Tasting Our Daily Bread

I did a good deal of reflecting this week.  Mo. Nikki and I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at the annual diocesan Clergy Conference at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton.  This year’s conference had the feel of a retreat, with the program focused on meditations from Bishop Wright and discussion around the table with other clergy, all bookended by worship and prayer.  It was a surreal experience for me.  You see, I was last at Rock Eagle as a guest of Fr. Dann Brown at the 2019 Clergy Conference.  I was still pastoring a Baptist church in Milledgeville, but had been sensing that it was time to transition to The Episcopal Church.  At that conference four years ago, I was introduced to the large group setting as a Baptist pastor who was discerning this move.  I discovered that there were no fewer than fifteen other clergy in our diocese whose inherited faith tradition was Baptist.  A few of them spoke to me that day, sharing their story, encouraging me to take the next steps.

Prior to that conference in 2019, I had contemplated for some time such a transition in my life.  But I had responsibilities and obligations to people other than myself, most notably one daughter in college and one just two years away from college.  The process of discernment in The Episcopal Church was overwhelming.  But I had been encouraged by others who had made the journey, and I recalled God’s faithfulness throughout my past.  I was reminded that my responsibility was to be faithful today – to take steps toward a calling each day; to not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself (Matt. 6:34).  

Earlier in chapter 6 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray via what we call The Lord’s Prayer.  The phrase, Give us today our daily bread, is an image that kept coming to me at Rock Eagle this week.  I discovered during my journey from Clergy Conference 2019 to ordination at the Cathedral in June 2023 how formational it is to focus on tasting the bread we are given today, rather than worrying about what/how we will eat tomorrow.  All that I needed to get from 2019 to 2023 was provided – in large part by God’s people who helped me along the way.  At Clergy Conference, I was reminded that there are dozens of clergy colleagues who offer gifts of friendship, empathy, and support.  And I gave thanks for the people of St. Gregory the Great who have been faithful, present, life-giving bakers of daily bread in my journey.  I trust we all will continue to give and receive our daily bread.

Fr. Doug

TONIGHT!

Come join us this month, on Friday, September 15, when we will watch Come From Away (2021) (for real this time!). “7000 passengers are stranded after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a small town in Newfoundland, where they were housed and welcomed. Based on a true story.” Join us in Parish Hall and enjoy some popcorn and soft drinks - or bring a blanket and a picnic dinner! The movie begins promptly at 7pm.

Stewardship is about caring for our church family and our greater community. Our stewardship ministry committee supports the work of our church by maintaining a directory of our many ministries (click here) and by conducting an annual season of giving.  

st. gregory the great

i love our church

we do good works

we love as loved

despite our quirks

i come to church

to sing and pray

to remember

love is the way

to do and be

while here alive

to help us all

to better thrive

god’s love abounds

no one need lack

god gives to us

and we give back

alice mohor

Seeking Nominations to the Vestry

The Nominating Committee is developing a list of potential nominees to the Vestry for a three year term beginning 2024. We want your recommendations. With those nominations and with recommendations from the current Vestry, the Nominating Committee will assemble a slate of four eligible candidates to replace the four outgoing Vestry members. The slate of nominees will be presented to the congregation before the end of the year, and the congregation will vote on the slate at our Annual Meeting in January, 2024. As specified in our Bylaws, the slate of four candidates will be elected collectively, not as individuals, so the election isn't competitive.

Not only can you nominate parishioners--with their permission--to be considered for the Vestry, you can self-nominate. That is, you can offer your own name in nomination to the Vestry.

Eligible candidates for membership on the Vestry, as stipulated in our parish Bylaws must:

* be confirmed communicants in good standing in the parish,

* be at least 18 years old,

* regularly attend church services,

* and have made and fulfilled a financial commitment (a pledge) to the church in the past year.

To submit your name or that of theirs in the parish for possible membership on the Vestry, simply send it to a member of the Nominating Committee: Wade McGlamery, Karen Brill, John Bray, Mark Richardson, LeeAnne Krause, or Nikki Mathis. 

Please send us your nominations by Friday, September 22.

Instructions for Live Streaming

• Just go to the St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church YouTube Homepage

• Near the time for service, underneath our channel logo, you will see our video for that day, with the word ‘live’ on it. The page will look like this:

• If you don’t immediately see the video that says ‘live’, (for instance, if you opened YouTube before the service begins) keep refreshing it.  

• When you see the video square that says ‘live’, click on it. 

Welcome to worship!