November 9, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 45 | |
Advent Devotional Available Now | |
The Diocese of Georgia will offer 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 will be perfect to enjoy as a solo study, a small group, or as an offering for the whole congregation. The devotions will be posted online daily starting the First Sunday of Advent, November 27.
No need to purchase
You do not need to buy anything to take part in this study as the Diocese of Georgia Facebook page will offer the content daily. Each week the Facebook page will also feature a companion video that is posted on the diocesan YouTube Channel that expands on the theme of the week.
Each registered attendee to the Diocesan Convention will receive one free printed copy of the book. In addition, the full text of the devotional is available now at no cost in two formats:
Feast of Feasts PDF
Feast of Feasts ePub (for Nook and ebook readers)
A free Kindle version will be available on Amazon from November 10-14 only and for $2.99 afterward, in keeping with the bookseller permitting only one free promotion for 5 days. Feasts of Feasts Kindle
You may purchase printed copies of the book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $5 each. To view on Amazon, click here. To view on Barnes and Noble, click here.
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Convention begins Thursday |  | |
To read all things convention, click here.
Elections
The following have accepted a nomination to run for a position in the Diocese. Please note that we are electing deputies for the next General Convention, which will be held in 2024 in Kentucky. Nominations are open until they are closed on the floor of convention and will continue to be updated in From the Field and online until November 8.
To view full nominee bios, click here.
This year's Nominations Chair is Ms. Katie Grant from Church of the Good Shepherd in Augusta. We will elect persons to the following:
Board of Officers of the Corporation – 1 lay person
Carolyn Eager
Church Disciplinary Board – 2 clergy persons & 1 lay person
Clergy
The Rev. Eric Biddy
The Rev. Mike Gumulauskas
Lay
Pat Burau
Neil Dickert
Diocesan Council – 1 lay person or clergy
Clergy
The Rev. Terri Degenhardt
The Rev. Ri Lamb
Standing Committee – 1 lay person & 1 priest
Clergy
The Rev. Becky Rowell
The Rev. Sonia Sullivan Clifton
Lay
Charlotte Blue
Molly Stevenson
Trustee of the University of the South – 1 lay person
Whit Davis
General Convention Deputies – 4 clergy deputies and 4 clergy alternates; 4 lay deputies and 4 lay alternates
Clergy
The Rev. Michael Chaney
The Rev. Ted Clarkson
The Very Rev. Al Crumpton
The Rev. Leeann Culbreath
Archdeacon Yvette Owens
The Very Rev. Tom Purdy
The Rev. David Rose
The Rev. Kelly Steele
Lay
Andrew Austin
Cissy Bowden
Madison Cook
Jody Grant
Eli Irvin
Molly Stevenson
Liz Williams
To make a nomination, click here.
Once nominated, nominees will need to fill out the nominee form that can be found here.
To view full nominee bios, click here.
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RJGA to raise funds for Saint Anna Alexander Schoolhouse Restoration Project | |
As Racial Justice Georgia seeks to increase awareness of Saint Anna Alexander’s work in our Diocese and to raise funds for the Saint Anna Alexander Schoolhouse Restoration project, they has partnered with three exceptionally talented quilters from St. Paul’s in Jesup. Neva Pittman, and Judy Nance worked with several members of RJGA to imagine and design a quilt using the liturgical colors to craft the picture frame pattern around Saint Anna. Neva and Judy worked together with Molly McLaughlin to create this unique quilt in Saint Anna's honor.
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The quilt will be on display at the RJGA table and during the convention we are welcoming donations to the restoration fund. As a thank-you gift for your contribution, we are giving copies of the icon of Saint Anna written by Jenna Ramer as commissioned by Christ the King, Valdosta. The RJGA ministry team is deeply grateful for the talented work of these amazing artists and especially thankful for their willingness to share their gifts with us. See you at convention!
| Pictured: Completed quilt (top); Judy Nance and Neva Pittman (bottom) | |
Maternity Leave Contacts for Canon Easterlin | |
Canon Easterlin is soon to leave on maternity leave for the birth of her daughter. While she is out of the office, utilize the contacts and resources below: | |
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Convention 2022 is right around the corner and we need your help!
Every convention is able to run smoothly because of the preplanning of the diocesan staff, but also with the generous support of many volunteers. From assisting with check in, to helping direct delegates to the right place, volunteers help the diocesan staff pull off a successful weekend.
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We would love to have your assistance. If you would like to volunteer for this year's convention, please fill out the form linked below.
