Join us to discuss "What we Love About our Diocese and our Hopes for the Future."

At our recent clergy gatherings we began conversations regarding 

• what we love about our diocese 
• what might be important to bring with us into a reunified diocese
• what might we reinforce in our current diocese if we decide to remain separate
• what possibilities might we hope for in a reunified diocese.

 We are inviting you to be part of these conversations by attending in-person deanery meetings as detailed below. 

The meetings are not designed to answer specific questions about budgets, staffing, insurance, etc. We leave that important work in the hands of the Reunification Discernment Committee. Rather, we hope to gather in order to celebrate and name what makes the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana special to each of us: what we love, what we might miss, what has helped to make us who we are, and our hopes for the future. To accomplish this, we will begin our conversations with the following three questions using an Appreciative Inquiry approach:

1. How and where have we encountered God in our recent life within this diocese? (What do we love about our diocese?)
2. Where do you think God is calling us as a diocese?
3. What might we have to change in order for us to reunify into one diocese?
4. What possibilities or opportunities might be revealed in a reunified Diocese of Indiana?

The schedule of meetings is detailed below. We want to encourage you to attend in-person if that is possible. Being in the same room will allow for the best connection and sharing. If you can’t make any of the in-person meetings, please join us for our Zoom meeting. We want to hear from everyone.

Western Deanery

• Sunday, May 18, 2 p.m. (CDT), St. Andrew (Valparaiso)

Central Deanery

• Sunday, May 18, 3 p.m. (EDT), St. Michael and All Angels (South Bend)

Eastern Deanery

• Monday, May 12, 5:30 p.m. (EDT), Holy Family (Angola)
• Sunday, May 18, 2 p.m. (EDT), St. Alban (Fort Wayne)
• Sunday, June 1, 5 p.m. (EDT), St. Andrew (Kokomo)

Zoom session for those unable to attend in-person

• Saturday, June 7, Time TBD

God has abundantly blessed the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana. We know that whether we continue as a separate diocese or reunify into one, God will continue to bless and guide us on the way. Join us to discuss these blessings and prepare ourselves for the next steps in Reunification Discernment.

Blessings,

Your Diocesan Deans

The Rev. Cathy Carpenter, St. Andrew’s, Valparaiso (Western, to be elected)

The Rev. T.J. Freeman, Trinity, Fort Wayne (Eastern)

The Rev. Jen Fulton, St. Michael and All Angels, South Bend (Central)

The Very Rev. Brian Grantz, The Cathedral of St. James, South Bend

The Reunification Discernment Committee requests your prayers as it continues its work. Click here for options from which to choose.

Bishop Doug and Dana have arrived in Assisi, Italy along with seven people from our diocese and Bishop Doug's twin sister and brother-in-law. Keep your eyes on our social media pages through May 9 as we share photos and videos from the pilgrimage. Additionally, please keep everyone on the pilgrimage in your prayers.

Date: May 16-18, 2025

Where: Wawasee Episcopal Center (Syracuse, IN)

Who: Sixth through Twelfth Grade Students

Cost: $25 per child

This is a busy time of year when students are preparing for the end of the school year, finals and getting ready for what their summer holds.  The purpose for this retreat will be to gather, relax and hang out with friends. 

Registration Now Open for 2025 Youth Summer Camp!

Date: June 8-14, 2025

Where: Camp Alexander Mack (Milford, IN)

Who: Campers entering third through ninth grade in Fall 2025

Cost: $500 per child

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana Summer Youth Camp is offered for students entering 3rd-9th grades in the 2025/2026 school year. It is held at Camp Alexander Mack in Milford, IN on the shores of Lake Waubee. Each year the planning team designs a special curriculum centered around a theme intertwining biblical teachings and modern day experiences.

The 2025 fee for the week at Diocesan Youth Summer Camp is $500 per child. You will receive a PayPal invoice a few weeks after registration. This invoice will be due no later than June 1. If you prefer to send in a check, it must be received in the diocesan office no later than June 1. If you are in need of assistance with camp fees we ask that you first contact your parish priest or administrator to request help with funds. After contacting your parish, you may request assistance from the diocese by emailing the missioners for camping ministries.

The diocese is now accepting applications for 2025 Continuing Education Grants and 2025 Social Outreach Grants! Click here for grant criteria and details. Applications are due by May 31, 2025. If you have any questions, email Canon Joe Anand-Obleton.

Date: June 21

Time: Two-hour time slots between 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (EDT)

Where: Potawatomi Park

Please join us at the family-friendly South Bend Pride in the Park! We are looking for people to volunteer for two-hour shifts at the diocesan booth. We'll once again have buttons and stickers to pass out to attendees as well as opportunities for conversation and prayer with those who wish. This has been a great evangelism experience the past few years and we hope that you'll join us this year!

This month we feature a helpful article about how Church of the Nativity in Indianapolis has incorporated the spirit of CBCP into its ongoing property stewardship. Mission-focused results grow from the work of two teams. One led to the creation of a comprehensive plan for church space.  Another team considers Nativity’s assets for income-generation and explores “where do we go next?” Click here to read more (in the blog section of the CBCP Indiana website).

