This Sunday, May 19th, Please welcome Reba Riley, Author of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: A Memoir of Humor and Healing
Guest Speaker at the 10:30am service
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and University Center is proud and privileged to be hosting OSU alum and author Reba Riley, author of Post Traumatic Church Syndrome: A Memoir of Humor and Healing, a memoir about reclaiming faith and overcoming chronic illness that tackles the universal struggle to heal what life has broken.
St. Stephen’s will honor Reba’s courageous sharing of her grace, gifts, and insight with a lunch reception and Q & A forum with Reba directly after the 10:30am service.
Reba is going to launch a “Courageous Kindness” campaign at St. Stephen’s, and we honored to be a part of her newest spiritual project. Please join us on this Sunday!
Sunday Morning Adult Bible Discussion for May 19th
The Adult Bible Discussion this week covers “Risking Rejection,” based on Chapter 4 of the Levine book. You are invited to join the conversation around the table in Hobson Hall, starting at 9:15am. All are invited around our table for coffee, donuts, and thoughtful conversation!
For information and resources about “The Big Read,” go to http://dsobeloved.org/big-read-home/.
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Children, Youth & Families Ministry News
Thrive! Children’s spiritual formation class will meet during the 10:30am service.
This Sunday, May 19, we will talk about what it means when we say God is love. We’ll discuss, read a book, and work on a craft (time permitting). We will continue this theme on our final Sunday, May 26, with a Manna Sunday during which we will prepare bagged lunches for Friends of the Homeless Shelter on the Near East Side.
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Peripatetic Poets welcomes Ann Townsend Sunday, May 16th at 6:30pm in the Chapel
Please join Peripatetic Poets this Sunday in the Chapel at 6:30, when Ann Townsend has kindly agreed to share her poetry.
Ann Townsend is the author of three collections of poetry: Dime Store Erotics, The Coronary Garden, and the newly released Dear Delinquent. She is the editor, with David Baker, of Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry. Director of the Creative Writing Program at Denison University, Townsend is also the co-founder of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts. She lives and works on her daylily farm in Granville, Ohio.
An open mic will follow her reading.
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St. John’s His Place Community Dinner Wednesday, May 22nd 4:30pm – 8:30pm
St. Stephen’s will be hosting the His Place Dinner at St. John’s Town Street on Wednesday, May 22nd. Set up starts at 4:30, with dinner served at 6:30. We are planning on serving 120. If you are interested in serving, please contact Jennifer Schmied at jschmied73@gmail.com. We will need help cooking in the morning of the 22nd at St. Stephen’s and serving and cleaning up at St. John’s in the evening. Anyone who would like to come and serve as hosts in the front of the house sharing the meal and interacting with the guest would be welcome and appreciated as well. St. John’s is located at 1003 W. Town St Columbus, OH 43222. This event could not happen without the hard work of all the people who volunteer their time and talent by cooking and serving – thank you!
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Horticultural Intervention Day Sunday, May 26th after the 10:30am service
Let’s garden at St. Stephen’s immediately after the 10:30am service on May 26th! Bring jeans, work clothes, garden gloves and any gardening tool you might find useful and help transform St. Stephen’s into a horticultural wonder!
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Gift for Deacon Jared Talbot
Deacon Jared Talbot has announced that he and his family are moving to Maine this summer, where he will begin a faculty position at the University of Maine. The Vestry of St. Stephen’s is asking all who feel so inclined to contribute to a monetary gift for Jared to thank him for his time at
St. Stephen’s and send him on his way with our good wishes. Please make checks out to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church with the memo noted as “Jared’s gift”. Gifts for Jared will be accepted now through June 9th. This gift will be presented to Jared before Jared and his family move later this summer. We will miss Jared and wish him and his family the very best for their new life in Maine!
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Campus Ministry Update
Since the term is over, we are bringing the Tuesday Night Oasis to a close for the summer. Look forward to new adventures starting in August for the 2019-2020 academic term!
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BREAD Update
Highlights from BREAD Nehemiah Action on May 6th:
“Higher and Better Pay! Don’t Throw Away!”: On our jobs campaign, we celebrated that our work toward a worker-owned business has been awarded a $58,000 grant through OSU Connect and Collaborate which will allow funding to partner with the Democracy Collaborative and 1/2 year funding for a full time coordinator!
Juvenile Justice: While Superintendent Dixon was not in attendance, we celebrated the leadership of Dr. John Stanford who came in her place. Dr. Stanford has been working with us since his time as Interim Superintendent to get Restorative Practices implemented in the schools. Dr. Stanford was authorized to answer “yes” on behalf of Dr. Dixon. This “yes” indicates that Dixon will monitor progress of Restorative Practices to ensure fidelity, evaluate the program by the end of July 2019, and meet with BREAD quarterly beginning in August!
Eldercare: Lt. Matthew Parrish, Columbus Division of Fire agreed to meet with us following an evaluation of the pilot program. This program in the Columbus Fire Department connects a COAAA Social Worker to older adults who are frequently calling 911- many of whom are in vulnerable neighborhoods. He also agreed to exploring possible funding options, and to attend BREAD’s Annual Assembly on November 11th.
Joe Mazzola, Health Commissioner of Franklin County Public Health committed to co-lead a “Life Expectancy Task Force” with Director Michelle Missler from the Franklin County Office on Aging. He also agreed to strongly recommend that agencies at the July “Health Works Meeting” participate in this task force. The goal of this effort is to gather existing agencies to research the 27-year gap in life expectancy between neighborhoods and collaborate on evidence based solutions.
“Welcome Columbus”: No Columbus City Councilmembers attended to commit to work with One ID Columbus to advance the ID program. The committee will continue to look for a new champion on Council. This champion would be expected to convene a meeting of stakeholders, develop a finance plan for the program, and introduce [the already drafted] legislation by the end of this year.
“Families First and Housing Now”: Councilmember Favor and County Commissioners did not show up last night. Today, nearly 60 people showed to meet with the Councilmember at First Congregational Church. Here’s a video of her watching footage from last night of us standing in response to the impact of the housing crisis on all of us: click here. Our people power last night and today sent a strong message. She agreed to work with us on a plan to encourage developers to set aside 20% of new units! We made sure that she knew that we want those units to be for families making LESS THAN $42,000 a year. Today, she did not agree to work to secure an additional $5 million for the Trust Fund. BREAD leaders stood firm and we want to work to change that “no” into a “yes”. We will meet with her in September in order to move forward.
From your B.R.E.A.D. team:
Rae Fellows, Kaethe Sandman, Norm Wernet, and Mignonne Whitlow
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NSI News
Neighborhood Services, Inc., is our neighborhood food pantry, supported by multiple congregations in the North Campus area. The need for food services is increasing, and St. Stephen’s is responding.
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The NSI collection for May is Canned Fruit
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Book Club for June 2019
Book Club News:
Book Club News: Book Club will be back to the second Wednesday of the month for May-July, then move to the first Wednesday of the month for the rest of 2019. The June Book Club meets on Wednesday, June 12, 2019 starting at 6:30 PM. We’ll begin with a potluck meal; please bring food and/or beverage to share. Jerrie Cribb is hosting (614-400-2505 jerriecello@gmail.com). Please let Jerrie know in advance if you plan to attend. After dinner we’ll be discussing Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson (Fiction). If you wish to get a head start on reading, the July book is No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters by Ursula LeGuin (Non-fiction). Everyone is invited and welcome to any book club meeting.
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Calling St. Stephen’s Soul Sisters! Soul Sisters Meet-ups for June 2019
Hi “Soul Sisters” of St. Stephen’s!
You are invited to participate in fellowship with the women of St. Stephen’s in the Spirit of Friendship, Encouragement, Support, Gratitude, Hope, and Love as we share a moment in life’s journey together. It is a time out from daily doings to just BE in Friendship over a cup of tea with conversations to feed the soul.
We meet twice monthly: the first Thursday morning of the month will offer a “Coffee Klatch” from 9:30-11:30am for those available to meet during the day (kiddos welcome) the third Thursday evening offers a “Girls Night Out or In” from 7:00-9:00pm.
New for 2019: All morning gatherings on the 1st Thursday of each month will be held in the Chapel at St. Stephen’s. Centralized for all, no need to remember where to show up, and kid-friendly! Coffee and breakfast treats will be provided. If you need a ride, transportation can be arranged.
June 2019 Meeting Dates:
- June 6th @ St. Stephen’s Chapel, 9:30am – 11:30am
- June 20th @ Grass Skirt Tiki, 105 N. Grant Ave, Columbus, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
(Always looking for monthly hosts and/or open to ideas for places to meet or excursion sites conducive to conversation and new experiences.)
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Mount Carmel Church Partnerships Newletters for May
Copies of the Mt. Carmel Church Partnerships Newsletter for May 2019 and Weekly Scoop Newsletters can be found on the Community News table in Hobson Hall.