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18 East 34th Street
Savannah, Georgia 31401

Below are links to a library of PDF files and Word documents maintained on this website for your reference:

Diocese of Georgia Policy Manual

With information on both lay and ordained employees. Updated October 2020

Diocesan Financial Reports

A page maintained with current financial reports for the Diocese of Georgia. Updated after each quarter closes, once the Finance Committee has reviewed and approved the report.

Supply Clergy

This is the current list of those clergy available to serve parishes in the Diocese of Georgia.

Canons

Constitution & Canons of The Episcopal Church (2018)

These may be revised by the act of two consecutive General Conventions of The Episcopal Church which meets once every three years. The 2018 canons will remain in effect at least until the 2021 convention.

Diocese of Georgia Constitution & Canons (2019)

These will remain in effect until at least the November 2021 convention as the 2020 Convention made no changes to the canons.

Handbooks

The guides below are important in naming norms of our diocese. They are working documents and so your questions and suggestions will help improve their useful. Direct any questions or concerns to the Bishop’s Executive Assistant, Maggie Lyons.

Priests’ Handbook

An overview of the norms for priests of the Diocese of Georgia. Updated Michaelmas, 2018.

Discernment & Ordination Handbook

For those who feel called to the ministry of deacon or priest and all who assist with the discernment of call, this is a guide to the norms of the Diocese of Georgia for this process. Updated March 19, 2021

Addendum: Training of Bivocational Priests

Updated, January, 2017

Transition Handbook

A Guide for Vestries and Search Committees working through the transition from one head of the congregation to another. Updated October 2020

Liturgical Customary

The customary for liturgy in the Diocese of Georgia. Updated June 2020.

Documents for Priests

Minimum Priest Compensation

Revised as needed by Diocesan Council. This PDF is based on the September 2020 resolution which remains in effect through at least September 2021.

Full-time priest salary survey 2021

This chart compares priest salaries in the Diocese of Georgia by Sunday Attendance and budget size. See also the Full-time assisting priest salary survey 2021 for full-time priests in an assisting role. For comparison, the archived surveys can be found here:

Sample Letter of Agreement — This is the Diocese of Georgia’s standard Letter of Agreement for priests and congregations. Together with an attached compensation agreement (download Sample Priest’s Compensation Spreadsheet which is set to calculate pension and totals from basic information), this forms the contract signed by the priest, senior warden and bishop. Send all Letters of Agreement to the Bishop’s Executive Secretary, Maggie Lyons.

Family Leave Policy– This policy has been in effect since approved by Diocesan Council in September 2016 and is our Policy Manual and all Letters of Agreement.

License to Officiate — An Episcopal priest who is in good standing in one’s own diocese may apply for a License to Officiate in the Diocese of Georgia. Licenses are reissued every year on July 1. A report is due each June of the previous year’s sacramental acts in the Diocese. The report form is included with the license.

Mutual Ministry Review

The Letters of Agreement for priests all call for an annual mutual ministry review. The following documents, which are in use at Church of the Good Shepherd in Augusta are offered here as a model for creating documents for other congregations:

Overall
Mutual Ministry Review Overview
Sample letter that goes with forms

Self-Assessment
Sample form for vestry member self-assessment
Sample form for rector self-assessment
Sample form for staff member self-assessment

Reviews
Sample form for vestry review by a staff member
Sample form for review of a staff member by the rector
Sample form for review of a staff member by a vestry member
Sample form for staff member review of staff
Sample form for review of rector by vestry
Sample form for review of rector by a staff member

Helpful in this process is to work from a Vestry Job Description viewed by prospective members before election and agreed to by all who serve. To assist in the creation of this, Bishop Logue offers this Sample Vestry Job Description in PDF which is also available in Word vestryjobdescription.docx

Documents for Deacons

Deacon’s Agreement – The Letter of Agreement to be completed annually by vocational deacons together with the clergy where the deacon is assigned. Failure to have a current agreement on file will result in a deacon being moved to inactive status. The file linked above is a Word Document. Updated September 2020

Deacon’s Requirements – Requirements and recommendations for those seeking ordination as vocational deacons in the Diocese of Georgia.

Guidelines for Deacons – Revised Advent 2013

Traditions of the Church Competencies
Updated September, 2019

Documents for Lay Ministers

Serving as a Lay Eucharistic Minister (chalice bearer) and Lay Eucharistic Visitor (taking the sacrament to those who could not attend a worship service due to health issues) is licensed by the Diocese of Georgia in accordance with the Canons of The Episcopal Church. The necessary application and information are available for download here as PDF files (revised April 2019). Applicants should receive all three documents. All training for Lay Ministers may be completed in the parish. Some convocations also offer training days.

Lay Minister Application
Standards for Licensed Lay Ministers
Canons for Licensed Lay Ministers

Liturgical Information

Visitation Customary – Bishop Logue’s customary in place for use beginning with in person visitations in the fall of 2021.

Bishop Logue’s Visitation Calendar
Updated 3/4/2022

Celebration of New Ministry – this Word file provides the liturgical text to use in creating a bulletin for the service when the Bishop comes to your parish to celebrate the new ministry of a Rector or Priest in Charge. Updated May 2021.

Ordination Customary – The Diocese of Georgia’s customary for ordinations. Updated May 2021.

Marital Judgment

For remarriage after one or more persons in the couple has been divorced, the petitioning priest or deacon must get the couple to complete the following forms, sign them, and return the to the diocesan office in care of Maggie Lyons, Executive Assistant to Bishop Logue:

Same Sex Marriages

The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church meeting in July 2015 in Salt Lake City, after years of prayerful study and discernment, embraced marriage equality by eliminating language defining marriage as between a man and a woman (Resolution 2015 A036) and authorizing two new marriage rites with language allowing them to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples (Resolution 2015 A054) The two new marriage rites: The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage and The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2 are authorized for use in the Diocese of Georgia.

As noted in these resolutions: “no bishop, priest, deacon or lay person should be coerced or penalized in any manner, nor suffer any canonical disabilities, as a result of his or her theological objection to or support for the 78th General Convention’s action contained in this resolution.” The Diocese of Georgia staff will assist the couple in finding a member of the clergy who will marry them if their home parish does not offer marriage to same sex couples.

A book of liturgical resources related to same-sex marriage: Liturgical Resources I: I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing is available from Church Publishing here. Free downloads of the two new marriage rites are available here: The Witnessing and Blessing of a Marriage and The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2. The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage (BCP, p. 423 ff) and The Blessing of a Civil Marriage (BCP, p. 433ff) are Prayer Book rites and thus should continue to be used as appropriate.

The following documents provide Model Congregational Guidelines, and give the text of The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 2 in Word format:

Annotated Eucharist–This booklet gives the pages from the Book of Common Prayer for a Rite II Eucharist using Eucharistic Prayer A. Annotations in the side column give visitors additional information on the service. A brief glossary is in the back. The Annotated Eucharist is an Instructed Eucharist presented in a format that makes it possible to share with newcomers when an Instructed Eucharist is not planned. The annotations are available in Rich Text Format: annotatedeucharist.rtf as well as the Instructed Eucharist which does not include additional glossary and other information: instructedeucharist.rtf

Prayer Cycles

One Year Prayer Cycle for the Diocese of Georgia for 2022 – Updated December 17, 2021

Diocese of Georgia Prayer Cycle—Daily for 31 Days– Updated March 1, 2022

Diocese of Georgia Clergy Spouses – February 23, 2022

Various Other Documents

Audit—Internal Controls Checklist – This checklist was created to assist a review committee in conducting an audit of church finances to ensure that the proper controls are in place. The checklist conforms to the Business Methods manual below.

Business Methods – The Episcopal Church’s official guide to overseeing the temporal affairs of your congregation.

Parish Gift Acceptance Policy for Parish Guidelines

Primer on The Episcopal Church – This document is a primer of the governance of The Episcopal Church.

Hoornstra Fund Brochure – Created in thanksgiving for the ministry of the Rev. Paul Hoornstra, a priest and church planter who worked in this diocese, this fund supports new missions in the Diocese of Georgia.

Hospitality Checklist – This 3-page checklist takes a visitor’s encounter with your church from before they arrive until after they are home.

Bishop’s Letter RE: Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014
Bishop Scott Benhase sent this letter regarding the use of guns or firearms in churches in response to the Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014. The policy remains in effect in under Bishop Frank Logue.

Sexual Conduct Guidelines
The Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Georgia approved a diocesan policy on the protection of children and youth from abuse. These policies are meant to be guidelines for churches and Episcopal organizations in the Diocese of Georgia. Individual churches may adopt their own policies using the diocesan policies as a guide.

Self-Enrolling in Safeguarding Online
Safeguarding God’s Children (SGC) is an indepth educational and training program for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse in everyday life and in ministry. This program was created by the Church Pension Group in association with Praesidium, Inc. in response to General Convention Resolution B008, Protection of Children and Youth from Abuse, which mandates training in sexual abuse prevention.