{e}Connections: March 1, 2022

{e} Connections

March 1, 2022

News from the diocese

Coming up on the calendar

March

2: Ash Wednesday

2: Lenten Lunch Series, 12:15 p.m.

8: Clergy Zoom gathering, 1 p.m.

8: Open Zoom gathering, 6:30 p.m.

9: Lenten Lunch Series, 12:15 p.m.

10: Trustees meeting, 10 a.m.

12: Diocesan Council, 10 a.m.

12: Deacon Ordination, 11 a.m.

16: Lenten Lunch Series, 12:15 p.m.

25: Deadline for Academic Grants for Minority Women

30-31: Clergy retreat

See all events

Bishop Smith's Visitations

March

6: St. Timothy's, Cincinnati

13: St. Anne's, West Chester

27: St. Christopher's, Fairborn

Lenten offerings from around the diocese

If you are looking for a Lenten program or series to enhance your season of renewal, a comprehensive list of events being offered around the diocese is available on the diocesan website.

Some events are in person, many are on Zoom; you are sure to find something that piques your interest that will fit into your schedule.

Look for this icon on our homepage to access the list. To add an offering to the list, send information to Julie Murray at jmurray@diosohio.org.

Zoom gatherings with the bishop

Bishop Smith invites clergy and laity to join him on two Zoom gatherings to check in and keep connected. The gatherings will be held on Tuesday, March 8; the clergy-only gathering will be held at 1 p.m. and an open gathering will be held at 6:30 p.m. You must register in advance for either meeting, using the links below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Staff Transitions

Today, the Rev. Canon Michael Spencer began his ministry as canon for transitions and congregational ministry in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Canon Spencer, who has served as canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Eastern Michigan for nearly nine years, holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Divinity from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He can be reached at mspencer@diosohio.org.

The diocesan staff is also saying farewell to two colleagues this week.

Yesterday, the Rev. Canon Lee Anne Reat retired after 28 years of ordained ministry in the diocese, including serving as associate rector of St. Patrick’s, Dublin; as vicar of St. John’s, Columbus; and as missioner for Southern Ohio for the last three years. Canon Reat, who announced her retirement last year, has been based in Columbus along with Canon to the Ordinary John Johanssen, who wished her well and thanked her for her ministry on behalf of Bishop Smith and the staff.

Friday will mark the last day of work for Sherri Martin in our transitions office, who resigned last week so that she could pursue another job offer. The staff will celebrate her time on the diocesan staff and thank her for her ministry with a lunch on Thursday.

God willing

The Right Reverend George Wayne Smith

Bishop Provisional of Southern Ohio

will ordain

Brice Joel Patterson

to the Sacred Order of Deacons

in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church

on Saturday, March 12, 2022

at Trinity Church on Capitol Square

Columbus, Ohio

Eleven o’clock in the morning

Your prayers and presence are requested

Clergy: Red stoles

Resources

Creation Care calling!

Does your parish have a Creation Care Team? The diocesan Creation Care & Environmental Justice Task Force wants to make sure that it is connecting with all parishes who currently have, or are in the process of forming a Creation Care Committee (or Green Team, or whatever you name it). We are asking your parish to drop us an email at ee4diosoh@gmail.com to let us know if you have such a group; who the contact person for it would be; and what you currently are working on.

Don’t have a Creation Care Team yet? Or do you feel like a prophet crying in the wilderness? No problem! We can help you. Just drop us an email to ee4diosoh@gmail.com and let us know. We’d love to support you and we have ideas about how you can get started and get others on board.

Academic grants for Minority Women

The Lawrence Home Association, founded in 1896 under the will of philanthropist Eleanor Earnshaw, was started to “provide a Christian home for self-supporting, young women on limited means, the most important aim being to help them elevate their standard of life.” To this day, the Lawrence Home Association provides opportunities for young women.

The purpose of the Academic Grant for Minority Women program is to help finance the postsecondary education of minority women, regardless of age, who are affiliated with an Episcopal church within the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

The association expects to make eight grants in 2022. The application deadline is March 25, 2022. All applicants for the 2022-23 grant period will be selected by April 21, 2022, and notified after May 1 about the status of their applications.

Learn more

Becoming Beloved Community

Advocacy briefing

Your church can take effective action now

Don’t let government impasse over climate policy stop you

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new report this week with dire warnings on the harm already happening around the world from climate change. Congress has failed to pass President Biden’s major climate legislation, the Build Back Better bill. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Feb. 28 in West Virginia v. EPA, a lawsuit challenging the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act without clearer authority from Congress.

Please remember that your church can take humanitarian action immediately to reduce your carbon footprint: choose steps to reduce your energy consumption and apply for a Diocesan grant of up to $10,000 for the costs. Loans of up to $10,000 are also available. Eligible retrofits include insulation, lighting, thermostats, and more efficient HVAC equipment. These retrofits will also reduce your utility bills and free up money to use for mission. Read how to apply here.

Ohio is in election chaos

Events are moving so fast in Ohio’s redistricting battles that a weekly update like this is obsolete within hours. By the time you read this on the evening of Shrove Tuesday, the Ohio Redistricting Commission may have approved a new Congressional district plan, so asking you in this week’s update to submit testimony or letters may be pointless. One thing you can do is call Senate President Huffman (614-466-7584) and House Speaker Cupp (614-466-9624) asking for a vote to postpone Ohio’s May primary. This needs to be passed by a 2/3 vote in both chambers to take effect in time. Here’s why county elections officials see postponement as essential to running a fair and accurate primary.

