An Update from Bishop Smith and Dean Thompson
May 17, 2022

Dear Friends in the Diocese of Southern Ohio:

Greetings in this Easter season of hope and promise. We are writing to share with you an update about the collaboration between the Diocese of Southern Ohio and Christ Church Cathedral.

In 2018, Bishop Tom Breidenthal and Dean Gail Greenwell initiated a collaboration between the Diocese of Southern Ohio and Christ Church Cathedral that included sharing staff resources. This partnership was intended to foster mission and provide a model for resource sharing and mission throughout the Diocese. In the past several years, the partnership has benefited both the Cathedral and Diocese in several ways, including helping both entities to develop much more robust administrative and human resources practices.

However, it has become increasingly clear that while the Diocese and the Cathedral are unified in our commitment to God’s mission, we are often called to pursue it in different ways with different priorities. As we have assessed the situation, we have together concluded that it is time to bring the shared executive staff collaboration to an end.

Beginning June 1, we will redistribute some Diocesan and Cathedral responsibilities and staff. In particular, the joint position of Operations Executive will be eliminated. Carine de Lange has held this position since the collaboration’s inception and has done so ably and professionally. We are pleased to say that she has agreed to join the Cathedral staff as Operations Executive, and so will remain a leader in our diocesan community. Her work in service to the collaboration is deeply appreciated, and her presence on the Diocesan staff will be sorely missed.

The end of the official collaboration, however, does not mean an end to cooperation. We see the benefit in sharing the facilities oversight provided by Matt Hornsby and the administrative support of Andrea Owens. We will continue to employ them, providing salary and benefits from the Cathedral and the Diocese in appropriate ways. Cooperation like this makes sense, and we encourage congregations to explore similar ways to share resources with neighbors.

Please know that the end of this operational collaboration is not, in any way, the end of our deep regard for one another, or for the essential ministry of the Cathedral in the Diocese. We will continue to work together in many ways, including collaborating under the terms of our other agreements, including the one that governs the use and maintenance of the common area between our buildings. Likewise, we look forward to many opportunities to work with each other and all of you as we move ever closer into the relationships to which Christ is calling us.

Faithfully,
Bishop Smith signature
The Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith
Bishop Provisional
The Very Rev. Owen C. Thompson
Dean
The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio