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Workshops Set for Convention
A variety of workshops will be held on Thursday, November 9. There are two sessions: 2-3 PM and 3-4 PM. Locations for the workshops will be shared closer to November 9.
Everything You Need to Know About Being on the Vestry
One joke has it that nine out of ten Episcopalians don't actually know what a vestry does or is supposed to do and the number is ten out of ten when one polls only current vestry members. Canon Frank Logue will teach this hour-long workshop with everything vestry members need to know about their responsibilities while offering best practices that get you out of the weeds and open opportunities for mutual leadership.
Two Sessions: Go here to register for 2-3 PM; go
here to register for 3-4 PM
Get Outisde with the Creation Care Commission
Looking to learn more about the Creation Care Commission and their ministry? Join them when they lead a walk through nearby Grand Bay Wetlands. There's a half-mile accessible boardwalk (with benches along the way) that leads to a 50-foot observation deck. There will be time for prayer, reflection and discussion along the way. One session from 2 to 4 PM. Go here to register.
Breaking Through with CDI
Congregations are made up of unique individuals with a wide variety of gifts and experiences. Fully utilizing these gifts depends on leadership. This session will focus on an overview of what CDI is all about:
* Breaking through barriers to learn what church leaders need to know
* Breaking through walls in your own life to learn what church leaders need to be
* Breaking through the obstacles in your own skill sets to learn what church leaders need to do
Two Sessions: Go here to register for 2-3 PM; go here to register for 3-4 PM
Church Communications 101
Led by Anna Iredale, Director of Communications for the diocese, this one hour workshop will give an introduction to branding, websites, social media and e-newsletters. Guaranteed to leave participants with a few ready-to-implement good ideas.
Two Sessions: Go here to register for 2-3 PM; go here to register for 3-4 PM
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This Sunday's Lections
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
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Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
or
Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
and
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
Go
here
for the full text.
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Discounted Room Rates End on Friday, October 20!
All those who are attending the 196th Convention of the Diocese of Georgia November 9-11 are encouraged to make their room reservations now to receive the discounted rate. Go
here
to do so now.
REGISTER!
The r
egular registration rate of $65 continues until November 2. After that the late registration cost is $75 and continues until November 7 when online registration closes. It will still be possible to register at convention at the $75 rate.
Convocation Meetings
Each Convocation in the Diocese of Georgia will be holding Council Meetings prior to Convention. These meetings are to include the Convocation's clergy, delegates and alternates to the Convention. Attendance at these meetings is important as they are the venue for
* Discussion of the 2018 budget
* Introduction of nominees for diocesan offices
* Proposed amendment to the Canons
Augusta
Sunday, October 22, 2017
4 PM
St. Alban's, Augusta
Southeast
Sunday, October 29
2 PM
St. Mark's, Brunswick
Southwest
Sunday, October 29
3 PM
St. Margaret's Moultrie
Albany Convocation
Saturday October 28
12:30 PM
St. Paul's Albany
Nominations/Nominees Due!
The 196th Convention of the Diocese of Georgia is charged with electing persons to serve on the Board of the Corporation, Diocesan Council (at large), Disciplinary Board, Sewanee Trustee, and Standing Committee.
While nominations for all offices remain open, by the canons of the Diocese, until the floor of convention,
submitting a nomination by the end of this week
will assist the Diocese in publicizing the nominees in advance of the meeting and included in the Convention booklet.
For more information about the positions that are open and the forms necessary to nominate, go
Submit Diocesan Reports!
The deadline for submission of Diocesan Reports is Friday, October 20th. Please send yours to Anna Iredale today!
