Nearly 300 people from 53 of our parishes gathered together for Winter Convocation at Kalahari Resorts & Convention Center on February 1-2.

The Rev. Kit Carlson, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in East Lansing, Michigan, was the keynote speaker for this year's event.

Kit talked about steps we can take to begin speaking about our faith - how to put words to our own experiences of God and our personal beliefs and begin to have compassionate, caring conversations with other people about spirituality, belief, and Jesus Christ.

All registrants received a copy of Kit's leader guide to her new book Speaking Our Faith.

On Saturday morning, participants gathered to celebrate Holy Eucharist as a community. Heidi Carter, guest presenter and Lay Associate for Ministry at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur, Missouri, preached.

Everyone then moved onto the morning workshops that focused on topics such as youth ministry, "playing with the Psalms," lay leadership in the church, and mission outreach.

During this time, youth and children had the opportunity to engage in activities about the basics of the Gospel story and how to tell it in different way.

Lunch followed the morning workshops which allowed for time for community and conversation. During the break, many individuals also visited the exhibitor tables. Convocation then resumed with afternoon workshops that included presentations about connecting communities, singable hymns, stewardship, collaborative art programming, and much more.

It was a great opportunity for people to come together from across the diocese and become engaged and inspired with ideas and information to help us move forward into the future together.

Photos can be found on our social media pages as well as on our website, dohio.org.

Save the dates for next year: February 7-8, 2020. We look forward to celebrating with you again next year!