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June 8, 2016
Volume 6, Number 41
In This Issue
CreekFEST
Diocesan Office Update
St. Peter's, Savannah
Oak Street Episcopal Mission
Creation Care Commission
Vacation Bible School Photos
Summer Camp
Order of Saint Helena
Upcoming Gospel
Prayers
Brushes with Fate
Social Media Connections
Send us your news
Web Links
 
 





This Sunday's Lections
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Track 1
1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

or 

Track 2
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10,13-15
Psalm 32
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
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Save the Date
CreekFEST

Maybe you've seen the video. CreekFEST is coming! 



When: October 21-23rd, 2016
Where: Honey Creek



Registration is coming soon to participate in this unique opportunity to engage in fellowship at Honey Creek. Events during CreekFEST include silent/live auctions, a 5K, Olympic-style competitions, and square dancing. We would like everyone to register as teams, so get your teams together. There is a maximum of 8 people per team. Even if you do not have a team to join, we will need volunteers and support throughout the weekend. Please register to come! 

If you have never had the chance to visit Honey Creek, this is a great chance to experience the "parish hall" of the Diocese. Standard rates for accommodations and food will apply. This past year, the Diocese implemented a new online registration system. First off, thank you for your patience and willingness to engage as we get this new process online! We are continuing to improve the system and look forward to rolling out a more comprehensive and user friendly registration process for CreekFEST. Be on the look out for more information.

For more information about CreekFEST, please contact Thomas Greneker (thomas@honeycreek.org) and Jay Lacy (jaywlacy@gmail.com). You can also visit Honey Creek's new website at www.honeycreek.org.

Diocesan Office Update    

Bishop Benhase is on Sabbatical. 

Canon Logue is in Chaska, Minnesota, to meet with the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. Council serves as the Board of Directors for the denomination. He returns Friday. 

Canon Willoughby will be out of the office on Friday for travel. 

On Saturday, Canon Logue will meet with both the search committee and vestry of St. Patrick's, Albany. On Sunday, he will preside and preach at the church.

Next week, Canon Logue and Canon Willoughby will be in Atlanta for the Project Resource Conference. 
St. Peter's, Savannah
More Than $1 Million in Support of Charities
When two Savannah charities recently shared the $54,000 raised by St. Peter's at its an annual boutique trunk show, the congregation passed the $1 million mark in giving from its annual fundraisers. In 1995, with the new church building completed, then Rector, the Rev. Randy Hollerith, challenged St. Peter's to create a signature event supporting the community while building fellowship among parishioner. Since starting in 1998, the event has evolved from the Skidaway Island Antiques Show & Sale into the current fundrasier, The Market at 3 West Ridge.

The Market at 3 West Ridge is now an annual show featuring vendors from around the country. The two-day event includes a plant sale and lunch. Net proceeds each year go to charities supporting Savannah's most vulnerable children. This year, the $54,000 raised went to SAFE Shelter Center for Domestic Violence Services and Live Oak Public Libraries Foundations' Summer Reading program. 

A side benefit this year is that the two charities worked alongside each other during The Market opening a chance to collaborate and bring the Summer Reading program, Homework Help and several other programs offered by the Live Oaks Public Libraries Foundation to the clients of SAFE Shelter. This created a real win/win for Savannah's children.

Pictured above: Market Co-Chairs, Gail Andrus (left) and Crissy Mondy (right) present checks for $27,000 to Alan Berger, President, Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation and to Cheryl Branch, Executive Director of SAFE Shelter for Domestic Violence Services and Jean Ahrens, President of SAFE Shelter's Board of Directors.
 
Oak Street Episcopal Mission
Boy Scouts Build Much Needed Ramp
The summer program Camp Hope starts this week at Oak Street Episcopal Mission in Thomasville. Just ahead of the busy summer, Parker Watt led a work crew to add a wheelchair ramp to the Good Shepherd, Thomasville. Watt's Eagle Scout Project improves accessibility for the work now done by the Mission. 

The Oak Street Mission is a ministry of the three Episcopal churches in Thomasville-All Saints, Good Shepherd, and St. Thomas. A result of the Campaign from Congregational Development's emphasis on creating Signature Ministries, the mission was founded as the Episcopal Development Agency of Thomasville (EDAT). The Oak Street Mission continues to foster the development of the Oak Street Community surrounding Good Shepherd Church.
 
Creation Care Commission
Upgrading Facilities with "Toil and Sweat"
Last weekend, volunteers from the Creation Care Commission joined Honey Creek staff for a "Toil & Sweat" weekend to begin renovating a building close to the dock. Bug screens and lights were added to the porch, which overlooks the creek and marsh, and one interior room was cleaned out and organized to create space for small classes and gatherings. Nature guidebooks are now accessible to inspire individual or group exploration of the natural features at Honey Creek.

