FROM  THE  FIELD
News & Events of the Church in Georgia

From the Field

is a weekly eNewsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia sent out each Tuesday.

 

Scroll down to the bottom for links to change your email address, forward this email to others, or unsubscribe from this newsletter.

In This Issue
Diocesan Staff Events
From the Field Revisited
Honey Creek Update
Campus Ministries
St. Alban's Hosts Author
St. Luke's Construction
The Loose Canon
Youth and Young Adults
Integrity Gives Sign
Safeguarding God's Children
St. Matthew's Revival
Mission Trip to Alabama
VBS in Cochran
Advice from the vault
Quick Links
to From the Field
 



 

Fall Clergy Conference

The Episcopal Preaching Foundation will bring the program for this fall's Clergy Conference

October 2-5 at Honey Creek. The conference will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday evening October 2 with dinner and the Bishop's time for informal sharing. The conference program begins Monday morning and continues through lunch on Wednesday, October 5.

 

The conference program begins Monday morning and continues through lunch Wednesday, October 5. The conference rate is $250, which is a double occupancy rate (based on two persons in the room), $380 for single, and $160 for commuters. The fees cover all costs of the conference including program, lodging, and meals.

 

Register Online:

Clergy Conference Online Registration

Clergy  Spouse
 Conference

The Clergy Spouse Support Group of the Diocese of Georgia will hold a retreat November 11-12 at Honey Creek.  

 

Fees: lodge rooms, single occupancy with meals for Friday evening and Saturday breakfast and lunch is $98.06 ~ without meals $65.99. Double occupancy with meals is $87.06 ~ without meals is $54.99. Hunt and Chaplin Cottages are also available at this time. This would be an economical way to attend the conference and a great way to spend time with friends.

 

Call Honey Creek directly to make your reservation. Carolyn is available to take your reservation during week day office hours by call (912)265-9218.

Call either Leslie Parker (912)232-2893 or Geri Nelson (office) 912 355-3110 if you have any questions, requests, suggestions.

Spirituality Retreat

Full information for the Grounded in God spirituality retreat to be held at Honey Creek October 28-29 is now online here:

Grounded in God Brochure

Diocesan Audit Now Online

The full audit for the year 2010 is now online. This audit shows a more complete financial picture as the Honey Creek finances are integrated into the report. As our camp and conference center is not separately incorporated, showing the overall profit and loss is important to understanding the diocesan finances. The audit draft is online here: 2010 Audit online.

 

The one remaining fact being secured for notes in the final audit is the tax assessors amount at which they value Honey Creek and Diocesan House. The Finance Committee has recieved this draft and reviewed it. They are working with Canon Mary Willoughby on making changes to procedures in accordance with recommendations from the auditors.

 

Current 2011 Year to Dates Financials Online

The diocesan website has a web page linked from the Reference Library that keeps the most recent financial reports. The direct link is  http://georgia.anglican.org/?page_id=1129  There you will currently find the reports through July 31 for:

 

Profit and Loss Report - The current month and year to date comparisons of income and expenses to budget.

 

Pledge Report - Detail of pledges paid year to date by congregation.

 

Designated and General Fund Balances - A report of the balances of the designated and temporarily restricted funds.

 

Balance Sheet Detail - A detailed balance sheet of the current assets and liabilities for Diocesan operations, which are now exclusive of Honey Creek. Canon Mary Willoughby and Honey Creek Executive Director, Dade Brantley, are working on our accounting software to be able to report current financials that include the conference center.

Diocesan Office Update

Canon Willoughby will meet with the Finance Committee this week to review our financial position and first drafts of the working 2012 budget.

 

Canon Hall is working on the upcoming Youth and Young Adults Program Year.

 

Canon Logue is back from a week-long stay-cation and clearing through emails and phone messages. Tomorrow he continues a series of online meetings with the new transitional deacons in the diocese who are all taking part in a First Two Years Program led by Logue. This week, the group will be joined by the rectors of the four congregations with new curates on their staffs. This weekend, Canon Logue will officiate at a wedding at Honey Creek.

 

Rudy Reyes starts tomorrow as the newest member of your diocesan team. Rudy will work for two years as an administrative intern.

From the Field Revisited

Nearly three-quarters of you are extremely satisfied with From the Field according to a survey sent out in last week's issue. 82% of respondants also list this weekly email as Extremely Important (32.5%) or Very Important (49.4%).

 

From the FieldWhat You Like

Those responding to the survey enjoy being connected to the rest of the congregations in the Diocese. You enjoy the timeliness of the news. As one reader put it, "Somehow From the Field makes our diocese feel SO big and so blessedly active. I have a new perspective on our diocese thanks to this little newsletter."

