The Community of the Transfiguration has teamed up with StreetChurch from Church of Our Saviour/La Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador, for the past year, providing healthy brown-bag lunches every week which are distributed among homeless and indigent people in Cincinnati early Sunday afternoon.

We need help getting the lunch bags from the Convent in Glendale to the Church in Mt. Auburn, on Sunday mornings any time between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The Sisters are not able to do this, and most able bodied parishioners with cars are already involved in church carpools, with routes far from Glendale.

Ideally, we would like to count on a rota of volunteers who might keep the same Sunday once per month, or two people who can alternate, and a backup. You don't have to attend services at the Convent or at COS/LINS to help with this ministry.  But all of us will offer prayers of thanks for the blessing of your part in this vital ministry!

Contact the rector Paula M. Jackson at  mtr.paula@gmail.com  or 513.207.1248 if you can be a link for this ministry once a month or more.

The learners are many, drivers and tutors few!

Can you spare two hours a week to help kids with their homework?  Very rewarding, because the kids are eager to learn and love the interaction.

The Price Hill Learning Club, which receives money from ECSF and the Latino Ministry Commission, has many new students. These are "English Language Learners", children born in the US but who only hear Spanish at home.

Right now we are transporting students with a van given to the ministry by the Sisters of the Transfiguration. Many more students would participate if we could only transport them!

Can you take a Monday or Wednesday late afternoon to help a) transport students a short distance from their Price Hill homes to the Learning Club, (3636 Warsaw Avenue), then tutor from 4:30 to 6:15 p.m. and ferry them home? Guaranteed to be the highlight of your week!  No Spanish needed...

Contact Nancy Sullivan at badgmur@gmail.com if you can help with this critical outreach ministry.

The annual Explorer's Retreat will be held the evening of Feb. 6 through the early afternoon of Feb. 7 at the Procter Center. The registration deadline is Jan. 23.

The Explorer's Retreat provides an overview of the discernment and ordination processes as well as plenty of time for conversation about the diaconate and the priesthood. Anyone who desires to begin a formal exploration of a possible call to ordained ministry is required to attend this informational and fun weekend.

Considerations prior to attending the Explorer's Retreat:

• Explorers should have been in serious and regular conversation with their clergy person about their call for an extended period of time (in the neighborhood of a year). Both the clergy person and the explorer should have done some deep thinking about the explorer's vocation prior to Explorers' Day as this day assumes that intentional vocational discernment has already begun.
• Only those who have been confirmed or received in the Episcopal Church and have been active members of the Episcopal Church for at least two years should attend the Explorers' Retreat.

The Beecken Center in Sewanee, TN, will host a Living Compass Congregational Wellness Advocate (CWA) training, Feb. 2-4, 2016.

Led by the Rev. Scott Stoner and the Living Compass team, this three-day course will help you develop skills to facilitate small wellness groups and lead wellness classes on a breadth of topics including adult, parent and teen wellness. You will also take time to assess the wellness needs within your faith community and the wider community at large.

A Living Compass training is both a training and a retreat experience for people excited about integrating faith and wellness in their own lives and helping others to do the same. Lay and clergy leaders of all denominations and faith backgrounds are welcome to attend, and congregations are encouraged to send groups to be trained together.

You will be enriched by spending several days in community with others who are passionate about integrating faith and wellness!

Certification requires completion of this training plus leading two Living Compass programs within one year of having completed the training.

Tuition: $360 per participant. Includes all training materials, plus dinner Tuesday night, breakfast & lunch on Wednesday, and breakfast on Thursday. The training will begin at 2 p.m. Feb. 2 and conclude at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 4. Lodging not included. Discounted room rates will be available at the Sewanee Inn.

Full and partial scholarships are available from Living Compass. Please contact Edith Braeger at edith@livingcompass.org.

Group rates: churches may bring a third and/or fourth participant for $180 each. Please contact James Goodmann at jgoodman@sewanee.edu.

For more information on Living Compass, visit livingcompass.org

Click in at readthesycamore.com, or request a print edition by writing to editor@readthesycamore.com. The fall issue focuses on prayer and all the forms that it takes. Contents include articles, reflections and stories, interviews, the theological question and answer column, book reviews and poetry. Contributors include Trevor R. Babb, Elizabeth Brown, Adam Clark, Dianne Ebbs, Kimberley A. Fonner, Gail Greenwell, Abie Ingber, Kevin Jones, Joyce Keeshin, Barbara Lyghtel Rohrer, Alexander Martin, Rob Rhodes, Kim Taylor, Brenda Westfall, and Manoj Mathew Zacharia. Poetry is by David A. Petreman and Lisa Prantl.

A docent position is currently available at Christ Church Cathedral for someone who is interested in working a few hours a week during Open Door hours. Interested candidates would have compassion, patience and understanding, and be available to answer questions or direct individuals as needed as they come through the cathedral.

This paid position requires light walking and some administrative work, as well as other duties in limited capacity. This role is perfect for college students with a break during their day, or retirees looking to fill in their late mornings/ early afternoons. The Open Door hours are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. M-F. Those interested in more details, or to apply should email Mark Priest at mpriest@cccath.org.

