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Convent Workshops & Retreats |  |
A gem of the Diocese of Georgia is the Convent of Saint Helena in Augusta. The Sisters provide an ongoing place for those wanting to make a spiritual retreat while also offering a schedule of engaging workshops and retreats.
The latest schedule is online here:
Convent Schedule
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Province IV Synod |  |
The Diocese of Georgia was represented at last week's gathering of Episcopal Church leaders from across the southeastern United States by Bishop Benhase and some of the members of our General Convention Deputation. Taking part in the Province IV Synod at Kanuga in Hendersonville, NC were The Very Rev. Ted Clarkson, The Rev. Tar Drazdowski, Molly Stevenson, and Carolyn Baker, who are elected deputies or alternates to the 2012 General Convention of The Episcopal Church to be held in Indianapolis. The Very Rev. Billy Alford was also in attendance. He is pictured above at the Synod with The Rev. Dann Brown, formerly a priest of this Diocese and now chaplain to the University of Georgia. More photos are online here: Province IV Synod Photos. |
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The Rev. Cynthia Taylor
Going to the Dogs on Sabbatical
Going to the dogs. That's how The Rev. Cynthia Taylor describes her sabbatical. The Church Planter for Holy Comforter, Martinez, marks her 25th year of ordained ministry this summer with a much deserved time of renewal. Taylor was awarded a grant from the Lilly Foundation to fund the sabbatical. Thousands of clergy apply for the Lilly Foundation's Clergy Renewal Grants every year but less than 150 grants are awarded.
The sabbatical is a renewal period, not a vacation. It provides time for intentional exploration and reflection, for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry, and in the words of the Lilly Foundation "for discovering what will make the pastor's heart sing." The Foundation notes, "Pastors serve a variety of roles in their privileged position at the center of congregational life: preacher, teacher, spiritual guide, pastoral visitor, friend, confidant. The responsibilities are continual, and the pace and demands of parish life can be relentless, often leaving even the most dedicated pastors recognizing the need to replenish their own spiritual reservoirs to regain energy and strength for their ministry."
 Taylor had a taste of the going to the dogs part of her sabbatical when she attended the Jerry Rowe Sheep Herding Camp in Osborne, Kansas earlier this year. She writes, "I got down and dirty as my dog Kelsey and I learned how to herd sheep but it also became a very spiritual experience." She goes on to say, "So many of the images of Jesus are of the Good Shepherd. I learned just what it means to be a good shepherd and the nature of sheep as well as the work of the herding dog."
Clarifying this image, she adds, "By the way - clergy aren't the shepherds - there is only one shepherd. We're more the like sheep dogs and the shepherd's crook is used far more to work with the dogs than the sheep!" Taylor will use the time to spend with my family, who have all too often  been the last on my list when it comes to spending time with folks. She will be going to Camp Gone to the Dogs in Vermont and then spend time in Maine at a cottage, reading, resting, praying, playing with her dogs, and spending time with family and friends. Then she goes to France, where she once lived for three years, attending the World Dog Show and then spend a week on a spiritual retreat at Taize (pictured above).
Although her sabbatical plans call me to be away for at least three months she has broken it down in stages. Described above is the first stage, running from May 12 - July 17. The second stage of the sabbatical in the fall and it will have a similar theme including a return trip to Camp Gone to the Dogs.
The Lilly Grant includes funds for a consultant and she asked The Rev. Alan Akridge of the Epiphany Institute and Rector of St. Mark's Brunswick to do some work with our church leaders this year. Alan has been a co-leader at the Kanuga Vestry Retreats and brings a wealth of insight into missional development. The vestry and staff have important projects that they will be working on including the possibility of moving the church office to the church's own property and looking at how to best reduce the congregation's property debt. After a time of going to the dogs, Taylor will return ready to pastor invigorated by the time of renewal. |
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The Rev. Nancy Acree (Retired), Bishop Benhase and The Rev. Stephen McWhorter lay hands on Cameron Atwood as Deacons Becky Rowell and Jan Saltzgaber look on at the confirmation service last Saturday at St. Ignatius' Chapel on St. Simons Island which was held as part of the Christ Church Frederica visitation. The historic chapel continues in use as an altar of Christ Church.
Diocesan Staff Events
Bishop Benhase is on vacation through the 22nd, during which time he will complete his family's move to their home in Savannah.
