February 15, 2023 | Volume 13, No. 7

Reflecting on 200 years of History

As we approach the bicentennial of our founding, From the Field has shared the story of the Diocese of Georgia in 42 articles. When possible, the articles relied on quotations from contemporary accounts or the person’s own words to assist in sharing history the way those who lived it told their story. Though more than 22-thousand words in length, this series is far from a complete history. Yet we have seen many of the people and events that have shaped our Diocese. Along the way, the abiding characteristics of our Diocese, resilience and adaptability, have been revealed together with the ways we have changed, in seeing the image of God in all people.

Our core beliefs remain the same. As Bishop Logue told the Diocesan Convention in November, "Since the first Anglicans arrived in 1733, so much has changed, yet our core purpose has remained the same: Sharing the Good News of Jesus. This Gospel is worth getting up for in the morning and is worth spending your days and giving your life to accomplish."

The series ends with next week's article on the ninth Bishop of Georgia, the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, Jr. The story of the Diocese from 2010 onward will be written in time. We end there as perspective assists in considering history. One notable example of how this is true is that the book History of the Episcopal Church in Georgia 1733-1957 did not even mention Deaconess Anna E.B. Alexander. Bishop Louttit's Saints of Georgia booklet later elevated her story. The Episcopal Church has since added her to the calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Our history is richer for sharing her holiness of life and steadfast devotion.

Bicentennial Eucharist

On Saturday, February 25, 2023, the people of the Diocese of Georgia will gather at Saint Paul's in Augusta to celebrate the Bicentennial of our founding. You are encouraged to attend.

The Eucharist at 2 pm will be followed by a reception. Bishop Logue will preside and the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright, Bishop of Atlanta will preach. Clergy from the Dioceses of Georgia and Atlanta and those who have served in either of the dioceses are invited to vest and process. Cassock, surplice, and tippets or a white stole for those who do not have a tippet.

Pictured: (top) The First Bishop of Georgia, the Rt. Rev. Stephen Elliott places a Book of Common Prayer in the cornerstone for the University of the South, and (bottom) Jenna Ramer's painting of Deaconess Anna Alexander that is at Christ the King in Valdosta.

1Book1Diocese begins next week

"Clear and compelling teaching on encountering God in prayer is all too rare in the Church," Bishop Logue said. "I find the stories used to illustrate the points in this book open up so much wisdom. The brief chapters are worthy of reflection. Beginning to Prayhad a positive impact on my own prayer life and I am looking forward to the Diocese of Georgia studying it together."

The 1Book1Diocese read for Lent is a classic work, Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom. This simple and powerful book, gets at the vital importance of encountering God in prayer.

The 1970 book is readily available both in a new edition and in used copies. You can find the reading guide for the Diocese of Georgia here. The guide offers questions for groups to use for the weeks following the Sundays in Lent with an optional meeting in Holy Week.

ERD to provide support for earthquake aftermath

Episcopal Relief & Development is working with their partners on the ground to provide support to those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. They are currently providing winterization kits, hot meals and medicine while they assess longer-term needs.

If your congregations would like to partner with ERD in this effort, please visit the Church Resources pages where you can find suggested blurbs for your website and bulletins, printable bulletin inserts and announcement language to share with your congregations on Sunday. The resources are available in English and Spanish.

You can also visit ERD's website for updates on the efforts, as well as a direct link to the Fund page.

Please reach out to ERD at engagement@episcopalrelief.org if we they support you in other ways.

2022 Parochial Report due by March 1

The Episcopal Church has launched parochial reports for 2022 data. They are due by March 1^st, 2023. The report is one of two mandatory reports due annually, including audits in September. 

The Parochial Report is completed online at: https://reports.dfms.org. Beginning in January 2023, everyone will login into this site with a unique login (usually a church or individuals’ email) and password. Diocesan office can reset the login information for a congregation if needed. Reach out to Maggie Lyons or Daniel Garrick for support as needed (mlyons@gaepiscopal.org and dgarrick@gaepiscopal.org). 

You’ll need to gather attendance, membership, and financial information to complete the report. If you are unfamiliar with the process of completing the parochial report, please visit the detailed website here.

There is a helpful video available here: https://www.generalconvention.org/pr-workbook-and-instructions

You may also find a walk through of how to file here: https://www.generalconvention.org/pr-screencast-for-parish-users

Please know that there have been changes to this year's report, which may mean more time will be needed to fill it out appropriately.

