Here are the important details you'll need to know about Annual Conference this year!

Registration

All clergy, lay members to Annual Conference, and guests must register to attend Annual Conference. Registration opens on March 1, 2025 and closes on May 1, 2025. Anyone wishing to receive a printed Book of Reports must register by April 15, 2025 to ensure that you will receive it prior to the Listening Sessions on the proposed recommendations.

Getting To Capital University

Use this address for your GPS: The Capital Center at Capital University, 2360 E. Mound Street, Bexley, Ohio.

Parking

Please refer to the parking map. You can park in any lot on campus, but remember that marked handicapped spots and lot S1 are reserved for those with handicap placards. Golf carts will be available to take you to and from the parking lots, and will pick you up near any WOC parking sign. DO NOT park on neighborhood streets, those are permit only and you will receive a ticket.

Annual Conference Schedule

Click here for the tentative schedule (subject to change) for Annual Conference 2025.

Clergy Session

Clergy Session will be held at 9:00 am on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in the Mees Hall Auditorium. Mees Hall is about one block directly west of the Capital Center. The doors to the main entrance are located on the north side of the building. Check-in for clergy will begin at 8:00 am. Reminder: lay members of the Board of Ordained Ministry should attend Clergy Session. Lay pastors, including Certified Lay Ministers and Supply Pastors, do not attend Clergy Session. Contact Susan Thomas in the Office of Ministry with any questions, sthomas@wocumc.org.

Laity Session

Laity Session will be held at 2:00 pm on on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in the Mees Hall Auditorium. Mees Hall is about one block directly west of the Capital Center. The doors to the main entrance are located on the north side of the building. Check-in for laity will begin at 12:30 pm.

Check-in times

Check-in is available prior to Clergy Session on Wednesday morning and Laity Session on Wednesday afternoon in Mees Hall. We will continue with a drive-through check-in on Wednesday afternoon from 4:00 - 5:45 pm, weather-permitting. At 6:00 pm we will move check-in inside the south lobby of the Capital Center. 

The Capital Center doors will remain CLOSED for set-up on Wednesday until 6:00 pm. For your safety, please refrain from entering the building until then.

Memorial Service

We will remember those clergy and clergy spouses we have lost this year during Opening Worship on Wednesday, May 28th in the Capital Center. Families are invited to let us know that you plan to attend so that we can have seats reserved for you by emailing Grace Gerber, ggerber@wocumc.org. Plan to arrive by 6:30 pm for a time with Bishop Jung prior to the service at 7:00 pm.

Celebration of Commissioning, Ordination and Retirement

The service of celebration will be held on Saturday afternoon. Guests of those being commissioned, ordained and retired are welcome to attend and no pre-registration is required. All clergy are invited to wear black or white robes and red stoles, and to process into the service.

What to Bring

• Your phone, tablet, or laptop, and make sure they are charged. (An unattended charging station is available in the lobby.)
• Your Book of Reports, if you received a printed copy.
• Filled water bottles; a water bottle filler is located on the south side of the room, access it off of the main hallway.
• Food and snacks if you’d like; the concession stand in the lobby will be open throughout the event.
• The room is air-conditioned, so dressing in layers is always a good idea.
• Chair cushion or your own lawn chair, if desired. (We will be using the same chairs as last year.)
• Blankets or lawn chairs on Thursday for the Picnic in the Park.
• Your mission donations.
• Your annual conference offering.

Annual Conference Mission: Green Church Initiative

We are looking for ways to make Annual Conference as "green" as possible, so we will be implementing composting and recycling, offering water bottle fillers, limiting the amount of paper that we use, and providing information on how churches can move towards being more environmentally conscious. We encourage everyone to bring their own water bottle to Annual Conference to cut down on plastic water bottle consumption.

"Hands of Hope" District Donation Challenge

As we do every year at Annual Conference, West Ohio Disaster Response Ministries will be collecting kits and supplies for Midwest Mission Distribution Center, a cooperating depot in the UMCOR relief supply network. However, this year's collection will also include the "Hands of Hope Challenge," where we see which District can contribute the most items!

This year we will be collecting the most-needed items, including: baby onesies and sleepers (size 0 - 6 months), receiving blankets (28x28 or 32x32 inches), shampoo (12 - 19 ounces, no pumps), lotion (8 - 10 ounces, no pumps), girls' underwear (size 10 - 14), and women's underwear (size 5 - 8), contractor trash bags, and flannel fabric (at least one yard). They will also accept new or gently used walkers, wheelchairs, canes, crutches, and various hand tools, shovels, rakes, brooms and tillers. Be sure to click here for specific details. The donation truck will be there Thursday morning through Friday at 3:00 pm, across the street from the Capital Center.

Meals

If you order a lunch, it will be noted on your nametag and those lunches will be distributed in the back of our meeting space.  Those lunches cannot be purchased on-site, they are pre-order only. The concession stand will be available and there are almost 20 restaurants within a 10 to 15-minute walk, and they know that we are coming!

Restrooms

Restrooms are located in the lobby.

First Aid

First aid assistance is available in the main hallway.

Nursing Mothers

There is a room available for nursing mothers off of the main hallway.

Connection Fair Thursday and Friday

The Connection Fair will be held Thursday and Friday from 8:00 am – 5:30 pm in the back of our meeting space.  Be sure to stop by and learn about the different ministries and organizations! Please limit your interaction to our breaks so as not to disrupt the proceedings.

Clergy Photographs

We will be taking updated clergy photographs for our database in the rear of the Capital Center throughout Annual Conference. Watch for more details.

Prayer Stations

Outdoor prayer stations are located directly across the street from our meeting space. A prayer labyrinth is also available outside of Trinity Lutheran Seminary on campus.

Prayer Vigil

There will be opportunities for your church to be in prayer for the work of Annual Conference.  Lay members are asked to share the Prayer Vigil with their congregations, watch for more details.

Thursday Picnic in the Park

Thursday evening we will once again have a Picnic in the Park with music, games, and food trucks.  The picnic will be held on the lawn just north of the Student Union, about a block from where we will be meeting, and the rest of the evening is free so we have more time to enjoy it this year! Please bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets. 

Friday Family Movie on the Lawn

The City of Bexley is hosting a movie on the lawn at Capital University on Friday evening starting at 6:00 pm.  They will have kids’ activities, games, crafts, food trucks and inflatables, and the family movie "The Wild Robot" (PG for action/peril and thematic events) will be shown at dusk. Music is provided by The Shazbotts Kids Rock & Roll Band. The event is free!

Leaving Annual Conference

Because of the proximity of traffic lights on Main Street, traffic can back up on campus.  If you are heading East (towards I-270) use Pleasant Ridge Avenue.  If you are heading West (towards Columbus) use College Avenue.  Note that you can exit campus using Bexley city streets to get to Livingston Avenue or Main Street, which will then take you to I-70 or I-270.