April 27, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 17 | |
Georgia Interfaith Power & Light Resources | |
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Canon Easterlin recently met with Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL) specifically about new programs, and how our congregations can use GIPL as a resource.
If your parish has a Green Team or would like to start a Green Team, register with both GIPL and our own Creation Care Commission! By registering with both groups, parishes are able to stay connected and and receive updates from both GIPL and the diocesan Creation Care Commission. To register with GIPL, fill out this form. To register with the diocesan commission, email them at creationcarecommission@gmail.com.
GIPL is also looking for a Coastal and Environmental Justice Organizer. To view the job description, click here.
Are you passionate about climate change and elections? Join GIPL's Get Out the Vote campaign. The Faith Climate Justice Campaign is focused on engaging and mobilizing faith voters to communicate their values of caring for our common home and loving our neighbors through voting.
To download the full information sheet seen above, click the image.
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The Diocese of Georgia mourns the death of David Ronn, an active and beloved member of the clergy spouse group.
David was born in Superior, Wisconsin to Ernest and LaVerne Ronn on June 23, 1947. He went to school at East High School in Superior. He married Denise on November 13 1971 at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Superior with a BA in 1969, a BS in Meteorology from the University of Utah in 1970, and earned a Master's Degree in Systems Management in 1977 from the University of Southern California. He served in the US Air Force as a meteorologist and an F-4 fighter pilot for over 20 years, retiring in 1989. After retirement from the Air Force, David earned an Education Specialists Degree in 1997 and a Master of Education in 200), both from Valdosta State University. He went on to teach chemistry and physics, as well as served as an assistant principal at Valdosta High School for over 16 years.
David is survived by his wife, the Rev. Denise Ronn, his son Matthew and daughter-in-law Jennifer, and grandchildren Hayden, Sawyer, and Brooklyn; his son Michael and daughter-in-law Davina, and grandchildren Seraphina and Isaac; and his brother, Alan, and sister-in-law Pam.
In lieu of flowers, donations in David's name may be given to The Red Door Ministry at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension (205 W Cherokee Ave, Cartersville, GA 30120). The memorial service will be held at 2:30pm this afternoon at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Cartersville.
Pictured above: David at the 2019 Clergy Spouse Conference at Honey Creek. He loved attending these gatherings and working on projects around the Creek.
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Beef and Beer Dinners - A Utopian Ideal | |
As we approach the bicentennial of our founding in 2023, we will share the story of the Diocese of Georgia. This week we remember the Rev. Thomas Bray and his work in Newgate Prison.
Weekly Beef and Beer Dinners hosted in Newgate Prison by the Rev. Thomas Bray are where the priest planted seeds for what grew into the Colony of Georgia. Bray (1656-1730), who was then the Rector of St. Botolph-Without-the-Walls in London, was deeply concerned about those jailed for their inability to pay off their debts. Through this work, the charismatic priest gathered a group of friends including a young politician, James Edward Oglethorpe. Bray dreamed of a colony where those trapped in debt could gain the opportunity for a fresh start. While the dedicated reformer died before Georgia was founded, the charter for the colony captured his utopian ideal with prohibitions against selling rum, having enslaved people work the land, and owning more than 150 acres per family. The charter also had a prohibition against lawyers and expressed tolerance for Jews as well as some persecuted Christian groups (such as the Salzburgers) to settle. This Christian idealism was the driving force for the founders of the colony. (Louise Shipps painted the icon above. The original painting of Sir Thomas Bray is in the conference room at Diocesan House.)
Bray was the rare senior clergyman in the Church of England who had spent time in the American colonies. Years before his prison reform efforts, the Bishop of London sent Bray to Maryland as his representative. Though his visit was less than three months, the tour revealed an intellectual poverty that Bray spent the rest of his life addressing. Once he was back home in England, Bray founded the Society for the Proclamation of the Gospel (SPG) to raise the needed funds to provide clergy stipends for the colonies. SPG would in time provide priests for Christ Church in Savannah, and Saint Paul’s in Augusta. Bray also founded the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) to publish books and create lending libraries in the colonies. They founded fifty libraries in Church of England congregations in America. Both SPG and SPCK remain active to this day. Thomas Bray died February 15, 1730, which is marked as a feast day of the Episcopal Church in Lesser Feasts and Fasts.
While the seed Bray planted in a young Oglethorpe did bear much fruit, the colony did not alleviate the plight of prisoners. King George II, for whom the colony was named, approved of Georgia as a buffer between his colonists in the Carolinas and Spanish lands in Florida. The Crown also consented to release of thousands of debtors, but turned them out on the streets of London and other cities without prospect of employment. Ads run in London’s newspaper offered free passage to the new colony, together with land, tools, and all the food needed for the first year. But prospective colonists were picked based on the vocational skills needed rather than their status as debtors. None of the freed prisoners made the trip to found Georgia.
