Click on any picture to see a larger version.

Click the link below for a printable poster advertising the Sept. 21-28 Diocesan Survey.  This poster is in PDF format and is suitable for display on parish bulletin boards and announcement walls.

Download: Survey Week Poster

Please participate in the search for the 10th Bishop of Georgia by completing a survey during the week of September 21-28.

You can do this in one of three ways:

1. Go to www.georgiabishopsearch.org and click on the Survey button. Complete the questions and submit your survey on-line.
2. Call toll free 1-866-373-7783 and complete your survey by telephone. An interviewer from the A.L. Burruss Institute at Kennesaw State University telephone survey lab will be available to answer your call Monday - Friday from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. You may also leave a message to request an appointment for an alternate time at this number. Please indicate that you are calling to participate in the Episcopal Church survey.
3. Ask your Rector for a paper copy of the survey. Answer the questions and return the survey to your Rector who will submit your responses.

Don’t miss this opportunity for your voice to be heard. Your input will be very important to creating a Diocesan profile, introducing ourselves and our hopes for the next decade to the larger church and to prospective nominees.

During our Town Hall Meetings (also being called “Listening Sessions”), our committee is following a format of respectful listening and sharing regarding participants’ hopes, concerns, and dreams for the future of the Diocese of Georgia and the role of our next Bishop.

Below is a link to the PowerPoint presentation being used during this session. Those attending the Town Hall Meetings may find the information there useful, as will those who are unable to attend. The file is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it effectively.

Download: Town Hall Meeting PowerPoint

• August 2008: “Town Hall Meetings” for Laity and Clergy
• September 21 - 28, 2008: Diocesan Survey Available
• November, 2008: Diocesan Profile Under Construction
• December 1, 2008: Nominations Open
• January, 2009: Review & Narrow Candidate Field
• March, 2009: Visits to Candidates
• May, 2009: Develop “Short List” of Candidates to 4 or 5
• June, 2009: Formally Announce the “Slate” of Candidate
• July, 2009: Transition Team Assumes Leadership
• July & August, 2009: “Walk Abouts” - Candidates Visit the Diocese
• September, 2009: Election

We met on August 11th. Mark Jones opened our time together with prayer. We are really enjoying the sandwiches and chips. We have scheduled meetings for each second Monday of the month until we have completed our task. Present were: Skip Jennings, Ted Clarkson, Geri Nelson, Charlie Hough, Mark Jones, Lonnie Lacy, Rick Buechner, Pat Burau, Fred Richter, and Robert Fain.

We spent a good bit of time discussing and planning the format for Town Meetings. We are very excited about listening to the people of our diocese and asking them to listen to each other as we begin this conversation about our future ministry together. Each of us will be attending two or three Town Meetings to support Walter Hobgood who will facilitate ALL of them!

With Ted Clarkson’s help, we began to talk about and reflect on the work of a diocese and the role of a bishop in the church today.

We have begun the process of putting together a survey questionnaire for the diocese, but we want to wait until all the Town Meetings are completed so that we may include any specific questions that address the content of our conversations together. The final questionnaire is to be ready for approval when we meet on September 8th.

Survey Week is September 21-28. Members of the Diocese may complete a questionnaire in one of three ways:

1. Online at www.georgiabishopsearch.org
2. By calling a 1-800 number to complete a telephone survey
3. By requesting from parish clergy a paper survey to complete

Our prayers are that our conversations will be honest and fruitful with all comments shared and heard respectfully. May God bless us as together we begin to discern the one mind for our mission in Christ’s Diocese of Georgia.

We met on July 14th. Present were Geri Nelson, Lonnie Lacy, Mark Jones, Gail Griffin, Rick Buechner, Pat Burau, Charlie Hough, Fred Richter, Skip Jennings, and Robert Fain.

Geri Nelson shared a terrific devotion and led our prayers. We realize we are in a rolling process of building our team and shared our single greatest hope for the Diocese of Georgia in the next decade.

