The diocese is offering two Safe Church Safe Communities trainings in August via Zoom. Who needs to take this training? The goal is that each of the individuals below complete the training.

• All clergy
• All employees
• All vestry members
• All children/youth leaders
• All ministry leaders
• All key holders

To remain current, this training needs to be renewed every three years. If you have any questions, please email Cindy Spice.

Date: August 12, 1-4 p.m. (EDT)

Where: Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Date: August 27, 1-4 p.m. (EDT)

Where: Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Jr.Sr. High Summer Work Retreat

Date: August 18-20

Where: Episcopal Wawasee Retreat Center

Cost: $10

Register by: August 11

Jr & Sr High Summer Work Retreat to be held at the Wawasee Episcopal Center from Friday, August 18 at 7 p.m. until Sunday, August 20 at 11 a.m. The cost for this event is $10 per person. Please come with work clothes on and be prepared to paint, pull weeds and clean. Bring gardening or work gloves if you have them. Bring your bathing suit to cool off in the water after we finish our work.



If you have any questions, please contact Carol Bianchini at [email protected] or 574-551-3087. Please register online by August 11, 2023

Episcopal Communicators is excited to launch a pilot diocesan group membership to deliver value specifically to small/less-resourced church communicators (and any dioceses that are paying for their memberships).

These group memberships are full memberships, granting participating communicators access to webinars, ECTalk Live, the list-serv, the members-only resource section of the website, the Polly Bond Awards, and the early bird conference registration option. For this pilot program, the only restriction is members may not come from churches where a staff member or volunteer has been a member of Episcopal Communicators within the past three years.

As part of the pilot program, Episcopal Communicators is launching a monthly small church conversation where small church communicators can find peer support and answers to their questions. A sampling of other offerings through the end of 2023 include webinars about social media as evangelism, livestreaming, crisis communication, and video marketing campaigns. Finally, they are reopening registration for our Rebranding Masterclass for members of the pilot program.

Any diocese is welcome to participate in this pilot program. They are offering a five-church group rate of $150 and a 10-church group rate of $275 for a term expiring December 31, 2023. The diocese will cover the cost of this pilot program for up to ten faith communities interested in participating. If we find value in the group membership, we will be able to renew for 2024 at the full-year price should we continue the program.

If your faith community is interested in participating or has any questions, please email Canon Christopher Hillak.

Social Outreach Grants

The Social Outreach Committee has awarded a combined total of $10,095 to the following 2023 grant recipients.

• Christ the King (Huntington)
• Huntington Area Back-to-School Bash - $1,500.
• Gethsemane (Marion)
• LunchBox Program Relaunch via Kitchen Updates - $1,000.
• St. John of the Cross (Howe)
• Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships - $3,095.
• St. Mark's (Howe)
• Community Cookout - $1,500.
• St. Michael and All Angels (South Bend)
• SOS Luncheon and Food Bag Distribution - $1,000.
• St. Thomas (Plymouth)
• Community Household Necessities Outreach - $2,000.

Commission on Ministry Continuing Education Grants

The Commission on Ministry has awarded a combined total of $4,595 to the following 2023 grant recipients.

• The Rev. Mindy Bowne Hancock
• Introductory Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault - $195.
• The Rev. Kirsten Guidero
• Anglicanism in European Perspective - $1,000.
• The Rev. Debra Rhodes
• Holy Cross Monastery - $1,000.
• The Rev. Robert Rhodes
• Holy Cross Monastery - $1,000.
• Talique Taylor
• Annual Karl Barth Conference - $1,000.
• Steven Wiestock
• Summer Chant Workshop: Praying with Chant - $400.

Good Shepherd Grants

A combined total of $8,000 has been awarded to the following 2023 grant recipients.

• St. Andrew's (Valparaiso)
• Local Public Action to Distribute Shelter Program - $1,000.
• St. Barnabas-in-the-Dunes
• Signage Update - $2,000.
• St. Timothy (Griffith)
• Community Garden - $1,500.
• St. Timothy Food Pantry - $1,500.
• Trinity (Michigan City)
• Trinity Community Food Pantry - $2,000.

With a final flurry of tours and community meetings at Episcopal churches all over the state of Indiana, the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships (CBCP) project reached a major milestone at the beginning of May. Teams from congregations, diocesan staff, Indiana Landmarks, and Partners for Sacred Places have now visited and documented the shareable spaces of every Episcopal church building in the state of Indiana.

The goal of the project, funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. through its Thriving Congregations initiative, is to encourage congregations to open their buildings deliberately, seeing them as assets to be shared with the wider community. The site visits were the culmination of a process that helped congregational teams invite community leaders into their buildings to think creatively about how they can fill gaps in each church’s geography.

Read more!

Welcome, New Clergy!