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Deadline for EYCS scholarships May 31 | |
Register for New Beginnings #57! | |
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When: May 6-8, 2022
- Who: Youth in Grades 7-9
- Where: Honey Creek!
- Cost: $125 per person
New Beginnings #57, 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/NB57Participants.
The Lead Teen for New Beginnings #57 is Jake Diamond, of Christ Church, Valdosta.
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Registration now open for Family Camp! | |
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After a two-year break, we are thrilled to have Summer Camp back! And we're so excited to offer Family Camp again!
Last year’s weekend sessions were quite popular, and so during the weekend of July 8-10, we will offer Family Camp for families of all types, grandparents and children, friends coming back to camp together, individuals coming on their own, or any other combinations!
Our updated Summer Camp Schedule is below:
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New Diocese of Georgia banner installed at Sewanee | |
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Visitors to All Saints Chapel at Sewanee will now see the new banner representing the Diocese of Georgia hanging in the eaves.
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia is one of twenty-eight constituent dioceses that affirms and strengthens the Episcopal identity of Sewanee: The University of the South. The Episcopal university houses the undergraduate school as well as the School of Theology where seminarians are prepared for life in ordained and lay ministry. In addition to the regular curriculum, The School of Theology also runs key continuing education and self-development programs for lay persons and clergy that include Education for Ministry (EfM), Sewanee Ministry Collaborative and the SUMMA Student Theological Debate Society for high school students.
Sewanee alumni were asked to assist in the purchasing of the new banner for All Saints Chapel at Sewanee, and we're still $644 away from the fundraising goal to cover the cost. Donations can be made to the Diocese of Georgia with indication that it is for the "Sewanee Banner" and sent to Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, 18 E 34th St, Savannah, GA 31401. The Diocese will inform you when our fundraising goal is met. If any excess funds were to remain, these would go towards the Sewanee School of Theology Scholarship Fund that supports seminarians in residence.
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Members of St. Mary Magdalene in Louisville joined the Ogeechee Riverkeeper Organization to clean up one of the roadways along the river as part of the Great American Cleanup. | |
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St. Athanasius in Brunswick dedicated their parish hall meeting room in honor of Deaconess Anna Butler Alexander, a Saint of Georgia and named a Saint in the wider Episcopal Church.
Pictured l-r with the Rev. DeWayne Cope are vestry members Sand Jones, Joyce Rhodes, Renee East, Myrna Scott Amos, and Valerie Ryals. Not pictured: Michael Robinson
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Bishop Logue with those who were either received, confirmed, reaffirmed, and baptized at
St. Mark's in Brunswick on Sunday.
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St. Francis of the Islands in Savannah had a match donation to cover the cost of putting new mulch
on the playground.
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Members of Saint Paul's in Augusta serving at Master's Table soup kitchen. | |
Episcopal Campus Ministry at Georgia Southern | |
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If your parish has a graduate who will be attending Georgia Southern in the fall, please have them contact the Rev. Charles Todd, the Episcopal Missioner at Georgia Southern.
There are also three rooms available for rent at the ECM house! Rent is reasonable and residents are expected to assist with weekly programming and building the campus ministry community.
For more information, contact the Rev. Charles Todd at charles@trinitystatesboro.org.
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Job Positions Around the Diocese | |
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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.
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Prayer for Weekly Liturgies | |
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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.
April 24 - April 30
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our Grovetown Episcopal-Lutheran Mission, and our ecumenical partners in the Catholic churches in Cuthbert and Donalsonville—St. Luke's and the Church of the Incarnation. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for Christ the Liberator (Cristo Libertador) in Hato Mayor.
May 1 - 7
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Hawkinsville,
St. Luke’s. We also pray for our ecumenical partners, especially St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Eastman. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for Jesus the Messiah (Jesús Mesías) in Imbert.
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)
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Diocesan Office Update and News | |
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Bishop Logue is at Camp McDowell in the Diocese of Alabama for Province IV House of Bishops (pictured here) and and then the Province IV Synod meeting in preparation for General Convention this week.
He will be at St. Paul's in Albany on Saturday for the installation of the Rev. Galen Mirate as the new Rector. On Sunday he will make his visitation to Trinity in Cochran.
On Monday, Bishop Logue will offer the invocation for JUST Savannah's Nehemiah Action meeting. On Tuesday, he will preach at the opening Eucharist of the Episcopal Communicator's Conference, which will be held in Savannah.
To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated 4/4/2022)
Canon Varner will be on retreat through Thursday, April 28.
Canon Lasch will celebrate and preach at St. Patrick's in Pooler on Sunday.
Liz Williams will be at Camp McDowell April 27-29 for Province IV Synod with other members of the Diocese of Georgia deputation for General Convention. Next week she will be attending the Episcopal Communicators Conference.
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.
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Wait - where'd he come from?! | |
Bishop Logue photobombs the Rev. Alan Akridge and Cal in their "ussie" after the service at St. Mark's on Sunday. Bishop Logue received Cal into the Episcopal Church in the liturgy. | | | | |