 

What Needs to Improve

The most consistently reported problem is that of the 70 congregations in the Diocese, many never make it into From the Field. As some of you note, this is because we don't receive news or photos from many congregations. As noted in the final article in this week's issue, that problem is easily solved by sending photos and news to [email protected]

 

Another request can also be easily fixed. Some readers requested that the Bishop write for From the Field. This means that you haven't discovered Bishop Benhase's weekly eCroziers. These go to an email list maintained by the Bishop's Secretary, Gayle Dawson and posted each week at the diocesan website. These weekly essays cover a variety of timely topics from a theological perspective. Subscribe by sending Gayle an email by clicking on here name above or visit the eCrozier website.

 

Still Time to Take the Survey

The nine-question online survey is still open. It will not take more than few minutes of your time:  

 

Click here to take the short From the Field survey

Wayne County Quilting Guild
 
Two retreats last weekend filled both Bishops' Hall and Stuart Hall with two different groups as seen in these photos.

Creative Memories
 
Honey Creek Moves to Aramark

The Honey Creek Dining Hall will be staffed by Aramark starting the week after Labor Day. The great news about this move is that Aramark has hired all of our existing kitchen staff, so that our long-serving employees can maintain good hours and compensation while Honey Creek makes the move to in-time staffing. Aramark also oversees the dining hall at the Methodist Church's Epworth Conference Center on Saint Simon's Island, permitting them and Honey Creek to each benefit from economies of scale. 

 

This Weekend at Honey Creek
Meredith Maxwell-Jamie Shuler Wedding

 

 

Coming soon at Honey Creek   

9/9-9/11: Youth And Young Adult College Retreat

9/16-9/18: Daughters Of The King

10/2-5: Fall Clergy Conference
            (with Episcopal Preaching Foundation)

10/7-10/9: Fall Rally - Diocesan Youth Event

10/28-29: Grounded in God Spirituality Retreat
11/4-11/6: New Beginnings 
11/11-12: Clergy Spouses Conference

 

 

Campus Ministries Start the Year Off Right
AASU

 

The Episcopal Campus Ministry at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, welcomed The Rev. Rem Slone as its new chaplain last week. With this new appointment, ECM at AASU bids a fond farewell to The Rev. Helen White (now Vicar of All Saints', Tybee), who started the chaplaincy at AASU. Concurrent with his ministry at AASU, Rev. Slone is Curate at St. Peter's, Skidaway.

 

GSU

The Rev. Justin Yawn, Chaplain to the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Georgia Southern University, hosted Welcome Week in Statesboro. Among the many events offered were a kickoff worship service, a student lunch, and volleyball and ice cream at the student recreation center.

VSU

Louttit Hall, site of Canterbury Club at Valdosta State University, is now staffed and open to students at regular hours with Noonday Prayer:  

  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12p to 6p
  • Thursdays from 12p to 4p
In terms of worship and fellowship, the Canterbury Club at VSU offers two weekly opportunities to gather:
  • Wednesdays: 6p service with a free meal following
  • Sundays: 6p meal with fellowship and formation following 

The Rev. Tar Drazdowski, Chaplain, holds regular office hours in the school's dining hall on Thursdays from 12p to 130p. Rev. Drazdowski noted that she has "made a commitment that there will always be a collar there at the table with a sign." "If I can be a positive witness on campus, it'll catch," she added. During Canterbury's opening week, VSU President Dr. Louis H. Levy joined Rev. Drazdowski for lunch. 

St. Alban's, Augusta

"Red Summer" Author Hosted

Wall Street Journal reporter and author Cameron McWhirter did a reading and book signing of his book Red Summer at St. Alban's last week. The event was very well attended and received by a very diverse audiance from all over the Central Savannah River Area. The book, Red Summer, is a historical account about the race riots and lynchings that took place all over the USA in the summer of 1919 after World War I. It was a bloody summer, thus the name Red Summer, and was the start of the modern civil rights movement; which started in Jenkins County, Georgia. just south of Augusta. You can read an excerpt of the book online here: Red Summer Excerpt

St. Luke's, Hawkinsville

Church's Foundation Was Christ Alone

At St. Luke's Church, the one foundation was Jesus Christ. But work is underway to fix that. When the original wood frame church was built in 1871 and dedicated by our second Bishop of Georgia, John Beckwith, the foundation was rock. But the rocks piled under that church have been worn away over time by the water that works its way under the church built in a natural place for water to gather. The church, wrapped in a brick facade since 1908 (shown at left in the photo above), had begun to crack. If no action was taken, that historic brick facade would have fallen away, taking parts of the wooden structure underneath with it.

 

The Rector, Wardens and Vestry have acted to raise money through a capital campaign to make it possible to place the church on a firmer footing. The $300,00 capital campaign is raising the funds to stabilize this church, which is the oldest continuously used public building in Pulaski County. Work began yesterday on the project with some landscape removal. Starting September 4, the congregation will be worshipping in their parish hall while construction goes on , including for the September 11 Bishop's Visitation. Those interested in supporting this project, may go to the Saint Luke's website for more information.

