Connect the Dots

A fun, new initiative to better connect Episcopalians in Southern Ohio

Playing connect the dots is something we all did as kids. It was fun, relaxing and a great way to keep a kid busy. As adults, we often forget the instructional purpose of the game – how dozens of pieces can come together to form a single picture.

Let’s go back to that fun activity of our childhood and connect the dots to form a single picture of our diocesan community! For the next six months, we want to “Connect the Dots” of what it looks like to experience life with others in authentic relationships and true community. And, we’ve set up a little healthy competition to entice you to participate!

Beginning November 17 (the day after convention) until May 30, 2020, we’re asking you to step out of the comfort of your own congregation and go and visit other churches in the diocese. We’ll help track your visits and the stories you learn along the way. Each visit will earn your congregation an entry into a drawing. The more you visit, the more entries your church earns!

Then, during the first week in June, Bishop Breidenthal will draw the winning entry. That congregation will receive $1,000 to use toward an outreach project in their church. But that’s not all – they will also be able to nominate one of the churches they visited to also receive $1,000 toward their outreach ministries!

“I love the notion of connecting dots, because it presupposes that the dots already exist." said Bishop Breidenthal. "We don’t have to create the connections that exist among us. Our job is simply to identify them and act on them.”

The rules of the competition are simple:

• Have fun!

• Visit a church, outreach program or mission within the diocese.

• Send us a (virtual) postcard from your trip! Complete our online form, or post on the diocesan Facebook page with the hashtag #DSOconnectthedots or email cdelange@diosohio.org with a short story about your visit, what you learned, what you loved and anything you would like to share. And of course, include a picture or two!

• Each visit earns your congregation one entry.

• Dates are November 17, 2019 to May 30, 2020.

• Bishop Breidenthal will draw the winning church in the first week of June. That congregation will receive $1,000 to use towards an outreach program in their church and can nominate one of the churches they visited to receive $1,000 toward their outreach programs.

Your virtual postcards of your travels will be shared at DSOconnectthedots.org. As the days and weeks pass, watch and see the amazing picture God creates when we just connect the dots!

To kick off Connect the Dots, convention delegates and visitors will receive some materials to help you get going on your way. But this competition is not just for convention goers – everyone can participate! If you have questions or need additional materials, please contact Carine de Lange at cdelange@diosohio.org.

Share your loves, passions and experience with the churches you visit and with those who visit you. Learn about the outreach programs, youth ministries, welcome ministries and service ministries that can be found throughout the diocese to see if any would be a good addition to your programming. Likewise, if someone visits and wants to start a similar ministry in their church, offer to help them get it off the ground. Each new program is a dot that helps reveal the picture of God’s work in your area. By working together in our own diocese, we add more dimension to the picture – and opportunities to reach more people – which fits in with the Way of Love and becoming a beloved community.