Alumni Karen Oehl and Ronald Payne to receive Mount Awards

Methodist Theological School in Ohio has chosen Rev. Karen Oehl and Rev. Ronald Payne to receive the John and Ruth Mount Alumni Awards for Distinguished Service. Both recipients will be honored at the Mount Awards Luncheon, 11:45 a.m. Oct. 7 in Dunn Dining Hall on the MTSO campus, 3081 Columbus Pike in Delaware, Ohio.

Karen Oehl, who earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1996, is receiving the Mount Alumni Award for Parish Ministry. Currently superintendent of the Mid-Ohio District of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, she has served as an MTSO trustee since 2011. After serving as a student associate at Wooster UMC during her seminary years, Oehl pastored Marshallville and Easton UMCs in Marshallville; Apple Creek UMC; and, most recently, Brecksville UMC.

Ronald Payne, a 1966 M.Div. graduate of MTSO, also will be honored with the Mount Alumni Award for Parish Ministry. In a ministry spanning more than four decades, he led a series of congregations in the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Perrysburg First UMC, Columbus Epworth UMC, Fostoria Wesley UMC and Troy First UMC were among his appointments. Payne and his wife, Jane, currently serve as volunteers at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Friends and family of the honorees are cordially invited to the Mount Awards Luncheon, which is part of MTSO's Alumni Day events. Those who wish to attend the luncheon are asked to RSVP at www.mtso.edu/alumniday.

The Mount Awards are made possible by the generosity of MTSO Trustee Emeritus John Mount and his late wife Ruth.

Methodist Theological School in Ohio prepares leaders of many faith traditions for lives of significance in service to the church and the world. The school offers master's degrees in divinity, counseling ministries, theological studies and practical theology, as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree. For more information, visit www.mtso.edu.

CONTACT:
Danny Russell, director of communications
drussell@mtso.edu, 740-362-3322