Volunteer Information Form
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Renting pews continued into the early 20th century | 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 practice of renting a pew. | Though the practice has been done away with a century ago, pew rents were once the primary source of funds for Episcopal Churches. Prominent families rented prominent pew, so that the closer a family sat to the altar or pulpit, it signaled their higher socio-economic position. Some churches would rent all the pews. Others would have some pews “set aside for strangers” as Christ Church in Macon put it in a vestry vote in 1833. | |
This system assisted in building churches. For example, an auction for pews in Columbus raised a revenue of $3,369 a year in 1835, making the construction possible (this is $105,855 in 2022 dollars). Yet the system was not perfect. The Panic of 1837 was devastating to the economy. By October, 1839, creditors filed suit against the church for failing to make its payments as pew rents fell to less than $1,000 a year in 1839-1840.
While pew rentals funded the ministry, they were also a deterrent to any visitors and especially the poor. In the 1850s, St. Paul the Apostle in Savannah and the Church of the Atonement in Augusta were the first churches in the Diocese to offer free pews.
St. Paul’s in Savannah would be the first. The legacy of Mrs. Dorothy Abrahams of Savannah, and the generosity of the parishioners of Christ Church and St. John’s Church assisted in paying for a chapel to be built with an accumulated sum of $15,000. This built St. Paul’s Free Chapel, a congregation inspired by the Oxford Movement vision that all sorts and conditions of men, women and children are part of the Body of Christ and the church was not a place where the world’s measures applied. For the first time in Savannah, an Episcopal church was to be supported by contributions rather than from the rental of pews.
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A further step toward democratization of the Episcopal Church in Georgia occurred shortly after in Augusta when the Church of the Atonement was founded. A fund established by Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell Gardiner and Miss Mary G. Jones made possible a church to serve the families in a new manufacturing area.
Bishop Stephen Elliott had mentioned the obstacle pew rents presented in some of his Bishop Addresses. For example, in 1854 he said, “To be pointed at as the church of the rich and the refined and the fashionable, when Christ had given it as one of the marks of his mission, that the gospel was preached unto the poor, was a condition under which she was not satisfied to rest.”
Yet pew rents remained the norm. This changed slowly with the practice finally ending on December 31, 1919 when Christ Church in Savannah, the final congregation with pew rent, removed its rental system. Through its history, the principal source of income for the parish had been the rental of pews, which in 1910 brought in $8,144, ($250,588 today). Annual pledges became the new normal for churches that had been unsure how to budget as they dropped the requirement to rent their pew.
Pictured: Trinity Church in Columbus and Christ Church in Savannah. The articles in this series are also online here: Bicentennial of the Diocese of Georgia
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Happening #106 Next Weekend! | |
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Happening #106 registration for candidates (participants) is now open! Happening, held at Honey Creek, is a weekend retreat for youth, led by youth. The weekend is focused on discovery and learning about yourself and your faith, all while enjoying fellowship and fun with youth from across the diocese. All youth and adults must follow the diocesan guidelines for youth events, which can be found here.
Who: Youth in 9-12 grade
When: November 17-20, 2022
How: Register here!
For more information, contact Canon Joshua Varner at jvarner@gaepiscopal.org.
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We want to hear from you! | |
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. | |
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.
November 6 - 12
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Valdosta, Christ Church, Christ the King, and St. Barnabas. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Valdosta, especially St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Santo Domingo, especially St. Philip the Apostle (San Felipe Apóstol).
November 13 - 19
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Vidalia, the Church of the Annunciation. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Vidalia, especially Sacred Heart Catholic Church and for St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Reidsville. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the congregations in Santo Domingo, especially St. Peter and St. Paul (San Pedro y San Pablo).
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 7/1/2022)
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Diocesan Office Update and News | |
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Bishop Logue will make his visitation to Our Savior in Martinez on Sunday. He will be in Baltimore next week for the meeting of the Episcopal Church's Committee on Structure, Governance, Constitutions, and Canons, per assignment by the Presiding Bishop. He and Victoria will then be in Louisiana for the ordination and consecration of their next bishop before coming back to Georgia for the next Sunday's visitation.
To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated for 2023 - 8/30/2022)
Pictured: Bishop Logue with the vestry and Priest-in-Charge at Good Shepherd in Thomasville.
Diocesan Staff are preparing for convention and are excited to see everyone on Thursday!
Executive Assistant to the Bishop Maggie Lyons is on maternity leave.
The office will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
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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The morning light streams in at St. John's in Bainbridge. | | | | |