 Information provided by Linda Buskirk, CBCP Project Director.  

Installation of the Rev. Tom Gresik

Congratulations to the Rev. Tom Gresik as he was installed as priest-in-charge at St. John of the Cross, Bristol on April 2.

Installation of the Rev. Tom Adamson

Congratulations to the Rev. Tom Adamson as he was installed as rector at Holy Family, Angola on April 9.

Installation of the Rev. Cathy Carpenter

Date: Thursday, May 22, 6 p.m. (CDT)

Join the people of St. Andrew's, Valparaiso for the installation of the Rev. Cathy Carpenter as their new rector. 

2025 Fall Clergy Retreat

Date: October 13-15, 2025

Where: Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center (Donaldson, IN)

With great excitement we invite you, Episcopal clergy from both dioceses in Indiana, to a joint clergy retreat focused on the spiritual practice of iconography. Our Fall 2023 EDNIN offering was such a success we thought it would be a great event to offer again and share with our fellow clergy from Indianapolis.

Here are a few important details.

• Save the date – Monday October 13, 2025, starting at 1 p.m. EST through Wednesday October 15, 2025, ending at 12:15 p.m. EST. 
• Location is Lindenwood Retreat and Conference Center at 9601 Union Road, Donaldson IN, in the Eastern time zone.
• Most rooms have two twin beds with a small en-suite bathroom. We’ve reserved all 58 rooms and will configure them based on single/double occupancy, with potential overflow at a nearby hotel.
• Our retreat will be led by retired Episcopal priest, Pastor Kris Graunke, who served many years in Northern Indiana and travels to us from Tennessee for this event. Her method of writing icons is designed to be approachable by artists of all levels and might just be a starting point for your adventures in more advanced techniques.
• Regardless of whether you are an experienced or first-time iconographer, I (Michelle) am here to attest that this retreat will be a blessed and holy time for you.  
• That said, there is a method/process to iconography that demands presence. It is unusual to attend an iconography retreat and complete an entire icon (9x13 inches) in less than 48 continuous hours. This means that your presence from the start time (1 p.m. EST on Monday, October 13^th) until the end time (12:15 p.m. EST on Wednesday, October 15^th) ensures that you will depart with a completed icon. The entire retreat will be dedicated to our icons, with a closing Eucharist on Wednesday when the bishops will bless the icons. There will be time for fellowship in the evenings.
• Group instruction (with 3 iconography helpers), hands-on assistance, holy music, and lots of time for prayerful presence will be key components of our time together. We hope you will join on for this lovely time of spiritual nourishment.
• Below is the icon, Christ the Pantokrator (ruler of all, almighty, all-powerful), both as a picture of it in its original form (first, left) and the version of the icon we will create (second, right). A quick internet search of this icon dates the oldest version to the 6^th/7^th century in Saint Catherine’s Monastery in the desert of Sinai.
• All supplies are provided.
• Registration will open in August.
• If you prefer to attend the event but would rather not test your artistic abilities in the writing of an icon, there will be an optional track offering a book study based on icons available at the time of registration.

Thank you for considering this clergy retreat. We can’t wait to gather in October for a prayerful time of writing a beautiful icon. Be blessed.

The Rev. Canon Michelle Walker

Missioner for Administration and Governance

I write to invite you to something that’s just beginning to take shape—a steering meeting for a potential Indiana statewide justice revival this fall. A group of lay and clergy leaders will gather on Tuesday, May 20, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Allisonville Christian Church (7701 Allisonville Rd, Indianapolis) to pray, talk, and start organizing.

There’s a lot of frustration and fatigue right now about what’s happening in public life—especially at the state and federal levels. And there are big questions, too: Where do we put our energy? What will make a difference? What can clergy, lay leaders, and churches do? In some recent conversations with colleagues, an idea has started to bubble up—a justice revival. Not just a one-time event, but something deeper: a gathering that centers worship, lifts up the voices of people of faith, and helps us connect and organize with already existing partners for sustained public witness rooted in love and justice.

This first meeting on May 20 is about listening, discerning, and seeing who feels called to help shape what’s next. We’re especially hoping to gather with folks who are ready and able to help carry some leadership as we move forward. And to make space for as many communities as possible, we’re asking each congregation to send just one representative.

If this feels like something you’d want to be part of, I hope you’ll register here. And if there are 8–10 people in your network—clergy or lay leaders—who might want in, would you pass this along?

Grateful to be in this work with you, Gray.

The Very Reverend Gray Lesesne (he/him/his) 

Dean and Rector, Christ Church Cathedral 

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 May newsletter.

The Episcopal Creation Care Gathering is an annual church-wide gathering focused on the work of Creation Care through the intersections of outdoor, agrarian, climate, activism, evangelism, and discipleship ministries. Episcopal Creation Care Gathering is co-sponsored by Provinces IV & V, Procter Center and the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Registration for the 2025 gathering will open in May 2, 2025.

More information: https://episcopalcreationcaregathering.org/

Big Provincial Gathering 2026

Province V will be hosting another Big Provincial Gathering in the summer of 2026. If you are interested in being part of the planning for this event, please contact Heather Barta: provinceVcoordinator@gmail.com.