Spring 2021 Connections

Stories from the Diocese of Southern Ohio

Connections Spring 2021 Issue 1 Vol. 8

A YEAR I N ISOLATI ON

Stories of resilience and hope

Connections The official publication of the Diocese of Southern Ohio EpiscopaliansInConnection.org

Julie Murray, Editor Amy Svihlik, Designer Dave Caudill, Copy editor

Not even a pandemic can keep the spirit down Bishop Ken Price

SUBMISSIONS: Connections encourages the submission of articles and pictures. We reserve the right to edit material offered for publication. All submissions must include name, phone and email address for verification.

Send submissions to jmurray@diosohio.org.

CONNECTIONS is published two times per year by the Diocese of Southern Ohio, 412 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-4179.

This publication is funded by mission share payments to the diocesan operating budget and is available at no charge to all members of Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Connections, 412 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202-4179

I often remark that in the 27 years I have been a bishop, my all-time favorite activity is Sunday morning visitations to parishes. Mariann most always goes with me and as we drive toward each of our 73 congregations, we recall the people we look forward to seeing and as we drive home, we share what from our visit we can add to our memory bank for that parish.

Likewise, a happy event for me every year is meeting in June with the new crop of counselors at Procter, to commission them for the summer ahead. Sometimes they came to our home, sometimes we took supper to them at Procter, but hearing their stories of what they hoped to bring to the summer and feeling their mixture of apprehension and excitement was always uplifting and gratifying and I knew our kids would be in good hands.

Even after I retired officially in 2012, Bishop Breidenthal allowed me to continue in these endeavors . . . that is, until a year ago when it all ceased.

No longer were our Sunday visitations in-person and we had no camping season at Procter last summer. Zoom gatherings replaced visitations. And

when I came back onboard full time this fall, all our committees and commissions were meeting online. Even our staff mostly worked from home.

As I have sat in my study at home and recorded sermons to be replayed or gone to churches to join a skeleton group recording the service, and as I have attended meetings in which when our minds wandered, we each looked to see what background the others had on their Zoom, there was a profound sense of isolation.

But as I look back on the past year, there have been some moments of joy in the midst of isolation. Often my Zoom visitations included Zoom coffee hours.

Christ Church, Ironton, All Saints, Portsmouth, St. Patrick’s, Dublin, and St. Matthew’s Westerville’s Zoom coffee hours stand out in which the exchange among clergy and parishioners was lively. After both of my virtual Sundays in those (and many of our other churches), I came away with a profound sense of comradery that bolstered my spirit. Likewise, when I was able to Zoom into vestry meetings in many of our churches, I found the discussions lively and the interchange spirited. The only downside was when I figured my Connections

taxes for 2020, I hardly had any business travel to claim.

Although Procter was mostly silent this past year, when it came time to ordain our newest priests they asked to have it take place in Christ Chapel at Procter. Attendance was limited and I figured when it came time for all the priests present to lay hands on the newly ordained (as is our custom) only a few would come forward. How wrong I was. Each ordinand had the hand of every priest present fall upon them and suddenly some of the isolation I had been feeling melted away. I remember when I first came to Southern Ohio the joke was that when overnight meetings were held at Procter those brave enough to spend the night claimed they never slept, but only stayed awake all night until morning came. Now we have priests for whom Procter meant so much that they chose to ask that their ordination be there. I personally love it when meetings are at Procter and am delighted that we are now beginning to reschedule events there. Somehow, even social distancing at Procter melts away the isolation.

I could go on with reflections raised by this year of isolation but let me sum up by saying that although worship, meetings and events have been drastically different this year, and the isolation we have felt from each other has at times been keen, there have also been happenings worth celebrating. In many communities, people who never had been in our churches found us online. In Zoom meetings, folks still have been able to share with each other even if we all were just little boxes on a computer screen. And most all our churches have found new ways to minister to those in need in their community. This is so because we are people who are filled with the Spirit, and nothing, not even a pandemic, can keep Spirit-filled people down.

Retired Suffragan Bishop Kenneth L. Price, Jr. stepped in to serve as Bishop in Southern Ohio from November 2020 until May 2021. Now back in retirement mode, he is fully vaccinated and looking forward to traveling to see his grandchildren in Philadelphia, although he will still help out around the diocese on a more limited basis. Keep in touch with Bishop Ken at bishopken@aol.com.

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Spice jar service

Margaret Sammons

A year ago, as we were part way through Lent and all our churches, schools and some businesses suddenly had to shut down because of a new virus we could barely pronounce, one of my daughters had an idea. Could we have a family worship service on Zoom?

It was an easy yes. We so needed to pray in the face of this terrible invader. My husband plays guitar, so he said he’d take care of the music. That left me to tell the Gospel, in a way that would speak not only to the adults, but also keep the attention of three active boys: 20 months, 5 and 8 years old.

Godly Play, I thought. But I didn’t have any figures.

Looking around the house, I thought of my spice jars and of a bag of quilting scraps sitting in the basement. Voila!

The “Sacred Spice Jar Players” were born.

As time has gone on, I’ve tried to match the spice with the person. Herod and Pharaoh were empty jars – no life in them. John the Baptist was chili powder. Moses (cardamom seeds) wore the same green head wrap each week as we followed his story, and I found that a staff

made from popsicle sticks could tuck into his head wrap.

As could the flames of Pentecost for the Apostles.

And Jesus is always Trader Joe’s Everyday Spice, and he wears the most multi-colored fabric I have. I hope that helps the children trust that Jesus does come Spice jar Jesus - who comes “every day,” for us all every day – and that he comes for all people.

But it makes cooking interesting sometimes. Where is the basil? Ah, yes, it’s in the green room, resting up from being Martha last Sunday.

After the service there is a brief “coffee hour,” strictly for the children, who bring a toy or project to the screen to show each other.

The children are 2 3/4, 6 and 9 now. Sometimes they spend more time off camera than on, but then, kids do that in church, as well! And, under the pew or on it, children absorb more than we know. The two-year-old says that John and James are his favorite disciples. In December, the 6-year-old proudly took a turn giving the acclamation and lighting the Advent wreath. Now the 9-year-old has started to lead the prayers.

Someday we’ll all return to our various parishes and Sunday schools. But for now, we’re grateful for our spice jars, who provide this holy opportunity to be nurtured and supported by Christ and one another in this strange and scary year.

The Rev. Margaret Holt Sammons is a retired priest in the diocese.

Left: The spice jar apostles share the news of Christ’s undying love with the crowd.

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Gratitude leads to resiliency

Joyce Landers

For the last 25 years, I have worked at a nonprofit pediatric clinic. I have seen many changes over the years. One of the most significant changes I have seen is the trend toward treating the whole person, not just the person’s health concerns. Stress, anxiety, grief, and depression have been directly linked to many health conditions. Unfortunately, there is no way to eliminate these things from our lives; there is no magic pill to protect us. The best we can do is develop the tools we need to take care of ourselves and to persevere. One of the most important tools we have is resiliency.

Even though it may seem that some people are born with a naturally resilient nature, it is possible for everyone to develop it. Resiliency is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. How do you recover from difficult times? Many people immerse themselves in hobbies or the arts. Being physically active or creative can provide an outlet for anxiety. But how can we move past our pain or negative thoughts and change our internal narrative?

I believe that practicing gratitude is the best way not only to survive our traumas but to overcome them. When we are in a crisis, we tend to turn inward. We see only the bad, the pain, or the anxiety. Turning our focus to the positive things in our life can help diminish the control that our negative thoughts have on us. Looking beyond ourselves can help us to appreciate that all people feel pain. In fact, there is always someone else out there who has it worse than we do. That is the moment when we can find the positive despite the negative. Practicing gratitude every day can provide the tools we need to become resilient.

I am not saying that being grateful

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will help heal a broken heart. But I do believe that if we make gratitude a daily practice, it will become a habit.

Once we develop a habit of gratitude, we don’t have to look for it when trouble comes. It will just be there.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said that gratitude as an attitude is a game changer, and I believe that is true. Through the daily practice of thankfulness, we can become healthier people, both emotionally and physically. We can become resilient people who can roll with whatever life throws at us.

This reflection is reprinted from the United Thank Offering e-newsletter, March 2021. Reprinted with permission.

Joyce Landers serves as the Vice President of the United Thank Offering Board.

