June 29, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 26

The 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church was moved from 2021 due to the pandemic and will now be shorter in length to mitigate risk of spreading the virus. Meeting July 8 - 11, the convention was shortened from 10 legislative days to four by holding all legislative hearings via Zoom. Only Bishops, Deputies, and two Alternates from each diocese as well as the essential staff and volunteers will be on-site. All legislation, by this point, has been submitted from the House of Initial Action, likely headed for the consent calendar for each House to consider in our bicameral legislature.

The Diocese of Georgia’s Deputation is comprised of our Bishop as well as four clergy and four lay deputies with a first alternate in each order sent to the convention. Our deputies and alternates are:

Clergy Deputies

The Rev. Kelly Steele, Chair of the Deputation

The Rev. Ted Clarkson

The Rev. David Rose

The Very Rev. Tom Purdy

Lay Deputies

Ms. Cissy Bowden

Ms. Molly Stevenson

Mr. Jody Grant 

Ms. Elizabeth Williams

Alternates: The Rev. Leeann Culbreath and Ms. Katie Easterlin

"We have been active as a deputation thus far, submitting and testifying for legislation concerning human rights in the detention process, Title IV, lay parental leave, and an evangelism endowment fund. We look forward to electing a new President of the House of Deputies as well," said the Rev. Kelly Steele. 

About the General Convention

The General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church that meets every three years. The Convention is a bicameral legislature that includes the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. The work at Convention is carried out by deputies and bishops representing each diocese. During its triennial meeting deputies and bishops consider important matters facing the Church and also elect officers and approve the budget. 

The next General Convention will be held in 2024 with the House of Bishops electing a new Presiding Bishop to succeed Bishop Michael Curry during that meeting.

You can find out more about General Convention here and how legislation works here. 

Have you ever wanted to go back to summer camp at Honey Creek? Now is your chance! Our Family Camp weekend begins in just over two weeks. This weekend is intended to offer a chance to experience camp over the course of a weekend together. Families of all shapes and sizes are encouraged to come and play games, worship together, enjoy pool time and singing time, and of course share meals together. Families who consist of one individual, or grandparents and grandchildren, or extended families, or any other combination are all welcome to come be part of Family Camp!

During Family Camp families stay together in Lodge Rooms, and guardians remain responsible for their children throughout the weekend. Older children are able to go to different activities on their own, with their guardians’ permission. Every event is optional, so if your family most needs time to rest and recharge, it’s easy to take that time away.

Cost for Family Camp varies depending on how many people are attending and how many Lodge Rooms are needed. We recommend no more than three people per room, although four have occasionally squeezed into a room in the past, especially if some of them are small! When you enter the registration process, you will be able to select a number of participants and a number of rooms.

As with all Diocesan events that involve youth, we require that participants who are eligible be vaccinated, and that everyone wear masks while indoors. We also ask each participant to take an at-home covid test within 48 hours of arrival.

Arrival begins at 4 p.m. on Friday, and the event concludes after lunch on Sunday. Please contact Canon Varner at jvarner@gaepiscopal.org or Camp Director, Karen Bell at karenmackenziebell@gmail.com with your questions. 

The Registration Link is at www.honeycreek.org/camps. Scroll down the page to find the Family Camp link. If you prefer, the direct link is https://bit.ly/2022FamilyCamp.  

Removal of indigenous people followed by church expansion

As we approach the bicentennial of our founding in 2023, we will share the story of the Diocese of Georgia. This week we remember how Georgia's native population were first seen by the church as targets for evangelism and then later as obstacles to expansion.

The Creek Nation who welcomed colonists to the high bluff on the Savannah River were a relatively new political development in response to a crisis. That nation arose in an effort to unite indigenous peoples with a variety of languages and traditions after the mound-building societies that preceded them collapsed with the deaths by smallpox brought in the 16th century by Spanish Conquistadors. The new Creek Nation welcomed trade with Europeans. By the 1750s roughly 60,000 deer skins a year left Charleston and Savannah for English factories that used them to fashion breeches, gloves, and book covers. Commerce thrived until a steep decline in the deer population left the Creeks with no trade goods. 

In Georgia, the Creeks to the south and Cherokees to the north were seen not just as trade partners, but targets for missionary efforts including those by Anglicans like the Revs. John Wesley and Bartholomew Zouberbuhler. Later the Indigenous people were viewed as obstacles to be removed. The 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War set the westward boundary of Georgia as the Mississippi River. President George Washington negotiated with the Creeks the Treaty of New York in 1790 that moved the western boundary to the Oconee River just west of Athens. In 1802, politicians brokered a deal to have Georgia cede lands west of the Chattahoochee in exchange for getting what is the familiar map of the state. Georgia’s legislature spent the next 25 years calling on one president after another to make good on a pledge to “extinguish the Indian title to all other lands within the States of Georgia.” 



Pioneering Georgians were mostly Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians with Episcopalians following later. Bibb County was created around Macon in 1822. Three years later, the Rev. Lott Jones made an exploratory tour establishing the first new Episcopal Church in the state since the Revolution. The editor of the Savannah Georgian wrote in December 1825, “Last March two years ago, it was a wilderness…and perhaps nothing characterizes its refinement more conclusively than the fact that it maintains an Episcopal minister.”

In Columbus, land surveyors poured in as the Creeks were forced west. Trinity Church followed eight years later as the town was more established. Within another four years, the parishioners had built “A beautifully appointed church of forty-six pews with carpets, hangings, marble baptismal font, a pair of elegant stoves, hanging lamps and a three thousand dollar organ of fourteen stops.” 