Some of the expressed hopes were for:

• A priority for campus ministries with Chaplains at VSU and GSU as a minimum.
• Getting out of the conventional box and emphasizing growth even to the point of needing a Suffragan Bishop stationed in the Western part of the Diocese.
• Enthusiasm about being and inviting others to be Episcopalians.
• Youth Ministers in more of our congregations.
• Celebrating the Diocese of Georgia as a coherent and consistent expression of the Anglican Way

We contracted with a firm to get our website up and provide support for the next eighteen months.

We turned our attention to the Survey/Profile phase of the process and proposed an ambitious schedule for meetings in each Convocation, with our young people and with our clergy.

We set the week of September 21-28 as Survey Week in the Diocese when everyone would have an opportunity to respond to a questionnaire about our diocese and a new bishop.

We are aiming to post a Profile about our Diocese and open nominations by All Saints Day.

Rick Buechner reported on interviews with Bishop Louttit and Canon Phelps.

We had a blast together. So far, this is fun!

Members of the Search Committee are all about two hours driving distance from Christ Church, Dublin, which makes that parish a logical place to meet. We appreciate the warm hospitality of Fr. Louis Miller and the people of this parish. Attending a Search Committee meeting is essentially a day long event for members with four hours driving time to and from Dublin and two hours or more of actual meeting time.

The first meeting was convened on June 23rd. Present were Cynthia Taylor, Ted Clarkson, Rick Buechner, Charlie Hough, our Chaplain Nancy Mills, our consultant Rick Callaway, Fred Richter, Walter Hobgood, Skip Jennings, Geri Nelson, Gail Griffin, and Robert Fain.

We began with a reflection followed by prayers and lunch. We introduced ourselves to each other by sharing our own hopes and concerns about this signal event in the life of the Diocese of Georgia.

It is a big task, which broken down into parts or phases is very manageable. Our sub-committee structure is:

• Communications: Lonnie Lacy, Geri Nelson, Charlie Hough
• Survey/Profile: Cynthia Taylor, Fred Richter, Rick Buechner, Walter Hobgood and Skip Jennings
• Education: Gail Griffin, Mark Jones, Ted Clarkson, Pat Burau
• Screening: Cynthia Taylor, Walter Hobgood, Rick Buechner, Gail Griffin, Pat Burau
• Visitation: Fred Richter, Skip Jennings, Geri Nelson, Ted Clarkson, Charlie Hough

The purpose of these committees is for the most part obvious. The Education Sub-Committee is tasked with informing the committee and diocese about the role and work of a bishop in today’s church. The Screening Sub-Committee will review the information provided by nominees and the Visitation Sub-Committee is responsible for arranging visits of the Search Committee to those nominees under very serious consideration for nomination.

At this first meeting we were in agreement that we wanted to involve our young people in every way that is reasonable considering their own schedules.

We asked the Communications Sub-Committee to get hopping and get our search website up by August 1st.

DIOCESE OF GEORGIA NOMINATING/SEARCH COMMITTEE

The Very Rev. Robert D. Fain, Chairman
Robert Fain has been the Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Augusta since 1993 and serves as Dean of the Augusta Convocation. Born in Hendersonville, NC, Robert graduated from The Citadel in 1977. After three years service in the U.S. Navy he entered the School of Theology at Suwanee, graduating in 1983.

Church of the Good Shepherd
2230 Walton Way
Augusta, GA 30904

Charles Hough, Standing Committee Representative
A former Corporate Officer & Group CEO in a Fortune 500 Company, Charlie retired in 1991 and has had additional careers as a Mediator, (Florida Licensed); provider of Medical Benefits Insurance for Colleges; Financial Turn-Around CEO and a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Dealer. He is a cradle Episcopalian, senior warden, and chair of his parish’s search committee. At the diocesan level, he serves on the Board of Officers, Standing Committee, and Search/Nominating Committee for the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia.

