About Pastor Ruth
Pastor Ruth is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. She has served churches in the West Ohio Conference for over 20 years in Williams, Fulton, Henry, Lawrence and Putnam Counties. She passionately loves Jesus and all people and loves pastoring “her flock” at both the Pandora and the Gilboa United Methodist Churches. Pastor Ruth has served the Gilboa UMC for the past 10+ years and has been serving Pandora UMC since 2020.
Ruth loves working with youth, having confirmation classes, going on mission trips (both local and nationally and internationally). She has a passion for and serves on the Conference leadership team for Prison Ministries, and is very involved in mentoring and walking along side people who are entering and serving as pastors through her work in the District Committee of Ordained Ministries, and mentoring of women pastors in northwest Ohio. Pastor Ruth has traveled for church to Cambodia and Israel, as well as New York City, Detroit, Henderson Settlement, Philadelphia, Mississippi (Katrina work), and Athens/Appalachia area.​
Pastor Ruth is widowed, has four adult children (living in Bryan, Ohio; Vermont, Virginia and Montana), 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Ruth graduated from Bluffton High School (over 50 years ago) where her father had served as the pastor of the Bluffton First UMC. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Education from BGSU, a Master’s in Education/Counseling from the University of Toledo and a Master’s of Divinity from United Theological Seminary in Dayton. Before answering God’s call on her life to become a minister Ruth taught school, coached swimming and worked with adults with disabilities in training, assessment and administration of agencies in Ohio and Virginia for more than 30 years.
Pastor Ruth considers Pandora her home and has purchased a home on the lake at Spring Lake Village, where she invites church folks to come and visit, enjoy the scenery, meditate and read the bible.
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