Recovery guidance: Actions build resilience Diane Tefft Young, M.A.

Who knew in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 10, 2010, following a successful single lung transplant at Northeast Ohio’s most celebrated hospital, that I would be so engaged in my life ten years later? I marked last year’s transplant anniversary with a host of family, friends and medical professionals.

After several failed written attempts to reach and to thank my lung donor’s family, I pondered perhaps the most respectful thank you I could offer might be to bow to their seeming collective wishes and remain anonymous. However, as the tenth anniversary moved closer, I became increasingly tearful each time I thought about the donor family, their poignant loss coupled with their willingness to save five individual lives as they offered vital organs for transplant.

Multiple lives have been forever changed by their generous single act. Still humbled by their collective decision, this essay is written in their honor.

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Once I received my transplant, I promptly began to take twice daily immunosuppressant medications in addition to other meds to aid my body in accepting and learning to live with my new “foreign” lung.

The hospital transplant team directed me to avoid all situations in which I knew ahead of time that people who were sick might be in my surroundings. During the last decade, I have often worn a face mask while visiting the gym, grocery store, post office, church, medical and dental offices, hair salons, and other open venues where people tend to gather. As time passed, I became increasingly aware of the need to remain continuously self-protective. I learned not to expect others to be this self-aware.

It became clear it was my responsibility to become selfprotective if I expected to remain illness-free. After ten years of living in this, at times, awkward manner, I continue to keep a sturdy cloth mask on a table near my front door.

Disposable plastic gloves are also

available for service providers to use when working in my home. On occasion, I have forgotten to “mask up” and have used the turtleneck of a sweater that I am wearing to provide protection. I dissuade others from using this emergency on-the-spot solution. It is simply improbable protection. Following over twenty years of working as a chemical dependency counselor, I became increasingly devoted to eating a balanced diet, planning and participating in daily physical exercise, and taking all required meds as scheduled.

One of the biggest struggles I have faced as the COVID-19 pandemic has grown increasingly out of control is to remain reliably calm.

My next line of defense has been to monitor my thoughts, whether they are part of twice-daily prayers or simply reactions to life’s predictable interruptions. With phone calls, unwelcome interruptions like drop in visits, or mail, or scheduled physician appointments, I often remind myself to remain calm.

Becoming angry or upset about Connections

life events over which I have no control depletes my valuable energy and becomes a trigger for losing a precious resource…the ability to think clearly and to take advantage of spontaneous joy.

Recently, as I turned my car into the driveway, I noticed my next-door neighbor had just placed her seven-week-old first born son, Blaze, into his stroller.

Quickly, I remembered I hadn’t yet given his mother, Kelly, his baby gift, a hand-knitted white blanket. I parked my car and walked across the lawn to Kelly to take a first sweet peak at Blaze and to invite them into my home to receive the blanket. While Kelly and I visited, I calmly watched her relaxed son sleep and occasionally stretch while I am certain he was gently comforted by and listened to his mother’s voice in the background. Certainly, this was a soft reminder of the value of staying in the moment!

One morning shortly after, I couldn’t sleep any longer, so I decided to rise and return to editing this essay Spring 2021

begun earlier in the week. As I walked to the kitchen to reheat my coffee, I began to consider what I had just written. Tears filled my eyes as I relived the time with Blaze and Kelly. I never want to lose the joy I felt of seeing and feeling this spontaneous naturalness that may touch our collective hearts and lives. Babies for some reason, perhaps their innocence, invite a welcome sense of peace.

When feeling lost in life’s scattered demands, I have learned to simply stop whatever I am doing, even if I am in the midst of a project. After I have stopped, my mind, body and spirit calm down and this simple act allows me to call upon God, the Holy Spirit, a Higher Power, Spirit, and another power external to me to show me the way. For me, this figure is naturally Mary, the Virgin Mary. Firmly telling myself to stop what I am doing usually arrests or stops any illogical or impulsive thinking. Occasionally, a change in my living habits is easily activated and is quite simply continued on next page

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the positive change I am seeking to begin to move in a fresh healthy direction.

In an effort to create an invitation for creativity and civility in my home, I discourage any type of negativity with those who enter. No space in my personal environment is open to negativity – whether it occurs in thoughts, feelings or behaviors. Sometimes this relaxed and enjoyable home environment develops naturally. Other times, it is created with purpose and effort.

My home is a reflection of me. I have learned to develop and to create my home environment in the same manner, I protect my health with careful thought, love, and trust.

As one survives the current pandemic and life, although not returning to the previous “normal” is encouraged to naturally float toward identifying the elements of personal joy. As I consider joy, my first thought is thanks be to God for the consistent excellent hospital care and direction I have received during the last ten years. How grateful I am to be able to easily breathe unassisted. I am supported and guided by health care providers both here in Columbus and in Northeastern Ohio. How fortunate and blessed I am.

Thanks be to God for two family members who live in London and are recent survivors of COVID-19.

Thanks be to God for my two curious grandchildren, nineteenyear-old Alex and his seventeenyear-old sister, Katie. What a joy and privilege to know them and to begin to acquaint them with the Columbus Museum of Art and the Franklin Park Conservatory.

I have also enjoyed the privilege of experiencing art, fresh flowers and plants, and Chihuly’s stunning blown glass, through their bright young eyes.

I began writing for publication the year after I receivied my transplant as I wrote and subsequently selfpublished Humbled by the Gift of Life: Reflections on Receiving a Lung Transplant. Four years later, I was diagnosed with stage 3-C endometrial cancer and received treatment in both Northeast Ohio and locally. I am currently a grateful cancer survivor. Following treatment completion, a second book, Cancer Hope: Discovering Survivor Skills, was made available to the public. I have also served as a contributor to a bi-monthly cancer magazine.

Last, but not least, listening to classical music on my laptop has saved my life during this past year.

Whether listening to Saint Saens organ music, Amazing Grace, or Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, I am able to drift away from the present moment to looking out one of the South facing windows in my home

and gently smile as I enjoy the natural sunshine on a cold winter’s day.

Diane Tefft Young is a member of St. Mark’s, Columbus. Her two books are available at Amazon.com.

Stay up to date with the latest news from the Diocese of Southern Ohio Connections only comes twice per year, but did you know you can get up to date communication from the diocese every week? e-Connections, our free, weekly email newsletter, is filled with announcements, news and events going on all around the diocese. Everyone is welcome to get it – but you have to sign up!

To sign up for e-Connections, visit our website, EpiscopaliansInConnection. org. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the home page and look for the link (Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter) on the bottom left-hand corner.

Be informed with all that is going on in our diocese – including our bishop transition – by subscribing to e-Connections today!

8 Connections

"Just let us know that we are loved" Andrea Owens

“Do you see this woman?”

Judge Paul Herbert often found himself pondering Jesus’ question over the years as prostitutes repeatedly came before his bench in Franklin County Municipal Court. The parallels between the pharisees scornful attitude toward the “sinful” woman in Luke 7 and the punitive sentences imposed by our justice system did not escape him.

Herbert had a revelation one day when a battered sex worker brought before his court had identical injuries to domestic abuse victims. He could clearly see that this woman was a victim, and he began to question his own assumptions about prostitution. He started asking law enforcement, mental health professionals, trauma experts and addiction specialists serious questions about sex trafficking. He also began listening to the women themselves. If restorative justice could ever be a reality, the essential question must shift from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

This intensive research led to the establishment of CATCH Court in 2009, one of the first problem-solving courts in the country dedicated to healing rather than

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punishment. CATCH stands for Changing Actions to Change Habits. In this specialized docket, women arrested for prostitution in Columbus have the option of joining the intensive two-year program providing safe housing, food, clothing, and trauma-informed care. If they agree, the women are given probation and must attend weekly court meetings with the judge, mental health counseling and addiction recovery treatment.

It is a program built on both care and accountability.

This space for healing leaves room for opportunity.

If they graduate from this demanding program their criminal record is expunged, opening the door to future employment, housing, and education.

Judge Herbert says one of the biggest challenges the program still faces is changing misperceptions about trafficking. The women who come into the program have been misjudged and mislabeled. They are vulnerable and trapped. In addition to trauma-trained professionals, the program depends heavily on community volunteers.