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Cursillo #123 brings a challenge to live into faith
Honey Creek hosted another successful Cursillo weekend, as team and participants gathered for the 123rd Cursillo hosted in this diocese. Led by Lay Rector Mary Sawyer with the Revs. Cynthia Taylor and Joe Bowden and Deacon Thomas Barron as Spiritual Directors, the weekend had a team from across the Diocese. Bishop Benhase preached during the closing Eucharist. The short course in Christianity once more opened up the basics of the Christian faith together with a challenge for each participant to consider how she or he will live it out in their daily lives. For more information, see
cursillo.georgiaepiscopal.org
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Contemplative Prayer Retreat 2017
 A Contemplative Prayer Retreat will be held at Honey Creek Retreat Center from 5 PM Friday, December 8 until 2 PM Saturday, December 9. Leaders for the retreat are the Revs. Kelly Steele, Guillermo Arboleda, and Hunt Priest.
This prayer retreat will introduce participants to contemplative spirituality through the practices of silent centering prayer, chanting and singing, praying with icons, Anglican prayer beads,
Lectio Divina and the Daily Office. We will practice each of those spiritual disciplines as a group, discuss our experience, and encourage each other in our spiritual journey. Each discipline will be bookended by the ancient liturgies of our tradition. Participants will discover practices that will enrich their life with God in the season of Advent and beyond.
The rates for the conference including three meals are: Lodge 1 Single $144, Lodge 1 Double $99.50, Lodge 2 Single $133, Lodge 2 Double $94, Campers and Commuters $64. Click
here to register online with Honey Creek.
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United Thank Offering Ingathering
The coins and bills placed in this little blue box represent many grants that have helped many people to be touched by the spiritual practice of gratitude. In 2017 as a result of the UTO in gatherings 34 Episcopal Church Dioceses, 8 Companion Relationships, 4 International Dioceses/Provinces, were enabled to continue the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Community. In the Diocese of Georgia, Rev. Kelly Steele was a recipient.
"Our grant sites are brave. They are taking chances, trying something new, and dreaming big dreams," said Rev. Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer, "They are signs of new life, signs of Jesus moving just out ahead of us and calling us to join him in the work all around us."
The date for the fall in gathering is November 5, 2017. The collection must reach Linda Sigg, 305 Wakefield Lane, Martinez, GA 30907 by November 22, 2017. All of the offerings go to the grants. No money is taken from the offering for expenses of any kind. If you need boxes or envelops please contact Linda at
sunflowerllinda@gmail.com.
Remember, UTO giving is a blessing that is passed on through the grants.
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The Loose Canon
Invitation Includes Connecting through Events
As congregations consider Invite-Welcome-Connect and work through the resources at
invitewelcomeconnect.com, one key part of invitation comes through events that take the congregation out into the community or bring the community to the church grounds.
A Case Study - St. Luke's Festival
 For four years, St. Luke's Rincon has held both a monthly yard sale and an annual St. Luke's Festival. The two events coincided this past weekend, bringing hundreds of people to the church grounds, including 100-150 children. Neither event is designed to make money, but instead to connect the community to the church. The church sells chicken meals during the festival which cover the costs of the the bouncy house and the band, so hosting the large gathering does not cut into the church budget.
 The church's second Saturday of the month yard sale is open to people in the community or community groups to have free table space to sell their goods. The church always sells concessions at that monthly event. The Rev. David Rose, Vicar of St. Luke's notes that one of the vestry members started coming to the church because of the yard sale.
To make sure there was a connection, among the nearly 40 parishioners putting on the festival, several church members' only role was to meet people at the festival, and hand out invitation cards together with a personal invitation to worship. Rose also said, "Beyond bringing new people to the church grounds, the festival helps connect those who do attend the church and to one another even as we connect with Effingham County."
A Case Study - Dogtoberfest and the Scarecrow Stroll
 While King of Peace Kingsland just held a Holiday Bazaar that brought a crowd to the church, the Rev. Al Crumpton also named two recent events that has kept the church and its preschool visible out in the community. King of Peace took its Blessing of the Animals out into the community, partnering with a local business that boards pets to hold the liturgy away from the church. The event coincided with a heavy rain, and yet about 30 pet owners and their pets took part. Crumpton noted that the attendance might have been better if it hadn't been raining cats and dogs, but still people enjoyed taking part in a liturgy where their pets were welcomed and blessed.
