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January 12, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 2

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New Beginnings #56

Brings Middle and High School Youth Together

This past weekend 19 participants and 17 staff took part in New Beginnings #56. This retreat, which is for youth in grades 7-9, brought youth from across the Diocese and beyond together. Participants and staff came from Augusta, the Golden Isles, Savannah, Valdosta, Tifton, and more. Lead Teen Catherine Craig is in her first year at UGA in Athens, and took time to come back to help New Beginnings get back up and running. For reference, New Beginnings was the first youth event to be postponed in March of 2020. 


At New Beginnings, high school staff offer talks on everything from our individual identity (“Who am I”) to our familial relationships (“Siblings,” “Parents”) to our God in the world (“God is Love,” “Who is Jesus?”) to our relationships with God and the Church (“Prayer,” “The Church and Me”). In their talks, the staff members share stories from their own lives, which participants then reflect on in small groups.

Worship is also a critical piece of New Beginnings, taking place each day in the morning and evening, and finishing with a Closing Eucharist on Sunday. At the Eucharist, staff member Lachlan Davidson preached the sermon, and Spiritual Director Katie Knoll-Lenon, of Christ Church, Frederica, celebrated.


Covid took its toll on both staff and participants, as several people were unable to attend due to positive tests the week before. However, both staff and participants adapted quickly and exhibited grace and patience as plans were adjusted! Some staff were asked to take on new roles at the last minute, and others who had planned to give talks in person gave them over Zoom instead, with their images projected onto the screen in Stuart Hall.


Participants reported that the event was “amazing” and “awesome.” Several have already asked about returning for New Beginnings #57, which will be held this Spring under the leadership of Lead Teen Jake Diamond of Valdosta.

Lachlan Davidson preaches during the closing Eucharist, reminding the participants that Honey Creek "is a special place, one where the Spirit lives. But I challenge you to take this place out into the world."


Above left: Charlotte Vaughn from St. Augustine of Canterbury in Augusta gives her talk via Zoom.


Above right: Jackson Beckham from St. Anne's in Tifton and Lead Teen Catherine Craig chat with Molly Grace Lindsay from Saint Paul's in Augusta before giving her talk via Zoom.

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Two Priests Retired on Sunday

This past Sunday, two priests with more than 70 years of service to the church between them marked their last Sunday before retirement - the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Taylor and the Rev. Canon Dedra Bell Wolski. Bishop Logue said, "These two colleagues each have so much fruit of ministry we can all see where ever they have served. I look back with gratitude for the ordinations of these spirit-filled leaders and all that God has done through them."

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The Rev. Cynthia Taylor is in the midst of the Church of the Holy Comforter, the church she planted in 1999, on the 30th anniversary of her ordination to the priesthood in 2016.

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Taylor

Born in Indianapolis, Cynthia Taylor earned a BA from the University of South Carolina and worked as a journalist at three radio stations as first a reporter and then news director. She was working on a masters degree in journalism when the Holy Spirit intervened with a persistent call to the priesthood. She graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1986 and was ordained a deacon that year and a priest the following year by Bishop Allison in the Diocese of South Carolina. She served as an associate in Florence, South Carolina, before moving to a call at the American Cathedral in Paris.


Taylor moved to the Diocese of Georgia in 1991 to serve at Saint Paul's Church, Augusta. That congregation assisted her as she began the initial work toward founding what became the Church of the Holy Comforter in 1999. In 2007, the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Taylor earned her Doctor in Ministry degree from the School of Theology of the University of the South (Sewanee).

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The Rev. Canon Dedra Ann Bell-Wolski

Born in Joliet, Illinois, Dedra Bell-Wolski earned a BA in Psychology and Sociology from Florida Southern in 1980 and a Master of Divinity from General Theological Seminary in 1983. She was ordained a deacon by Bishop Calvin Schofield, Jr. on June 11, 1984. Bishop John Shelby Spong ordained her to the priesthood on January 18, 1985, while she served at St. Paul's Church in Paterson, New Jersey. Canon Bell-Wolski is pictured her on Sunday at Christ Church, St. Marys.