RJGA continues book discussion

Racial Justice Georgia continues its Black History Month discussion series of Dante Stewart's Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle (https://www.dantecstewart.com/book). A powerful meditation on being young, Black, and Christian in the early 21st century US, the book has received wide acclaim since its publication in October 2021.

Please join us! Email RJGA chairs Karen Cote (kdcote61@gmail.com) or John Hayes (truthdrifter@gmail.com) for the Zoom link. The book is published by Penguin Random House and can be purchased through Amazon or in your local bookstore.

Update your parish information

The Diocese is requesting that each parish fill out the form linked below with updated information on those in leadership roles at the church. The staff uses this information to make sure that critical communications are directed to the correct person in each parish.

To fill out the form, click here.

Upcoming Events

Clergy Conferences

Spring Clergy Conference: April 24-26

Fall Clergy Conference: October 2-4

These conferences offer a mix of retreat time and training. The heart of every clergy conference is time spent together in worship, in meals, and in fireside and other casual conversations that assist us in staying connected to one another. Both conferences will be held at Honey Creek.

Chrism Mass

During Holy Week Clergy will have an opportunity to renew their ordination vows at two Chrism Mass services in which Bishop Logue will also bless holy oils. Services will take place on 

Monday, April 3 at 10:30 am

at Annunciation in Vidalia 

Tuesday, April 4 at 10:30 am

at Christ Church in Cordele.

Lunch will be provided. Please register online using this Google Form so that appropriate plans can be made: Click here to register.

New Beginnings #59

• When: February 24-26, 2023
• Who: Youth in Grades 7-9
• Where: Honey Creek!
• Cost: $145 per person

Participant Registration is available here: https://bit.ly/NBParticipants.

The Lead Teen for New Beginnings #59 is Jackson Beckham from St. Anne's in Tifton. More information is available at https://gaepiscopal.org/youth-ministries/.

Happening #107

• When: March 24-26, 2023
• Who: Youth in Grades 9-12
• Where: Honey Creek
• Cost: $145 per person

Registration for Candidates is available here: https://bit.ly/HappeningParticipants.

The Rector for Happening #107 is Adair Weston, form the Church of the Good Shepherd, Augusta. More information is also on the Georgia Happening Website: www.georgiahappening.com.

Episcopal Youth Event

• When: July 4-July 8, 2023
• Who: Youth currently in Grades 9-12
• Where: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
• Cost: $800 per person

Cost should never be prohibitive to participate in diocesan youth events. Contact Canon Varner for any questions regarding the event fee.

Registration Instructions: Registration for EYE is now open through the Diocese. Once youth and adult advisors are registered, Canon Varner will take their information register and register the group with the Episcopal Church.

To register, visit https://bit.ly/GeorgiaEYERegistration.

Christ the King becomes an Episcopal Church

As we approach the bicentennial of our founding in 2023, we are sharing the story of the Diocese of Georgia. The series of articles will end on February 22. This week, a congregation joins the Episcopal Church.

The Diocese of Georgia made national news in 1990 as Christ the King entered the Episcopal Church in a historic liturgy in Valdosta. In the year before, The Rev. Stanley White, a fourth generation ordained minister in the Pentecostal church, approached Bishop Harry Shipps about the process required for him and his congregation to enter the Episcopal Church.

A Christianity Today article described the transition leading to that moment: “In the midst of rethinking evangelical worship, White became seized with what he calls an ‘ecumenical spirit.’ He studied Roman Catholicism as well as Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and other liturgical traditions. A friend gave him a copy of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, which White began using in his private devotions. Most important, he attended a liturgical church and felt a spiritual quickening. ‘I experienced God there,’ White says, his voice still registering astonishment several years after the event. ‘That wasn’t supposed to happen. It shocked me.’”

In the Episcopal Church, White could see the possibility for a church which was founded upon the strength of an ancient tradition and an exquisite liturgy, yet was powerfully enlivened by the Spirit, and reached out into the world with a passionate ecumenism. 



White would later write of what animated the church he envisioned, “We have not worried so much about external style or external programs. Instead we have reconstructed our interval values to include things like compassion, inclusion, diversity, social justice, community, spirituality and spiritual practice, honor for science and reason, honor for other religious traditions, honor for doubters and those with questions, care for the environment, modest budgets and facilities, to be non-hierarchical and non-clerical and non-patriarchal thus honoring the dignity and wisdom of all people regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, educational level, financial means, or one’s politics.”

