15 February 2023
Dear Sisters, Brothers, Siblings in the Episcopal Church in Northern Indiana!
Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!
As Bishop Jennifer and I promised in our video shared with all of you on Monday, 30 January 2023, regarding a discernment process focused on the possibility of reunification with the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, it is with a sense of joy and hope, to announce the leaders who will be part of the discernment team from our diocese.
The Rev. Clay Berkley, St. David's, Elkhart (member at large)
Mr. Evan Doyle, Gethsemane, Marion (Diocesan Council)
Mr. Paul Kincaid, St. Paul's, Munster, (Standing Committee)
The Rev. Canon Ted Neidlinger, Christ the King. Huntington, (Diocesan Council)
Mrs. Stephanie Pawlowski, Trinity, Logansport (member at large)
Mrs. Brenda Rigdon, St. Anne's, Warsaw, (Diocesan Council)
I also want to take this opportunity to share with you those leaders in the Diocese of Indianapolis that Bishop Jennifer has appointed:
Mrs. Joan Amati, St. David’s, Bean Blossom (Executive Council)
The Rev. Canon Jodi Baron, Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis (member at large)
Mr. George Eastman, St. Paul’s, Richmond (Standing Committee)
The Rev. Allen Rutherford, St. John’s, Mount Vernon (Executive Council)
Mr. Greg Seamon, Trinity, Lawrenceburg (Executive Council)
Mrs. Katherine Tyler-Scott, St. Paul’s, Indianapolis (member at large)
Our joint discernment will be facilitated by the Rev. Jennifer Adams, who serves as rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Holland, Michigan. Rev. Jen, as she prefers to be called, brings a wealth of experience serving and leading as a priest in the Diocese of Western Michigan and the wider church and Anglican Communion. Bishop Jennifer and I believe she will guide us well as she has experienced the collaborative relationship between the dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan and as she is facilitating a reunification discernment between the dioceses of Bethlehem and Central Pennsylvania.
The first meeting of the Reunification Discernment Team will take place on 17-18 March. Bishop Jennifer and I will participate in this initial retreat time along with the leaders of both of our dioceses, facilitated by Rev. Jen.
I invite you to continue to pray for all of us…as we open our lives to the new possibilities that God may be inviting us to consider. I conclude with a sentence from scripture that has helped to form and fashion me as a follower of Jesus,
“Glory to God whose power, working within us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20,21
Every blessing,
Bishop Doug
(he/him/his)
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas E. Sparks
VIII Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana