Last week, Bishop White and a working group of diocesan leaders met at Procter to create a draft of a diocesan mission statement, values and priority areas for ministry. The draft is available on the website, and the bishop invites all members of the diocese to review it and submit their feedback and questions using this form.
The draft mission is based on the results of 28 discernment gatherings facilitated by Ministry Architects in April and May.
“Our effort to follow Jesus with greater clarity and alignment in the Diocese of Southern Ohio continues to move forward,” Bishop White said. “Once our mission is clear, we will discern how best to align our leadership bodies, initiatives, staff and resources to support it.”
This week, the bishop is naming an implementation team of diocesan staff and leaders, which will be chaired by Spencer Izor of St. Paul’s, Oakwood, and Renée Wilson, a Ministry Architects consultant. The team, which will serve for 18 months, will assist the bishop by using input from people across the diocese to refine the mission and by helping our diocese put that mission into action.
In the months ahead, the implementation team will ask people in the diocese to provide responses to the draft mission in both in-person and online conversations. The conversations will include these questions, which can also be answered using the online form:
- How does the mission resonate for you?
- Can you envision this mission supporting your own life of faith, the ministries of your congregation, and the wider diocese? How?
- What questions do you have?
- What do you think is missing?
This Sunday, July 28, Bishop White will facilitate the first of these conversations after worship at St. Andrew’s, Evanston. The implementation team will be responsible for holding conversations in August, September, and October, with the goal of establishing our shared mission at diocesan convention in November.
To ask questions or express an interest in participating in a mission feedback discussion, please email mission@diosohio.org.
photo: A working group of leaders met at Procter on July 20 to create a draft diocesan mission.