CATCH-Freedom, an outreach ministry developed by parishioners at St. Patrick’s, Dublin, is doing their level best to help.

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Paula Haines describe the mission of their programs.

Trafficking survivor April Thacker shared her personal story and spoke about the Butterflies program she helped found for CATCH graduates. She left an indelible impression.

Members of the CATCH Freedom leadership team, pre-COVID: Fran Montgomery, Nancy McCracken, Mary Kay Arbogast, Julie Myers and Ann King

In many ways, St. Pat’s commitment to helping trafficking victims in their community feels like it was meant to be. One of the parish’s Education for Ministry (EfM) extension groups meets every Monday morning, and in December 2018 they were working through the Preparing to Become the Beloved Community Advent Study. During a discussion on justice, member Nancy McCracken shared how she visited CATCH Court and listened to the women share their stories. A study entry asked, “How could your church actively participate in repairing one of the systems your group has identified?”

The group chose victims of human trafficking based on what they had learned about CATCH Court from Nancy that morning. The study further instructed, “Together, set one concrete achievable goal for engagement in the year ahead.” They were on their way.

To get them started on their quest for deeper learning about this topic, Catherine Loveland invited the group to attend a Central Ohio Technical College Lifelong Learning Institute program on Human Trafficking.

There they heard CATCH Court Coordinator Hannah 10 Estabrook and Freedom a la Cart Executive Director

Mary Kay Arbogast describes how Thacker’s powerful story galvanized the group. “Hearing a survivor tell her story really motivated us. It is a miracle that they can overcome the life they were in. Her testimony is really what touched us all. We wanted to help other women reach that point of being a survivor rather than a victim.”

In response to what they were learning, members of the EfM group supported starting a new ministry, which they named CATCH-Freedom. Together they helped plan an Adult Forum to raise awareness about the sex trafficking and the shattered lives being healed due to the ground-breaking local programs that had become national models for therapeutic justice. They invited April Thacker to share her journey, and Freedom a la Cart Executive Director Paula Haines spoke about the prevalence of sex trafficking in Columbus, and how the non-profit was working to help the victims rebuild their lives. Attendees enjoyed a box lunch catered by Freedom a la Cart.

The presentation was the most well-attended educational program the church held in recent memory.

Fran Montgomery remembers that “the congregation was shocked at what they heard. When you learn something like this you want to help. You have to help. Everyone contributes in whatever ways they can – there is a rippling effect.”

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Moving from Awareness to Action The CATCH-Freedom ministry has continued to evolve as members became more involved in directly supporting victims/survivors of sex trafficking by partnering with CATCH Court, Freedom a la Cart and the Butterflies Continuum of Care program. How did they move so quickly from inspiration to action? Everyone on the CATCH-Freedom leadership team agrees that the St. Pat’s culture encourages involvement. Nancy McCracken observes that they are an amazing parish for social outreach work. “We have a ministry fair every year.

Almost all of them are social outreach, community support programs. It is part of our Becoming Beloved Community effort as a parish, part of our ethos. It’s just in there.”

Julie Myers credits their former rector, the Rev. Stephen Smith, with building an empowerment culture.

“He created an atmosphere where when people would come to him with ideas for satisfying a need, he was encouraging and did not micromanage. He allowed each group to come up with their own ideas about what they could do to help improve our corner of the world. He would encourage and say, ‘go for it.’ He didn’t tell us how to do it. He left it up to us to determine the best ways to proceed and to sink or swim on our own.”

When their EfM group was initially motivated by what they had learned about CATCH Court and continued discussions about how they could turn awareness into action as a ministry, McCracken wrote to Father Stephen to see if they could make it a whole church ministry. His reply was immediate. “Education for Ministry, Nancy. You did the education part, now this is the ministry. Go for it!”

Soon after they visited the CATCH courtroom themselves. “Seeing the program in person, knowing that there were other people really concerned about this revolving door of women coming back in, trapped by their situation, moved us from idea to action,” said Myers. Judge Herbert told a story of his young daughter challenging him to find his purpose after reading The Purpose Driven Life and wanted to know what he personally was going to do about the rampant recidivism

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that plagued the court. “For me it was, ‘OK Julie, what are YOU going to do about this?’ It just really hit a nerve when I realized there was some little part that I could play to help make these women realize that there were programs and people out there to help them escape the awfulness of the situations they were in.”

Determined to offer moral and physical support, the first thing the group did was to equip themselves with more knowledge, especially about trauma awareness.

They also trained to become mentors at Freedom a la Cart. This comprehensive community-based support program partners with CATCH Court to provide social support to survivors in the program by providing them with paid employment training to develop practical job skills and the strong work ethic necessary for sustainable employment.

Freedom a la Cart began in 2011 with a food cart.

Over the past decade the business has evolved into a successful catering company and recently opened the Freedom Café and Bakery. During the pandemic they started meal delivery service, and members of St. Pat’s have become avid patrons, helping to keep the business afloat and survivors employed during lean times. Parish volunteer teams helped to deliver these Freedom at Home meals during the lockdown and through the icy months of winter. Volunteer Rondi Purcell remarked how uplifting the delivery experience is because many of the people who order express their joy at supporting the women survivors who have made these meals.

Before COVID-19, members of the CATCH-Freedom team actively volunteered at both CATCH Court and in the kitchens at Freedom a la Cart, serving lunch to the 30+ CATCH Court participants. They particularly relished the informal personal interaction with the women in the program.

“Being there says, ‘We are in your corner. I admire the hard work you are doing. I see you. I see how strong you are becoming. You are a beautiful child of God,” said Myers.

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All served as loving witnesses, celebrating each milestone with the women. They applauded when someone announced how long they had been sober, or wept tears of joy when someone was able to see their children for the first time in a long time. They marveled at the resilience whenever someone overcame a challenge using new coping skills to help them through a situation that might have destroyed them before. They were privileged to see miracles in the making.

connection to CATCH Court and Freedom a la Cart throughout the pandemic. They wrote notes to the women in the program as well as women in prison.

Fran Montgomery served as liaison to Susan Trianfo at Freedom a la Cart, who communicates what women in the program need – anything from bus passes to feminine hygiene supplies. Julie Myers headed up a collection of gas and grocery gift cards totaling $675.

Deanna Douglas collected and delivered warm winter coats, boots, hats and gloves in winter. Volunteers like Elizabeth Lewis distributed Cookies for a Cause,

But St. Pat’s was challenged to discover their own resilience when pandemic safety restrictions threatened to derail their blossoming CATCH-Freedom ministry.

CATCH Court did not meet in person from March through July 2020, moving online to Zoom meetings. When the court relocated to a safe room at the Columbus Convention Center in August 2020, only program participants were permitted to attend. In addition, volunteers could no longer work alongside employees in the Freedom a la Cart kitchens.

The CATCH Freedom leadership team shares their story with ECM administrator Andrea Owens via Zoom.

The participants ate lunch before court outside the convention center in Goodale Park. Since CATCH-Freedom was unable to prepare food for them at the church or at home due to safety restrictions, they began purchasing boxed lunches from Freedom a la Cart’s commercial kitchen instead. Costs were adding up as the ministry was exceeding its budget.

With no end to the pandemic in sight, they could not hold garage sales or other fundraisers and parish funds had been tapped. Fr. Stephen suggested they apply for an Episcopal Community Ministries (ECM) grant to cover the cost the cost of boxed lunches and other expenses, like U-Haul rentals to help women move. The ECM Committee granted the ministry $3,500, pleased to encourage such a comprehensive empowerment program.

12 The leadership team looked for ways to continue their

a fundraiser for Freedom a la Cart in December, with Assistant Rector Mother Cameron O’Riley making sure COVID-19 safety regulations were followed during the parking lot pickup.

To the CATCH-Freedom leadership team, there is no mystery to the congregation’s enthusiastic embrace of their ministry. St. Pat’s has 35 different ministries. They believe they can make a difference, so they do. Once parishioners know about a problem, they are onboard working toward a solution.

