April 19, 2017
Volume 7, Number 34
Sharing in his resurrection

The Rev. Lonnie Lacy baptizes Katie Phillips during the Easter Vigil at St. Anne's Tifton. In the words of the baptismal liturgy, "We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit."
In This Issue
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This Sunday's Lections
2nd Sunday of Easter

1 Peter 1:3-9

 
Go here 
f or the full text.

The Rev. Cynthia Taylor baptizes a child at Holy Comforter Martinez.

The Collect for Wednesday in Easter Week
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Go to www.facebook.com/georgiaepiscopal to see more photos from Holy Week and Easter.   
Episcopal Evangelism Training Coming June 24-25
Canon Stephanie Spellers
"Episcopalians are God's shy people," says Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who also notes that we do want to find ways of sharing our love of Jesus, those methods just need to be true to who we are. In advance of the Presiding Bishop's Revival coming to Honey Creek this fall, s
ome of the top people in the Episcopal Church who teach how to share your faith are coming to the Diocese of Georgia. This is evangelism training for those averse to the word "evangelism" as it is usually practiced.

Carrie Boren Headington
The training will cover an array of ways, all true to our Episcopal way of being, in which we can share our faith with those we already know both in person and on social media. Think this training isn't for you? Then you may be exactly who the trainers want to talk to as they provide insights into how people without a gift for evangelism can still listen differently to those they love. The same 3-hour workshop will be repeated in June on the east and west sides of the Diocese, seeking to offer the workshops within 2 hours of every Episcopalian in the Diocese. Register at no-cost using the links below. 
Jeremy Tackett

The Team
The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers is the Presiding Bishop's Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation. Also from the Episcopal Church staff on the team for the training will be Carrie Boren Headington, Missioner Evangelist, and Jeremy Tackett, Digital Evangelist. They have developed engaging materials to challenge all of us, depending on the gifts God has given us, to respond to a call we all share to spread the Good News of Jesus.

Saturday, June 24 from 1-4 pm
St. Peter's Episcopal Church
3 West Ridge Road, Savannah, GA 31411
Sunday, June 25 from 1-4 pm
St. Anne's Episcopal Church
2411 Central Ave. N., Tifton, GA 31794


Easter Joy at Christ Church Valdosta as the children sing in the liturgy.

Parishioners hold hands during the Eucharist at Christ the King Valdosta.

 
The procession into worship at St. Athanasius Brunswick (at left) and the Revs. Steve Larson and Dee Shaffer with Andrea Taylor Riner who they baptized during the Easter liturgy at St. Paul's Jesup (at right).


Bishop Benhase presides at the Eucharist at St. Paul the Apostle Savannah, on Easter.

Acolytes at Christ Church Savannah pose for a picture just before the procession into the church on Easter.

Pumped up acolytes at St. Luke's Hawkinsville and the ever-organized Rector of Good Shepherd Augusta, the Rev. Robert Fain, keeps the Easter Egg Hunt on point.

The Rev. Paul Hancock presides at the Easter Eucharist at All Saints Thomasville. The church's Easter altar is featured above in the From the Field masthead.

Children gather in the chancel at Calvary Americus for the Rev. Jeff Wallace's Children's Sermon.
Diocesan Community Update
 
The Rev. Leigh Hall accepted a call to serve as the Rector of  St. Nicholas-on-the-Hudson, in New Hamburg, NY (she is pictured at right with the church). Hall currently serves as the Associate Rector of St. Paul's, Albany. She previously served as an Associate at Christ Church Frederica on St. Simons Island. On her graduation from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2009, Hall served first as our Campus Missioner for Georgia Southern University and then as the Canon for Youth and Young Adults for the Diocese of Georgia. Raised up by the Diocese, she was active at Good Shepherd, Swainsboro, and in youth programs and summer camp before getting involved in the Campus Ministry while a student at the University of Georgia. She often serves as a spiritual director at Happening and New Beginnings, and has worked each summer as a Honey Creek summer camp spiritual director. She also enjoys spending time with her two dogs, Boo Radley (a Boston Terrier), and Scout (a Boxer rescue).