Trinity Institute at Christ Church Cathedral
January 21-23, 2016

Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice

Explore the more pressing issues of our time: structural racism, mass incarceration and policy change. Come with open ears and leave with a greater capacity to back into your community and create change!

Download full-size flyer here

For more information, contact Kathy Noe at knoe@cccath.org or 513.842.2051.

Meeting Nov. 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Hebrew Union College

Any Cincinnati or Miami Valley congregation considering resettling refugees in the new year can send a rep to the Wednesday evening informational meeting organized by Cincinnati's interfaith coalition MARCC and Catholic Social Services of Southwest Ohio.  It will be held at Hebrew Union College, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati at Mayerson Hall. 

Catholic Social Services is the State Department's official resettlement partner for refugees assigned to SW Ohio. In the light of widening anti-refugee reaction in the wake of the Paris attacks the faith community's role in welcoming refugees is more urgent than ever. Refugees will be vetted by the State Department, and come with a modest stipend for their first three months here. Churches help them find housing, jobs, English classes, and provide moral support. Catholic Social Services has decades of experience in refugee resettlement. 

To RSVP, call 513.672.3702.  If you can't attend the meeting but want information about the project, call Ariel Miller, Episcopal rep on the MARCC board, at 513.236.9872.

1. Access to High Quality Preschool for Every Three and Four Year Old in Hamilton County
2. Racial Equity 
3. Economic Fairness 

Faith and the Family
Saturday, November 21
9:30 a.m. to Noon
5520 Far Hills Ave, Dayton, Ohio 45459
FREE ADMISSION
Please register online: www.stgeorgesdayton.org

Speakers include:
Dr. Russel Haitch - Forming Children & Youth as Life-Long Disciples
Building on a recent nation-wide study of young adult Christians, Russel is excited to talk with us about the traits of churches and families that form children and youth as life-long committed disciples (spoiler alert: it has a lot to do with parents!).  Russell directs the Center for Ministry for Children and Youth in Richmond, Indiana and is professor of Christian Education.

Shannon Upton - Clearing the Clutter and Organizing Christian Home Life
Shanon Upton is an author, blogger, and frequent speaker for womens / moms groups.  She has a powerful ministry to parents aimed at breaking through the anxieties that often limit abundant life in Christ.

Childcare & Refreshments Available!

Sunday, November 22
3 p.m.

Join us for a fun afternoon of Dixieland music - kids and adults will all have a great time with this group of outstanding local musicians that includes Tom Battenberg, Michael Cox, Vaughn Wiester, Paul Robinson, Sidney Townsend, and Jim Rupp. The High Street Stompers began in 1987, when all of the original members were professors in the School of Music at The Ohio State University. Since then, the ensemble has performed in schools, churches, concert halls, parks, at arts festivals, at jazz festivals (including two years at the Sacramento, California Dixieland Jubilee), in libraries, on college campuses, in art museums, for wedding receptions, and at an OSU football half time show.

We invite you to enjoy excellent music in a beautiful and historic space. There is no charge for admission to the concert; a freewill offering will be taken to support the Music Series. St. John's is located at 700 High Street in Worthington, on the southeast corner of the Olde Worthington Village Green (High Street at SR 161). Visit www.StJohnsWorthington.org for more information.

Download full-size flyer here

A SoulCollage Quiet Day

Saturday, Dec. 5
St. Barnabas, Montgomery

One way to avoid feeling deflated on Dec, 25 is to spend time in early Advent reflecting on what you would like to see happen during this liturgical season. Setting intentions to accomplish your desires is the first step toward a more meaningful Advent.

Christians have traditionally used the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare for Christmas. We will honor this tradition by reflecting on traditional incarnational theology as well as exploring more contemporary insights into the Incarnation.

We will then utilize images from magazines and other publications to collage new understandings of the Incarnation for ourselves. No artistic talent or training is needed!

This Quiet Day is for participants 18 and older.

Click here for a full-sized flyer

The Church of the Good Samaritan is pleased to offer a preventive health event. Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will host their affordable, non-invasive and painless health screenings on Wednesday, December 9. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to

• blocked arteries which is a leading cause of stroke
• abdominal aortic aneurysms which can lead to a ruptured aorta
• hardening of the arteries in the legs which is a strong predictor of heart disease
• atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat which is closely tied to stroke risk
• bone density screening for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis.

Register for a WellnessPackage which includes four vascular tests and osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five screenings take 60 to 90 minutes to complete. In order to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, Please call 888.653.6441 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/community-partners.

Church of the Good Samaritan is located at 25 Amelia-Olive Branch Road in Amelia.

Join Mary's proclamation as you let your soul sing the Magnificat with her. Walk with Mary this Advent as your prepare your heart and mind and ready yourself to respond to Jesus with the same humble, gracious yes, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

These daily meditations carry you from the first day of Advent through Epiphany and feature the writings of well-known faith and thought leaders in The Episcopal Church.

Authors include Ray Suarez, a nationally known broadcast journalist; Christopher Wells, editor of The Living Church; Kate Moorehead, dean of St. John's Episcopal Cathedral; Thomas E. Breidenthal, bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio; and Christine McSpadden, a member of the clergy team of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Click here to read a sample selection from each author.
 

Buy It Now:
#2382 | $5 | Read With Your Church! $4 each for 10+