Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
United Methodist Association of Communicators | October 28, 2025
LEAWOOD, KS—Hundreds of United Methodist communicators were honored October 28 with an awards celebration at the annual meeting of the United Methodist Association of Communicators at Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, KS. The celebration was a highlight of the UMAC annual meeting.
United Methodist Insight earned a second-place award for digital special projects for its booklet compiled from its series "Dismantling Racism Five Years Later." Insight Editor-at-large John W. Coleman received three writing awards for stories he contributed as a freelancer: First Place, Legacy Black Churches series for UM News; and two awards in the Feature category, First Place,"Church embraces its Muslim tenants as neighbors," and Second Place, "A resurrection in the House of God promises hope and a future."
Work was submitted across nine classes of communications, with a best in class for each, as well as first, second and third place winners selected for each category. Also at the event, the group honored its 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Rev. R. Bruce Weiman, and its Communicator of the Year, Joe Iovino.
Masters of ceremony Rev. Amanda Banda and Dan O’Mara led the awards ceremony, announcing winners in each class, division and category. For a complete list of award recipients, find the awards booklet later this evening at https://umcommunicators.org/awards/.
Hall of Fame inductee
Rev. R. Bruce Weiman is a pastor in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference where he has been involved with video ministry since 1983.
As a seminary student, Bruce took a video production class, realizing in the late 1970s the potential for video storytelling in the church. He began doing video production for the Annual Conference in 1983. His "studio" was the basement of the parsonage, where he used multiple VHS decks to do linear video editing.
He was instrumental in assembling an all-volunteer camera and production crew for the Annual Conference -- a practice that continues to this day. As a member of the Conference Commission on Communications, he advocated that a video production manager position be included in the communication staff.
In 2009, Bruce was part of a three-person team who were recognized by UMAC with the first Hilly Hicks Award of Excellence for Video Production for storytelling of ministries in local churches. He was also recognized in 2016 by the Religion Communicators Council with a DeRose-Hinkhouse Best of Class for a collaboration on a PR/Advertising campaign for The Journey of 10x10, a congregational development curriculum.
Although Bruce retired from active ministry in 2020 after 40 years of service, he continues to be supportive of the IGRC communications ministry and still provides wise counsel, having chaired the IGRC Conference Commission on Communications from 2016-2024.
The United Methodist Association of Communicators is honored to name Rev. R. Bruce Weiman to the UMAC Hall of Fame.
Communicator of the Year
Joe Iovino serves as the team lead for denominational content strategy at United Methodist Communications. Since 2014, he has been a devoted and proactive leader within the agency that serves communication ministry by crafting stories and resources to help members and leaders forge forward in faith as United Methodists.
Joe has been instrumental in keeping United Methodists informed and inspired as he oversees UMC.org and ResourceUMC.org - the official denominational websites. Ever mindful and observant, he breaks new ground and takes deep topical dives to ensure denominational content meets the needs of members and leaders across the connection.
Joe empowered members to understand matters surrounding the 2020/2024 General Conference in advance, during, and after the historic event. He managed the team tasked with the Commission on the General Conference’s landing page and ensured timely updates to the ADCA page and other pages that guided members throughout the meeting.
Since the conclusion of the 2020/2024 General Conference, Joe has played a pivotal role in helping educate members and leaders on the impact and rollout of legislative decisions that unfolded at the session. Most notably, Joe has played a key role in helping to shepherd multilingual Regionalization resources to provide the necessary and relevant information for decision-making surrounding this important issue.
Joe created and produced the award-winning “Get Your Spirit in Shape” podcast that continues to feature casual conversations with leaders, authors, and others who offer spiritual nutrition and exercises for everyday life. He also launched "The Recap" video series, which offers concise information that started as a response to questions about the current state of the church and has since become a continuing monthly offering.
Joe is the consummate teammate and servant, always willing to make himself available to assist the mission of UMCom and The UMC. He is patient, understanding, and ever watchful and active in addressing the needs, nuances, sensitivities, and unique timeframes of the Church, while ensuring that all members feel welcome and engaged in the life of The UMC.
On his personal website, Joe shares that "I’m on a mission to bridge the gap between faith and the fast-paced reality of the 21st century. As a writer, I’m passionate about sharing insights on what it means to live as a faithful follower of Jesus in today’s ever-changing world." Joe Iovino lives out this calling every day in his role at UMCom, and all who have had the privilege to know or work with him have seen examples of his leaning into this mission.
Joe Iovino is the personification of an excellent communicator in all the many facets of that title.