Canon Logue celebrated and preached at St. Patrick's Pooler this past Sunday. On Trinity Sunday he will serve at Trinity Statesboro in the morning and at the Celtic Eucharist at St. Paul's Savannah in the evening. Canon Logue is working this week on deployment issues for two congregations.
Canon Hall is preparing to take a group to the Province Youth Event and the national Episcopal Youth Event June 22-July 1 in St. Paul. Minnesota.
Bishop Benhase with the Christ Church Frederica confirmands following the Pentecost liturgy at the historic church on St. Simons Island. |
Safeguarding God's Children
Required Training Now Online
Safeguarding God's Children is the child sexual abuse prevention training created by The Episcopal Church. The eye-opening training includes a glimpse into real-life situations as a means of protecting children from predators. With quality training available at your convenience, it is time to make sure all in your parish with oversight of children or oversight of the people and programs working with children should now take the course. Clergy, Vestry and Those Working with Kids
All clergy, vestry members, and those working with children should take the training as soon as possible. Safeguarding Online (SGOL) is a self-enrolling training, meaning that trainees will set up their own login information. The instructions giving step-by-step directions on how to enroll and login are online here: SGOL Instructions
Please note that once you are enrolled, you are required to login each time you begin one of the three modules. One is considered trained when one has completed all three modules. For more information on SGOL or for assistance with the enrollment and/or logging in processes, please contact Canon Leigh Hall at the Diocesan Office (912-236-4279).
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Honey Creek Bond Sale Update
 To date we have sold $690,000 of the Honey Creek Bonds. The $5,000 bonds are 10-year bonds with 5% interest paid twice yearly for the life of the bond. Our goal is $2 million which this will permit us to:1) Pay off the existing line of
credit debt of $700,000.
2) Make some needed repairs.
3) Create a financial cushion
for the turnaround of the
center.
This sale is essential to the health and vitality of the Diocese and is best completed by the participation of those who know and love Honey Creek and share a concern for our Diocese. Please read the prospectus before persuing a bond purchase. The bonds are for qualified investor's who are state of Georgia residents. More infomation is online at http://gaepiscopal.org/?p=2127 |
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Diocesan Family News
This Morning (Tuesday, June 14th) Bill Emmons died. Bill and his wife, Frances, are members of St. George's, Savannah, and have been very active lay leaders in the Diocese of Georgia through the Cursillo community. Funeral arrangements have not been made as this email is being sent. Please keep Bill, Frances and their family in your prayers. Give thanks for his life and witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and special thanks that he is at rest after this long struggle.
Those who are interested in learning about the plans as they are settled should contact The Rev. James Parker, Rector, St. George's Savannah at (912) 925-6517. The church website is www.saintgeorgesavannah.org
Pentecost Sunday, St. Thomas Savannah said goodbye to their longtime musician Pamela McCaslin, pictured above. Pam has also been involved for many years in the Diocese and elsewhere through the Association of Amglican Musicians working to teach others from her years of experience and breadth of knowledge.
Pam reads from a book of congratulations and thanks for her years of service during a reception at St. Thomas Isle of Hope this past Sunday.
The Rev. Liam Collins is shown at left holding a cupcake numbered "40" during a reception at St. Luke's Rincon. This past Sunday was the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He was ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church 40 years ago this Pentecost. We are thankful also for the years of his priesthood served in The Episcopal Church.
 The  The photo above was taken at a party on Friday, June 10th, to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of The Rev. Peter and Happy Ingeman. Their actual anniversary is June 17th, but for scheduling reasons Christ Church Valdosta held the party last Friday. This was one in a series of "Happy Episcopal People" parties, a long-standing name at CCV for an adults-only party to celebrate whatever needs celebrating at the time. It's usually at the home of a church member. The church holds two or three a year.
At right are the couple on June 17, 1961. More photos of both last Friday's party and of the Ingemans through the last five decades are online here: HEP for the Ingemans. |
Honey Creek
Register Now for Summer Camp
Summer Camp starts next week and while enrollment is going well, as is typical, openings remain in all four of this summer's camp sessions. Camp Honey Creek features incredible opportunities for exploration, adventure, learning about God and building relationships! As always, there will be great music and worship every day. Campers will enjoy spending time in activities: swimming, arts & crafts, fishing, singing, sports, exploring nature, kayaking, ropes course, disc golf, hanging out and so much more.
Camp sessions are based on age groups. New for 2011, all camps will include special opportunities to explore nature and music in a more in depth way. In the past, we have had camps dedicated to these two offerings, but because of their popularity, we are including them in each camp session.
