Grace Episcopal Church is located in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo: Grace Episcopal Church via Facebook
[Episcopal News Service] Some members of an Episcopal congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio, are pleading to regain use of their church after Southern Ohio Bishop Kristin Uffelman White suspended operations in the building over “safe church” violations involving two minors.
White revealed the suspension of operations at Grace Episcopal Church on Nov. 7 in a written message to the diocese’s clergy and senior wardens that was also posted to the diocese’s website. The decision, which White said was supported by the diocese’s standing committee, stemmed from an alleged sexual assault at the church in April 2025.
The suspect and victim were both minors, and no church personnel were involved, the bishop said. Church leaders, however, did not report the incident to the diocese for several months. In September, while police were investigating, diocesan leaders first learned of the incident and determined there had been a “failure to follow Safe Church and standard diocesan policies in the operation of Grace Church,” White said.
“I have directed the [diocese’s] Church Foundation as owner of the real property to secure and manage the buildings and grounds of Grace Episcopal during the suspension of operations and to conclude the current use and occupancy of the facilities during the suspension,” White wrote. She cited her authority as bishop for oversight of the congregation, given its long-term mission status and its designation in 2019 by White’s predecessor as a “congregation at risk” due to financial challenges and an average Sunday attendance that had declined to about two dozen people.
A group affiliated with the congregation responded Nov. 10 by releasing an “open letter” to White “to express our deep displeasure and astonishment toward your actions.” The letter says that after several visits from the bishop and communications from her staff, Grace Episcopal leaders were called to a Nov. 7 meeting at the church, where the congregation was informed of the suspension.
The letter seeks a “collaborative investigation” of the matter, restoration of the congregation’s board chair, appropriate accommodations for continued worship and restored access to the church building on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the congregation’s weekly community dinner. The letter initially had 37 names attached. That number had grown to 59 when the letter was reposted Nov. 12 to the congregation’s Facebook page.
When Episcopal News Service sought further comment through the congregation’s office email, questions were referred to the diocesan offices.
Katie Forsyth, Southern Ohio’s canon for communications, responded that the suspension was a “temporary pause in operations” while diocesan and congregational leaders arrange for “conversations with the worshipping community in order to clarify continued expectations of leadership, safety, and procedure, determine action that would return the building to safe operations, and discern together the future of the worshipping community at Grace Church.”
“The temporary pause is not a reflection of the faithfulness or any lack of commitment to the mission and ministry of the church on behalf of the congregation or its partners,” Forsyth said. “This temporary pause is necessary to develop clarity of leadership and to ensure that when we invite our neighbors into our space, we can promise their safety with us. At this moment and in the current state of the building and practices of the operations, we cannot make that promise.”
The diocese has not yet established a timeline for resuming full operations, though Forsyth said it had made arrangements “that do not require building access” to restore food distribution. On Nov. 12, members of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, with input from Grace Episcopal leaders, set up an outdoor food distribution service at Grace Episcopal Church, including a hot meal, take-home bags and gift cards.
The diocese also is looking into options for temporary worship space for members of Grace Episcopal Church during the suspension of operations.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.