Vital congregations develop around a core of people who understand themselves to be on journeys with God, and who think of their church as going somewhere.

As members become increasingly intentional about their faith, they also become more interested in discovering and sharing God in their lives and neighborhoods. To these ends, and working with the Christian Formation Commission (CFC), the Diocese of Ohio provides:

• Annual Conferences – We offer affordable, high quality conferences and trainings by leaders from all over the larger church, Episcopal and otherwise. Annually, these include the Winter Convocation, the Lay and Clergy Leadership Conference, and often one more daylong conference in an area of congregational life or faith formation.
• Financial and Program Support – We provide two types of direct grants to congregations (Community Connection Grants and Adult Faith Formation Grants) to assist them in funding new initiatives otherwise beyond their means to begin.
• Specialized Congregational Training – We make available Vestry Leadership retreats and programs and training/coaching for congregations in areas such as Connecting Communities, Holy Currencies, Intergenerational Faith Formation, and local ministry development.
• Diocesan Resource Center – Our office provides a curated and up-to-date collection of curricula, books, and other program resources available at no cost to Diocese of Ohio congregations.
• Stewardship Support – We maintain a diocesan level membership in The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) to provide congregations with prepaid access to their excellent stewardship resources and annual Stewardship Campaign materials. The Diocesan Development Office is also available for training and parish consultations.
• Lay Preaching Licenses – We train and administer Lay Preaching Licenses to enable qualified members of congregations to preach in their own congregation.