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church
4800 Old Dawson Road
Albany, GA 31721

The Rev. Nancy Mills, Chaplain
907 N. Dawson Street
Thomasville, GA 31792

The Rev. Canon Rick Callaway, Consultant
Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

AUGUSTA CONVOCATION

The Rev. Cynthia N. Taylor
The Rev. Cindy Taylor graduated from Virginia Seminary in 1986 (ordained to the deaconate in 1986 and the priesthood in 1987), and in 2007 received her D. Min. from Sewanee with an emphasis in Congregational Development. She has served parishes in South Carolina, Georgia, and Paris, France. In 1999, on behalf of the Diocese of Georgia, she began the first new church start in the Augusta area in over 30 years, Church of the Holy Comforter. They completed thier first building a few months ago and are experiencing great growth. Her passion is church growth and mentoring others to do the same.

Church of the Holy Comforter
3504-A Professional Cir
Martinez, GA 30907

Pat Burau
Pat is a native Georgian and retired from the school system after 38 years, 15 as the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources.  She currently works part time as Special Assistant to the Superintendent.  I have been married for 43 years with two grown children.  I am mother to my son’s nine year old daughter and grandmother to my daughter’s three children.  I have been a member of St. Augustine’s since its beginning where we will celebrate our 50th anniversary next year.  I am currently on the vestry and have served several terms as senior warden.  I am a Lay Eucharistic Minister and served on the search committee for our Rector.  I currently serve on the Ecclesiastical Trial Court for the diocese.

St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church
3321 Wheeler Rd
Augusta, GA 30909

CENTRAL CONVOCATION

The Rev. Lonnie Lacy
The Rev. Lonnie Lacy is a native of the Diocese of Georgia and was ordained to the priesthood in 2006. After his ordination, he served concurrently as the Assistant Rector at Trinity Statesboro and the Episcopal Chaplain to Georgia Southern University for three years. He recently accepted a call as Rector of St. Anne’s Tifton, a post which he assumed in May. Lonnie also serves as the current President of the Alumni/ae Executive Committee of the Virginia Seminary. Lonnie and his wife, Jay, have an eighteen month old dynamo, Mary Grace, and another child on the way. And two whippets to keep life interesting when Mary Grace is napping.

St. Anne’s Episcopal Church
P.O. Box 889
Tifton, GA 31794

Fred Richter
Fred Richter, a cradle Episcopalian, is a retired English professor (2001) and member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Statesboro, where he serves on the vestry and enjoys landscaping Trinity’s relatively new (2001) church property. He practices and teaches yoga, plays tennis and travels abroad with his partner (not yet retired) every chance they get. With their two cats and two dogs, they live in the countryside outside Statesboro.

1717 Lakeview Rd
Statesboro, GA 30461

SAVANNAH CONVOCATION

Deacon Geri Lee Nelson
The Rev. Deacon Geri Thacker Nelson serves as Deacon and Minister of Christian Education at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Isle of Hope, Savannah, Georgia. She is the Coordinator for the Diocesan Deacon School for Ministry and the Examining Chaplain for Liturgy.  As a former oncology nurse, Deacon Geri has conducted numerous grief support groups for those who have lost a loved one to death.  She is married to the Rev. Richard A. Nelson, who is Rector of St. Thomas, and they have 5 grown children.  For relaxation they enjoy kayaking the local rivers, walking, reading, movies and visiting their children and grandson (when time permits!)

7607 Lynes Court
Savannah, GA 31406

Mr. Richard C.E. (Skip) Jennings
Skip Jennings is a 53-year old bankruptcy lawyer in Savannah. A life-long Episcopalian, Skip currently serves as Senior Warden at St. John’s Church. He also serves on the Savannah Convocation’s Discernment Committee. Married with two teenaged daughters, Skip is very civically active in Savannah, particularly in the areas of music and politics.

