United Church of Christ Suspends Top Ohio Official

The United Church of Christ has suspended its top Ohio official with pay after receiving a complaint about his behavior.

Church officials won't say what the nature of the complaint was against the Reverend David Schwab because of confidentiality rules.

He was installed six months ago as conference minister and executive of the 126,000-member Ohio Conference.

Church officials say Schwab is cooperating and was put on leave in March pending an investigation. Representatives of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference will oversee the investigation, which could take months.

A telephone message seeking comment was left early this morning at the Columbus office of the Ohio Conference. The national church with nearly 1.5 million members is based in Cleveland.