The 50+ parishioners who routinely volunteer say how inspired they have been by witnessing the struggles, courage and success of recovering women and their loving support of each other. Consequently,

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the congregation responds with enormous generosity whenever there is a request for help. Before COVID19 changed our world, they helped survivors move into their own apartments, often supplying furniture and household items to get them launched. They help people get their driver’s licenses and tutor women seeking their GED… the list goes on and on. They continue to respond with open hearts through the pandemic, just in different ways. Mtr. Cameron announces any CATCH Freedom Ministry needs during virtual church services, while Arbogast keeps the congregation informed when there is an additional training available and sends a monthly newsletter updating the parish on the ministry’s progress and activities. There are so many different opportunities to give and share their gifts.

The Vision Continues One sign of a successful program is the ability to weather change, particularly a change in beloved leadership. In October 2020, Judge Herbert retired from CATCH Court. He turned over the reins to Judge Jodi Thomas, who is long admired for her restorative justice work with the Helping Achieve Recovery Together (HART) court program and her work helping trafficking victims. She knows that she cannot fill Judge Herbert’s shoes, but promises to “follow those strong footsteps that [he’s] planted to lead these beautiful, resilient, inspiring women to their freedom.”

The new year brought additional changes. Fr. Stephen retired from St. Pat’s, and has since been called to lead the Episcopal Preaching Foundation’s new Lay Preacher Training Initiative. The Rev. Elizabeth Hoster has joined the congregation as Interim Priest in Charge.

She brings great generosity of spirit and was delighted when CATCH-Freedom received their ECM grant in February 2021 allowing them to continue their mission.

“The community of St. Patrick’s is deeply committed to empowering women to have life and have it abundantly,” said Hoster. “CATCH Court and Freedom a la Cart are tangible ways to assure women have the futures they richly deserve. Everybody wins.”

In the ECM grant application, ministries are asked how their outreach ministry meets their Baptismal Covenant.

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The CATCH-Freedom team summed it up beautifully: “We have compassion for the women we serve who have been abused and have experienced trauma by being threatened, manipulated, often beaten, and always exploited. They are vulnerable, lonely, depressed, and hopeless. Most of them have lost connection to their families including their own children. They have lost their sense of self-worth. In our ministry we are attempting to share the love of Jesus Christ which we have experienced. An example in the words of one we serve: When during our court lunch visit, this transitional survivor was asked what else she most needed from us volunteers, she answered, “Just let us know that we are loved.”

Andrea Owens serves as Administrator for Episcopal Community Ministries and is continually blown away by the ministries presented by congregations in ECM grant proposals.

Connect with Andrea at aowens@diosohio.org.

Help Support Faith in Action

Give to Episcopal Community Ministries (ECM) to help outreach ministries – like St. Pat’s CATCH-Freedom – throughout the diocese. Visit ECMSouthernOhio.org and look for DONATE at the top of the page.

Be sure to check out our ‘Stories of Hope’ to learn more about other ECM-funded ministries. Find the link in the main menu of our website.

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We are in this together, but can we get together now?

Richard Burnett

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Thinking back on the months since March 15, 2020 – the Sunday of the week that ushered in Ohio’s COVID-19 pandemic restrictions – we can say we are all in this together; but, surely, we are not all together in this. For too many, this has been an exceedingly lonely time filled with grief, self-doubts and self-criticisms, and frightening despair. Suicides and suicidal thoughts are at a record high nationally.

The shattering of 500,000 deaths related to coronavirus just days ago has been met by a strange mixture of shock, shame, scare and social outrage.

There is no doubt that we all are in this together now, but are we all together in this?

As a person who engages with a congregation and ecumenical/ interreligious colleagues seeking meaning during this shared global pandemic, I find several metaphors have been used often over the past year: war; pop culture; economy; family; community; and the body, to name only a few.

One vivid metaphor widely used says that “we are in the same storm, but in different boats,” suggesting pernicious inequities of economic and social resources, and urging needed reckonings with America’s “original sins” of slavery, Jim and Jane Crow segregation, and institutional racism.

The “we” that is assumed in these examinations of “being together” has been unveiled as a happy fiction of indifference for some, and a cruel deception for many others.

The COVID-19 pandemic is with us all. There is no escape from its

deadly presences; yet signs of potential personal hope are on the rise with news last week of a promising new vaccine coming to the public this month*. As Dr. Anthony Fauci said just before the Thanksgiving holiday, “the cavalry is coming” (note both war and pop-culture metaphors) and encouraging all Americans to follow “simple public health measures that we all talked about.”

But did we all talk about such measures?

Here is our essential revelation from this pandemic: It is an epochal shift, not a commonsense adaptation.

Like the national responses to the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack and the terrorist-hijacked flight attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, who among us can miss seeing the significant changes coming from this year’s pandemic restrictions?

However, unlike these past moments of memory, who among us does not feel the shared daily weight of viral infections, potential communal spread, untamed inequities of basic health care, hospital resources and underfunded public health providers that bring us all together morally if not experientially?

We might be in different boats, as is said, regarding the meanings of this first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic epoch, but we still must find a way to talk about our differences and our commonalities. And this brings us to another important – maybe our most important – metaphor: language.

In her 1993 lecture receiving that year’s Nobel Prize for Literature, American novelist and the pride of Loraine, Toni Morrison, said: “Word work is sublime, she thinks, because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference, our human difference – the way in which we are like no other life. We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

Moving toward a safer, more equitable and more morally truthful second year together in this pandemic epoch, what will be the measure of our lives? And will it be counted as all together this time?

*This piece was originally written and published as an op/ed in the Columbus Dispatch on March 7, 2021.

The Rev. Richard A. Burnett has just retired after 24 years as rector of Trinity Church on Capitol Square, Columbus.

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A Garden Cathedral

Joseph Kovitch

No walls but beds that hold the soil, welcoming all to join the toil; Of life-giving ways.

Warmth of sun and soaking rain, calls forth seed to rise and proclaim; Of hope and resurrection ways.

Gardening is life in so many ways. It is a way Volunteers plant potatoes and other cold weather crops at the Sacred Table Community Garden. of getting back to the elements that make up our very bodies, for we are mud creatures, created spent time listening to the rhythms that have emerged from the earth. There is a sense of connectedness in a community called Hilltop. As I listened to the that can only arise when we are in communion with soil, community, I found myself entering into a conversation seed, plant, flower, tree and fruit. God is a gardener and and movement already begun by some amazing has always called us back into the symbiotic relationship practitioners in the area of hunger, justice, food deserts, that began in the garden among the trees and plants. food insecurity, health and economy, all in the context In a world that has become so mechanized and of urban gardening. During the conversation, I also digitized and industrialized, we find that we have encountered spiritual leaders interested in entering become disconnected from ourselves and community. A the question of gardening through an interfaith lens. community garden can be a cathedral of rich spiritual Thus, my work as a church planter is being grown in a energy, storytelling, labor giving, harvesting, practice community garden of radical hospitality and spiritual and community building. This is the body of Christ and connections for the sake of the most vulnerable. a way of food justice, when our toil answers the question I am finding that a key aspect of being the Body of of healthy eating, food deserts, food independence and Christ (the church) in the midst of a world hungering hunger abatement. This is love in action, on our knees in for connection and justice is the act of showing up in the seedbed and cultivating life regulated not by a clock conversations already taking place in community. My or an artificial mechanized rhythm, but the rhythm of hope is that both in and out of the garden, a table will weather, season, planting cycles, holy listening. appear (an altar, if you will), and around that table will This garden church, this Sacred Table Community gather a beautiful mosaic of human connection as we Garden, has a liturgy all its own and reveals a way of break bread and share stories and listen to, learn with being the church that dances to the cosmic dance of God and love the God who is already sacramentally present in a garden cathedral. As a part-time church planter and inviting us to serve. in our diocese in the Columbus area, commissioned just two months before the pandemic took hold, I have Continued on next page 15 Spring 2021

Episcopal, Bahai, Methodist and Buddhist volunteers, led by the Rev. Joseph Kovitch, have created a garden cathedral that is fully accessible and open to all.

“So will I build my altar in the fields, And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be, And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields Shall be the incense I will yield to thee.”

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge 16 Connections Connections

Sacred Table Community Garden is led by Father Joseph Kovitch and an amazing team of partners and practitioners. This garden only asks that you come as you are, give what you can, and take what you need – three humble steps dedicated to community building and healing by drawing those of faith and no faith into love in action. Above all, we celebrate our interfaith community relationships as we honor inclusion and diversity of the beautiful mosaic that is the human family.

As we grow in partnerships, know that we will continue to be creative with opportunities for all to serve to their best availability and interest.