Camp director, The Rev. Sonia Sullivan Clifton, offers more complete information online here: 2011 Summer Camp Brochure
Camp Session dates for 2011 are:
High School | June 19-25, 2011 | Finished grades 9-12
St. Joseph & Mary I | June 26-July 2, 2011 | Finished grades 3-5
St. Peter | July 10-16, 2011 | Finished grades 6-8
St. Joseph & Mary II | July 17-23, 2011 | Finished grades 3-5 |
The Loose Canon
Discover Grants for Pastors
As the article on The Rev. Cynthia Taylor above shows clearly, a sabbatical is not a vacation but a time of renewal. While the Diocese wants all congregations to set aside money for a sabbatical, there are grants that can assist as well. There are three grants I want to highly encourage priests in our diocese to consider:
Sabbatical Grants for Pastoral Leaders
This program of the Louisville Institute provides pastoral leaders with "sustained periods of time for rest, renewal, and reflective engagement with their life and work and issues related to contemporary religious leadership." This program awards grants of either $10,000 for an 8-week sabbatical or $15,000 for a 12-week sabbatical. For more information visit the web page: Sabbatical Grants The deadline for this year is September 1.
Pastoral Study Projects Grants
This is a second program of the Louisville Institute. These grants offer "pastoral leaders opportunity to conduct serious investigation of issues related to Christian life, faith, and ministry." The program annually awards grants of up to $15,000 to support study projects by making possible full or part-time leave from pastoral responsibilities during the time of study. Examples of successful grants are found at their 2010 Grant Awardees page. The website for this program is online here: Pastoral Study Project Grants. The grant application deadline for this year is August 15.
This program of the Lilly Foundation is the one which sent the Amuzie Family home to Nigeria for a visit when The Rev. Charles Amuzie was the Rector of St. Athanasius' Church, Brunswick. It is also paying for Taylor's sabbatical described in this week's top story. The website is online here: Clergy Renewal Grant. The deadline for this year passed on May 12. But advanced thought and planning can help a grant be successful and so it is not too soon to begin dreaming of a plan for next year's grant cycle.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Canon to the Ordinary
The Loose Canon is a regular column in From the Field whose content is gathered together with other items of interest to those concerned with congregational development at loosecanon.georgiaepiscopal.org |
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Register Now for Happening
Happening shows how Christianity can keep pace with the many changes in our lives and our world. Happeners are encouraged to make their renewed faith a part of their everyday lives.
Two weekends are held each year at the Diocese of Georgia Episcopal Camp and Conference Center, Honey Creek in Waverly, Georgia. A steering committee made up of youth and adults from each convocation meets two times a year to select the staff for the upcoming Happening. There are Happening reunion groups led by volunteer adults and youth in some communities across the diocese. The program is under the direction of the Right Rev'd Scott Benhase, Episcopal Bishop of Georgia and the Rev'd Canon Leigh Hall, Canon for Youth and Young Adult Ministries. Jody Grant (706-738-5774) serves as the volunteer Lay Coordinator of the Happening program.
Registration
To be a Candidate, one must:
- Have completed the 9th grade and have not begun college.
- Fill out the application (hard copy or online, including all signatures).
- Send the application with a deposit of $45.00 to:
Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
611 East Bay Street
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Would You Pay $12 to Save a Child's life?
 It costs $12 to buy an insectide-treated malaria net and provide training in how to use it. One net can actually save the lives of three children, as they can share the net. Every day, every minute a child somewhere dies from malaria. That fact is something I find very hard to fathom. As I write this article children are dying from malaria.
Episcopal Relief & Development's NetsforLife Inspiration Fund has a five year goal to deliver 7 million life-saving mosquito nets across 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2008 NetsforLife has delivered more than 2 million nets resulting in less sickness, fewer deaths and stronger communities.
By partnering with churches and faith-based groups in remote communities, NetsforLife combats malaria by training community volunteers to deliver the nets and train people in their proper use and maintenance. Ongoing monitoring of proper use and maintenance is also provided. Volunteers are taking nets by cars, boats and bicycles into very remote areas, many with no roads.
Distribution of these life saving nets is not possible without our help. As the Episcopal Relief & Development diocesan coordinators our hope is that parishes, in the Diocese of Georgia will support NetsforLife. Please consider helping to meet this goal. If 7 million nets can be distributed over the next three years more than 21 million lives in 30,000 African communities have a better chance of a longer, healthier life. To donate you can got to inspirationfund@er-d.org, or send a check to
Episcopal Relief & Development
PO Box 7058
Merrifield, VA 22116-7058
On the check please note NetsforLife and your parish/city in the memo line.
