the chair of the Jurisdictional Elections Committee, and has served in other Church leadership positions.

Andy Call is lead pastor of Church of the Saviour UMC in Cleveland Heights, having previously served the congregation as pastor of Administration and Development. His leadership is to equip the church to live into Kin-dom of God through committed discipleship. A life-long United Methodist, Call was a lay delegate to General Conference 2012 before entering pastoral ministry.

Dan Bryant is the lead pastor of Lakewood UMC, having been appointed there after serving eight years as superintendent of the Mahoning Valley District. He is currently a General Board of Global Ministries director and previously served as chair of the Church and Society Committee. Bryant was a delegate to General Conference in 2012 and 2016, and to the 2019 Special Session of General Conference.

Matthew Laferty is a General Board of Global Ministries missionary serving in Vienna, Austria. He was formed and trained in, and sent out by, the East Ohio Conference. Laferty served as a lay delegate to General Conference in both 2004 and 2008, and he has served at all levels of the Church including the Study Committee on the Worldwide Nature of the Church, the General Commission on Archives and History, and the Committee on Faith and Order.

Armando Arellano is pastor of Euclid East Shore UMC. He has served in different capacities and positions on the district, annual conference, jurisdictional, and the general church. In East Ohio he serves on the Board of Ministry and the Commission on Religion and Race. Arellano was a delegate to the 2008 NCJ Jurisdictional Conference, 2012, 2016 General Conference, and the 2019 Special Called General Conference.

Benita Rollins is superintendent of the Tuscarawas District. General Conference 2020 is the second conference at which she is a delegate. She will be a Jurisdictional Conference delegate for the ninth time in 2020. A trained SBC-21 (Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century) consultant, Rollins has served on community boards and district, Conference and General Church task groups and commissions.

Cara Stultz Costello is co-pastor of Faith UMC in North Canton and is the chairperson of the Conference Board of Ministry. She has previously chaired the Firelands District Committee on Ordained Ministry and the Annual Conference Worship Committee. Stultz Costello served as a US2 United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) missionary, has attended every General Conference since 2000 as an observer, and was a Jurisdictional Conference alternate in 2016.

Abby Auman is superintendent of the Mahoning Valley District. She currently serves on the board of the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation and the board of Copeland Oaks after previously serving as Candidacy Summit director for the EOC Board of Ministry and on the UM Community Center board of directors, the Pass It On clothing closet, and the school superintendent’s roundtable.

Nestor Nazario is superintendent of the Mid-Ohio District. He serves on the Conference Board of Ministry, Conference Pastoral Care Advisory Committee, and the Conference Council on Ministries and previously has been a member of the EOC Commission on Religion and Race and the Church and Society Committee.

Jon Priebe is the lead pastor of Cuyahoga Falls First UMC. He is registrar for the Order of Elders on the Conference Board of Ministry. He previously served as registrar for the Mid-Ohio District Committee on Ordained Ministry and as a member of the North Central Jurisdictional United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) Board.

Carrie Antczak is a Deacon serving at The UMC of Berea focusing her ministry on faith formation and outreach. She served the Conference on the committees of Pastoral Care and Church & Society and is currently the chair of Spiritual Formation. Her passion is sharing the story of God and helping all people to find themselves in the continuing story of God’s grace and love.

Heidi Welch is senior pastor of Brecksville UMC. She is currently the chairperson of the East Ohio Conference Committee on Episcopacy, is a North Coast District representative to the Conference Commission on the Status and Role of Women, is a member of the North Coast District Committee on Ordained Ministry and serves on the district’s Nominating Committee.

Lay

Jerry Rinehart is a member of Mt. Pleasant UMC (Carroll County). He is co-director of Ohio Valley District Lay Servant ministries and a member of the East Ohio Agenda, Rules and Administrative Process (ARAP) Committee. A previous chairperson of the EOC Board of Trustees, and a member of the Board of Discipleship and Upper Room Ministries in Nashville, Rinehart was a delegate to General/Jurisdictional Conferences in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012.

Martha Banks is a member of Christ Woodland UMC in Akron. A research neuropsychologist and former professor at The College of Wooster and Kent State University, Banks was a delegate to General/Jurisdictional Conferences in 2016, and the Special Session of General Conference 2019. The certified Lay Servant has served on the EOC Church and Society and Black Methodists for Church Renewal committees and the Commission on Religion and Race.

Betty Wilson is a member of Hammondsville UMC, where she has been a Sunday school teacher and Bible study leader for more than 50 years and works with Bible school and Pioneer Clubs. A lay speaker for more than 40 years, Wilson previously served on the East Ohio Annual Conference Program Committee, and on Ohio Valley District committees. She was a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference in 2008 and 2016.

Bob Wagner is a member of Harsh Memorial UMC, where he is chairperson of the Administrative Council. He currently serves on the Ohio Valley District Board of Church Location and Building and the East Ohio Conference Board of Trustees. Wagner has been a Lay Speaker/Lay Servant for more than 25 years and during that time has served many roles in the Church, including being a former district lay leader.

Holly Grant is as member of Shreve UMC, where she serves in the church’s children’s programs, GriefShare, Women’s small group, and is a member of United Methodist Women (UMW) and the Education and Evangelism committees. Grant serves on the Conference Board of Benefits and was a delegate to General/Jurisdictional Conferences in 2016 and to the Special Session of General Conference 2019.

Connor Prusha is a member of Chardon UMC and is a Baldwin Wallace University student pursuing certified candidacy ministry. He was chairperson of the Conference Council on Youth Ministries his senior year in high school after serving on CCYM the four previous years. A 2016 Jurisdictional Conference delegate, he has also served as a member and co-chair of the Division on Ministries with Young People, and as a member of Division of Discipleship Ministries.

Sarah Dixon is a member of Mayfield UMC, where she sings and plays piano in the worship band, leads and participates in LifeGroups, and serves on the Worship Committee and the Visioning team. A high school choir teacher and professional musician, Dixon is a life-long United Methodist and has been involved in churches in three different districts (Ohio Valley, North Coast, and Western Reserve) over the years.

Donald Burdsall is a member of Cardington First UMC. He is the Mid-Ohio District lay leader, is a certified Lay Speaker, and is a member of the Conference Board of Laity. Burdsall was a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference 2016 and the first reserve delegate to the Special Session of General Conference 2019. He has served on most local church committees and is a previous member of the Mid-Ohio Superintendency, Nominating, and Lay Servant Committees.

Thomas Lewis is a member of Johnson UMC. The Ohio Northern University student was raised in The United Methodist Church. He served seven years on District Youth Council, representing the Western Reserve and Canal districts and served six years, including four years on Executive Team, on the Conference Council on Youth Ministries. He was chosen by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) to be on the design team for NEXT 2018.

Susan Achberger is a member of University Circle UMC. The Cleveland Clinic cancer clinical trial quality assurance coordinator was a member of the 2016 General Conference Delegation Steering Committee and attended 2016 Jurisdictional Conference as a reserve delegate. She serves as vice chair of the Conference Personnel Committee.

Allen Laferty is a member of Crestline First UMC. He has previously served the Conference as lay leader, as president of the Board of Trustees, and as a member of the Board of Ministry and the Board of Laity. He served as a General Conference delegate in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Kimberly Green is a member of Celebration UMC. She is lay leader of the East Ohio Conference Annual Conference, serves on several Conference committees, and is a member of the Extended Cabinet. The director of nursing at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Green is involved in ministry initiatives that link her life’s work with helping families and communities thrive.