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Almost 1,250 people have registered to attend Fearless Faith, Boundless Love: Revival on Saturday, January 20th at Honey Creek! As you'll see in the article by Canon Logue below about past revivals in Georgia, it's not a new event. Revival 2018 promises to be a joy-filled day with lots of fellowship, food, music, and outstanding preaching by the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry.
Important Change:
Buses, church vans and those with Clergy, Handicapped, Volunteer and VIP passes
park at Honey Creek.
Have you registered yet? Go here. Need more info? Go here.
See you on Saturday!
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This Sunday's Lections
Third Sunday
After the Epiphany
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Jonah 3:1-5, 10
I Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20
Psalm 62:6-14
Go
here
for the full text.
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Happening #100
This past weekend, our Diocesan Happening program reached the milestone of the 100th weekend by including a reunion and celebration. On Saturday night, while the weekend was going on, more than 75 Past Happeners, both youth and adult, came together for an evening of fellowship, singing, reminiscing, and celebrating the program that had an impact on their lives. "Many shared that this was when they first experienced God's unconditional love and set them on a journey with Christ," said Jody Grant, Happening Coordinator.
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Bishop Benhase and Graham Hummel at the closing Eucharist
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On Sunday, about 250 people assembled in the Chapel at Honey Creek for the closing Eucharist of Happening #100. "It was amazing to hear the youth talk about the love they felt and how God was working in their lives," said Grant. Thirty two past rectors were in attendance for the longest line of passing the "Rector's Fuzzies" to date.
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Reunion-goers at Happening #100
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Katie Grant who will be Rector at Happening #101 with Graham Hummel.
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In the words of Graham Hummel, Rector for Happening #100:
This past weekend I was blessed to be Rector for Happening #100. Happening was a life changing experience for me and it was so amazing to be the rector for this one. Throughout the weekend you could feel God's love radiate through the staff towards the candidates, and by the end of the weekend you could feel it both ways. The way the staff and candidates bonded was amazing and there's no doubt in my mind that these bonds will last a very long time. Not only were these bonds made but the staff and candidates bond with Jesus Christ grew also. I had never felt so much love in one place such as I did this weekend and it was a beautiful thing to see God's work.
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First Mission Team of 2018 to Dominican Republic
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Team member fitting eyeglasses last year. |
For the fifth year in a row, one of the largest and most successful optical mission teams to the Dominican Republic is headed back to San Pedro de Macorís on January 20
th
. This team is the first of four mission teams from the Diocese of Georgia scheduled to work in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic in 2018. Under the leadership of the Rev. Hunt Priest, Rector, and the Rev. Dr. Doris Buchanan Johnson, Assistant Rector in Charge of Outreach Programs, St. Peter's Skidaway Island is the primary sponsor of the team with missioners from St. Peter's as well as several other churches both in the Diocese of Georgia and the Diocese of Alabama.
The work will proceed in two distinct phases, with two groups arriving in succession.The first group of 22 optical clinic missioners arrives on January 20 to examine eyesight and dispense eyeglasses and sunglasses as needed at the Episcopal health facility located next to Iglesia Episcopal San Esteban (St. Stephen's Episcopal Church).
The second group of seven surgical team missioners arrives on January 25 to perform cataract surgeries in the El Buen Samaritano Hospital in La Romana. The year 2018 will mark the first time that this team has offered cataract surgery as well as eye exams and eyeglasses.
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An eye exam during last year's mission trip.
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During their 2017 trip, the optical clinic group saw 964 patients and dispensed 332 pairs of prescription glasses, 610 pairs of readers, nearly 500 pairs of sunglasses, and ordered 50 pairs of prescription glasses from home to be mailed back to the clinic to distribute. Dr. Alan Peaslee of Eye Health Partners & VisionAmerica in Huntsville, Alabama is the medical director of the optical clinic group, which returns home on January 27. Dr. Bill Degenhart of Georgia Eye Institute, Savannah, is the medical director of the surgical group, which returns home on February 3. Watch for updates on this mission trip on the Diocese's Facebook page and in upcoming issues of From the Field.
