January 5, 2022 | Volume 12, No. 1

St. Matthew’s and the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia plan to participate in the 2022 MLK Day Parade on Monday, January 17, 2022. The Diocese of Georgia group will walk in the parade along E. Broad Street, Broughton Street, and M.L.K. Jr. Blvd, and then have a short worship service once we arrive at St. Matthew’s.

Due to the pandemic, there will be no float or trolley (walking or rolling participants only) and there will be no lunch reception this year. The parade begins at 10:00 AM, so please arrive at St. Matthew’s around 9:00 to get a shuttle over to the starting place.

The 2021 Journal for Bishop Logue is now in the Diocese of Georgia's online archives. In offering this glimpse into his day to day work as chief pastor, Logue said, "The discipline of keeping a journal is helpful to me as a spiritual practice and I offer mine online as I wish I had a similar record from more of my predecessors."

To read the text Bishop Logue's 2021 journal, click here.

For a full pdf with photos of the year along with the journal, click here.

We have journals for many of our bishops, going back to the first Bishop of Georgia, the Rt. Rev. Stephen Elliott, Jr. who followed the then common practice of reading his journal into his convention address (his address of 1842 is an example). In more recent years, we have in the online archives a journal each from Bishop Stuart, Bishop Shipps and Bishop Louttit, as well as Bishop Logue's 2020 Journal. 

On Wednesday, December 29, the celebration of the life of the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, Jr. was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Savannah. Celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Frank S. Logue, and preached by the Rev. Lonnie Lacy, Rector of St. Anne's in Tifton, you can view the full service on our YouTube channel here.

"To see the Kingdom of God requires imagination, a certain kind of whimsy, a spiritual make-believe or mysticism. To see the Bridge God has made between the world as it is and the world as it will one day be requires a unique kind of vision. This was the vision Henry Louttit carried in his heart.”

To read Rev. Lacy's eulogy, click here.

In the photo at right, the Rev. Lacy delivers the eulogy at Christ Church.

Bishop Louttit's ashes rest next to his crozier, mitre, and stole.

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.

Clergy and laity, especially first-year vestry members, from the Diocese of Georgia are invited to a new diocesan training school called Leading With Grace (LWG) from what was formerly known as the Diocese of Georgia’s 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

We will:

• Ensure the time together is worthwhile, using our efficient and practical curriculum
• Create a welcoming environment to learn and meet new people from across the Diocese
• Coach each parish team to create a project to help our parishes grow
• Deepen leadership skills in inclusive group facilitation, leading worship, facilitating planned change and managing conflict
• Ask each parish team to help provide one meal for the group (excluding the weekend at Honey Creek)
• Pray and worship using The Book of Common Prayer, 1979
• Consider together “What does faithful leadership look like at this moment in the life of the church?”

We will not:

• waste time with models or concepts irrelevant to ministry 
• assign needless homework
• force anyone to speak publicly or be vulnerable 

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. Look for the registration link in a future From the Field.

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

at this moment in the life of the church?”

St. Matthew's in Savannah got a new marquee sign.

The Rev. Larry Jesion does a Blessing for Bird Dogs in Waynesboro.

Volunteers from Holy Nativity in St. Simons Island served over 200 meals for Manna House.

Bishop Logue visited St. Elizabeth's of Hungary in Richmond Hill on Sunday.

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 2 - 8

In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Albany—St. John & St. Mark’s , St. Patrick’s, and St. Paul’s. We also pray for the Lutheran Church of Our Savior and and for our other ecumenical partner in Albany, St. Teresa Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. James the Apostle (Santiago Apóstol) in Angelina.

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).

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)

Bishop Logue will officiate at a graveside funeral for the Rev. Ed Harvey in Cochran on Saturday. On Sunday he will make his visitation to St. Patrick's in Pooler.

To view Bishop Logue's full visitation calendar, click here. (Updated 12/2/2021)

Canon Varner and Liz Williams will be at Honey Creek this weekend serving on staff for New Beginnings #56.

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.

The Very Rev. William Willoughby III censes the altar at the Collegiate Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Savannah, on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. The 12 days of Christmas continue through our January 6 Feast of the Epiphany.

Bishop Logue wrote a reflection on this time of year as a Loose Canon article for From the Field in 2011: Redeeming the time after Christmas.