Additional improvements and new resources will be developed this summer and fall. In time, the building will be a dedicated space for year-round use for all ages to learn about and enjoy God's Creation. If you are interested in assisting with this effort, or have any nature-related gear, books, or art to donate, please contact Dcn. Leeann Culbreath or Dade Brantley. 

  

A record number of kids are enjoying Vacation Bible School this week at Christ Church Savannah where a wet start to the week meant an all indoors back up plan saved the day.

Vacation Bible Schools around the Diocese
We want to share your Vacation Bible School or other camps with the Diocese in photo album collecting pictures of our kid-friendly catechesis taking place around the Diocese this summer. Send a link to your congregation's photo album online to newsandevents@gaepiscopal.org.

The photos will be added to a VBS album and used at the diocesan website. You can visit this summer's VBS album online. 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 we will copy a selection of photos to the diocesan album.     

  
Good Shepherd, Augusta, is once again taking part in a multi-church Vacation Bible School that has transformed their neighboring Presbyterian Church. Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church will also host the Eucharist for this November's diocesan convention.

St. Patrick's, Pooler, was the first in the diocese this year with its VBS held last week.

Summer Camp Starts Sunday- Register Now
The staff is in place and training at Camp Honey Creek in preparation for a busy summer, but it is not too late to regsiter. You can register online here:


If you have any camp questions, contact our Summer Camp Director, Thomas Greneker  at thomas@honeycreek.org
 
2016 Summer Camp Schedule 
(with Registration Links for Individual Camps)
 
In the video above, the Sisters of St. Helena share what life as a nun in the Episcopal Church is like for them.

Order of Saint Helena
Convent Open for Retreats and Meetings
The Sisters of the Order of Saint Helena are in their new convent in North Augusta, which is available for personal retreats and group meetings. While now in South Carolina, the order maintains close connections to the Diocese of Georgia. You can see their latest news online here: May 2016 OSH newsletter.

If the idea of a call to a Vocation to Monastic Life within the Episcopal Church intrigues you, the sisters are holding a Come and See! Labor Day Weekend: September 2-4, 2016 for women seeking a deeper relationship with God in a community of prayer and ministry. The weekend will provide participants with opportunities to talk with and ask questions of the St. Helena sisters, to meet other women exploring monastic life in the Episcopal Church, and to experience our life of prayer and community. To make a reservation, please contact Sr Carol Andrew, OSH, by emailing vocations@osh.org or by calling (803) 426-1616 and leaving a message. 

You can always stay in contact at OSH.org

Upcoming Gospel
The Pharisee's Coach Class Passengers
by the Rev. David Somerville
John Calvin Marshall in his leadership book, Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow, notes that there are two kinds of pride.  The one we hear most about in Christian fellowship is the bad kind. " 'Bad' pride", Marshall writes, is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance". 

So what Christian would have a problem with that?  Not very many - at least in principle. So how about another rhetorical question: Would Simon be for us an effective leader? Most would agree that the answer is No! But perhaps we should pause for a moment and take a close look at the Gospel narrative, and then "play around" a little bit with some some additional things that are implied by the story.

Pierre Subleyras's baroque depiction of Christ at the House of Simon the Pharisee (shown above) hanging in the Paris Louvre is worth billions of words.  It suggests what an imaginative reader's impression of what the encounter between Jesus and his host could have looked like after a woman of "ill repute" came, wept, and anointed Jesus with oil, along with an excess of gratitude.  The extravagance of the woman's feelings demolishes conventional propriety. What, one wonders, had Jesus done for this woman anyway? We cannot be sure. The Gospel of John tells of a woman spared of stoning. Was her situation like that? 

Keep reading. The full reflection is online here: Upcoming Gospel for June 12
Prayers for Weekly Liturgies
Our one-year prayer cycle combines prayers for every congregation in the Diocese of Georgia with prayers for our ecumenical partners and for our Companion Diocese of The Dominican Republic. The 52 weekly prayers are available in one document: http://gaepiscopal.org/docs/oneyearprayercycle.pdf 

Prayers for June 5-11
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Louisville, St. Mary Magdalene. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Louisville, especially St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St Peter's Church (San Pedro) in Los Conucos.

Prayers for June 12-18
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Martinez, Holy Comforter and Our Savior. We also pray for our ecumenical partners, especially St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Grovetown. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Mao, The Annunciation (La Anunciación) and St. Mary, Full of Grace (Santa María Liena de Gracia).
Brushes with Fate

The St. Luke's, Rincon, youth group enjoyed painting this past Sunday evening. They are pictured above with the fruit of their artful labors.
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Sincerely,                                       
            
Diocesan Staff                             
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia