The Story So Far

By guest blogger, Father Michael Tigner

Though we are just beginning to roll out All Creation in Grove City, Ohio, you could say that the work began around 24 years ago, in what was the Bishop’s Center at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus. In was part of a pilot for what would become the Explorers’ Program. This program, which still exists in part, was a discernment program for college students who wanted to explore a call to ordained ministry. It amounted to a Summer internship where we met with a cohort of other students and two clergy leaders every other Thursday to reflect on our work at our assigned parishes. During that Summer, people came to speak with us about different aspects of ordained ministry, to give us an idea of what we were in for, and hopefully to help us along in our discernment. 

One of these presenters was the Rev. Rick McCracken-Bennet, the planter and Rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in New Albany. He told us the story of the planting of All Saints, the joys and the challenges, and even some of the theories around church planting. I can remember that presentation better than anything else I experienced in those meetings. My head became full of ideas and visions of brand new Episcopal Churches and how every church in the diocese and beyond was planted by someone. All of them had their beginning with church planters. I was convinced from that day on that one thing I wanted to do if and when I ever became a priest was to plant a church.
That is how the journey toward All Creation began, at least my part in the story. It would prove to be a long journey from that point to the present, but when I found myself reaching different stages of discernment where I was thinking of or being asked about the future, I usually entered back into the realm of church planting. During field education in seminary, revitalization would attach itself to my hopes and dreams for my future ministry, but that is a different story for a different day. No matter what else I thought I would do in my ministry, church planting would clearly keep popping up. 

When the time came to begin the conversation about what I would do in my residency as a new priest, I submitted a proposal that included working to plant a church somewhere in the Columbus area. This proposal, when approved, would involve working with the Missioner for New Episcopal Communities, The Rev. Joseph Kovitch, as my supervisor and entering into the work he was already doing in the area to work out a path forward. 

We began our church planting work by deciding to take things one quarter at a time. We would build relationships and explore three different areas of the Columbus region. We would rely on relationships, partnerships, diocesan support, and prayer to help us see the next steps. We increased our pace as we saw the energy rising, and as we moved into the second quarter, we began to see one of the three areas stand out as a part of the region that seemed long overdue for an Episcopal presence- Grove City. 

There was excitement in the idea of having a direction. Once we committed to Grove City, I could feel the work we were doing beginning to transform into a church. We had developed a relationship with Meagan, the owner of Transcend Coffee+Roastery on Broadway in Grove City, and since they had an afternoon closing time, we were able to rent the coffee shop space in the evenings while they were closed. Through the Columbus clergy and other avenues we were able to begin forming a planting team. Through the New Episcopal Communities Department of the Diocese of Southern Ohio we received some funding for the initial stages of the church plant.

So, by December 2023 we had a general location, a home base, a church planting team, some funds and other diocesan support, and were building relationships with folks in the area. Our day to gather gravitated toward Mondays, as we found that Monday seemed to be a kind of sabbath for Grove City, a day when many local businesses were closed. 

Our first Eucharist was January 8th, 2024. It was a soft opening, so we planned attendance by RSVP and the team set up the space for a dinner church service. Molly Marie from the planting team spoke and did an art presentation during the sermon. We had discussion about mission strategy and next steps as we prepared for Eucharist. 

There is strong support among members of the team for seeking out the least and the last in Grove City. A full launch is planned for this Summer. All Creation will begin to offer weekly worship, expand formation opportunities, and will be engaging the Grove City community with a developed mission strategy. For now at least, the foundation is laid: there is an Episcopal presence in Grove City. Now the work of sharing the love of Jesus continues…