306 Kensington Dr
Savannah, GA 31405

ALBANY CONVOCATION

The Very Rev. Mark Jones
The Very Reverend Mark Stephen Jones is the 18th rector of St. Paul’s Church, Albany.  Fr. Jones is a fourth generation clergyman.  He is a graduate of the Virginia Seminary and Florida State University.  Fr. Jones began his ministry in the diocese of Florida where he also served on the Commission on Ministry.  He currently serves on the Diocesan Council, the Standing Committee, the Nominating Search Committee for the tenth Bishop of Georgia, and as the Dean of the Albany Convocation.  Fr. Jones is married to the former Emily Wells.  They have two children – Davis and Hadley.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
212 N. Jefferson St
Albany, GA 31701

Sammi Harewood
Sammi Harewood, Episcopalian by choice. Member St. Patrick’s, Albany, Georgia by way of St. Phillip’s parish New York. Member of Altar Guild, Order of Daughter of the King, and various parish outreach programs. Civic actvities and membership: International Kiwanis, Artist Guild. Retired AT&T North East Regional Manager of Presentations.

902 Jefferies Ave
Albany, GA 31701

SOUTHEASTERN CONVOCATION

The Rev. Ted H. Clarkson
Ted is a native Georgian, growing up in Diocese of Georgia where his father was the longtime rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Augusta (37 years).  He practiced law in Augusta for 20 years before hearing a call to the ordained ministry.  He left his practice in 2003, went to Sewanee for three years, and returned to the Diocese as the rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and vicar of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, both in Darien, Georgia.  He serves the diocese as the presiding judge of the Ecclesiastical Trial Court and the chairman of our camp and conference center commission.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
P.O. Drawer 929
Darien, GA 31305

SOUTHWESTERN CONVOCATION

The Rev. Frederick A. “Rick” Buechner
The Rev. Frederick A. Buechner (Rick) (not the Presbyterian author, but possibly related) attended the University of Virginia (B.A. 1974) and Virginia Theological Seminary (M.Div. 1980), and was ordained deacon in 1980 and priest in 1981. Rick has spent his entire ordained ministry in the Diocese of Georgia, the last twenty years of which as Rector of All Saints, Thomasville, one of two parishes in the diocese using the 1928 BCP exclusively. Married for 33 years to Kathy Kaufmann, an elementary school music teacher, with two grown children, Rick enjoys music, reading, golf, red wine and their pet lab, Isabelle.

112 Parkway Dr
Thomasville, GA 31792

Walter Hobgood
Walter Hobgood is a member of Christ Church Valdosta, where he has served as a Member of the Vestry, Senior Warden, and Lay Reader and is currently Reading for Holy Orders.  He is a life long Episcopalian and has been an active member in churches in St. Louis, Singapore and Melbourne, Australia.  He is a graduate of Louisiana State University and has served as a business executive for 30+ years.  He currently owns and operates a staffing agency and serves as a business coach and organizational development consultant.  He is active in community activities: Rotary Club, Chairman of the local Red Cross Chapter and Chairman of the Valdosta/Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce.  He is married to the former Gail Riedie and they have 3 grown children and two grandchildren.

1036 Cherry Creek Dr
Valdosta, GA 31605

As of March 25, 2009

As we search for our new Bishop of Georgia, it is important that we know the values, preferences and suggestions of each of the members of our Diocese.

To that end, a Diocesan Survey will be made available to all members of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia September 21-28, 2008. This survey will be based upon the information gathered at the August Town Hall Meetings and will be one of the primary opportunities you will have to make your hopes and beliefs known.

The survey will be available September 21-28 at www.georgiabishopsearch.org and through a toll free telephone number to be published as we approach the survey timeframe. Parishes wishing to utilize paper surveys may do so; contact the Very Rev. Robert Fain for instruction on paper surveys.

As the information gathered in this survey will be used to develop our Diocesan Profile, we hope for a high level of participation, which will-in turn-ensure the most accurate Diocesan Profile possible.