We have partnered with Big Lots Corporation as a sponsor, along with Episcopal, Buddhist, Methodist, Baha’i, other local gardens and community leaders as we connect, grow and serve. We are all in this together in the name of love. Our hope is to not only share our harvest with all who hunger, but also seek

to give ourselves to listen, learn and love the stories and lives of each human being (and plant) we meet.

Yes, a community garden can be a church and a church can grow out of a community garden; for from this garden will grow worship, liturgy, Word and sacrament and discipleship. If you would like to learn more about our emerging story (or would like to join us for planting, harvesting, and sharing), don’t hesitate to contact Father Joseph at fatherjosephk@gmail.com.

Come and visit the Sacred Table Community Garden at 300 Phillipi Rd. in Columbus, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday times are still TBD. The Rev. Joseph Kovitch also serves as Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Community in Westerville.

Church Planting in the Diocese of Southern Ohio In a resolution passed by diocesan convention in 2018, the Diocese of Southern Ohio recommitted itself to the planting of new churches. Over the last year, the diocese has been working to discover where potential growth is happening in our diocese and has raised up leaders called to foster new Episcopal faith communities like Sacred Table Garden.

In Dayton, the Rev. Emmanuel Tuyishime is planting New Hope Episcopal Church, and in Cincinnati, Iglesia Episcopal del Espiritu Santo in Forest Park is a growing Latino community. We also have several of our parishes who are working to launch new worshipping communities alongside existing faith communities. New church starts and new worshipping communities are designed specifically to meet those with no church home and are usually different from our existing churches. New churches help support and grow the presence of the Episcopal Church.

We invite you to pray for our new churches.

If you would like help discerning if a new faith community might be needed, please reach out to the Rev. Canon Jane Gerdsen, Canon for Ministry Development, at jgerdsen@diosohio. org.

A prayer for Church Planting: O God the Creator and ruler of all things, your reign grows like a mustard seed into abundant life: Bless those who plant and tend the new life of your Church, that it may become a place of welcome, a refuge of healing, a school for souls, and a life-giving spring; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ, our strength and our salvation. Amen.

Spring 2021 2021 Spring

Who’s who

(and what they do) at the diocesan office Pull out and retain for informational purposes during the transition period

Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Canon John Johanssen jjohanssen@diosohio.org • Oversight of diocesan operations, liaison to Standing Committee, Diocesan Council, budget committee and bishop operations • Chief of Staff relative to diocesan staff and clergy matters • Carries out plans and decisions to advance the mission of the diocese • Fosters spiritual and missional leadership to congregations Missioner for Southeast Ohio The Rev. Canon Lee Anne Reat lareat@diosohio.org Shared position with Christ Church, Springfield (25% DSO)

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• Develops five-year plans with area congregations addressing parish leadership, finances, buildings and community involvement • Assists in developing a creative approach to worship leadership, including enhanced lay leadership

• Explores with congregations a process to assess the needs for community ministry and the capacity of each Canon for Transition and Missioner for Congregational Vitality The Rev. Canon Jason Leo jleo@diosohio.org Temporary shared position with Christ Church Cathedral (25%DSO) • Clergy Leadership Transitions • Clergy transition resource • Assessment prior to transition of congregations • Congregations in conflict • Congregations shifting to part-time clergy presence, extended ministry or ELCA partnership (under Called to Common Mission), Mutual Ministry, • Parish Re-starts Transitions Officer and Executive Assistant to the Canons Sherri Martin smartin@diosohio.org

• Assistant Transitions Officer • Commission on Ministry Staff Support • Administrative support to Canons • Diocesan Convention Recording Secretary Canon for Ministry Development The Rev. Canon Jane Gerdsen jgerdsen@diosohio.org Shared position with All Saints, Cincinnati (50%DSO) Offers supervision and support for • Diocesan Residency Program • Church Planting • Missional Engagement • Formation, including Youth and Adult Formation • Campus Ministry • Latino Ministry • Fresh Expressions and Praxis Communities • Becoming Beloved Community Task Force

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Formation Team Emma Helms-Steinmetz ehelms-steinmetz@diosohio.org Part-time The Rev. Jason Oden joden@diosohio.org Shared position with Church of the Advent, Cincinnati (25%DSO) The Rev. Christopher Richardson jrichardson@diosohio.org Shared position with St. John's, Columbus (50% DSO)

• Coordination of lay formation opportunities for adults, young adults and youth across the diocese • Lay licensing and training coordination • Development and administration of diocesan learning portal Executive Assistant to the Bishop and Canon to the Ordinary Ann Sabo asabo@diosohio.org • Executive Assistant to the Bishop and Canon to the Ordinary • Administration of Ecclesiastical oversight, clergy license to officiate, second marriage requests, letters dimissory, letter of endorsement, canonical residency, • Appointments with Bishop • Annual congregation visitation, area confirmations • Convention secretary, diocesan event coordination Operations Executive and CFO Carine de Lange cdelange@diosohio.org Shared position with Christ Church Cathedral (50% DSO) • Oversees Administration, Communications, Facilities, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology • Serves as the bishop’s liaison to Episcopal Community Ministries, Budget Committee, Advisory Committee on Compensation and Resources, Finance, 412 Trustees and Endowment Trustees, and Church Foundation Committee • Vendor contracts • Diocesan policies • Emergency Preparedness and continuity planning

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Associate for Financial Management and Oversight The Rev. David Getreu dgetreu@diosohio.org Shared position with St. Philip's, Circleville (40% DSO) • Works to build and maintain the Finance Department relationship with congregations • Parochial/Diocesan Reporting • Mission Share calculation and true up • Financial Liaison to congregations regarding all matters financial and audits • Budget Process – creating the budget with the CFO/Budget Committee, presenting to Finance Committee and Diocesan Council • Mission Share Reviews with parishes • Staff liaison between the Budget Committee and Finance Office to the Diocesan Council Comptroller Christine Perme cperme@diosohio.org • Monthly close of all funds • Prepares internal accounting reports • Monitors/supervises accounting processes including payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, journal entries, cash receipts and donations • Assists in budget preparations and program grants/contracts • Coordinates annual audit preparation including consolidation of funds, building the report with footnotes, and preparation of requested workpapers from the auditor • Assists in the IRS 990T preparation Payroll and Benefits Administrator Angela Byrd abyrd@diosohio.org • Diocesan payroll • Diocesan benefits • CPG liaison • Annual church audits tracking, congregational leadership changes Accounts Receivable & Loans and Endowment Administrator Susan Byrnside. sbyrnside@diosohio.org • Accounts Receivable • Loan administration • Inventment maintenance • Mission Share oversignt • Parochial Report oversignt

Director of Facilities Matt Hornsby mhornsby@cccath.org Shared position with Christ Church Cathedral (30% DSO) • Maintenance and evaluation of diocesan-owned buildings • Provides guidance as needed to the Church Foundation and congregations • Coordinate work with outside vendors and contractors • Vendor/contractor contracts Receptionist and Facilities Assistant Erick Williams ewilliams@diosohio.org • Greets, assists and provides direction and information to clients, visitors, and other guests of the diocese • Receives mail, documents, packages, and courier deliveries and delivers or distributes items • Maintain office security by following safety procedures and controlling access via the reception desk • Assists with ordering of office supplies • Assists the Director of Facilities with any building maintenance dealings with applicable outside vendors • Oversees parking facility and coordinate employee and visitor parking arrangements • Assists with keycard access management Associate Director of Communications Julie Murray jmurray@diosohio.org • Editor of Connections, e-Connections and other diocesan publications • Website content • Monitor and admin of diocesan social media • Chair of Dispatch of Business for convention • Coordination of convention communication • Assist congregations with website development • Database administrator Administrative Assistant Andrea Owens aowens@diosohio.org Shared position with Christ Church Cathedral (50% DSO) • Provides administrative support to ensure efficient operations of office • Diocesan Council staff support • Church Foundation staff support • Administrator for Episcopal Community Ministries (ECM)

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Bishop Transition Where are we, and where are we going?

The Standing Committee We, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, wanted to give you a sense of where we are and the work we are doing. As followers of Jesus Christ, all our work is rooted in the Way of Love. We seek to model the graciousness, the truthtelling, the healing and the kingdom-focused teaching of Jesus Christ. This diocese is resilient and faithful, with many vital ministries and a bright future ahead of us. The Committee feels this keenly and believes the work we are doing in between diocesan bishops is about putting this already-vibrant diocese into a position of greater health and self-understanding. We believe that when God brings our next bishop into our lives, we will be ready to start an exciting next chapter in our shared life.

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At the end of last summer, we were notified of Bishop Tom Breidenthal’s hospitalization and, like you, we prayed for his return to health and hoped for the best.

As you well know, Bishop Breidenthal decided during

his recovery to resign from his position as Diocesan Bishop and focus on his health and his family.

In normal circumstances, bishops typically give notice of their intention to resign 18 months or more before they complete their work. This leaves ample time for the diocese to prepare for an orderly succession.

Because Bishop Breidenthal rightly wanted to prioritize his health, he needed to step down with little notice. While it was clearly the right decision for him, it meant that diocesan staff and committees had less time to prepare for an orderly transition.

Immediately upon Bishop Breidenthal’s resignation, the Standing Committee became the Ecclesiastical Authority of the diocese. This meant that we assumed the mantle of leadership, collectively exercising most of the authority of a bishop. Fortunately, we had good Connections

support from the Presiding Bishop’s office in Bishop Todd Ousley, who is the pastor to bishops and shepherd of dioceses in transition. We were also blessed by a faithful staff and the work of our local bishops, especially Bishop Ken Price.

We realized that we needed to focus on two goals. First, we sought to stabilize the life and ministry of the diocese.

Second, we wanted to assess the health of our diocese and our readiness to enter fully into the search process for our next diocesan bishop.

To this end, we took some very specific short-term actions: 1) We signed Bishop Ken Price to a six-month contract as Assisting Bishop and delegated many episcopal duties to him. During these months, we wanted to focus on understanding the needs of our diocese now. We are profoundly grateful to Bishop Price for stepping into a challenging position with little notice and for lovingly and faithfully serving.

2) We directed the Rev. Canon John Johannsen as Canon to the Ordinary to act as Chief of Staff for the diocesan staff – something he’d been effectually doing during Bishop Breidenthal’s illness and recuperation.

These decisions were made to maintain stability in daily operations so that we as a Committee could focus on getting a sense of the next steps. We also took other steps in our transition work.

Spring 2021

• We conducted one-on-one interviews with any staff who wanted to speak with Larry Hayes, the President of the Standing Committee.

• We selected a Transition & Search Consultant, in consultation with the Presiding Bishop’s office and Bishop Ousley. Anne Schmidt, from Dallas, TX, is an experienced search consultant, and she has effectively advised us in our work.

• We enlisted a consulting firm to get a professional perspective of the spirit and morale of the diocese.

Holy Cow Consulting helped us offer the landscape survey of our diocese, and their president, Emily Swanson, gave us a report of the findings of the survey. You can find a summary of the findings on the bishop transition page of the diocesan website. (Look for the bishop’s miter icon on the home page!)

We want to take a step back and say something specific for which we are grateful to Bishop Breidenthal: his disclosure about his struggles with alcohol addiction and abuse were a gift to this diocese. While discussing these things openly has made some within our diocesan family uncomfortable, we felt the need to follow Bishop Breidenthal’s lead. In his decision to make this issue public, Bishop Breidenthal was acknowledging that it had an effect on his episcopacy. This challenge does not diminish our love and gratitude for his episcopacy.

Bishop Breidenthal sought throughout his time in Southern Ohio to create

continued on next page

What is the Standing Committee?

In the Episcopal Church, the Standing Committee serves as a council of advice for the Diocesan Bishop.

Certain decisions, such as the sale of property or the ordination of persons as priests or deacons, require the approval of the Bishop and the Standing Committee. This means that our diocese is led primarily by a bishop, but in consultation with a committee made up of lay people and clergy.

When there is no bishop of a diocese, the Standing Committee temporarily becomes the Ecclesiastical Authority, which means that the committee collectively holds the same authority as a bishop, but without the ability to offer the sacraments reserved to bishops, such as ordinations and confirmations.

In our diocese, the Standing Committee is made up of three lay people and three clergy. Currently, the clergy consist of one deacon and two priests.

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an atmosphere of fidelity to God, empowerment of all members of the Church, and honest repentance and accountability – as seen particularly in his passionate embrace of the work of Becoming Beloved Community. We knew we needed to do some work to understand what effect his addiction had on our diocese as a family system – not by way of throwing him under any sort of metaphorical bus – but as a way of honoring his transparency and living into our duty to care for the diocese as it actually is, and not just some idealized version of it.

We do not believe Bishop Breidenthal’s alcoholism was the defining reality of his episcopacy, nor do we believe it is the defining reality of this diocese. But it is something real and present, and we

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have a responsibility to understand it and take steps towards healing and corporate health. We honor his legacy by living into our responsibility and making sure the diocese is fully prepared to work with his successor.

To this end, we sought help in understanding how addiction affects the church, so we enlisted Bishop Chilton Knudsen. Bishop Knudsen served as Bishop of Maine and since retirement has served in leadership capacities in several dioceses, including our neighbors in the Diocese of Lexington. She currently serves as Assisting Bishop in the Diocese of Washington (DC).

Bishop Knudsen has had several decades of recovery from alcohol addiction under her belt, has written several books on how addiction

affects church systems and has experience in working with dioceses and parishes in recovery.

Bishop Knudsen has urged us not to move into the search for our next bishop too quickly, but to take the time to understand how our diocesan system works and where it can be improved.

The survey clearly told us that our diocese is not ready to proceed immediately with the search for our next bishop. Morale is low, and there is a lack of trust and a perceived lack of transparency from leaders. On the other hand, our diocese also showed some strengths, especially in support of congregational development.

We are working now to continue

Results of the diocesan-wide survey showed that there is low energy and low satisfaction among most demographics within the diocese. You can see a full summary of the results from the survey on the Bishop Transition page of our website. (Look for the bishop’s miter icon on the home page!)

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learning about our diocese and its health. The survey offered one important set of data, but we need to gather more data. To that end, we are taking several steps right now: • We have brought in a consultant, a pastoral counselor, who will interview all current members of diocesan staff to understand what effects Bishop Breidenthal’s alcoholism might have had on staff.

We are also using these interviews to understand the health of the staff work culture. Each interview is completely confidential, and the consultant will only give us a summary report of her findings from listening to staff.

• During Eastertide, the Standing Committee is contacting all active clergy for a quick conversation, checking to see how our clergy are doing during a Spring 2021

challenging time of pandemic and diocesan transition.

• We are working with Anne Schmidt and Bishop Knudsen to set up a specific set of benchmarks of health that indicate we are ready to move forward with a proper search for our next diocesan bishop.

This will allow us to know when we are ready to proceed with a search and clarify the work we need to do to be ready to welcome our next diocesan bishop and carry out the ministry that Jesus Christ has commissioned us to do.

• We are in the process of selecting, in a spirit of holy discernment, the bishop who will work with the diocese for the remainder of our transition period.

Let us take another step back here and say a word about the decision to seek an “outside” bishop to lead 23

our diocese at this time. We are grateful to Bishop Price. He is a man with a servant’s heart who has loved this diocese for decades and served it well.

Our decision is not a negative judgment on the work Bishop Price has done.

The simple truth is, we initially enlisted Bishop Price for six months with the explicit intent of using those six months to discern what was needed for Southern Ohio in this transition time. It was, of course, possible that we could’ve made the decision to ask Bishop Price to stay on for the entirety of the interim, but we became convinced of the need for outside leadership.

Words cannot do justice to the work Bishop Ken has done and currently is doing in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. He is a gift, and his work blesses us all. His perspective and advice will be invaluable to whoever steps into the role of interim bishop after him. We very much hope Bishop Price continues to be a pastoral presence in our diocese for years to come.

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Why did we see the need for outside leadership? For one thing, every single one of our consultants told us that an outside person could help us ask the questions that we need to ask more readily than someone who has been serving in our diocese. This is similar to the reason that congregations bring in interim rectors to offer a fresh perspective and to help the church get to know itself better.

Even if consultants had not suggested this, we felt that it was important to have outside leadership.

