December 14, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 50

All I want for Christmas is Summer Camp

Are you at a loss as to what to give your kids, or grandkids, or any other young person in your life? Now you can register them for Summer Camp at Honey Creek, and if they're registered by December 31, you get a $75 discount on the cost of camp!

There are three Summer Camp Sessions, all of which take place in June 2023.

• High School Camp, June 4-10, 2023
• Camp St. Peter (Currently in grades 6-8), June 11-17, 2023
• Camp St. Joseph & Mary (currently in grades 3-5), June 18-24, 2023

Register now, at http://www.honeycreek.org/camps, save $75, and guarantee your place at camp this summer. It's going to be great!

Virginia Towill Maxwell (1933-2022)

The people of the Diocese of Georgia mourn the death of Virginia Maxwell who died on December 10th surrounded by her children. She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, the Reverend George M. Maxwell. George often said of her, “Ginny has more grace in her little finger than I have in my whole body.” 

She had a deep love for Christ Church Savannah. Through the years, she organized a school for migrant workers’ children, needle point guilds, a ballet company, Flannery O’Conner workshops, as well as the Christ Church Altar and Lector Guilds. 

“A woman of elegance who was fun to be with, Virginia was always helpful to other clergy spouses in the Diocese of Georgia,” Bishop Logue said. “She was a person of abiding faith in Jesus who met with a prayer group for more than four decades.”

Her funeral is this Friday, December 16 at 11:00am at Christ Church (Episcopal), 28 Bull Street, Savannah, GA. The Rev. Michael White will officiate with Bishop Frank Logue preaching. Memorial gifts may be given to Christ Church (Episcopal), 18 Abercorn St., Savannah GA 31401.

Order a Diocese of Georgia embroidered seal

Order your own hand-embroidered Diocese of Georgia seal designed to go on a tippet (preaching scarf). Made by Trevor Floyd, who also made the new Diocesan banner at the office and at Sewanee, now has this pattern if anyone else in the Diocese wishes to get one as part of a bulk order. Each seal is $65.

Thanks also to Archdeacon Yvette Owens who prompted our getting this made.

If you would like to buy a seal, contact Canon Loren Lasch at llasch@gaepiscopal.org by January 4, 2023.

Feast of Feasts Videos for Group Discussions

Seven videos, one for each week of the Feast of Feasts devotional are available online designed for groups discussing the readings. The videos contain all new material adding to the theme of the week including saints whose lives exemplify the theme of the week. The discussion guide is online here.

The videos are on the Diocese of Georgia's YouTube Channel and are organized together in order on this playlist. This week's video on compassion is linked below, which includes the story of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a member of the Third Order Society of St. Francis as he stood up to oppression in South Africa.

Leading with Grace announces 2023 dates

Leading with Grace is a Diocese of Georgia leadership program for clergy and laity. Facilitators include clergy and laity from around the diocese, from some of our largest parishes to some of our smallest. This four-weekend program includes large and small group discussion and activities, along with research-based instruction, focusing on relationships inside and outside the church, strategic planning for growth and change, best leadership practices, and opportunities for transformation through conflict and anxiety. All parish leaders--clergy, vestry, wardens, and committee leaders--are encouraged to attend. 



Each weekend begins Friday with Eucharist at

5 p.m. at Honey Creek, and concludes by 3:00 p.m. Saturday on the following weekends in 2023: 

• February 10-11 
• April 14-15 
• August 18-19 
• September 29-30 

Participants need to commit to each of the four weekends to fully benefit from the program. Teams of 2-4 from parishes are encouraged, although single participants (and larger teams) are welcome. 

More information, with links to registration, will appear in next week’s From the Field. 

St. Nick Party at St. John's & St. Mark's

The Episcopal Church of St. John and St. Mark in Albany held its annual St. Nick Block Party. Fifty children from the Albany community came to the church with their parents or other adult. While the grown folks stayed in Primo parish hall sipping hot chocolate, elves helped the children shop for gifts to give to the caring adults in their lives.

Each child picked two gifts and was escorted to the sanctuary where the Christmas-bishop (pictured below) gave them gold (chocolate) coins.

