Kickstarting Your Parish Planned Giving Program
2025-04-08 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
Has your parish struggled to begin or maintain planned/legacy giving efforts? You are not alone!
In this brief webinar, you will learn the essentials of encouraging your parishioners to remember the church in their estate plans; the largest gift they may ever make to their faith community. You will also depart the webinar with three tips for hitting the ground running on your parish’s planned giving program and resources from your diocese for doing this work.
Please join Jim Murphy, Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving at Episcopal Relief & Development for this beneficial webinar and bring your questions and concerns.
This webinar is co-sponsored by the Dioceses of Ohio and Southern Ohio. Please contact the Rev. Derrick Fetz, Missioner for Stewardship if you have any questions about this webinar and for any guidance on legacy giving.
There is no cost to participate in this webinar. Please RSVP here to receive your Zoom link and materials.

Sharing Your Good News Beyond Your Walls: Media Relations for Churches
2025-05-03 10:00 - 11:00
Communications leaders — volunteers and staff, lay and clergy — are invited to spend a Saturday morning digging into media relations for sharing the Good News of God in Christ through your local faith community.
Churches often have interesting and inspiring ministries and activities taking place, but they don’t know who to tell people outside the congregation about them. In this workshop we will talk about what makes a good story, the basics of a news release, and how to share your news with local media and with others in The Episcopal Church.

We’re joined by Melodie Woerman, a church communications professional with decades of experience both pitching and receiving pitches for media stories. Now a freelance writer with bylines in Episcopal News Service, This Christian Century, The Living Church, and more, Melodie spent seventeen years as the director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas. During her tenure, she also served many years on the board and as the president of Episcopal Communicators, a professional network of church communications professionals across and beyond the denomination.
Questions about this diocesan program?
Contact Canon Katie Forsyth, canon for communications, at kforsyth@diosohio.org.
RSVP
There is no cost to participate in this webinar and no deadline to register. REGISTER HERE.

History & Storytelling Webinar
2025-09-04 19:00 - 20:00
This year, we celebrate 150 years of ministry as the Diocese of Southern Ohio — generations of disciples serving God and joining in the transformation of our communities. In anticipation of this major milestone, a task force of Southern Ohioans have been working together to gather our history and tell the stories of who we are and who we have been — in discipleship, in race relationships, women’s ministries, LGBTQ+ progress, and the industrial and economic changes that have affected our communities.
On September 4 at 7 pm, our 150th History & Storytelling Group will host a Zoom webinar for all Southern Ohio Episcopalians. Bishop White will host a panel discussion with diocesan leaders representing significant stories or affinities within our diocese:

The Rev. Canon Jane Gerdsen, rector serving St. Barnabas, Montgomery, will represent women’s ordination and other changes in our diocese and church that strengthened women’s ministries.
Robin Holland, chair of our Commission on Ministry and member of St. Philip, Columbus, will represent the resilient presence of our Historically Black congregations.
Joshua Sherwood, member of the Diocesan Council and member of St. Peter’s, Gallipolis, will represent the legacy and continuing life of post-industrial river parishes in Appalachia.
The Rev. Mike Smith, priest associate at St. Anne, West Chester, will represent the significant progress toward inclusion and leadership of LGBTQ+ Christians in our church and diocese.
The Very Rev. Owen Thompson, dean of Christ Church Cathedral, will represent the Mother Churches which established Episcopal witness throughout our diocese through the founding of new parishes.

Short biographies of each of our panelists are available here.
Please join us as we remember, learn, and celebrate the complex legacy of the Diocese of Southern Ohio! RSVP to receive your Zoom link.

Communications workshop – Above the Scroll
2025-10-08 18:30 - 20:00
Above the Scroll: Keeping Up Appearances & Priorities for Modern Church Websites
Is your parish website ready for a refresh? Considering a complete overhaul for a new website? Does your website need to be touched by an angel?
Whether you’re on a tight budget or you’re ready to invest deeply in this vital outreach of the Church, come dive into the fantastic world of church websites as we explore design principles, copywriting considerations, search engine optimization, integrations and much more. Bring your curiosity, your successes, and your challenges as we tackle modernizing our parish websites.
This free workshop is for all engaged in communications ministries in their congregations whether volunteer or staff, clergy or lay, working solo or with a team.
ABOUT OUR PRESENTER
Bro. Andrew Aelred Morehead, OC serves as missioner for communications and evangelism in the Diocese of East Tennessee where he works with website, social media, information technology, archives, photography, videography, and more. He is a life professed companion in The Ecumenical Order of Charity. With an energy and passion for The Episcopal Church, Bro. Andrew supports faith leaders and congregations to tell the story of following Jesus in our Episcopal lens through vibrant and grace-filled communications.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in sacred music from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina and a master’s degree in music with an emphasis in organ performance from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He is a member of Episcopal Communicators, where he serves on the Professional Standards Committee as well as the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Professional Photographers of America.
Br. Andrew lives in Maryville, TN with his partner, Dylan, and dog, Bentley.
Questions about this event?
Contact Canon Katie Forsyth, canon for communications, at kforsyth@diosohio.org.
REGISTER NOW