The Loose Canon

The Trouble with Tithing

Stewardship season is upon us once again. Which means that churches will, once more, be talking about tithing (as in giving ten percent of one's income back to God through offerings to the church). This is a right, good and joyful thing. There are only two small problems:
  1. Most people don't tithe.
  2. Tithing is not what the Bible teaches anyway.
We Don't Tithe
The average pledge in the Diocese of Georgia is $3,200 per year. In a denomination where not cashing CDs in before full maturity may be our only settled doctrine, we can safely assume that such fiscally wise Episcopal households average better than $32,000 per year across the Diocese. Ergo, we aren't tithing now, at least not in the majority. The average offering to a church is generally listed as somewhere around 2.5%. The book What Americans Really Believe (by Sociologist Rodney Stark) lists the following breakdowns:
  • Poor people are more likely to tithe and give a higher percent of their income that wealthy people. Thus, Americans who make $10,000 or less give 11.2% of their income, while those who make $150,000+ give 2.7% of their income. There is a basic descent of percent of income given from the poor to the wealthy.
  • Denominationally, the spectrum moves from Roman Catholics (2.2%) to Liberal Protestants (3.0) to Conservative Protestants (5.5) to Black Protestants (5.7) to Mormons (7.1) in percent of income given to the church. The percent giving a tithe goes like this: Roman Catholics (2.5), Liberal Protestants (5.9), Conservative Protestants (14.4), Black Protestants (13.5) to Mormons (34.0).

The Bible Doesn't Teach Tithing

While we find very clear scripture in favor of giving ten percent of our "first fruits" to God. The picture is not that simple. First, I should say that I believe in tithing and my wife and I have tithed 10 percent of our gross income to the church since long before seminary. I just want to make it clear that scripture does not teach that we cut a check to a church and can check off our responsibility to God when it comes to stewardship.

 

Scripturally, we are taught that we are to give 100 percent to God. This we see clearly (among other texts) when Jesus takes the denarius in the Temple and asks whose image and likeness are on it. When told Ceasar's, Jesus famously states, "Give to Caesar, what is Caesar and give to God, what is God's." Jesus is reaching back to Genesis 1 when we are told that man and woman were created in the image and likeness of God. We who are created in God's image and likeness are to give back to God what is God's. In the language of the Rite I Eucharist, we are to give "Our selves, our souls and our bodies." This is the teaching that sets stewardship in its proper perspective. We own nothing. We are stewards of all we have. And as a sign that we know that to be true, we give back to God of our time, our abilities and our money.

 

This broader view of stewardship is foundational to any stewardship campaign. It is important to teach stewardship, not giving toward a budget. Certainly, the church has a budget and it needs income. But my need to give back to God of my time, abilities, and money is more important to me and my relationship with God than that budget. My getting a right view of the gifts I have received from God leads naturally to cheerful giving. Even if the treasurer were to take all of the money and run to Aruba (truth be told, most of our church's budgets only permit the treasurer to run away to Hahira) my gift was not squandered as it was given to God through the church. The treasurer will have to answer to our Lord, but I will not.

 

There is the saying, "Don't tell me what you believe. Give me your wallet and your calendar and I will tell you what you believe." How we spend our time, use our abilities, and give of the first fruits of our income (rather than what is left) speaks powerfully of what we really believe.

 

Best Practices for Stewardship Campaigns

Over the next few weeks, I want to share some best practices for stewardship campaigns. But before I got to that nuts and bolts approach, I wanted to begin with a theology of stewardship. This is grounded in the fact that everything I am and everything I have is God's. Whatever I put in the offering plate is just a sign that I know this is true.

 

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

Youth and Young Adults

College and Young Adult Retreat
September 9 - 11, 2011 

 

September 9th - 11th at Honey Creek. Eligible to attend are 18-year-olds who've graduated high school through 30-year-old young adults. This year's retreat will be an opportunity for rest, reflection, and reconnection. We will also be gathering on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, so our weekend will be an opportunity to learn about Islam and our relationship as Christians to the Abrahamic religions. Register by emailing Canon Hall. Download a copy of the complete brochure/covenant & medical release.

Musician Fran McKendree to Lead Fall Event
Fall Event will be held October 7 - 9 at Honey Creek. 6th - 12th graders will be eligible to attend. More information to come.   

 

New Beginnings to take place at Honey Creek on November 4 - 6, 2011

More information to come. 7th - 9th graders are eligible to attend as participants. Mandatory Team meeting will be on October 22nd.  