For an article on the history of this team from 2013-2017, click
here
. To see the schedules of three other teams scheduled to work in the Dominican Republic in 2018 and to get more information about the Diocese of Georgia's programs in our Companion Diocese, click here.
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Three centuries of Revival in the Diocese of Georgia
While this week's tent revival at Honey Creek may seem out of character for the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Georgia's history has been marked by revivals, including these three notable examples from our history:
18th century - Beef and Beer Dinners Lead to a Colony
 Thomas Bray (1656-1730) was for most of his life, the rector of St. Botolph-Without-the-Walls, in London, but a brief tour of Maryland expanded the scope of his ministry. The Bishop of London, who was responsible for the colonies, sent Bray to the colony as his representative. Bray returned to England with a passion for assisting the work of the Gospel in the colonies. He developed a group of friends who ministered with beef and beer meals in the prisons on Sundays. A young James Oglethorpe joined him in this work. Bray suggested the idea of a colony where people could have a new chance at life. Though he died before Georgia was founded, the charter reflects his Christian utopian vision. Georgia was founded as a place where there would be no slaves, lawyers, and no accumulation of land beyond 150 acres per family.
Another product of his two-and-a-half month tour was that Bray saw the terrible shortage of both pastors and books-Bibles and Prayer Books. On his return to England, he founded the SPG, the Society for the Proclamation of the Gospel, to provide priests with stipends for churches in the colonies. The SPG would later provide clergy for Christ Church, Savannah, and St. Paul's, Augusta.
He then founded the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK), to provide books. While not a revival preacher like John Wesley who would serve in Savannah, Bray's Beef and Beer Dinners were a different kind of revival, giving hope to those in prison, which was more fully realized in the new lives made possible in Georgia.
19th century - Georgia's First Bishop Converted in Revival
 The first Bishop of Georgia came to faith through a revival held at St. Helena's Episcopal Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. Stephen Elliott Jr. was a local attorney when he heard the Presbyterian preacher Daniel Baker was coming to Beaufort and would be preaching in the Episcopal Church he attended. Morning, noon, and night for a series of days in 1831, Episcopal liturgies at the historic church concluded with Baker climbing into the pulpit to open the scripture anew.
Of the eighty persons who experienced a conversion experience at St. Helena's during that revival were eight young men who became ministers. Among these was Elliott, who would a decade later become the first bishop of Georgia. Baker's memoir records an attorney converted in that revival exclaiming to him, "O, Mr. Baker, I have an ocean of joy!" -adding, "what would have become of me, if you had not come here."
Baker's account of that revival is online here.
20th Century - Bishop Brings Revival to Georgia
In 1965, Georgia's sixth bishop, invited 12 bishops from across the church to come to this Diocese to lead a Bishops' Crusade. Bishop Albert Rhett Stuart told the
Savannah Evening Press, "The purpose of the Crusade is not to foster our Episcopalianism, but to bring the Gospel to the people of South Georgia."
 The bishops gathered with our diocesan convention at the Aquarama on Jekyll Island where the Primate of Canada preached and Bishop Stuart commissioned the team to go preach the Gospel. They were sent out to 12 communities to preach from January 31-February 4, with the group giving 60 sermons as well as radio and TV interview and informal talks in factories, knitting mills, and railroad yards. Every night averaged more than 3,000 people taking part in the events and every morning sizeable groups turned up at 50 churches for the daily celebration of Eucharist Bishop Stuart named as essential to the work. The revival led immediately to the founding of St. Philip's Hinesville as an out-growth of the Jesup meetings and there were many large classes of confirmations soon after the meetings.
Bishop Stuart led the Diocese through a time of unprecedented growth as the Diocese of Georgia added parishioners at a pace that was not only faster than population growth, but exceeded the rate the Georgia Baptist Convention grew in the same time period. To bring the story of these three revivals full circle, the offerings taken during the 1965 Bishops' Crusade were given to fund the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in thanksgiving for Thomas Bray's work. Click here to read the article from the May 1965 issue of
The Episcopalian:
Crusaders in Georgia.
