February 28, 2018
Volume 8, Number 27
CreekFEST II Celebrates Honey Creek
We could tell you about CreekFEST and try to explain what fun it was but it's probably best shown in photos. Read the Rev. Becky Rowell's inspiring sermon from the closing Eucharist by going here. Rowell is the Chair of the Honey Creek Commission.

In This Issue
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This Sunday's Lections
Third Sunday
in Lent
Exodus 20:1-17
I Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22
Psalm 19

Go  here 
for the full text.
After Four Decades
DR Church Nears Completion

The team at the Santo Domingo airport with their translator (from left) Jeison Romero, the Rev. Lonnie Lacy, Nancy Bryan, Jeannie Rigdon and Josh Hendrix.

Four missioners from St. Anne's Tifton will be finishing work on a church begun eight years ago by missioners from St. Patrick's Albany. The completion of EspĂ­ritu Santo (Holy Spirit) means that the faithful members of the congregation who have been worshiping in members' homes and backyards for the past four decades
will have their own church building thanks to these teams from the Diocese of Georgia . A fundraiser held by St. Anne's raised enough funds to complete the work.

New gates being installed at the church thanks to fundraising by St. Anne's Tifton.

Missioners from St. Patrick's first visited the plot of land set aside for the church in 2010. 
During this trip, the missioners will put the final coat of paint on the building, remove construction rubble, clean the newly-laid tile floor, and install a Christus Rex donated by St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Tampa, Florida.

Once finished, the church will be dedicated later this year. 
Lenten Quiet Day at St. Thomas' Isle of Hope
The Daughters of the King of St. Thomas and St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Churches invite all church women to a Quiet Day on Saturday March 10 at 9:30 AM in the parish hall at St. Thomas church, Isle of Hope. The Rev. Canon Frank Logue will share thoughts on "Living a Forgiving Life" based on biblical teachings. The Eucharist will be celebrated at the close of the presentation, and lunch will then be served. Please RSVP TO Sue Tengg by March 6: 912-352-9252 or [email protected].
There is no charge, but a goodwill offering will be collected.
Register for Chrism Masses for the Clergy
Two Chrism Masses are scheduled for Holy Week with one in the west on Holy Monday, March 26, at 11 AM at Christ Church Valdosta with a light lunch to follow in their parish hall and one in the east on Holy Tuesday, March 27, at Trinity Statesboro, again at 11 AM with a light lunch to follow. The event is at no charge, but we need you to RSVP using the following links so that we will hve the right number of lunches, including the correct count on those who need a vegetarian option. 

Register for Christ Church Valdosta on March 26 
here.

Register for Trinity Statesboro on March 27
here
New Beginnings #52 Slated for March 9-11
There is still space to sign up for New Beginnings #52 on March 9-11, a youth event for young people in grades seven to nine! Register online here. The Lead Teen for New Beginnings #52 is Garrett Shoemake from St. Paul's, Savannah. Join us for a youth-led weekend with reflection, music, worship, games, and more!  

The weekend begins Friday evening at 7 PM (after supper) and ends with a Closing Eucharist to which families and friends are invited on Sunday in the early afternoon.

The cost for the weekend is $115, and scholarships are available. Contact Diocesan Coordinator Maggie Bloodworth at
[email protected] with questions about the New Beginnings program. Contact Canon Joshua Varner about scholarships at [email protected] .
Rita Spalding to Head Education for Ministry
Bishop Scott Benhase has appointed Rita Spalding, a parishioner of St. Mark's Brunswick, as the new Education for Ministry (EfM) Coordinator for the Diocese.  

Spalding graduated from EfM in May of 2017 and was trained as an EfM mentor in June of the same year. "EfM had been a big part of my life, and I can't imagine life without it," she said, "my mentor, Father Alan Akridge, and my fellow EfM students have taught me so much, and have become my trusted friends."

"On a personal note," she added, "I have four sons who live in four separate corners of the state of Georgia. I will be happy to travel to those various corners to meet friends in the diocese who would like to learn more about EfM." 
Bishop's Visitations
Bishop Scott Anson Benhase made his annual visitation to Trinity Cochran this past Sunday and gathered with those who participated in the service: clockwise from bottom left: Christian Kitchens, Calli and Eli Cranford, the Rev. Joy Fisher, Priest-in-Charge; Bishop Benhase, and Freddy Kitchens.
Lent Madness
John Wesley Knocked Out in the First Round
The lesser known British nurse Edith Cavell surpassed Saint of Georgia, John Wesley in Lent Madness, the tournament-style single elimination bracket of 32 saints. Cavell will face Deaconess Anna Alexander on March 13. As much as we love The Deaconess, Edith Cavell faced execution for her faith and forgave those who killed her. We will need to turn out the vote on the 13th if we want Deaconess Alexander to move forward in the fun Lent devotional .

It's not too late to get in on the fun. Go to LentMadness.org and sign up for the daily email, or visit the website daily in Lent. You may vote once a day for the saint you want to win the match up. 
Around the Dioces e

The Commission on Ministry met February 23-24 at Honey Creek Retreat Center. The next meeting will be March 23-24 at Grace Church, Waycross.
The Loose Canon
Moving from knowledge to experience in faith
The practices of Lent make room in our lives for God to break in. Okay, not if your disciplines for Lent are confined to giving up chocolate or sodas. But if you take up reading the Bible and praying daily while gathering each week with others for worship you can experience Jesus anew. These means of grace form us as followers of Jesus and even and teach us something about how to articulate our faith. Then as we put our faith into practice, for example in not only asking God to forgive our sins, but also in forgiving someone who has hurt us, we begin to move from head knowledge alone to experiencing the free gift of God's grace.
 