As of the morning of March 1, the Commission has not published a new draft Congressional plan of their own, though citizens have submitted many. (https://redistricting.ohio.gov/maps ) Meanwhile, the Commission passed a third set of state House and Senate maps Feb. 24 (see the link above) just hours after making them available to the public. This new plan drew renewed challenges at the Ohio Supreme Court over the weekend so the Court has to rule on its constitutionality.

Although he has warned repeatedly about the feasibility of holding a May 3 primary, Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered county election boards to start placing candidates on the ballot using this set of maps, even before the Supreme Court decides if they are constitutional. The Ohio Association of Election Officials wrote to Senate President Huffman and House Speaker Cupp on Feb. 28 asking the legislature to delay the primary as all the maps are still under litigation and it’s impossible to even determine the voter rolls. They also need time to test ballots and voting equipment to ensure a fair and accurate election. Candidate filing deadlines have passed and the state has requested but not yet received a waiver on the federal deadline of March 18 to send ballots to active-duty military and overseas voters.

Advocacy briefings and updates are compiled by Ariel Miller, a member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming, and a member of the diocesan Becoming Beloved Community Leadership Team.

Formation

Lenten Lunch Series

Join Emma Helms-Steinmetz and the Formation team on Zoom for a Lenten Lunch Series to dive into the Lenten Zine, "To Be Cracked Open," where we will work with the text by Stephanie Spellers, The Church Cracked Open, and discuss the overlap with Becoming Beloved Community and the opportunities ahead for our parishes and communities. Conversations guided by the Zine (which will be printed in Connections as well on the DSO Formation page starting Feb 28) will be on Wednesdays from 12:15 to 1 p.m. from March 2 – April 27.

Participants will receive a copy of The Church Cracked Open as well as an Anglican Rosary to keep. We hope that you can join us at the table as we work together on this rich text and dream together of ways to Become Beloved Community.

See the Lenten Zine here

News from Procter Center

News from our Cathedral

Music Live at Lunch

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

March 8: Organ and harpsichord students from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

March 15: The Southbank Quartet – Classical music

March 22: Laney and the Tramps – Swingin’ jazz

March 29: Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band – New Orleans jazz

Choral Evensong

Sunday, March 6

5:00 p.m.

The Christ Church Cathedral Choir

Canticles: Magnificat & Nunc dimittis (Fourth Evening Service) – Adrian Batten

Anthem: Out of the Deep – Thomas Morley

News from the diocesan community

Events around the diocese

March

5: Otterbein University Concert Choir at St. Patrick's, Dublin, 7:30 p.m.

6: Kenyon College Chamber Singers at St. Stephen's, Columbus, 2 p.m.

6: Choral Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, 5 p.m.

8: Kenyon College Chamber Singers at St. James, Cincinnati, 7 p.m.

Click here for Lenten programs and events

Promote your events here! Send information to Julie Murray.

Lenten Fish Fry

St. Simon of Cyrene, Lincoln Heights, will hold a Lenten Fish Fry every Friday in Lent from 12 to 7 p.m., beginning March 4. Dine in and carry out available.

Click on the menu at right to see the selections. For phone orders, call the church office at 513.771.4828.

Otterbein University Concert Choir to perform at St. Patrick's, Dublin

On Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Otterbein University’s Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Gayle Walker, will present a concert at St. Patrick’s, Dublin, as part of their spring break tour.

The Choir’s tour program will feature masterworks by Amner and Bruckner, as well as works by Jocelyn Hagan, Kim Andre Arensen, and Keith Hampton. The program is free and open to the public.

St. Patrick's is located at 7121 Muirfield Drive in Dublin.

Learn more

Two concerts by the Kenyon College Chamber Singers

The Kenyon College Chamber Singers, conducted by Dr. Benjamin Locke, will perform on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. at St. Stephen’s, Columbus, and on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at St. James, Cincinnati.

The Chamber Singers, consisting of forty-nine undergraduates chosen by competitive audition, is Kenyon’s premier touring ensemble. The group is noted for its versatility of vocal style and broad repertoire.

The Chamber Singers will again present an eclectic mix of a cappella choral repertoire on their 2022 Spring Tour. A centerpiece to the program will be Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (Sing to the Lord a new song), with numerous other compositions by composers Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Eurydice V. Osterman, Morten Lauridsen, Adolphus Hailstork, Elliott Carter, and others. The ensemble is noted for its regular inclusion of music from South Africa, which this year includes Sangena (We’re coming in!), a Zulu processional arranged by Mzilikazi Khumalo.

News from The Episcopal Church

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Province V News

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.

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Episcopal Church Lent resources available online

Click the button below for new and updated resources

for individuals, small groups, and congregations.

• Lenten Virtual Borderlands Experience webinar series •

• Lent curriculum, calendar, and bulletin inserts •

• Sermons, lesson plans, and devotionals •

• “Prophetic Voices” podcast series •

• Lent Madness •

• Videos and publicity materials •

See resources

Province V Meet the Author event

Join us on March 22 at 7:00PM for a 1-hour workshop introducing “Finding Sanctuary in the Midst of Alzheimer’s: A Spiritual Guide for Families Facing Dementia.” During this session, author Dr. Elizabeth Shulman will walk us through the 5-week ministry that comprises this book and will answer questions related to dementia caregiving. Special attention will be given to how pastors and other church leaders can best support families in their congregations who are caring for a loved one with dementia.

About the author: Elizabeth Shulman, D.Min. has over 30 years of experience as a pastor, university researcher and hospice chaplain. She has written for Guideposts’ Strength and Grace and enjoys writing music in her free time. For more information about her and her work, please visit her website, www.elizabethshulman.com.

Registration for this event is required.