New Beginnings #59 Staff Application and Participant Registration now open

• When: April February 24-46, 2023
• Who: Youth in Grades 7-9
• Where: Honey Creek!
• Cost: $125 per person

New Beginnings #59, a retreat for youth currently in Grades 7-9, is open for registration. This event is led by older youth, with adult support. In a time of increased anxiety and uncertainty, New Beginnings offers young people a chance to gather at Honey Creek offers young people a chance to step back from their daily lives and reflect on some of the big issues of life, such as Family, Peer Pressure, Friends, and how the Love God has for all of us is unconditional and everlasting. Participant Registration is available here: https://bit.ly/NBParticipants.

Applications to serve on New Beginnings Staff are also available! Any youth who has attended either New Beginnings or Happening is eligible to serve on staff. Serving on staff includes a commitment to attend the entire weekend, and to attend the staff lock-in, which is scheduled for February 4-5, 2023 at St. Anne's in Tifton. The staff application is here: https://bit.ly/NBStaffApplication.

If you would like to serve on the New Beginnings Steering Committee, contact New Beginnings Coordinator Karen Bell at karenmackenziebell@gmail.com.

The Lead Teen for New Beginnings #59 is Jackson Beckham from St. Anne's in Tifton.

Happening #107 Staff Applications open

Happening #107 is on the schedule for March 24-26,2023 at Honey Creek! This event, led by youth for youth in grades 9-12 and offers participants (called candidates) a chance to explore their faith together, and address deep questions of piety, prayer, grace, reality, and more. It is open to any young person in Grades 9-12 who has not yet attended a Happening. Registration for Candidates is available here: https://bit.ly/HappeningParticipants. The event begins on Friday evening and ends with a Closing Eucharist on Sunday afternoon.

Staff applications for those who have previously attended Happening are also open now, and are available here: https://bit.ly/HappeningStaffApplication. More information is also on the Georgia Happening Website: www.georgiahappening.com.

As with all Diocesan Youth Events, we will adhere to the Diocesan policies requiring Covid-19 vaccination and testing in the week prior to the event for all participants and staff. In addition, to allow for some spacing, we are limiting the total number of Candidates and Staff to fifty people.

The Georgia Happening website, georgiahappening.com, is updated and will continue to be updated as we move closer to our Happening date! 

Remember the BEST is yet to come!

E.Y.E. 2023 Interest Form

Episcopal Youth Event (E.Y.E.) is held every three years, but with the pandemic it was rescheduled. Over 1500 youth and adults from all over the United States come together for four days of fun, fellowship, and learning.

The next E.Y.E. will be held July 4-8, 2023. The anticipated cost for the event, including travel, food, and fees, will range between $700-$800. Scholarship assistance is available.

If you are a high school youth or adult advisor who would be interested in learning more, fill out the interest form found here.

For more information or questions, contact Canon Joshua Varner at jvarner@gaepiscopal.org.

Daughters of the Diocese: Sada Elliott and

Nellie Bright

As we approach the bicentennial of our founding in 2023, we will share the story of the Diocese of Georgia. This week we remember two women raised in the Diocese of Georgia who went on to make a larger impact.

When recounting the history of the Diocese of Georgia, one can miss the impact that extends well beyond the bounds of the Diocese. Two women–Sarah Elliott and Nellie Bright–raised in the Diocese are examples of people influenced here who went on to make a difference well beyond Georgia.

Sarah “Sada” Barnwell Elliott (1848-1928) was born at the Montpelier Institute, which her father, Bishop Stephen Elliott founded near Forsyth, Georgia. Elliott was a strong proponent of education for women. Bishop Elliott died in 1866, when Sada was 18. She moved to Sewanee with her mother in 1871 and other than attending classes at Johns Hopkins University in 1886 and living in New York City from 1895 to 1904, she was on the Mountain the remainder of her life. 

Sada published her first novel, The Felmeres (1879), at the age of 31. The novel of a woman whose unbending devotion to duty and honor led to tragic consequences interested reviewers who did not anticipate serious themes from a woman. She traveled to Texas to visit her brother, Robert, who was the Missionary Bishop of Western Texas, which led to her second novel, A Simple Heart (1887). As with all of her writings, the Episcopal Church featured prominently in the story. Her most successful novel was Jerry (1891) and her strongest female lead came with The Making of Jane (1901). She set aside her career as an author to raise two orphaned nephews. Yet, she remained a noted resident of Sewanee with her “Mondays” when she held an open house for residents and students during which she gained a reputation for her sharp wit. 



