In early 2025 Bishop Hee-Soo Jung announced the creation of the Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team which has eight members and two ex-officio staff members from each of the East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences. The role of the Task Team is to listen, discuss, and discern about forming a new, unified Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.

“Your ultimate goal is to create a new culture that is outward looking, missionally focused, spiritually grounded,” Rev. Doug Anderson, the Task Team consultant told team members at their March meeting. In his presentation to Annual Conference 2025, Anderson said, “The decision to create a new annual conference is not made by the task team, the Cabinets, or the bishop. That decision will be made by the Annual Conferences themselves in 2027.”

In Spring, 2025, the Task Team hosted 17 listening sessions attended by 254 people representing East Ohio and West Ohio staff, and laity and clergy of rural, urban, and suburban churches of various sizes across multiple geographic areas. Over the Summer of 2025, 19 work groups featuring Conference staff/leadership resource members and up to 10 clergy/laity representing both East and West Ohio were formed, with each group convened by a Task Team member.  Since that time, most of the teams have been meeting regularly. 

The Ohio Episcopal Area Task Team will meet Saturday, January 31, to share progress reports.  At that meeting Bishop Hee-Soo Jung will preview a visioning statement for the cooperative work of both conferences, which he will also share with clergy and laity during his scheduled Days in the Districts this Spring. As the work teams continue meeting in the Spring of 2026, the Task Team will create a written report and presentation to be shared at both Annual Conferences.