 For King of Peace Day School, Crumpton and the preschool director Gillian Butler handed out candy during the Scarecrow Stroll presented by the St. Marys Downtown Merchants Association. Kids dress in costume to trick or treat along the route from 5-7 pm as the town kicks off October. They allow a group to put a display up for the Scarecrow Stroll that stays in the median of the main road leading into the historic downtown through Halloween. The two gave out roughly. 3,000 pieces of candy and only one person thought Crumpton's clericals might be a costume.
Crumpton also starts one of the two the Kingsland City Council meetings each month with prayer. That connection is helping the church as city officials know Crumpton and just offered to work with him in creating a solution to alleviate a traffic headache that a Department of Transportation Plan for widening the road in front of King of Peace was about to create. The median being added in front of the church would require westbound traffic to pass the church and go about a quarter mile further before making a U-turn to go back to the entrance. A new plan is now in the works that could bring church and preschool traffic through the neighboring high school entrance more directly to the church. If he were not out in the community, Crumpton feels sure the city officials would not have even considered the issue.
What works in your community?
Many of our congregations similarly use signature events to connect to their community, A signature event is something people in your area associate with your church and make part of their plans. What is working in your community? Share it with me (
flogue@gaepiscopal.org) so other congregations can be inspired to consider connecting to their town.
peace,
Frank
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
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Around the Diocese
On September 26 the Rev. James Maury, MSW, Ph.D, was the guest speaker at Grace Church Charleston's weekly book study with the Ven. Calhoun Walpole, sharing the story of the Community of St. Joseph in Savannah.
Grace Church Sandersville, completed significant renovations since an unfortunate accident sent a car across a portion of the front portico and knocked out two of the columns. Fortunately, there were no injuries and no structural damage other than the two columns. However, as one can see in the photo, this presented an opportunity to do other needed upgrades : repair to the exterior stucco, a handicapped ram to the front entrance, upgrades to safety systems for fire exits and smoke detector/alarm system, as well as remodeling of the restrooms for handicapped accessibility.
Members of the American Legion Riders, including Dcn. George Scott (third from left) who retired from Trinity, presented a short program highlighting their activities at Trinity-Cochran's First Sunday Luncheon. The American Legion Riders take part in military services honoring deceased members of the military as well as fundraising activities to help military veterans and their families. Most recently they participated in a memorial service for a soldier from the Korean War whose remains were recently discovered.
St. Luke's Sunday at St. Luke's Rincon, above.
St. Luke's Sunday at St. Luke's Hawkinsville, above.
Jerome Meadows, above, is the artist-in-residence at St. Peter's Savannah. An exhibit of his work, Sculpture and Assemblage will be on exhibit starting October 28th with an opening reception from 5 to 8 PM. In addition to the exhibit, Meadows will lead a workshop for making Advent wreaths and present a Blank Page Poetry performance featuring the work of other artists, dancers and poets in Savannah. (Savannah News photo)
The Rev. Paul Hancock blesses Sam Watts' dog at All Saints Thomasville's Bless of the Animals on Sunday, above.
The Rev. Kurt Dunkle (seventh from left) preached at Christ Church Savannah last Sunday. Dunkle is Dean and President of General Seminary in New York. Also in the photo, from left: Mills Fleming; Samantha McKean, Assistant for Youth and Young Adult Ministries; Organist and Choirmaster Timothy Hall; the Rev. Melanie Lemburg, Rector at St. Thomas' Isle of Hope; the Rev. David Lemburg, Priest in Charge at St. Patrick's Pooler (both Lemburgs are graduates of GTS and were classmates of Dean Kunkle); Celia Dunn; the Rev. Hunt Priest, Rector at St. Peter's Savannah; the Rev. Guillermo Arboleda, Priest-in-Charge at St. Matthew's Savannah; Bishop Scott Benhase; the Rev. Michael White, Rector of Christ Church; the Rev. Dr. Colton M. Smith, GTS Class of 1961 and Junior Warden Mary Raines,
The choir or St. Paul's Augusta will premier a new setting of the Preces and Responses for Evensong composed by Paul Leddington Wright (right) on Sunday, November 5 at 5:30 PM. The choir commissioned the work in memory of the church's long-time cantor, Clay Coleman III, who died last August. Visit St. Paul's website,
www.SaintPauls.org for more information.