Elliott became active in the women’s suffrage movement and served as president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association from 1912-1914. Her invitation to the National American Woman Suffrage Association led to that group meeting in Nashville in 1914 in a convention that increased support for suffrage in Tennessee. Her writing was part of a movement of local color books, with characters speaking in dialect, that fell out of fashion by the time she died. Her work on the right to vote had an enduring legacy as Tennessee became the last state needed to pass women’s suffrage nationwide. 

Nellie Rathbone Bright (1898-1977) was born in Savannah to the Rev. Richard and Nellie Bright. Her father was the Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Savannah. Her mother, Nellie, was educated in Europe as a teacher. The Bright’s valued education and established the first private kindergarten and primary school for blacks in Georgia. When their daughter, also named Nellie, was 12, the family moved to Philadelphia as part of the Great Migration. After graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in 1923 with a Bachelors in English, Bright taught in Philadelphia public schools. She served as a principal from 1935 until her 1952 retirement. During the 1920s she was part of a literary group known as the Black Opals. In 1927–1928, She co-edited Black Opals, together with Arthur Fauset. The literary magazine, published in Philadelphia, was part of the larger influence of the Harlem Renaissance. 



Allen Ballard was a student of hers who became an author and history professor. He said that she was a strict principal who instilled a love for and pride of African American history and culture in her students. He added, “We were all Nellie Bright's children and she expected great things from us and so she created a wonderful school.”

Pictured: Sarah Barnwell Elliott (top) The Felmeres is linked above and her short-story collection As Others See Us is also in print; Nellie Rathbone Bright (bottom).

Feast of Feasts online

The Diocese of Georgia is offering daily devotions written by Bishop Frank and Victoria Logue for a 7-week study from Advent through Epiphany. The short daily readings use the lens of Franciscan ideals including humility, simplicity, and peace as a focal point of each week. This is perfect to enjoy as a solo study, a small group, or as an offering for the whole congregation. The devotions are being posted online daily on our website and social media channels.

You can find each week's devotions, as well as the accompanying video for the week, on our website. Click on the day of the devotion, and it will expand with the day's reading.

You can find additional ways to acquire the full PDF online or the book on our website here.

Holy Comforter in Martinez held a cookie swap that created holiday boxes to gift to first responders and those working over the holidays.

Calvary in Americus held its first ever Christmas Tour of Homes as a fundraiser for their community outreach projects. The $6,845 raised this year will benefit the Sumter County Middle School Clothing and Hygiene Closet and to their local Court Appointed Special Advocacy (CASA) organization.

St. Anne's in Tifton held a day of reflection for Advent with the Rev. Nathan Wilson from St. Paul's in Jesup as the guest speaker.

Members of Atonement in Augusta with Bishop Logue after the service.

Members of St. Alban's in Augusta with Bishop Logue after the service.

All Saints' on Tybee Island participated in a community food drive for the Tybee Island Food Pantry

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 2022 one year prayer cycle is online here: 2022 Prayer Cycle.     

December 18 - 24

In our diocesan prayer cycle, we pray for Honey Creek, for our ministry with homeless persons in Savannah, the Community of St. Joseph, and for our Racial Justice and Healing Ministry. We also pray for our ecumenical partners, especially the Catholic congregations of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Sandhill, San José in Twin Lakes, Holy Redeemer in McRae, and Holy Cross in Pembroke. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for Diocese of the Dominican Republic Parochial Schools. 

December 25 - December 31

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our Bishop, Frank Logue, and our retired bishop, Scott Benhase. We pray for our ecumenical partners, especially, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah and their Bishop, Gregory Hartmayer; and for the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Southeast Synod and their Bishop, Kevin Strickland. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for their Bishop, Moisés Quezada, and retired bishops, Julio Holguin, Telésforo Isaac, and William Skilton.

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)

Bishop Logue will make his visitation to St. Thomas Isle of Hope in Savannah on Sunday.

To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated for 2023 - 8/30/2022)

Picture: Bishop Kevin Strickland of the ELCA Southeastern Synod visited Bishop Logue’s office at Diocesan House this week. We have several initiatives in partnership with Lutherans and will begin a new pastor-priest cohort in 2023 as described in the Bishop's Address to diocesan convention.

Executive Assistant to the Bishop Maggie Lyons and Canon Katie Easterlin are 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.

Members of St. Barnabas in Valdosta serenade residents at PruittHealth.