St. Patrick's, Albany, is searching for its next Rector and you can help. Please share the Parish Profile with any priest you think is qualified for this call. Information on all the churches with a search underway stays current at the diocesan Positions Available web page.
Register Now for Honey Creek Summer Camp
School is almost out, which means Honey Creek Summer Camp is coming up fast. Go to honeycreek.org/camps to register for one or more of the camp sessions. 

For 89 years the diocese has been hosting summer camp, with the first sessions at Camp Reese on St. Simons Island.  Since 1960, Honey Creek has been a place where campers have come to connect with God, develop lifelong friendships, explore nature, and just be together.  Our days are full with actions- swimming and rope course- singing and worshiping- group games- and more. Clergy and lay youth leaders work at each camp sessions to spend time with campers and offer a program time giving a chance to explore faith in the setting of a week-long camp.

Tuition for each session is $440. The required deposit of $75 is applied to the total camp tuition. Tuition covers room and board, special activities, art supplies, camp photo and camp t-shirt. Scholarships are available from both congregations and Episcopal Youth and Children Services to defray the costs of participating in camp. For kids active in the churches, cost should never be a barrier to taking part in Honey Creek Summer Camp.

The Parent & Child sessions run during the Camp St. Joseph & Mary sessions (Sunday through Tuesday).  They serve as an introduction to camp culture for both the parent and the child (K-2).  Parent and child are invited to participate fully in all camp activities as much (or as little) as they are comfortable.

"My daughter did not want to leave. 
She keeps asking when can I go back to camp. 
We will see you next year."
-Jessica, parent

High School Camp
June 11-17
Completed Grades 9-12

Camp St. Peter I
June 18-24
Completed Grades 6-8

Camp St. Joseph and Mary I
June 25-July 1
Completed Grades 3-5

Parent & Child Session I
June 25-27 
Child completed Grades K-2
Camp St. Peter II
July 9-15
Completed Grades 6-8

Camp St. Joseph and Mary II
July 16-22
Completed Grades 3-5

Parent & Child Session II
July 16-18 
Child completed Grades K-2

Episcopal Church Women's Annual Retreat 
Nourishing our minds, bodies, and spirits with food, fellowship, and fun!  All of the women of the Diocese of Georgia are cordially invited to join your Diocesan Board for our Annual Retreat.

This year an expanded meeting of the Episcopal Church Women is being hosted by Saint John's, Bainbridge (pictured at left), April 20-22. This promises to be a time of great inspiration and fun. Don't miss out!

Our keynote speakers are Julius and Julia Ariail from the Companion Diocese Commission. Our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Scott Benhase will be joining us for our Friday night banquet as well as our worship on Saturday. We will be joining with The Order of the Daughters of the King ® for this retreat. Each parish is entitled to have three  delegates to the business meeting of the ECW. Daughters will be having their Spring business meeting during this retreat too.

Hotel accommodations are discounted at the Hampton Inn of Bainbridge ($109.00) if you call ahead and ask for a room with the ECW. The deadline for registration is April 17th
More information is available on our web site; ecw.georgiaepiscopal.org or www.facebook.com/edogecw and your Convocation Coordinator. 
 
Honey Creek Benefits from Eagle Scout Projects
Honey Creek was recently beneficiary of the planning and hard work of two Eagle Scout projects. Will Brown from Christ Church Frederica and Corey Moody from King of Peace Kingsland, separately designed and built picnic tables for Honey Creek. Both scouts applied unique designs and materials to produce five tables each. The tables have been spread around the campus and are receiving a lot of praise.

Bishop Benhase washes the Rev. June Johnson's feet during the Maundy Thursday liturgy at All Saints Tybee Island.

The Triduum in Photos
The Paschal Triduum , or The Three Days is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday and ends with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday.


Washing her brother's feet during the Maundy Thursday liturgy at St. Matthew's Savannah.
  