She served at Lincoln Cathedral in the Church of England in 1985-1986 and was made a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis in 1987. Bell-Wolski served as a US Navy Chaplain from September 1991 through her retirement in November 2011. She retired as a Commander. She has served as Priest in Charge of Christ Church, St. Marys since July 2012.

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1Book1Diocese for Lent

The 1Book1Diocese for Lent is Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans.


The author, who died in 2019, wrote of this book when it was published "Perhaps more than any other book I’ve written, Inspired is intended to be read, wrestled with, discussed, debated, and creatively engaged with in the context of community. And that’s precisely because the Bible invites us to do the same."


Bishop Logue said, "Rachel was a thoughtful Christian whose books remain as a testament to the deep, authentic faith of a woman who had a way with God’s word offering a healing balm to those who most needed Jesus’ love." He added, "I have heard her called the C.S. Lewis for the post Baby Boom generations and I find that not hyperbole, but naming rightly the importance of her work."


Many Lenten studies start on the week after Ash Wednesday and conclude in Holy Week to fit an every Wednesday pattern for meetings. As Inspired is divided into eight sections, the Diocese of Georgia's 1Book1Diocese read will start the week of Ash Wednesday and conclude in Easter Week. The reading guide for the Diocese of Georgia can be found here.

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Two opportunities for clergy to gather

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 11 at St. Anne's in Tifton and on Tuesday, April 12 at Trinity in Statesboro. Both services will begin at 10:30 am.


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




Save the date for the Spring Clergy Retreat May 9-11 at Honey Creek. The retreat will offer clergy a chance to gather together to rest, worship, play, and learn together.


Registration will be open soon!

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Savannah MLK parade POSTPONED

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Day Association, Inc., has postponed the Savannah Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade indefinitely due to rising COVID-19 cases. When and if the public health indicators improve and the parade is rescheduled, St. Matthew's and the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia intend to participate. We will keep you updated as this situation develops.

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Candidate Registration & Staff Applications

Open Now for Happening #105 - March 4-6

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Happening #105 is on the schedule for March 4-6, 2022 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: http://bit.ly/Happening105Candidates. 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. More information is also on the Georgia Happening Website: www.georgiahappening.com. The deadline for Staff Applications is Tuesday, January 25.


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!


To register as a Candidate, click here.

To apply for Staff, click here

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Leading With Grace Registration Now Open

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Registration is now open for the Diocese of Georgia's new diocesan training school called Leading With Grace. Please sign up to participate by Feb 1, 2022. To register, click here.


Leading With Grace (LWG) is taking the place of the Church Development Institute (CDI). This change is much more than in name only. During the pandemic, the CDI team and Diocesan Council collected feedback, reflected on our ten years of service and considered societal shifts. All of this helped to create our new curriculum geared toward equipping clergy, vestry and lay leaders with the tools they need to grow their parishes. 


Leading With Grace comprises the essential components of CDI and some new material based on the team’s ministry experiences. A complete year will be four weekends, each of which will begin on Friday evening at 5 PM and will finish at 3 PM on Saturday, interspersed with prayer, small and large group discussion and practice. LWG will take place in one year cycles in four different regional centers around the diocese. It will culminate with a combined weekend at Honey Creek on August 19-20, 2022. 