For more information you can call 1 800 334 7626 ext. 5129. You can also contact your Episcopal Relief & Development parish representative. If you do not know the name of your representative, or want more information from us please contact Lucy or Larry Bowen at lucyabowen@yahoo.com or 229 226 0064.
Please consider saving a child's life by donating to NetsforLife.
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Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Pentecost Sunday Around the Diocese
 Lots of Episcopalians were sporting red-the color of the church year associated with the Holy Spirit-for the Feast of Pentecost this past Sunday. Others filled out the tongues of flame in orange and yellow. At St. Anne's in Tifton, they called themselves "The Holy Spirit Fire Brigade" (pictured above) while at Christ Church in Savannah, there were also many pairs of red socks to be seen as well in that church where members are known to coordinate their socks to the church year (pictured at left). It is a decidedly odd week to be a visitor in an Episcopal Church as all the regulars seem color coordinated, but it's a fun way to show our spirit.
Wind and flame danced before the altar at Trinity, Statesboro.
The 8 a.m. group at St. Alban's Augusta
The 10 a.m. crowd at St. Alban's, Augusta
Zeke holds up the bass he caught at the St. Anne's Tifton Parish Picnic for Pentecost.
St. Anne's Junior Warden, Royal Rankin, on the slide at the parish picnic.
Pentecost-inspired tones of red and orange at Christ Church Savannah. |
Congregations in Transition
The following congregations are in the transition process:
Receiving names and interviewing candidates:
St. Patrick's, Pooler
King of Peace, Kingsland
Creating profile:
St. Francis of the Islands, Savannah
Working with an Interim Vicar or Rector,
but not yet in a search process:
Christ Church, Frederica
Grace Church, Waycross
St. John's, Bainbridge
St. Phillip's, Hinesville
Listings of positions available in the Diocese of Georgia are kept up to date at:
http://gaepiscopal.org/?page_id=954 |
VBS met last week at St. John's in Bainbridge. The theme for the first day was ' Planting Seeds'--Why do people plant seeds? Why does God plant seeds? God's love is a seed in me. The theme for Day Two: 'Taking Root'--What do seeds need to grow? What are my spiritual roots? God's love takes root in me. Day Three: 'Growing'--What do seeds need in order to grow? What do I need in order to grow? God's love is growing in me. Day Four: 'Facing Challenges'--What challenges creation? What challenges my faith? The love of Jesus helps me face challenges. Day Five: 'Living Together'--What happens when creation is in harmony? What happens when my head, hands, and heart are in harmony? We live together in God's love. Below, Deacon Scott Mithen is teaching on the first day of the VBS.
Vacation Bible School in Photos
The Vacation Bible School photo album is collecting pictures of our kid-friendly catechesis taking place around the Diocese this summer. Send your congregation's photo to gaepiscopalphotos@gmail.com
The photos will be added to the album: VBS Photos and used at the diocesan website. Some of the photos will be shared here in From the Field. If you create a Facebook or other online album, you may also just send a link to that album to the address above and our online photo gallery curator, Julius Arial, will copy the photos  to the diocesan album.
This past week, St. Mark's Brunswick enjoyed holding its Vacation Bible School at Honey Creek, together with some beach time. This was their first ever ALL DAY vacation bible camp. They had 34 campers aged 5-12, and the day ran from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm at honey creek. The congregation used high schoolers as counselors, and kept the cost per camper to far less than commercial all-day care. Activities included bible lesson (along with daily scripture theme), arts & crafts, snack, music/singing, games, bag lunch, swimming, nature walks, and a beach day. Three camper teams competed daily for the coveted camp flag (most spirited team). The plan for next year is to expand Camp St. Mark at least threefold by adding multiple week sessions to be held again at Honey Creek.
St. Mark's VBS at the Honey Creek pool.
St. Mark's VBS in Bishop's Hall at Honey Creek.
St. Mark's VBS on the grounds of Honey Creek.
The St. Mark's VBS group at the beach.
Above is a photo of children listening to a biblical story during the Vacation Bible School going on now at Christ Church Valdosta.
Teen helpers engage the children in the VBS lessons at Christ Church Valdosta. Photos of the VBS this week are being added to their online album: Christ Church Valdosta VBS.
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so we can feature them in upcoming issues
of From the Field.
Sincerely,
Diocesan Staff
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia |
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