Bishop Shipps encouraged the move and the canonical process was begun. Shipps charged two nearby priests, the Rev. Jacoba Hurst of St. Anne’s in Tifton and the Rev. Henry Louttit of Christ Church in Valdosta, with preparing the pastor for ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, and the congregation for confirmation. Hurst described going before the commission on ministry to a Christianity Today reporter saying that feared he had ushered White into the seat of the scornful. “Some of these guys are rather hostile, dour clerics who don’t suffer fools gladly,” Hurst recalled. “They were reserved and cautious at first,” he said; but then something extraordinary happened: “There was the presence of God in that room.” He continued, “I couldn’t speak. It was like some kind of revival” noting several committee members were weeping. 

On Easter Eve 1990, before a congregation of more than 800 persons and a 50 member choir and orchestra in the Church of the King in Valdosta, Bishop Shipps, with four neighboring bishops, confirmed 222 baptized persons from the formerly Pentecostal congregation. Stan was ordained as an Episcopal priest on June 9, 1991, on the birthday of his Grandmother White, who he described as an amazing Pentecostal preacher and pastor ahead of her time. The Very Rev. Stan White continued to lead Christ the King until his death in 2020. The congregation is now in the deliberate process which will lead to calling its second rector.

Pictured: (top) A Christianity Today cover story on Christ the King entering the Episcopal Church, and (bottom) the Rev. Stan White and Bishop Harry Shipps during the liturgy as the Rev. Jim Bullion looks on.

Outgoing Senior Warden at Christ Church in Savanah, Clayton Gagne-Thomas (right), receives a copy of the icon of the Wesley brothers written by Louise Shipps by incoming Senior Warden Sarah Jones and the Rev. Michael White in appreciation for Thomas' service on the vestry.

Saint Paul's in Augusta (left) prepared Valentine's Day treats for the teachers and staff at a local school. St. Paul's in Albany (right) packaged and mailed Valentine's Day care packages for their members who are away at college.

The Rev. Leeann Culbreath, Interim at St. Anne's in Tifton, enjoys lunch at the ABAC campus with members of St. Anne's.

The St. Athanasius Altar Guild in Brunswick readied the altar for services.

St. Michael & All Angels in Savannah celebrated Scout Sunday with Scout Troop 1, which was chartered in 1939.

St. Francis of the Islands held their first ever Chocolate Festival, which was open to the public. It was a great sucess!

If you would like to have your submission considered for From the Field, it needs to be sent to Communications Manager Liz Williams (lwilliams@gaepiscopal.org) by noon on Tuesday.

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 2023 one year prayer cycle is online here: 2023 Prayer Cycle. 

February 19 – 25

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Blakely, Holy Trinity, and for our ecumenical partners in Blakely, especially Holy Family Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Cornelius (San Cornelio) in Cabarete. 

February 26 – March 4

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Brunswick, Good Shepherd, St. Athanasius’, and St. Mark’s. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Brunswick, especially St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and St. James Lutheran Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for Church of the Holy Name (El Santo Nombre) in Catalina. 

Newly Revised 31-Day Prayer Cycles

We also offer 30-day prayer cycles for those who wish to pray daily for the clergy and clergy spouses: Diocesan Prayer Cycle and Clergy Spouses Prayer Cycle. (Updated 11/30/2022)

On Sunday, Bishop Logue will make his visitation to St. Anne's in Tifton on Sunday.

To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated for 2023 - 1/2/2023)

Picture: Bishop Logue, an Eagle Scout, was in his Scout uniform on Scout Sunday with Scout Troop 1 during his visitation to St. Michael's and All Angels in Savannah.

Canon Lasch will be celebrating and preaching at Christ Episcopal Church in Valdosta on Sunday.

Executive Director of Honey Creek Dade Brantley is on vacation this week.



Canon Katie Easterlin remains on maternity leave.

The best way to reach a staff member is via email as we will always get back with you promptly in many cases and in 24-72 hours when working on more pressing matters. Staff e-mails can be found here with a list of responsibilities so you know who to contact for what.

You may also reach diocesan staff by phone at (912) 236-4279.

Hanks Young at Christ Church in Savannah focusing what really matters during the service - looking good for the camera!