  • Augusta (St. Augustine’s)
  • Feb 11-12, 2022
  • March 18-19 or 25-26, 2022
  • May 13-14, 2022
  • Savannah (St. Peter’s)
  • Feb 11-12, 2022
  • March 18-19, 2022
  • May 13-14, 2022
  • Honey Creek (Waverly, GA)
  • Feb 11-12, 2022
  • March 18-19, 2022
  • May 13-14, 2022
  • Western Side of the Diocese 
  • St. Paul's Albany on Feb 25-26, 2022
  • St. Annes Tifton on Mar 25-26, 2022
  • Christ Church Valdosta on May 20-21, 2022


The cost per parish team is:

For a team of four the fee is $ 225              

For a team of three the fee is $ 200                  

For a team of two the fee is $ 175                     

For an individual the fee is $125


Those individuals that started CDI and finished only 2 weekends will be given first priority at registration and will owe 50% of the fees above.


All fees are due upon registration.


Please sign up to participate by Feb 1, 2022. To register, click here.


We’ll consider together, “What does faithful leadership look like

at this moment in the life of the church?”

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Save the Date for two events in February

Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa's Confessor

February 6, 2022 at 4:00pm

A conversation with author the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, Director of the Desmond Tutu Center



Drawing upon the three-fold stages of Christian mysticism, Dr. Battle’s talk will explore these three mystical stages of purgation, illumination and union for insights both into the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and our life today in the church. Tutu’s spiritual legacy is important because in his vision there is a need to redefine new models for being human that go beyond our conflicts today. Tutu’s spirituality moves beyond our culture wars and in so doing guards against the manipulation of religion.


This will be a one hour session via Zoom.

Clergy & Police: A Theological Approach to Policing Policy

February 10, 2022 9:00am-2:00pm


An online conference for the Diocese of Georgia, Atlanta, and the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, this will feature panelists and experts who will provide context and skills to equip clergy to engage with law enforcement within their community. This online clergy conference meets on February 17 in three Zoom meeting sessions with breaks between from 9 am to 2 pm. The Rev. Guillermo Arboleda will teach the plenary sessions and lead panel discussions with other clergy who are working in various ways with their local police departments.


These two events are sponsored by Racial Justice Georgia and the Diocese of Georgia.


More information about each event, including registration links, will be in later editions of From the Field.

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Across the Diocese

All Saints' on Tybee Island held a Quiet Day, led by their chapter of Daughters of the King.

There was a full house for Bishop Logue's visit at St. Patrick's in Pooler, which included a baptism!

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Bishop Logue, Casey Perkins-Lawrence, Shayna Cranford, Gabriel Perkins-Lawrence, Shelley Martin, and Ken Shrader in the Chapel of the Apostles at Sewanee as the bishop visited this week with our students studying in the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theology, and the Alternate Clergy Training programs.

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In this observance of the visit of the Magi to Jesus, the Rev. Larry Jesion, priest at St. Michael's in Waynesboro, writes 20+C+M+B+22 above the door, asking Christ's blessing on all who live in this house, or all who enter this church.

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


January 9 - 15

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Americus, Calvary, and for our ecumenical partners in Americus especially St. Mary’s Catholic Church and for St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Plains. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Azua—Reconciliation (La Reconciliación) and St. George (San Jorge).


January 16 - 22

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Augusta, especially, the Church of the Atonement and Christ Church. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Augusta, especially Advent Lutheran Church, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and The Church of the Resurrection Lutheran Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the Church of the Transfiguration (La Transfiguración) in Banî. 


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 9/25/2021)

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Diocesan Office Update and News

Bishop Logue will visit the Episcopal Day School in Augusta on Friday morning and will be at Our Savior, Martinez, that evening to dedicate the parish hall anew following significant repairs. He will make his visitation to St. Matthew's in Savannah on Sunday.


To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated 1/7/2022)


Canon Varner will celebrate and preach at St. Francis of the Islands in Savannah on Sunday.


Canon Lasch will be on vacation January 14-23.


Liz Williams is meeting this week with the planning team for the upcoming Episcopal Communicators Conference to be held in Savannah.


You may reach diocesan staff by phone at (912) 236-4279. Given staff schedules of meetings and travel, 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.

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Hey look!

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The staff and participants of New Beginnings enjoy a fun photo moment.

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