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Like and Share Your Way to Being an E-vangelist
This weekend's revival offers the perfect chance for you to try some E-vangelism. On Friday and Saturday, the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia will post a steady stream on online content, which will be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Even if you don't attend in person, you can take part in the revival and share the experience with your friends almost effortlessly.
 For example, we will show the Eucharist at Good Shepherd, Pennick, the choirs singing at Honey Creek from noon to 1 pm, and the Revival itself live on Facebook. You can share this feed to your page with a comment like, "I am watching this live, please join me." Your friends will see the event in their news feed.
If you attend the Revival, please post your own photos or quotes from the sermon using the hashtags #PBinGA and #GARevival2018. The Episcopal Church will be gathering and sharing the posts shared using these hashtags.
I know this works because I follow with interest the life of (among others) a Primitive Baptist congregation whose elder I know, two Presbyterian churches where I know the pastors, and First Baptist in Statesboro as a friend and former co-worker takes pictures for them. I enjoy the glimpse into another way of being a follower of Jesus here in south Georgia and because of the "likes" and comments I get on my own photos, I know that friends of mine who may never attend an Episcopal Church also enjoy this peek at what our Revival.
Beyond this, the Holy Spirit can and will use our E-vangelism to reach people who may not otherwise hear such a clear and compelling statement of the love of God as found in Jesus. Never underestimate what God can do using a little faithfulness. Whether in person or online only, don't miss the opportunity to share that love with your family and friends.
Peace,
Frank
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
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Three Ordained on Saturday
Arthur Jones, Bunny Williams, and DeWayne Cope were ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons at St. Matthew's Savannah, on Saturday. The sermon by Canon Logue is online here:
The One Who Serves
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Diocese of Georgia in Savannah's MLK Parade
St. Matthew's Savannah once again hosted the Diocese of Georgia's participation in Savannah's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. Episcopalians from nine parishes and our bishop and staff took part in the parade.
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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
found here.
January 14-20
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Americus, Calvary, and for our ecumenical partners in Americus especially St. Mary's Catholic Church and for St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Plains. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Azua Reconciliation (La Reconciliación) and St. George (San Jorge).
January 21-27
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Augusta, especially, the Church of the Atonement and Christ Church. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Augusta, especially Advent Lutheran Church, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and The Church of the Resurrection Lutheran Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the Church of the Transfiguration (La Transfiguración) in Banî.
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Diocesan Office Update and News
The entire diocesan staff will be attending Revival: Fearless Faith, Boundless Love on January 20th. For the next couple of days we ask that you limit communication with the office to things that cannot wait until after the Revival. Thank you for your understanding.
Bishop Scott Anson Benhase will make his annual visitation to St. Athanasius' Brunswick at 11:15 AM Sunday, January 21 and at 5:30 PM ordain
Rex Vassa (RV) Cope to the order of Deacons at St. Mark's Brunswick. The Bishop's full schedule is available
Canon Willoughby will be at Honey Creek Retreat Center starting Thursday morning.
The Rev. Canon Joshua Varner will be leading the youth event at the Revival from Friday through Sunday.
The Rev. June Johnson, Priest-in-Charge at All Saints' Tybee, will officiate at the 12 noon service in St. George's Chapel at Diocesan House on Thursday.
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Share your news in From the Field
Send your news, events and photos to
so we can feature them in upcoming issues of From the Field. Deadline for submissions each week is Monday at 4:30 PM.
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Diocesan Youth Retreat at the Revival
January 19-21
For more information, go
here
Revival: Fearless Faith Boundless Love
January 20
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
January 27, 9:30 AM to noon
St. George's Savannah
Register
Diocesan Council
February 2
St. Barnabas' Valdosta
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
February 3, 9:30 AM to noon
St. James' Quitman
Clergy Spouse Retreat
February 9-11
Honey Creek
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
February 17, 9:30 AM to noon
St. Mark's, Brunswick
Creekfest
Honey Creek Retreat Center
Register
here.
Cursillo #124
March 1-4
Honey Creek Retreat Center
For Team Registration, go
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where you can watch past videos and subscribe to get updates when new videos are posted.
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