03/25/2020

A note to the synod from Bishop Dillahunt: Cancelation of 2020 Synod Assembly

The following 'Note to the synod' was sent via e-bulletin to our email distribution list. If you're not on our list and would like to be included in future communications, please email Susan Barton-Nonno, SOS Director of Communications, at sbarton-nonno@southernohiosynod.org.

The Synod Council met last night via conference call to check-in with one another and to discuss the current situation in regards to the pandemic. As part of that discussion, it was agreed that it would be best to not gather for a 2020 Synod Assembly.

Our constitution allows for an every-other-year assembly schedule and for the Synod Council to make decisions between our assembly gatherings. So, on April 25th, the Synod Council will gather, the same way most of you are gathering for worship, via the internet, to carry out the work of the synod, including the approval of the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget, audit report, and to appoint individuals from our synod to fill vacancies on the council. All open positions that were to be filled by way of election this year, will be on the agenda for the 2021 Synod Assembly. Those who are appointed will do so for a one-year term only.

I wish to thank the Synod Council for their support and diligence in taking care of the business of the synod during these constantly changing times. They ask the right questions, make decisions based on prayerful discernment and always keep the best interest of the synod and greater Church in their hearts and minds.

I also wish to thank Epiphany Lutheran Church, Centerville for all of the work they did leading up to this moment and for their generous offer to share their facility and talented staff with us for another assembly or event.

If your congregation already registered for this year’s assembly and paid registration fees, they will be refunded to you as quickly as we are able. An assembly report will be shared with you all through our website and e-bulletin the first week in June. If you typically submit a report to be included in the Pre-Assembly Materials packet, please send those reports to sbarton-nonno@southernohiosynod.org by May 20th.

Please mark your calendars for our 2021 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly, June 4-5 at Nationwide Conference Center in Lewis Center, Ohio. We will have much to discuss and celebrate together!

It is our hope to gather together as a synod sometime in the coming months, when it is safe to do so, for worship and to be together as the body of Christ. Until then, please continue to meet virtually, following guidelines and orders from our Governor and the Ohio Department of Health. Staying home and keeping a safe physical distance from our neighbors is the most loving thing we can do right now and creates new opportunities for us to show the love of Christ to those around us. Our lives will return to normal. We will have Synod Assembly again. We will have face-to-face worship again. We will interact with our neighbors in person again. Be patient. Be prayerful. Be mindful. Be kind. Be light as you reach out to your neighbors who are especially in need right now. Be light through your prayers and interactions with those who continue to work to provide for you and others in need. Finally, remember, even when we are apart, we are stronger and better together as we join Jesus in the restoration of the world.

Keep checking our website, Facebook page and your emails for updates and new resources as this time of trial unfolds.

Direct us, Lord God, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and extend to us your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name; and finally, by your mercy, bring us to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. –ELW page 86

In Christ,

Bishop Dillahunt