New Ministry

• The Rev. Dr. Kirsten Guidero, Assisting Priest, Gethsemane - Marion
• Mtr. Kirsten has accepted a new position as Associate Professor in the theology department at Marian University in Indianapolis. She remains canonically resident in EDNIN and can be contacted for supply work.
• The Rev. Phil Hooper, Associate Rector, Trinity - Fort Wayne
• Fr. Phil has accepted a new position as Rector of St. Anne's Episcopal Church in West Chester, OH.

Retirements

• The Rev. Larry Biller, Priest-in-Charge, St. James - Goshen and All Saints - Syracuse
• The Rev. Kris Graunke, Co-Vicar, Calumet Episcopal Ministry Partnership (CEMP)

Postulants and Candidates Retreat Save the Date

Date: September 8-10

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center

Save the Dates

2023 Fall Clergy Retreat

Date: October 9-11, 2023

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center

2024 Spring Clergy Retreat

Date: May 13-15, 2024

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center

2024 Fall Clergy Retreat

Date: October 14-16, 2024

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center

Assessment calculations for 2024 are complete and available at the link below. In 2023, the Finance Committee recommended and Diocesan Council supported the reduction of each parish's assessment percentage by 1%, down to 14% (as calculated against the average of 3 years' worth of Operating Income). This is due in part to the sale of property and the reception of unexpected bequests. We are grateful for these blessings and are glad to be sharing them across the diocese, with each parish.

2024 Parish Assessments

Should you decide to request an assessment reduction, please review the links, timelines, and processes noted below. 

Please send your completed forms to Missioner Michelle

by Monday, September 11th.  

Assessment amounts and reduction request forms can be found at https://ednin.org/docs, under Assessments (Diocesan). Please note there are TWO forms to complete for a reduction request: 

• Application for Aid Through Assessment Reduction and a
• Financial History Form.

As always, if you have questions don't hesitate to reach out to Missioner Michelle.

Season of Creation 2023

Date: September 1-October 4

Prophet Amos cries out: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24) and so we are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity. 

As the people of God, we must work together on behalf of all Creation, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice.

The Season Of Creation website has more information on the 2023 theme and a Season of Creation 2023 Celebration Guide with prayers and ideas to consider including an outdoor prayer service, creation walk or pilgrimage, sustainability event, or preaching about creation throughout the Season. Sign up for updates, and keep an eye out for an event calendar for virtual and in-person events around the world, and information on how to register your Season of Creation activities.

God Outside: Northern Indiana 

Date: Saturday, September 9

Time: 10/9 a.m. (ET/CT)

Where: Oubache State Park (Bluffton)

Policy for Action

The Episcopal Church adopts policies on a range of public policy matters related to justice and peace through General Convention, the governing body of the Church and the Church’s highest temporal authority. Many of these resolutions are directed towards the Office of Government Relations, the Episcopal Public Policy Network, or the Washington Office.

This document, Policy for Action: An Index of Episcopal Church Public Policy Resolutions, lists in brief resolutions of The Episcopal Church pertaining to public policy, representing the breadth of our Church’s witness on a variety of subjects, local and global. (Note: this document does not include many resolutions pertaining to issues within the structure, canons, programs, and other aspects of the institution.) Each has been adopted through the deliberation of our bicameral governing body, General Convention, or Executive Council. The policies listed are grouped by subject area, an occasionally imperfect but helpful means of creating an index of hundreds of resolutions. A searchable full text is linked by each resolution. These are all also searchable via The Archives of the Episcopal Church.

As you use this resource, please be sure to join the effort in carrying out the call of these resolutions by signing up for the Episcopal Public Policy Network, a church-wide network of grassroots advocates run and resourced by The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations.

Episco-pols

Episcopalians and others interested in demonstrating their faith through civic engagement and advocacy are invited to subscribe to a new podcast—dubbed “Episco-pols”—from The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations.

Designed to inform and inspire, “Episco-pols” launched in mid-March and can be subscribed to via any podcast platform. In the pilot season, church advisors for international, domestic, and environmental policy will tackle frequently asked questions about church engagement with the government and offer action steps.

Action Alerts

The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations (OGR) identifies opportunities for Episcopalians to participate in our democracy. Click this link to find an action alert that you are passionate about and send a message to your members of Congress.

Click here to read Province V's August newsletter.

Are you near a higher education campus?

Would you like to reach out but don't know how?

Is your parish near an institution of higher learning? (this might be: community college, trade school, specialty training schools - anything that provides post-high school education)

We want to hear from you!

Province V is currently discerning if they should hire a person to be a "Campus Ministry Consultant." This person would work with parish leaders to help them build relationships with the faculty, staff, and/or students of nearby post-high school educational institutions.

If you would like to share your thoughts, questions, or ideas, please contact Heather at 989-413-3229 or [email protected].

More details about this discernment will be coming soon!