At some point in the future, we will be opening our search for our next diocesan bishop. The kind of leaders who we are hoping will participate in our discernment process are the kind of leaders who will want to know that this diocese has taken every possible step to achieve health.

By the time you read this, the Standing Committee will have had an all-day retreat. At that retreat, we hope to set out benchmarks for health and a rough timeline for the rest of our interim period. We will

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be preparing to call an interim bishop to guide us through this time. We will share that information with you as soon as we have it.

It is quite possible we will need to call for a special diocesan convention to ask the convention to approve our interim bishop as our provisional bishop. What does this mean? A provisional bishop has the same authority as a diocesan bishop but serves for a limited time until the next diocesan bishop is elected. When there is a diocesan or provisional bishop, they are the Ecclesiastical Authority in a diocese. This is different from an assisting bishop, who serves in a diocese at the request of either a diocesan or provisional bishop or, as you have seen more recently, the Standing Committee acting as Ecclesiastical Authority.

What happens at a special convention?

Convention delegates are elected to serve from convention to convention. When a special convention is called, the delegates from the last convention held still serve as delegates.

That means, if a special convention to elect a provisional bishop is called BEFORE the 147th Annual Convention is called to order on November 13, 2021, the delegates of the 146th Convention (November 2020) will be the electing delegates.

Your Standing Committee Mr. Larry Hayes, president The Rev. Phil DeVaul, vice-president Dr. James Allsop The Rev. Dr. Ellen Cook Mr. Barry Feist The Rev. Canon Scott Gunn, secretary.

Connect with the Standing Committee at standingcommittee@diosohio.org.

As always, we ask for your prayers, for your patience, and for your feedback. We know we will get some things right and some things wrong. We expect you will hold us accountable, and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with you in the work God has given us to do. Please do not hesitate to email the Standing Committee at standingcommittee@diosohio. org with questions, suggestions, or comments.

We recognize that our diocese has many challenges right now. But more than those challenges, we also see the abundance of all that God has given us with faithful leaders, vibrant ministries, and material resources. We believe that our diocese has the potential to make many disciples, to reach people with the hope and the promise of Jesus Christ. We believe our diocese can grow in ministry, in health, and in numbers. We believe our best days are ahead.

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Society of St. Simeon and St. Anna Greg and Margaret Sammons

The modern age has tended to sideline seniors, to think of them as “over the hill,” unable to give much to others. We often think of them primarily as those who need our care rather than those who have anything much to give to others.

across the diocese have been honored and inducted in a public ceremony. Due to COVID-19 health protocols, the 2021 induction service was held via Zoom on April 20. Nine saints of our diocese were honored with induction into the Society:

The Society of St. Simeon and St. Anna challenges this fallacy. It was founded in 1991 in the Diocese of Alaska by Bishop Steve Charleston. Bishop Charleston wanted to express the Native American value of honoring the wisdom and experience of the tribal elders. The biblical figures of Anna and Simeon (Luke 2:25-38) were selected as the patron saints of the society because they embody the long service and mature faith of those rich in years.

Bradley Alexander, Christ Church, Xenia Britton Barlow, Christ Church, Ironton Anice Ellis, St Mark’s, Columbus Clara Leigh, All Saints, New Albany Don and Carolyn Mullen, All Saints, New Albany Judy Pfeiffer, St Luke’s, Marietta James Roberts, All Saints, New Albany Madeleine Trichel, Trinity, Columbus

The Society came to the Diocese of Southern Ohio in 1995 and, most years since then, nominees from

The Revs. Gregory and Margaret Sammons serve as co-chairs for the Society of St. Simeon and St. Anna induction ceremony.

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Nominating process Though this year’s deadline for nominations has passed, we wish to remind everyone of the guidelines, so that you may be thinking about 2022. A nominee may be a layperson or clergy and must be: • •

• •

an Episcopalian for 15 years or longer faithfully ministered in their family, parish church, community or in the larger world living examples of Christian prayer and service present a positive image of the contributions of aging persons.

Anyone – clergy or ordained – may nominate someone to the Society and must supply a written testimony of support for the nominee.

More information is available on the diocesan website, including nomination forms.

(Look under Who We Are)

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"hospitable, gracious and intentional"

"a person of faith" 28 Connections

"gracious humility"

"she inspires us"

Spring 2021

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Theology of Harm Reduction Paul Bennett

According to the Harm Reduction Coalition, “Harm Reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.

Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.”

looking at other influences that affect our faith, Harm Reduction can be seen through the Mission of the Church and through our Baptismal Covenant. “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” (BCP, pg. 855)

When it comes to Harm Reduction, I think the first part is clear. Studies clearly show how Harm Reduction helps the larger community. Syringe exchanges, Narcan distribution and recovery gateway navigation have all shown to improve overall health in the wider community. There are lots of reasons that, from a health care perspective, Harm Reduction makes sense. But the second part is where our faith should inform our work.

everyone deserves to be treated with love, respect and dignity

The theological framework for Harm Reduction can be found through many different lenses in scripture. Personally, I find that following the example of Jesus’s life and teachings concerning care and love for all people – accepting them where they are – is perhaps the most useful.

30 Stepping away from scripture and

To restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ takes a lot of work. And the root of that work is in relationships.

Harm Reduction is a clear and visible sign of a loving relationship with those that use drugs. Through my work in Harm Reduction, the single most important thing that I do is tell people that I love them and so does God. Many people have been torn down by religion, seeing their drug use as a sort of moral

failing. Simply explaining that God does love them begins to build a relationship built on dignity and mutuality.

Our Baptismal Covenant asks us, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” and “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” These questions provide a lived understanding of our faith and how we are to relate to the world and each other.

Dignity is hard to come by. And for those that use drugs, it is even harder to come by.

A long history of abstinence-only messaging, the war on drugs and the criminality of simple possession have influenced our culture and causes many to view those that use drugs as outcasts at best.

But Christ is at the heart of each person and seeking to serve Christ, even in those that use drugs, creates relationships that are built on dignity and love. When we build upon that foundation, we can restore people to unity with God and each other in Christ.

My own theology of Harm Reduction is one that is in conConnections

tinual development because it is one that is based on lived experience. My journey began, in earnest, in 2017 when I decided I needed to learn more about Naloxone. I felt there was a need for parishes with their shelters, feeding programs and recovery ministries, to be equipped to respond to a potential overdose. I went through training on how to administer Naloxone and then became a licensed trainer in the state of Virginia. With encouragement from the administration of Virginia Theological Seminary, a fellow student and I began training our fellow seminarians and local clergy on the importance of keeping Naloxone on hand.

Like with any social justice work, I began to see deeper, more systemic problems. That is when I discerned that the work of Harm Reduction was part of my calling. I Spring 2021

found that it wasn’t enough for me to only train people in case someone overdosed on the church property. I eventually found the courage to follow the example of Jesus and meet people where they are.

I began by securing a supply of Narcan, the nasal spray form of Naloxone, from the local health department. Through a grant and initiative from the National Institutes of Health called Project DAWN, I am now able to distribute Narcan directly into the community to people who use illegal drugs and the people that live with and love them. Like the clergy training before it, this movement too has forced me further into the work of Harm Reduction.

There are many ways that you can help support Harm Reduction.

Where to begin? The number one thing is to help push back against

the stigma that exists surrounding people that use illegal drugs, especially intravenous drug use. With a quick internet search, you can contact local Harm Reduction groups and see if they need volunteers.

You can donate to local Harm Reduction efforts. Most importantly, you can voice your support for overdose prevention and syringe access programs to your local and state representatives. And remember to seek and serve Christ in all people, because everyone deserves to be treated with love, respect and dignity.

Learn more about Harm Reduction at the National Harm Reduction Coalition website, harmreduction. org.

The Rev. Paul Bennett serves as Priest Resident at All Saints, Portsmouth.

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The Book of Remembrance Amy Baird You might ask: Just what is this Book of Remembrance?

The Book of Remembrance, started in 1926 by women of the diocese, is a listing, by parish, of deceased women whose congregations want to honor their memory.

The request for entry of a name can be submitted by any congregation, Episcopal Church Women’s group (ECW) or individual, along with a donation of at least $15.

Donations are added to a trust fund which provides scholarships.

The Book of Remembrance Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for lay and ordained women of the diocese to do graduate study in areas related to church work, special ministries, and helping professions. Funds are also available for short-term, non-degree training in workshops, special seminars and skills training, in church related or social service fields.

