Ed Brigeman, long-time member at Cherry Grove UMC, was Lay Leader of the congregation from 1976 to 1998 and again from 2002 to present. He serves as the Lay Assistant to the Pastor, assisting with Liturgy, visitation and filling the pulpit in the Pastor's absence. Ed also worked on the Educational Wing and Parsonage Building Committees, has been Coordinator of Adult Activities, taught an adult bible class since 1974 and is past Chair of the Staff–Parish Relations Committee. He is a Certified Instructor for the Disciple Bible Study program and has lead several groups at Cherry Grove.

Ed completed training in the Certified Lay Minister Program in 2010 and was consecrated as a Lay Assistant Pastor at Cherry Grove Church.

At the District level, he has served on the Worship Commission, the Superintendency Committee and the Board of Laity and was one of the original members of the Lay Empowerment Task Force. From 1988-1990 Ed was District Director of Lay Speaking and has since been an instructor in both the Basic and Advanced Lay Speakers Courses. In 1997 he was elected District Lay Leader, where he served until 2002. Since then he has served as the temporary lay pastor at several churches.

Ed served as a member of the West Ohio Conference Board of General Ministries and has represented that body on the Conference School of Christian Missions. He was also is a member of the Conference Committee on Pastoral Care and the Parsonage Standards Committee and currently serves on the Conference Committee on Investigations.

In 1992 Ed ended his 25-year career in law enforcement when he left the position as Chief of the University Police to become an Associate Professor and head of the UC Criminal Justice Program. During this time he made a study of Terrorism and was a member of the US delegation to a number of international conferences and studies on terrorist violence in such places as France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, England, Canada, Ireland and Israel.