About Julianne DiRocco Smith
I’m a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt. I was ordained a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America November 30, 1986. Starting out in the Northwestern Ohio Synod, I’ve served congregations in Ada (home of Ohio Northern University) and Upper Sandusky (nowhere near Lake Erie). In 2010 my husband and I moved to Poland (still in Ohio), outside of Youngstown, where I served Prince of Peace Lutheran for eight years.
In February, 2018 I moved from serving a congregation to serving as Director for Evangelical Mission for the Northeastern Ohio Synod. With a new bishop in 2020 came a new title: Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Vitality and Director for Evangelical Mission; or, A2BCV and DEM of the NEOS in the ELCA.
My husband Stuart is an hydrogeologist specializing in ground water and water wells. He has a business here in the U.S. and also one in Tanzania. We have two daughters, one granddaughter and one grand-dog. Only our cat Sparkles lives with us.
Trivia:
-We own a water well drilling rig in Tanzania named ‘Shirley’.
-I am a couch potato and enjoy jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, sudoku puzzles, and reading murder mysteries (which are just a different form of puzzles!).
RECENT POSTS
What Does it Mean to be a Christian? Part 5
Pastor Julianne D. SmithAssistant to the Bishop for Congregational Vitality Director for Evangelical MissionNortheastern Ohio Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Time flies — this was supposed to be a bi-weekly blog and somehow it’s almost bi-monthly! I’m back with my fifth installment of my questions about being a Christian. To review, I’m looking at…
What does it mean to be a Christian? part 4
As I write this, it’s Maundy Thursday. It seems a particularly good day to think about our third baptismal promise: to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed. Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet Painting by Tintoretto When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples he said, “I give you a…
What does it mean? Part 3
The second baptismal promise and faith practice is “to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper.” This is near and dear to my heart because I am an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament. In my tradition, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), this means that I am set apart…
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Find me…
I can be reached at jsmith@neos-elca.org
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Random Thoughts from a Random Mind 