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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.
October 15-21
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Thomasville, All Saints, Good Shepherd, and St. Thomas and for their work at the Oak Street Episcopal Mission. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Thomasville, especially St. Augustine's Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for
Capilla San Juan Evangelista (the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist) in Santo Domingo.
October 22-28
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Thomson, Holy Cross, and for our ecumenical partners in Thomson, especially Zion Lutheran Church in Guyton and Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Lakeland. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Santo Domingo, especially
La Catedral de la EpifanÃa (the Cathedral of the Epiphany).
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Diocesan Office Update and News
Diocesan Staff, including
Bishop Benhase, Canon for Administration
Katie
Willoughby, Canon Missioner for Youth
Joshua Varner and Communications Director
Anna Iredale will attend Diocesan Council Friday, October 20 at Christ Church, Dublin.
Bishop Benhase will lead a stewardship workshop at Holy Comforter, Martinez on Saturday, October 21 from 9:30 AM to noon. On Sunday, October 22 he will make his annual visitation to Holy Comforter at 10:30 AM and to St. Mary Magdalene, Louisville at 4 PM. The bishop's full schedule is available
here.
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue is in Baltimore for a meeting of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. Logue is serving a six-year term on the Council, which is our denomination's board of directors. This week's agenda includes intensive work on the church-wide budget for 2018-2021 as well as working on reports on 2015-2018. Logue returns to Savannah on Sunday.
The Rev. Canon Joshua Varner, Missioner for Children and Youth, will be preaching at Trinity Statesboro on Sunday.
The Rev. Kelly Steele, Missioner of Epiphany Savannah, will officiate at the noon service in the Chapel of St. George at Diocesan House this week.
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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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Fed, with spiritual food
Mills Fleming's photo of worship at Christ Church Savannah, the Mother Church of Georgia. Worship is central to who we are and everything we do.
Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage
to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Diocesan Council
Friday, October 20
Christ Episcopal Church, Dublin
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
Saturday, October 21, 9:30 AM to noon
Holy Comforter Martinez
Register
here.
Augusta Convocation Council Meeting
Sunday, October 22 at 4 PM
St. Alban's Augusta
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
Saturday, October 28, 9:30 AM to noon
St. Paul's, Albany
Register
Southeast Convocation Council Meeting
Sunday, October 29, 2 PM
Southwest Convocation Council Meeting
Sunday, October 29, 3 PM
St. Margaret's Moultrie
Board of the Corporation Meeting
Tuesday, October 31, 1-3 PM
Commission on Ministry and Standing Committee Meeting
3:30 PM Friday, November 3 until noon Saturday, November 4
St. Augustine, Augusta
Diocesan Convention
Thursday through Saturday, November 9-11
Christ the King Church, Valdosta
Youth Presence at Diocesan Convention
Friday through Saturday, November 10-11
To register for lock-in only go
here.
To register for Convention go
here.
New Beginnings #51
Friday to Sunday, December 8-10
Honey Creek
For information and to register, go
here.
Revival: Boundless Love Fearless Faith
Saturday, January 20
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
Saturday, January 27, 9:30 AM to noon
St. George's Savannah
Register
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
Saturday, February 3, 9:30 AM to noon
St. James' Quitman
Register
here.
Stewardship Training with Bishop Benhase
Saturday, February 17, 9:30 AM to noon
St. Mark's, Brunswick
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