As anticipation built for the cruel removal of the Cherokee Nation along what is now known as The Trail of Tears, Episcopalians planned their next steps. The Episcopal Church sent the Rev. John Hunt as a missionary to Clark County. The Rev. Edward Neufville, Rector of Christ Church, Savannah, and President of the Standing Committee also made a seven-month tour of the newly opening land. He officiated occasionally, as opportunity offered, for “the scattered members of our communion and others who were destitute of regular ministration.” Neufville noted that “Clarkesville and Milledgeville present a field for Missionary labour.” The pattern continued across the state as native peoples were forced out, other denominations arrived with pioneers with Episcopal Churches established years later.

Pictured above: James Oglethorpe with Creek Indians (above) and the Cherokee removal on the Trail of Tears (below).

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.

Please note : the deadline to submit your your amendment will be August 15.

During the 2021 Diocesan Convention that met in November, delegates considered a package of changes to the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese. After passing two amendments and postponing a third, the Convention passed the resolution on a first reading. The proposed changes will come before the Convention this November.

Bishop Logue is appointing a Task Group to shepherd the process this year, allowing time for due consideration and a a way to propose additional amendments. The Constitution and Canons as voted on by Convention in 2021 can be viewed here.

The Constitution and Canons as voted on by Convention in 2021, with all changes tracked from the previous version, can be viewed here.

Propose amendments online

The Diocese will use a Google Form to facilitate the collection of proposed amendments to the Canons. Any member of the clergy or delegate to Convention (2021 delegates remain in effect until a congregation names new delegates) may propose an amendment using this form: Proposed Amendments to Canons.

If you have any questions, please contact Canon Loren Lasch at llasch@gaepiscopal.org.

Convention will be held November 10-12, 2022 in Savannah.

Hurricane season officially begins on June 1, and the diocese will once again use AlertMedia to stay in contact with parishes who may be affected by natural disasters. 

Send your updated information of Clergy, Senior, and Junior Wardens to Liz Williams at lwilliams@gaepiscopal.org.

The Rev. Thomas Barron and members of the Grovetown Mission at their booth at Augusta Pride.

The Rev. Glenn Palmer and members of Holy Comforter in Martinez man their booth at Augusta Pride.

Members of Christ Church in Dublin at Dublin's Pride event.

St. Peter's in Savannah held a Creative Arts Camp that included games, crafts, and music.

St. Luke's in Rincon held their 2022 Music and Arts Camp.

Parishioners of Saint Paul's in Augusta served food at The Master's Table.

St. George's in Savannah held a Family Game Night that brought out all the competition!

At left is the St. Thomas Isle of Hope youth pilgrimage visiting the MLK Memorial in Washington DC and at right, the St. Peter's in Savannah youth pilgrimage with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Acolytes at Christ Church in Savannah lead the procession out at the end of the Eucharist on Sunday.

The Rev. Galen Mirate at St. Paul's in Albany with baby Charlie, who's great-great-great grandfather, Charles Thomas Wright, was a Rector of St. Paul's.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Darien is seeking a part-time organist for Sunday worship and special occasion services. Hymns and service music are typically from the 1982 Episcopal Hymnal. There is also a Tuesday evening rehearsal requirement with the choir, all to total approximately 3-4 hours per week. Candidates should be familiar with an organ with 2 manuals and a pedal clavier, be music literate, and be willing to work collaboratively with the Rector and Music Director. Pay will be commensurate with experience. Interested parties should email their resume to standrew@darientel.net.

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Augusta is searching for a Director of Student Ministries. A resource size parish with a pre-pandemic ASA of 500, The Church of the Good Shepherd is seeking a full-time youth minister. The DSM has responsibility for all aspects of youth ministry and Christian formation for parish youth from middle school through high school, which includes Sunday School, Youth Group, mission trips, and other youth activities. A detailed job description can be found here. For further information, please contact the Rev. Ted H. Clarkson, Interim Rector at tclarkson@goodshepherd-augusta.org or call (912)230-9388.

St. Augustine of Canterbury in Augusta is looking for a Parish Administrator. For more information, contact the Rev. Jim Said at jim@st-augustines.org.

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.   

June 26 - July 2

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Pooler, St. Patrick’s. We also pray for our ecumenical partners, especially Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Garden City and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Port Wentworth. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Mary, Full of Grace (Santa María Llena de Gracia) in Mao. 

July 3 - 9

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Richmond Hill, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Richmond Hill, especially Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church and St. Anne’s Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Mary the Virgin (Santa María Virgen) in Monte Llano. 

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 3/1/2022)

Please note that diocesan staff members will be traveling this summer for both work and personal time. Those updates will be noted in this section, along with the corresponding staff member to contact if there is a need.

Bishop Logue, Canon Easterlin, and Liz Williams will be at General Convention in Baltimore July 7-12.

Bishop Logue will make his visitation to Worship on the Water at Christ Church in Cordele on Sunday.

To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated for 2023 - 5/4/2022)

Pictured: Liz Williams, the Rev. Kelly Steele, and the Rev. David Rose at the Province IV Synod meeting at Camp McDowell in April.

Canon Lasch is on vacation this week.

Canon Varner will be at Honey Creek during the month of June to assist Camp Director Karen Bell with summer camp.

Liz Williams will be on vacation Thursday and Friday.

The office will be closed on Monday in observance of July 4.

The office will begin the summer hours of operation, which will mean that the office will be closed on Fridays at noon.



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.

Campers at the St. Peter session dress to the 9's!