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Quick Links
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New Canons in Effect | |
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On Friday, July 1, the new Canons of The Episcopal Church took effect. The canonical changes approved in 2009 include a new "Title IV" process, which is the part of the canons invoving clergy discipline. In keeping with those canons, issues of clergy misconduct are to be directed to an Intake Office for the Diocese. Bishop Benhase has appointed The Rev. Canon Frank Logue to serve as the Intake Officer for the Diocese of Georgia. Any concern someone has which rises to the level of possible review by a disciplinary board should begin with a call or email to Canon Logue. He is to then determine if the allegation is true, does it, according to the canons, rise to the level of a Title IV complaint.
The new process then has three possible phases: Reference panel (the Bishop, Intake Officer and President of the Disciplinary Board); the Conference Panel (three persons selected from the Disciplinary Board) and the Hearing Panel (another three persons selected from the Disciplinary Board).
The current members of the board (listed by date through which they will serve) are:
2012
Deacon
Yvette Owens
The Very Rev. William Willoughby III
2013
Patricia Burau
The Rev. Lee Dominick
2014
William Bruce
The Rev. Tony Powell
Lucy Tomberlin
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Bond
Sale Update | |
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To date, the Bond Sale has raised $895,000. The sale of $2 million in $5,000 bonds continues.
More complete information is online here:
Bond Sale Update |
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Happening Registration | |
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Click this link to register candidates for Happening #87, July 29 - 31, 2011. Registration deadline is July 18th, 2011.
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A group photo of all the youth and their leaders from Province IV at the end of Episcopal Youth Event. That nationwide gathering was followed by Provincial Youth Event on the
Red Lake Nation Reservation.
Provincial Youth Event
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St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, Red Lake, MN
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The Diocese of Georgia was well represented this past week at Province IV Youth Event at the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota. Our diocesan team, led by The Rev. Canon Leigh Hall, worked on two projects alongside the Ojibwe Tribe for three days. During this exchange, participants learned about the history and culture of the Ojibwe while sharing their own life experiences.
  Above, at left, Lizzy Penn, St. Luke's, Hawkinsville and Ashley Sumner, St. Paul's, Jesup share a smile during worship at EYE. At right, Province IV works diligently on St. John in the Wilderness. 
Katie Bateman and Ashley Sumner of St. Paul's, Jesup repair a door at St. Antipas' Episcopal Church, Redby, MN. 
The Diocese of Georgia group at Episcopal Youth Event. Those standing (left to right) are Allen Keel, Joshua Reeves, Katie Bateman, and Aaron Brewer, St. Paul's, Jesup. Seated are Liz Williams, All Saints', Thomasville; Kristi Brewer, Ashley Sumner, and Julia Domenick, St. Paul's, Jesup; The Rev. Canon Leigh Hall, Diocesan House. Kneeling are Maggie Bloodworth and Lizzy Penn, St. Luke's, Hawkinsville; Taylor Domenick, St. Paul's, Jesup.
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Bishop Benhase with The Rev. Jay Weldon and Deacon Jim Purks alongside those confirmed and received at the Bishop's recent visitation to St. Patrick's, Albany.
Diocesan Staff Events
Canon Hall is just back in the office from leading a group to Episcopal Youth Event and Provincial Youth Event. See above for photos from this trip.
Canon Logue will meet with the vestry of Atonement, Augusta, this Friday. On Sunday, he will be celebrant and preacher at St. Patrick's, Pooler.
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 St. Paul's, Augusta Choir Tours Pacific Northwest Cities
The choir of Saint Paul's Church, Augusta, with Director of Music Keith Shafer, visited three cities in the Pacific Northwest on a recent tour from 4-13 June. The choir sang on the Sunday after the Ascension at St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle and on the Day of Pentecost at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC. They also stayed in Victoria mid-week and traveled by bus, plane, clipper ship, ferry, and train. The group numbered 42 and ranged in age from 8 month old Jude Chandler (whose mother is one of the sopranos) to several teens to a couple in their 80's. The weather was perfect, temperatures in the mid-60's, and the choir was warmly received by the Anglican cathedrals they visited.
The choir continues their regular touring every three years, made possible by their 10-year operation (from 1992-2002) of a downtown thrift store that produced income of about $200,000. This money was invested and made possible numerous foreign trips. They have sung at the cathedrals in Edinburgh, Inverness, Durham, York, Salisbury, Canterbury, and St. Paul's, London (in the UK) and at the Anglican cathedrals in Hamilton, Bermuda, Montreal, Canada, and for the 50th Anniversary service of the coronation of Elizabeth II, held at Quebec City's Anglican Cathedral and which was attended by the Queen's personal represenative. The photo above shows the St. Paul's Choir in Vancouver's Christ Church Cathedral.
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 Jessica, Kimberly, and Amy Buice with their dad, The Rev. Sam Buice and a boy they are sponsoring at El Hogar in Honduras. St. Peter's Stays Connected to El Hogar
 Nineteen members of St. Peter's are back from a short term mission trip to Honduras June 19-29. The group was there conducting a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the children of El Hogar Orphanage and the children of El Cruce. El Hogar Orphanage is located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and El Cruce is a small mountain village approximately 30 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa.  Last year, team members from St. Peter's worked with the people of El Cruce to construct the second story of its church, San Isidro. El Cruce is a rural church, whereas San Isidro is more centrally located in the community. St. Peter's chose to work with the people of El Cruce for a second year because of the relationship St. Peter's built with them. St. Peter's hopes to continue our mission. In addition to conducting VBS, the group painted the inside of the second story of the church and attended its dedication.
