Ohio added stop

On my recent trip to Ohio to meet with prospective students at Capital and Wittenberg Universities with some of my colleagues from the other seven ELCA seminaries there was an added stop. We stopped at the Southern Ohio Synod office to meet with Bishop Callon Holloway Jr. What a delight!

For two hours my colleagues and I had a lively and candid conversation with Bishop Holloway on a variety of topics, but mostly about training and encouraging leaders for the church, as well as caring for the leaders we currently have. Bishop Holloway and the Southern Ohio synod are doing remarkable things in both of these areas and I applaud their efforts and thank them for their attentiveness to the health and well-being of those who do ministry.

Gracious God, I give you thanks for Bishop Holloway and the Southern Ohio synod staff and congregations. Grant them the wisdom, resources and energy they need to be attentive to the vocation to which you have called them and the ministers and ministries to which they attend. May their work strengthen the partnership we all share in the ELCA in proclaiming the Gospel. In the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.