PIMIL's goal is to offer education assistance to 100 students.  Presently the assistance is directed to 80 students.  With the affect of Ebola, it might be presumptuous to say that number (100), might not only be possible, but that PIMIL might exceed the number.  Reports from the Ebola affected region, Sierra Leone and Guinea included, in October, indicated that 3,700 children in the region were orphaned and stigmatized.  One can only imagine what the number might rise to!

By popular request, a call has been made for the repeat of guest speaker, Dr. Elizabeth Barker. Barker is Professor of International Nursing at the Ohio State University and has been to Liberia. She is a member of St. Patrick's, Dublin and a staunch supporter of PIMIL.  

Tickets for the July 11 event will be $15 adult, $5 children.  Contact: St. Matthew's, Westerville at 614.882.2706, Mother Abby Flemister at 614.891.2960, Harold Patrick at 317.650.1769 or St. John's, Worthington/Vicky Turner at 614.846.5180 to order tickets or for more information. 

Episcopal Church Parochial Report forms now available

Forms for the Episcopal Church Parochial Report 2014 are now available

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/parochial-report

Congregations should have received packets by postal mail around December 12. Each individual packet will contain the parochial report form, a card with the UEID and PIN that pertains to that church, as well as the cover letter and instruction sheet.  Workbooks for help in filling out the report are available online, and will not be included in the packet.

Online filing began January 2

All congregations in the Episcopal Church are canonically required to complete and submit the Parochial Report annually.  Data derived from the Parochial Report is used by the Episcopal Church Research Office, dioceses, congregations and the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church to track attendance, trends, membership and other critical information for the purpose of planning mission strategy.

Also available on the web are general instructions for completing the Parochial Report forms as well as line-by-line details listed in the workbooks. All forms are available in English, Spanish and French.

TEACH US TO PRAY:  Learning To Pray and/or Lead Morning Prayer

(Including Training for Licensed Worship Leaders)

January 24 and 31, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Procter Center

Would you like to learn how to pray the Daily Office?  Would you like to know what is intended by the discipline of daily prayer and a bit of background as to how it has become an important part of the Episcopal Church's practice of prayer?

We require this training and knowledge of our licensed Worship Leaders.  However, we are opening up this opportunity for formation to those who have no desire to lead public worship but who do have a desire to learn more about praying the Daily Offices of the church on their own or in small groups. 

This training is mandatory for lay persons seeking a license as a "person who regularly leads public worship under the direction of the member of the Clergy or other leader exercising oversight of the congregation or other community of faith" (TEC Canon III.4.4).  Other requirements of licensed Worship Leaders are noted below.  In this diocese, the licensed person exercises this ministry primarily as the Officiant of Sunday Morning Prayer in the absence of a priest. 

New Licenses: Persons seeking a new Worship Leader license must attend both days of training. 

License Renewal:  Persons currently licensed may seek renewal of their Lay Worship Leader licenses by attending only the second session, but are strongly encouraged to come the first session as well, especially if they have not officiated at Sunday Morning Prayer within the last six months.

Registration for the Training:  All who attend any session should complete the registration form found here and pay for lunch for the day(s) they expect to be present.  Participants may pay online or by check.  If paying by check, please register online, print out the registration confirmation and send it along with a check made payable to 'The Diocese of Southern Ohio' with 'WL training' on the memo line.  Mail it to the Diocese of Southern Ohio, Attn: Geri McDaniel, 412 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati OH 45202. 

Leaders of the Training: The training will be led by the Rev. Marjorie Menaul, Ms. Debby Stokes, and Dr. Robert Benson.  Questions may be directed to Marjorie at mmenaul@aol.com.

Training Schedule:  Worship Leader training consists of two days of training held at the Procter Center on Saturday, January 24 and Saturday, January 31.  Each session will begin promptly at 10 a.m. (please arrive early to get coffee and settle in), and will end about 3:30 p.m. 

Cost:  $10.00 for each session, to cover the lunch and any printed materials.

Worship Leader Licensing Requirements:

(1) Worship Leader training (one or two sessions, as described above)

(2) Anti-racism training  http://formation.diosohio.org/anti-racism-handouts.html/

(3) Safe Church training http://www.diosohio.org/How%20we%20work/safe-church-training.html

(4) After all other requirements have been successfully completed, a request for licensing from the clergy person in charge of the participant's congregation. In the case of congregations without permanent clergy, the senior warden of the parish should submit the application.