At left, Deacon Alex Moreschi looks on as the Rev. Richard Nelson hammers nails into the cross during the Good Friday liturgy at St. Thomas Isle of Hope in Savannah. At right, Stations of the Cross on Good Friday along the trail through the woods at King of Peace Kingsland created for the Stations.

The congregation genuflects in Abercorn Street as St. John's Savannah for the tenth year stopped traffic and gathered tourists in to worship as the Stations of the Cross took place in transit around Madison Square in front of the church in Savannah's Historic District. The Stations conclude at the church altar with prayer and a hymn.

The Easter Vigil at St. Patrick's Albany drew clergy and congregation from all three Episcopal churches in Albany.

The Rev. Hunt Priest lights the Paschal Candle from the new fire kindled for the Easter Vigil at St. Peter's Savannah.
 
T he Rev. David Rose lights the Pachal Candle at St. Luke's Rincon and a parishioner keeps up with the reading by candlelight at St. Thomas Thomasville.
The Loose Canon
Easter Week Follow Through with Visitors
Once again, congregations across the Diocese enjoyed welcoming newcomers on Easter. Visitors who sign in the guest book at church will rightly expect to hear from the congregation. They also expect to receive word promptly. Surveys show that electronic communication has upped the expectation with visitors expecting to hear from the church not just within the week, but within a couple of days. Yet the ubiquity of email does leave a hand-written note standing out from other ways of contacting a visitor.

No matter how you go about it, following through on everyone who signs into the book is a priority. This is trickier at Easter, when the priests are relieved to have enjoyed (read survived) another busy Holy Week and Easter. For future years, plan on how you might be able to get lay persons in place to follow up with a hand-written thank you that goes out on Monday in Easter Week. ( The photo is from Easter at St. Thomas, Thomasville.)

Share Best Practices
I know that as a parish priest, we would "mug" newcomers with a personal visit on Sunday afternoon to drop off a church mug with the latest newsletter and a church brochure inside. The goal was a quick, personal thank you with a gift. What works well for your church? Send me an email ( flogue@gaepiscopal.org) and let me know. ( At left is Easter Sunday at St. Philip's, Hinesville)

Peace, 
Frank
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
Bishop's Visitation

Bishop Benhase made his Visitation on Easter to St. Paul the Apostle Savannah. Pictured above (from left to right) are confirmands Lorna Smith, Garrett Shoemake, Colin Parker, Leila Sullivan, and Carolina Downs with Bishop Benhase.
Columba House, Savannah
Internships in Community
Applications for internships for those aged 21 to 35 at our Episcopal ministry center in Savannah have a priority deadline of May 1, 2017 and a final deadline of June 1, 2017.

Living in an intentional community, interns pray daily, attend local events, go on retreats, and serve the neighborhood in which they live. We encourage participants to find and test their own gifts, strengths and interests with the support of mentors. Applicants are matched to a local nonprofit that fits their interests and skills. This is the perfect opportunity for young adults seeking a sense of purpose and direction while also strengthening leadership skills.
 For information go to
Easter Egg Hunts

The Easter Egg Hunt Good Shepherd Augusta.

The Rev. Joshua Varner assists a parishioner on the Easter Egg Hunt at St. Patrick's Pooler (at left) and children dash for eggs at St. Barnabas' Valdosta (at right).


Easter Egg Hunters at St. Paul's Albany.
 
 
Easter at Christ Church Frederica on St.Simons Island (on left) and at St. Peter's Savannah (on right). 


The Easter Egg Hunt at St. Thomas Isle of Hope, Savannah.

Kids wait for the start of the Easter Egg Hunt at St. George's Savannah (at left) and John Wesley holds an egg in the hunt at Christ Church Savannah.

Easter style at St. Michael's Waynesboro (at left) and St. Michael and All Angels' Savannah (at right).
Share your news in From the Field
Many of the photos that you see in this week's issue of From the Field have been downloaded from church Facebook pages. Be sure to post your news on Facebook or send your news, events and photos to  so we can feature them in upcoming issues of From the Field. Deadline for submissions each week is Monday at 4:30 PM.  
Prayers 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 52 weekly prayers are available in one document  found here. 