 
Integrity Gives Campus Ministry Sign
 
Episcopal Campus Ministry at Georgia Southern University received a wonderful gift in the form of a new sign from Integrity Georgia.  Our campus ministry house has been without signage for a year due to changes in the code that GSU Signgoverns signs in Statesboro, Georgia.  The sign was erected by Fred Richter and Michael Wood of Integrity Georgia and Fr. Yawn the chaplain.  The sign provides our ministry with a new front on one of the major thoroughfares in Statesboro, Fair Road.  The students are truly thankful for this gift because it clearly defines our community as the "Epi-Center".  The Epi-Center is where our students find renewal, strength, and support as we carry out God's mission in Statesboro.  We look forward to a continued relationship with Integrity Georgia and are blessed to include them in our community of benefactors from around the diocese who make our ministry possible.  Want to know more about Episcopal Campus Ministry at Georgia Southern University?  If yes, please check out our website occasionally to find out what we are doing in Statesboro. 

Safeguarding God's Children Training

Last week, Canon Hall emailed to churches and clergy a report of all those who have completed Safeguarding Online training. This report will be sent twice yearly, once in July/August (at the beginning of the program year) and once in January/February (after new Vestry members have been elected). This report is also available upon request by emailing Canon Hall.

 

 

 

A new feature on the Youth and Young Adults website

is "Safeguarding FAQs," in which the most commonly asked questions about both the online training and the "in-person" training have been addressed.

 


To download a PDF copy of the instructions for self-enrolling in Safeguarding Online, click here.

 

St. Matthew's Savannah Plans Revival

In celebration of its 156th year as a church, the people of St. Matthew's are taking up the theme, "Telling Our Story of Jesus and His Love." The highlight of their celebration is a transitional five day period beginning on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 with a two day old-fashioned revival. The Rev. Da'Henri Thurmond Pastor of St. Paul C.M.E Church will lead the revival. 

 

The celebration will continue with a Dinner Dance and Silent Auction held at the Mighty Eighth Museum in Pooler, Georgia the evening of Friday, September 16. After a Quiet Day on Saturday, they will transition to a new year on Sunday, September 18, with the Patronal Festival. The Rev. Deacon Sierra Wilkinson, a Transitional Deacon at Christ Church, Savannah, will be the preacher. Congregations wishing to support St. matthew's in this anniversary can take out low-cost ads in the souvenir booklet by contacting the church via email

[email protected]

 

Mission Trip to Tornado Torn Alabama

The headlines may have moved on, but tornado-torn towns in Alabama still need our help! Since May, St. Anne's has led three relief trips to north Alabama, which was hit by several record-setting, destructive tornadoes in April. While progress has been made, much work remains.

Trip Details
 
A trip has been scheduled for October 14-19 (Sat.-Wed.) for a group of adults to assist with rebuilding and clean-up efforts in and near Cullman, Alabama, where many homes, churches, and a several blocks of downtown were completely destroyed on April 27. Comfortable, dorm-style lodging and meals will be provided at the brand-new Stony Creek Christian Camp. We will travel together in the St. Anne's church van, departing Tifton early Saturday morning and returning Wednesday evening. Approximate cost per person is $150 total. We will also have an opportunity to worship at Grace Episcopal Church in Cullman and visit the Ave Maria Grotto and St. Bernard Abbey (monastery).

Work Projects
 
Specific project assignments will be made closer to the departure date. Working in partnership with the Diocese of Alabama and local contacts, we will find work that fits the skills and abilities of group members. At this time, donations of food, clothing, housewares etc. are not requested, though specific building supplies may be needed.

Register Now!

Registration deadline is September 9. For more information or to register, contact Leeann Culbreath as soon as possible at (229) 848-2940 or [email protected].

 

Vacation Bible School in Cochran

Our online album of Vacation Bible School across the Diocese now has pictures of the fun this summer at Trinity Church in Cochran. The whole album is online here: VBS Photos

 

Good for a Laugh Advice

The EvangelHere at Diocesan House we have a large concrete and steel walk-in vault with old records going back to 1823, when the Diocese was founded at St. Paul's Church, Augusta. There are others of our records on file at the Georgia Historical Society nearby, but these give and interesting glimpse at our past. Below is a scan from The Evangel (shown at left), which was "published in the interest of colored work in the Diocese of Georgia." The paper served as The Church in Georgia for our traditionally black congregations when the diocese, though served by a common bishop, was segregated in convention and for virtually all of its common life. This part of our history is regretable, but we do preserve and hold dear the stories of our congregations that thrived even when they were not given full admittance to the councils of their church.

 

The notice from the April and May 1928 edition shares a common frustration of church editors in very clear language. If you want your church's story told, you will have to share photos and stories. Read over the article below. Enjoy a laugh. Then decide what to send to [email protected] 

fortuneteller

Send your news and events to [email protected],
so we can feature them in upcoming issues
of From the Field.

 

Sincerely,
 

Diocesan Staff
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia