20 - Finance Committee, 1 p.m.

28 - Diocesan Council, 9 a.m.

30- Investment Committee, 12 p.m.

30 - WCP Memorial Fund application deadline

6 - Labor Day (all diocese offices closed)

10 - Church Foundation, 1 p.m.

10 - Deadline for Connections submissions

14 - Deadline for proposed changes to Constitution & Canons

25 - Convocation, "Proclaiming the Dream," 10 a.m.

29 - Deadline for proposed resolutions

Dear People of the Diocese of Southern Ohio:

Greetings! As I begin now my second full day as your Bishop Provisional, I’m also settling in to a new temporary office at Christ Church Cathedral. I join here the Diocesan staff who have also just moved into their makeshift workplaces for the construction at Diocesan House, and we are learning a new space for work even as as we get to know one another.

These first few weeks will be filled with many meetings, opportunities for me to listen and to learn all I can about the Diocese, clergy, staff, and people of Southern Ohio. I have met quite a few of you during Zoom sessions in June and at a gathering at Procter in July. I look forward to developing these relationships. And I look forward to meeting even more of you in various venues around the Diocese, as I develop a rhythm of serving as your bishop.

I am glad at last to begin our work together, especially the work toward identifying and ordaining a next Bishop Diocesan. There is much to do toward this end—in addition to the ordinary details of a shared life of faith, of a people and a bishop trying to be faithful to God’s claim on our lives I am confident that together, we can accomplish the work ahead of us. May God grant us faith and confidence in Jesus Christ—and show us a way on the road.

The commission charged with drawing Ohio’s new Congressional maps will hold its public hearings next week in person, with four taking place within the Diocese of Southern Ohio on Aug. 24 and 25th in Dayton, Cincinnati, Zanesville, and Rio Grande:

As of Tuesday, Aug. 17 at noon, the Commission had not released specifics on the buildings and rooms where all of the hearings are taking place. Please watch the diocesan Facebook page for updates this week, and read more on the new process for drawing state and Congressional legislative district maps.

Be sure to register here!

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.

Lay delegates elected for the 147th Convention should have been reported on your 2021 Annual Reporting Form. In the event that your church did not report your delegates for certification, use this form to request credentials for duly elected lay delegates. Note: Only those churches that have not previously reported their delegates are able to use the form.

For all other churches: If you have had a change or addition to your previously reported lay delegates, fill out a Change of Delegate form.

Chairs of diocesan committees, commissions and task forces are reminded that an annual report of the activities of your group is required to be submitted for publication before each convention. The 2021 Annual Reports are due by October 29, 2021. A link to the form can be found on the convention website.

Submissions for e-Connections must be received by noon on Mondays for inclusion in any weekly newsletter.

Submissions for e-Connections should be limited to short announcements. Items can be sent as text in an email or as an attached Word document. Flyers should be sent as .jpeg or .pdf files. A short press release or announcement of the event should accompany all flyers. Make sure to include the address of the venue and contact information.

Send submissions to editor Julie Murray at jmurray@diosohio.org.

Churches can now add their own events to the diocesan calendar*. Just click on the link at the bottom of the calendar page to get started!

Hosted by DSO Formation Team member the Rev. Jason Oden and Israeli Guide Gary Kamen, this meeting will answer questions about current travel and touring conditions in the Holy Land. It will also address questions about traveling and touring in March 2022. If you have any interest in traveling to the Holy Land next spring, you are invited to attend on Zoom. Use the following link to access the meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87515665456 

2022 pilgrimage travel scholarships are available for postulants, candidates, and new clergy as well as diocesan lay leaders. For more information, contact the Rev. Jason Oden at joden@diosohio.org.

This year St. Francis, Springboro, will celebrate its 40^th year. St. Francis was started as a church plant from Church of the Ascension, Middletown, and has enjoyed four decades of Proclaiming the Good news through word and deed, dedicated to the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of his message.

We would like to invite everyone to commemorate the occasion with us. On Sunday, October 3 at 3 p.m., we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist in Thanksgiving for continual blessings bestowed upon the people of St. Francis by Almighty God. The Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith, Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, will officiate. 

We have commissioned a special anthem to mark St. Francis Church’s 40^th year. Robert Benson, long-time member of Holy Trinity, Oxford, has composed an anthem, “All Creatures of our God and King,” based on the words of St. Francis. Mr. Benson is an accomplished organist and composer whose music has been performed in churches and cathedrals in America, Canada, and England, as well as in concert in Rome. Over 100 of his anthems, including the one written for St. Francis, have been published.

We would also like to invite singers from across the diocese, whether members of a choir or not, to join us for the premiere of this piece. Please contact the church office at parishsec@saintfran.org, and we will send you a pdf of the anthem. Let us know what vocal part you would be singing (soprano, alto, tenor, or bass). We will join our voices together and sing a new song unto the Lord!

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Music Live at Lunch, Christ Church Cathedral's weekly concert series, is celebrating its 50^th year! Music Live at Lunch will feature the performers listed below in September. These free concerts are presented on Tuesdays at 12:10 p.m. Patrons may bring their own lunch or purchase one at the cathedral. 

September 7: Lu Li (violin) with piano – Classical music

September 14: Rabbit Hash String Band – Old-time music

September 21: Queen City Sisters – 1940s music

September 28: Lieto String Quartet – Classical music

You can access the online version of the 2021-22 Music Brochure here.

If you want to join our mailing list so that the new brochure is mailed to you each year, click here and navigate to the bottom of the webpage, or contact Kathy Noe at knoe@cccath.org or 513.842.2051 with your street address.

If you are interested in participating, please contact the Farm Manager, Danielle Vogel, at dvogel@proctercenter.org. Please include the Sunday you wish to come help, and the number of people in your party.

Province V of the Episcopal Church is a wonderful networking resource to connect with Episcopalians from the Midwest who share interest in a same ministry area. Province V News also has information about webinars and other events of interest.