Every congregation benefits from the work of women who serve God and church without thought of reward.

32 32 We hope that your congregation or ECW will support

the Book of Remembrance Memorial Scholarship Fund and honor the memory of cherished deceased women of your congregation by submitting their names for inclusion in the Book of Remembrance.

The names of women added to the Book by August 31 are read during the celebration of the Eucharist at the annual ECW conference held each Fall, at which time the Book also is placed on display.

Checks should be payable to Book of Remembrance. Scholarship applications should be requested in time to submit them

by March 1 each year. Applications for assistance for short-term training can be submitted at any time.

To get a scholarship application or to submit a name for the Book of Remembrance, please contact: Amy Baird 1309 Manchester Ave., Apt. 1B Middletown OH 45042 513.465.4929 amyknits2much@gmail.com

Connections

Go, and do! New Formation team is here to help In September 2020, the diocesan Formation Team came together with the charge, “Go, and do!” We were tasked with finding out the best ways that parishes, parishioners and priests could be served by formation opportunities throughout the diocese, and with helping to showcase the valuable and important formation work that parishes are already doing. Then to supplement all of it by creating learning opportunities through the learning portal, Zoom courses and opportunities for the diocese to gather.

Since September we have had the chance to listen and learn alongside of our diocesan community and then create what people are asking for. In December we had the privilege to host a virtual Young Adult retreat and be with young people from across the country to “Be Still and Know.” Early in the Spring we answered the call of Bishop Price to create a Zoom Confirmation course for folks of all ages who had to miss out on being confirmed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Currently, we are working on Forming, a podcast where we have the chance to talk with and interview folks to learn more about the ways we are all living out our Christian callings and what is going on around our diocese to give more opportunities to live into that for everyone.

The opportunity to work on a team as a ‘three-leggedstool’ and approach formation using the gifts we each bring to the table has given us the chance to be in three places at once and learn from parishioners and each other to quickly adjust to what is needed. In 2021 and 2022 we have planned exciting opportunities to partner, teach, learn, travel, and form each other and we hope that you will continue to join us!

the world and discern who they will be and how they will serve in the world.

• Accessible Lay Leader trainings so that our parish leaders can become certified or renew certifications to continue serving.

• Partnerships with Becoming Beloved Community, the Creation Care Task Force, and TEC’s The Way of Love • More opportunities to learn through video offerings and courses in the DSO Learning Portal • Our Formation newsletter to stay up to date each week with trainings, formation opportunities, and what TEC and DSO are doing.

• The things that your parish needs and additional resources to help support you. You are not alone!

Please connect with us so that we can better engage in the diocese and learn what your parish could benefit from. We are a team that exists to support you!

The Formation team members are the Rev. Christopher Richardson (crichardson@diosohio.org), the Rev. Jason Oden (joden@diosohio.org) and Emma Helms-Steinmetz (ehelms-steinmetz@diosohio.org.)

Look out for: • Forming, released every Friday, can be found on the Formation page of the diocesan website to download, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• Young Adult and Youth opportunities for folks to gather and connect to a community as they engage in

Spring 2021

Emma

Jason

Christopher

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Growing in faith at Procter Farm Danielle Vogel

I hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of gravel under my boots as I walk between the two historical structures. To my left is the corn crib, one of the oldest structures on the property. Once used to store corn, it is now a place where chickens roam, produce is washed, and feed and equipment are stored. To my right, the shop. These two buildings act as welcoming pillars to the entrance of our modern-day Procter Center Farm.

high tunnel and fields. It feels like home. There is a special, radiating feeling of calm, love and hope, and it resonates from the soil up into the air. If I stop, close my eyes and take a deep breath, I feel the warm breeze pass over my face, and the sun shines through the dark of my eyelids. I am at peace.

The original farm on this land was thousands of acres and produced a few types of grain crops. Today, the farm is six acres, and produces over 40 different vegetable crops, chicken, eggs, and pork. Neither farming method is better over the other, it is just two different types of farming methods. Instead of mass producing a few commodity crops, Procter Center Farm now focuses on growing specialty crops and pasture-raised animals using regenerative and organic farming practices.

Procter Center sits on land that has been farmed for centuries. Continuing to farm this land is a rare privilege in an age when the United States is losing farmland at staggering rates. According to AgWeek.com, 31 million acres of farmland was lost between 1992 and 2012.

Procter is proud to retain the land it was gifted, over 70 years ago.

The farm our campers and guests know and love today was established in 2009. Twelve years later, the farm continues to supplement the Procter Center kitchen, provide fresh food to locals at various farmers markets, and is a learning lab for groups of all ages. This year, for the first time, summer campers will spend a large part of their camp experience with the farm. It is an incredible experience to take a seed, plant it, nurture it, watch it grow and receive sustenance from the fruit. There are so many parallels between growing vegetables and growing in our faith.

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Danielle Vogel serves as Farm Manager at Procter Center. Connect with Danielle at dvogel@proctercenter.org.

I gaze out, across the farm, and see the greenhouse,

Connections

Quilt program at Procter Amy Boyd

Join us as we work to make the Thompson Lodge rooms at Procter Center a little cozier. Our goal is to receive or make a quilt for each bed in the lodge.

There are lots of ways for you to get involved: • Donate a completed quilt in memory or in honor of someone • Donate fabric which will be used by summer camp or volunteers to make quilts • Donate money to have those pieced quilts quilted by a long-arm quilter • Donate your time to come and help youth and families learn how to sew quilts this summer

If you are interested in getting involved

with this project, please reach out to Amy Boyd.

Procter has already received some quilts and they are on the beds. We also had an amazing donation of fabric from the daughters of Mary Graham McKell, an avid quilter and member of St. Paul’s, Chillicothe. After Mary’s death, Martha McKell Price and Susan McKell weren’t sure what to do with all her fabric. The Rev. Paul Daggett, Priest in Charge of St. Paul’s, knew of our quilting program and mentioned it to the girls. They were thrilled to have a place to donate their mother's treasured fabric. We are so excited to receive this amazing donation, because the campers and families will be able to pick the perfect fabric to make quilts this summer.

Amy Boyd serves as Executive Director of Procter Center. Connect with Amy at aboyd@proctercenter. org.

Left: Some of the finished donated quilts.

Below: Susan (left) and Martha drop off their mother's fabric at Procter Center.

Procter Summer Camp Procter Camp is a place for children, youth, and families to grow in faith, sing, learn, play, and pray together. This year, our programs include youth camp for children entering 9th-12th grade, six Family Camps and a new Day Camp for local kids in 1st-6th grade. Also new to our camping program is Silver Camp, a Procter Camp experience for those age 50+.

2021 Camp Schedule June 16 - 19: Family Camp 1 June 20 - 26: Sr. High Camp June 30 - July 3: Fam Camp 2 July 8 - 11: Family Camp 3 July 15 - 18: Family Camp 4 July 22 - 25: Family Camp 5 July 29 - Aug 1: Fam Camp 6 Aug 2 – 5: Silver Camp Learn more about Procter Summer Camp at proctercenter.org/camp.

Spring 2021

CONNECTIONS The official publication of the Diocese of Southern Ohio www.diosohio.org

147th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Southern Ohio Saturday, November 13, 2021 Virtual – via Zoom Important dates to note:

Aug. 15: Proposed Constitutional/Canonical Changes Sept. 14: Deadline for Constitutional/Canonical Changes Sept. 29: Requested date for nominations for diocesan office

Deadline for resolutions to be considered by convention Oct. 29: Deadline for nominations for diocesan office Nov. 3: Pre-convention meeting via Zoom, 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 13: 147th Convention via Zoom, time TBD Find all information, including how to propose a constitutional/canonical change or resolution, diocesan offices needing nominations and nomination forms at our convention website, dsoconvention.org or find the link on the diocesan website.

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Save the Date A diocesan in-person gathering at Procter!

Saturday, September 25, 2021 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mark your calendar to come to Procter Center on Saturday, Sept. 25 for our first in-person gathering in over a year. We’ll worship, talk, learn, eat, and have fun together as a diocesan family.

This is an event for all ages!

Watch for more information in upcoming e-Connections and on our website

EpiscopaliansInConection..org EpiscopaliansInConection