This week, I have been thinking about the two larger categories of how we come to know what we know, which may be instructive here. I know that of the existence of both the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania, but I don't know of them in the same way. I have never visited the Outer Banks, yet I have seen them on maps, heard about them from people who visited them and even a couple of people who lived there, and I have seen photos on social media shared by friends while visiting. So I trust that there is such a place.
 
But I know Zanzibar in a different way as I have twice visited the island. I have walked the streets of the Old Town and worshiped in the cathedral built on the site of the old slave market in an act of redemption by anti-slavery advocate Dr. David Livingstone. A photo my wife took on one of those visits hangs in our house (at left). 
 
The goal of spiritual practices like prayer, Bible study, and worship are to move us from knowing about Jesus in the way I know about the Outer Banks, through others telling me about it, to knowing about Jesus in the way I know about Zanzibar, through personal experience. It is not too late to make more room this Lent for the time-tested ways of encountering Jesus anew. Just read a chapter of the Gospel of Luke each day or make time for intentional prayer every morning. When we take a step toward God, it feels like God takes two steps toward us. The truth is that God is with us all along and when we make room to be present to the Holy Spirit, God blesses that time.
 
Wishing you a Holy Lent,
Frank
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
New Cursillo Commission Members Announced
New members for the Diocese of Georgia's Cursillo Commission have been named. Thanks to those who are rolling off the commission: the Rev. Al Crumpton, Val Crumpton, Judy Draffin, Molly Stevenson and Paul Stevenson.

New to the Commission:
Member
Parish
Convocation
Rose Wilson, Co-Chair
St. Mark's
Southeast
Misty Graham, Co-Chair St. Francis
Savannah
Rev. Donald Holland, Spiritual Director
St. Andrew's Douglas
Southeast

Allison Clarkson
St. Andrew's Darien
Southeast
Linda Dinkins
Holy Comforter, Martinez
Augusta
Brandy Holland
St. Andrew's Douglas
Southeast
Rebecca Miller
Annunciation Vidalia
Central
Evelyn Rierson
St. George's
Savannah
Elise Sandbach
Christ Church, Valdosta
Southwest
Sandy Sandbach
Christ Church, Valdosta
Southwest
Rev. Dee Shaffer
St. Paul's Jesup Southeast
Rev. Carlton Shuford
Grace Sandersville
Central
Kathy Shuford
Grace Sandersville
Central/Augusta
Rita Spalding

Charles Tootle
St. Mark's Brunswick

St. Paul's Jesup
Southeast

Southeast

Prayer Retreat at Honey Creek March 9-10

From left: The Rev. Guillermo Arboleda, Lynne Kemp, the Rev. Hunt Priest and the Rev. Kelly Steele will be leading a prayer retreat March 9-10 at Honey Creek Retreat centered on contemplative spirituality. Participants will enter into contemplative spirituality through the practices of silent centering prayer, chanting and singing, praying with icons, Anglican prayer beads, Lectio Divina and the Daily Office. Additional information and registration can be found here.
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. 

February 25-March 3
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregation in Blakely, Holy Trinity, and for our ecumenical partners in Blakely, especially Holy Family Catholic Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Cornelius (San Cornelio) in Cabarette. 

March 4-10
In our diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for our congregations in Brunswick, Good Shepherd, St. Athanasius', and St. Mark's. We also pray for our ecumenical partners in Brunswick, especially St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and St. James Lutheran Church. In our companion diocese of the Dominican Republic, we pray for St. Anthony of Padua (San Antonio de Padua) in Carreton.
Lenten Quiet Day at St. Paul's Savannah
St. Paul's Daughters of the King will hold a Lenten Quiet Day on Saturday, March 3rd from 8:30 to 1:30 at the church on Abercorm St. Everyone--men and women--are invited to participate. There is no charge for the Quiet Day.

The leader of the Quiet Day, the Rev. Johnny Tuttle said, "Each reflection will consider different ways in which we experience our limit, the ways in which we are compelled by our culture to transcend or ignore that limit, and the ways in which those limits might be received as gift and grace from a loving Creator."
Diocesan Office Update and News  
Bishop Scott Anson Benhase will make his annual visitation to St. Philip's Hinesville at 10 AM Sunday, March 4. He will also attend the closing of Cursillo at Honey Creek at 3 PM. From March 6-9 Bishop Benhase will be attending the House of Bishops spring meeting at Camp Allen in Texas. The Bi shop's full schedule is available   here.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue will be serving at St. George's Savannah through Easter, following the retirement of the Rev. Jim Parker.

The Rev. Canon Joshua Varner will lead a retreat for the Youth Dominican Republic Team at Honey Creek this weekend to prepare for their trip June 23-30.

The Rev. David Rose, Rector of St. Luke's Rincon, will officiate at the noon Thursday service in St. George's Chapel at Diocesan House. 
Share your news in From the Field
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.  
Events 

Cursillo #124
March 1-4
Honey Creek Retreat Center
For Team Registration, go
here.  For Participant Registration, go here.

New Beginnings
March 9-11
Honey Creek Retreat Center
To register, go here.

Commission on Ministry
March 23-24
Grace, Waycross

Hometown Mission Trip
June 1-3
First Shall be Last Also!

Dade Brantley, Executive Director of Honey Creek presents the trophy for first place to Jay Lacey who also came in last.
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