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A group photo from last week's Camp Joseph and Mary. A limited number of spots and some scholarship funds remain for the last two camp sessions, which are for middle school and elementary school students respectively. See below for dates and information.
Honey Creek
Space Available in Two Camp Sessions
Summer Camp is taking a one-week break this week, but openings remain in two of this summer's camp sessions. Camp Honey Creek features incredible opportunities for exploration, adventure, learning about God and building relationships! As always, thereis great music and worship every day. Campers enjoy spending time in activities: swimming, arts & crafts, fishing, singing, sports, exploring nature, kayaking, ropes course, disc golf, hanging out and so much more.
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 remaining for 2011 are:
St. Peter | July 10-16, 2011 | Finished grades 6-8
St. Joseph & Mary II | July 17-23, 2011 | Finished grades 3-5
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"The North American church is suffering from severe missionary amnesia.
It has forgotten why it exists.
The church was created to be the people of God
to join him in his redemptive mission in the world.
The church was never intended to exist for itself."
-Reggie McNeal
in The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church.
The Loose Canon
Recovering a Sense of Mission
It began with the smallest spark. The Rev. Robert Fain recalls that Good Shepherd, Augusta, was using an annotated Eucharist booklet. The side column of text noted at the peace:
"In the early centuries of the Christian Church, unbelievers could not stay for the rest of the service. Visitors would be asked to leave at this point as only baptized persons who took part in it could see the Eucharist. After the visitors left, the Christian would greet each other with the kiss of peace."
 The rector began to wonder at how far the church had gone from being so exclusive about who may even be in the room during the Eucharist to some churches inviting the unbaptized to receive communion. What happened? Answering that question led Fain to explore the changes in culture as we have moved from Christendom-when we could assume most people we come in contact with to be baptized Christians-to our 21st Century reality in which many of those we see every day may have only nominal information about the Gospel we hold dear.
This journey led Fain to gather some other clergy in the Diocese of Georgia who wanted to share in the discussion. The group read and studied Reggie McNeal's book The Present Future (quoted above) and reflected on what it means to be the church today. In short, this has led to an emphasis on mission, sometimes referred to as being a missional church. For as McNeal writes,
"The key is the presence of mission. Missionless religion that calls itself Christianity is an affront to God, however it styles itself."
This emphasis on mission means we need to be much more intentional about two things: 1) teaching those in the church, 2) taking the church out into the world.
Teaching Those in the Church We can know longer assume that those in church know the stories of the Bible and are growing in discipleship simply by taking part in worship. This means we need to be much more intentional about teaching the faith to those in the church, even those who attend faithfully. Good Shepherd is addressing this by working its way through the Bible in a year long effort at increasing the congregation's biblical literacy. Mid-August through Advent, they will tell as much of the Old Testament story as possible in sequence. This comes through a longer assigned passage for all to read at home, with a shorter portion being read in worship. The story of Jesus will be encountered there, as with all churches, through the liturgical year.
Each month they also post online weekly reflections on the Sunday lessons. These Emmaus Bible Studies created by the church staff are found online here: Emmaus Study The Emmaus studies this fall will shift to the Old Testament lessons. All of this is aimed at laying the ground work for better understanding and sharing the Gospel.
Taking the Church Out into the World
 Nurtured by more intentional discipleship, churches should then institinctively want to be more involved in reaching out to their communities in love. But once again, this should not be left to chance. We should actively seek ways to find where the gifts of our congregation intersect with the needs of our community. McNeal writes, "The church that wants to partner with God on his redemptive mission in the world has a very different target: the community."
This will involve not just things like an after school program or a short term mission trip. We also need to be involved in sharing the Gospel. Fain says, "We have been doing evangelism implicitly, but we are going to need to start doing evangelism explicitly." In support of this, Bishop Benhase created a one-day session on sharing faith, which is working its way around the Diocese. The goal is to discover the ways God has been present in your life and to find ways you feel comfortable sharing those stories when the spirit leads you to do so.
 All of the AboveWhen all of this comes together, we are supporting those in the church, serving those in the community and sharing the Gospel. Robert Fain created a visual of this for Good Shepherd: COGS Mission
However you picture it, imagine your congregation both growing in discipleship and serving its community while sharing the Gospel. Have a story of this taking place? Let me know. I will be sharing more from around the diocese in the coming weeks.
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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Trinity Celebrates Feast Day
Trinity in Statesboro marked its feast day with a Eucharist at the Georgia Souther Botanical Gardens. The liturgy, celebrated and preached by Canon Frank Logue, who was sponspored for seminary by Trinity, was followed by a covered dish lunch in the pavillion at the gardens.
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St. Paul's, Savannah, seen above and below, battled alongside Aslan in this summer's Vacation Bible School which used the C.S. Lewis' classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as it theme.
Vacation Bible School in Photos
The Vacation Bible School photo album is collecting pictures of our kid-friendly catecheses 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.
Christ Church, Dublin used a beach theme for this summer's 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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