April 16-22 
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Dublin, Christ Church, and for our ecumenical partners in Dublin, especially Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for the Church of Divine Providence (Divina Providencia) in Guerra.

April 23-29
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Fitzgerald, St. Matthew's, and for our ecumenical partners in Fitzgerald, especially St. William's Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Mark's (San Marcos) in Haina. 
Diocesan Office Update and News  
Anna Iredale, Director of Communications, is in Cincinnati for the Episcopal Communicators Conference, which meets April 19-22.

The Rev. Joshua Varner, Missioner for Youth, is at St. Thomas, Thomasville, this evening as he works with their music ministry with youth and will be in Albany tomorrow working on plans for an upcoming Hometown Missions trip.

Canon Willoughby meets today with the vestry of Grace, Sandersville, as that mission seeks to invest in the Board of the Corporation of the Diocese.

This Sunday, Bishop Benhase makes his visitation to St. Thomas, Thomasville. He will be on retreat April 24-28. The Bishop's full schedule is available  here.   

On Sunday from 2-5 pm, Canons Willoughby and Logue will teach Church Admin 101 at Grace Church, Waycross. See below to register.  The Communicators' Roundtable originally scheduled for this same time will not be held.
Finding a Reason to Praise

Children at Holy Comforter, Martinez, dug up the Hallelujah banner buried on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany.
Feedback Requested on Proposed Changes to Canons 
When Diocesan Council met in February, they endorsed changes to the Canons of the Diocese following a year of discussion. Now Council seeks the input of the parishioners and clergy of the Diocese of Georgia into these changes.

Background
For more than a decade the Diocese of Georgia has rarely used a provision written in our canons that grants the Bishop authority to move parishes who can no longer meet the obligations of a "parish" to "mission" status. Over time, this has created confusion defining which congregations are "missions" and which are "parishes." The differences are about more than mere terminology: this affects both representation to Diocesan Convention and the amount of oversight provided by the Diocese.

The proposed changes, would if passed:
* reduce unnecessary oversight for more than one third of the congregations,
* acknowledge several of our small congregations as full members of the Diocese,
* result in a representative Diocesan Convention, and
* add an extra level of assurance that endowed funds in all parishes are managed with sound investment practices.
For more information about the proposed changes, please go here for an Executive Summary of the proposed changes, the full canons with the proposed changes shown in color, and a chart showing the current delegates to convention compared to the proposed representation.

Timeline
The proposed changes are out for comment from now through May 11. A brief survey to collect responses to the canonical revisions can be found here. Diocesan Council will consider the feedback at its May 12 meeting and amend the proposed changes as needed.

The proposed changes as revised at that May meeting will then go to the Committee on Constitution and Canons for their review. The proposed changes as approved by that committee will then go out to the diocese via email to clergy and Senior Wardens as well as notice in From the Field.

The proposed changes will be on the agenda for the November diocesan convention. If approved, the canonical changes will be in effect immediately.

If the changes are voted and approved during convention, then two key changes go into effect with the language related to mission to parish status go into immediate effect, but the proportional representation delegations to convention will require a second vote at convention in 2018 and go into effect in 2019.
Events
Episcopal Church Women/Daughters of the King Annual Retreat, April 20-22
St. John's Bainbridge
For more information go 

Down to the River to Pray, April 22
9:30 AM
Reed Bingham State Park
Register  here
 
Trainings for Vestries, Administrators, April 23
2-5 PM
Grace Church, Waycross
Register  here
The Communicators' Roundtable originally scheduled for this same time will not be held.

Trainings for Vestries, Administrators and Communicators,  May 14
2-5 PM
Our Savior, Martinez
Register  
here

Education for Ministry, 
June 1-3
Honey Creek Conference Center
Contact Diocesan EfM Coordinator Misty Graham at 352-281-6805 or misty.mcintyre.graham@gmail.com for more information here.
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