SWIFT  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH

A Church That Practices Fruitful Living

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Session Highlights

Swift Church session met on Monday, Jan. 16. The meeting began with a welcome to new session members Greg McNair, Tara Morrow, Charlie Hastings and Chuck Carneal.

● We shared prayer concerns/celebrations and prayed.

● Approved written committee reports, previous minutes and pastors’ reports

● Heard of end-of-2016 financials and approved report

● Agreed to offer the use of the north field of the church yard to Doc McDuffie Road community as a place to play soccer on weekends

● Heard that the mission committee has applied for a grant for South Baldwin Literacy Council to staff English classes at Swift Church for Doc McDuffie Road community

● Received an update on varmints in the chapel/fellowship hall attics and approved a quote from Beebe’s Pest Control for eradication

● Approved the annual report that goes to the General Assembly office

● Elected Greg McNair as commissioner to the next presbytery meeting

● Elected Sue Ann Lay as clerk of session

● Elected Lynn Aspray as church treasurer

● Closed with prayer by Chuck Carneal.

 

 MUSIC  NOTES 

Lisa Cardwell, music director

Our handbell choir will be playing a communion anthem for the Saturday morning worship service at Presbytery meeting on Feb. 11. We will be playing “Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior.” (The Swift congregation will hear this anthem at the 10:00 service on Jan 29. It features “random ringing” by the higher bells — a first for our choir.) We will also be playing for the 10:00 service on March 5 and will play “I Want Jesus To Walk with Me.” We will feature a new technique, the gyro, during this anthem. Don’t miss it!

Plans are underway to present another powerful Holy Week journey this year. We will be featuring our chancel choir, our handbell choir, and our Joyful Tones chime choir. We will let you know details as we make decisions on anthems and possibly a featured instrumental soloist as we did last year. If you like to sing but can’t make a weekly commitment to the chancel choir, this is a great opportunity to be a part of our group for our Holy Week services.

I will be contacting Joyful Tones members soon about possible dates. Anyone can be a part of this group — second grade up through older adults. No music reading skills are necessary. If you have difficulty standing for long periods of time, don’t worry — you can sit and play chimes. If you can hold a chime and see letters or read words, you can be a part of this group. It’s fun!

 RADICAL  HOSPITALITY 

‘Two or More Lunch’
Thursday, Feb. 2, at 11:30 a.m. at the Captain’s Choice Grill at the Gulf Bowl.
Please contact Lee Mansell at 251-232-4775 to make a reservation or just show up.

Butterfly Girls and Guys’ Night Out
Mark your calendar for Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6:30 p.m.
• This month the ladies will be at Longhorn Steakhouse in Gulf Shores.

• The guys will be at Kitty’s Café. It is important to be there on time or early, as they close at 7.

Come for conversation and a night out with friends, new and old.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Pastor Jody Beth Melton: 251-213-6625.
 

   
 INTENTIONAL  FAITH  DEVELOPMENT 

‘Coffee with Keith’

The 9:00 class “Coffee with Keith” meets in the fellowship hall. We will look at the “animate” introductory DVD and then discuss the topic. This series is on practices.

Feb. 5      Money: The Joy of Sharing
Feb. 12    Service: The Needs Right Around You
Feb. 19    Community: An Unexpected Family

Daniel Bible study
We offer a Bible study on the book of Daniel is being offered both Sunday nights, 5:30 to 6:30
and Thursday mornings, 10 to 11:30. People are welcome to join this group at any time.
Please contact Elder Lee Mansell at 232-4775 for more information.
 

Getting Involved with the Youth at Swift Church

If you are interested in hosting a youth event in your home or preparing a meal for an event held at the church, please contact Kathy Menk at 971-6509.

Wednesday, Feb. 1 — Refuel will meet at the home of Norm and Debbie Schmidt, 6 to 8 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 19 — GɸG will meet at the church, 4 to 6 p.m.; Kathie and Randy LeDrew will provide the meal

 

 MISSION  AND  SERVICE 

 
Mission Committee Report
Cathy Rogers and Philip Melton, mission elders

After a very successful December mission to the Alabama Presbyterian Home for Children totaling $4,550, which was far above our expectations, the focus for February will be on our very own food pantry.

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Feb. 5, the mission committee will host a “Souper Bowl of Caring” luncheon after the 10:00 service. We will have a variety of excellent soups and desserts prepared by our very talented Swift cooks. Our newly remodeled food pantry will be open for the congregation to view and pack with food donations. We will also have a basket for your monetary donations to fund our food pantry. For the 8:00 church-goers, there will be some soups available after that service for you to take home. Take-home meals will also be available after the 10:00 service.

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The Swift Presbyterian Food Pantry is open on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon. We need two volunteers to man each distribution. Those volunteers pack a grocery bag full of staples and each visitor gets one bag. Recipients are required to fill out a form and/or sign in each time. Our food pantry usually serves approximately 25 families at each distribution, many of whom are regulars. Most of these folks are elderly and on a fixed income. Our food pantry allows them not to have to choose between prescription drugs and food, in some cases.

We are very grateful for our food pantry volunteers who are vital in making this operation work. We have volunteers for February but are looking for March and April volunteers. You can let Philip Melton know if you can volunteer a Wednesday morning during those months.

We are also thankful for those food donations provided by our congregation. Those who donate often times hit grocery-store sales, two-for-one offers, and/or use coupons. This allows them to give more than they might otherwise be able to provide.

Some of the staples that can always be used include rice, dry beans, flour, oil, sugar, canned foods, cereal, grits, peanut butter, pasta, pasta sauces, canned meats, macaroni and cheese, boxed meals, paper towels and toilet paper.

We partner with the food pantry at Catholic Social Services in Robertsdale sometimes and they provide additional staples and bread.

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Another mission that we are starting is the Doc McDuffie Road Mission. The session has approved both the use of the open field by the sanctuary for the Hispanic community on Doc McDuffie Road to play recreational soccer on Saturday and Sunday afternoons when there are no activities at the church.

One year ago, the session also approved permission to start an English as a Second Language class in the fellowship hall for that community as well. The work on the fellowship hall delayed that action. Now that the fellowship hall is available for use, we are moving forward with that class. Pastor Keith and Cathy Rogers, director of South Baldwin Literacy Council, wrote a mission grant to the Presbytery of South Alabama to finance this class, and we received $1,500 for the first year. Esther Tillmon is the ESL coordinator at South Baldwin Literacy Council, and her salary for teaching the class will be paid using this grant.

The class will meet in the fellowship hall on Friday mornings from 8 to 10 starting Feb. 17. It will focus on Hispanic mothers and their preschool children to help them learn English and learn about the gospel. Mrs. Tillmon will be using a bilingual copy of the New Testament that the literacy council will be ordering. The goal of this class is to improve the English of these families, teach the news of the gospel, how to pray, and to develop a relationship with Swift Church.

We are all very excited about this mission. It is our hope that some of our members will volunteer to attend the class as well as a liaison of the Swift Church. Talk to Keith or Cathy if you are interested in doing this.

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The next mission project will be “One Great Hour of Sharing” in March and April. A gift to “One Great Hour of Sharing” enables the church to share God’s love with our neighbors in need around the world by providing relief to those affected by natural disasters, provide food to the hungry, and helping to empower the poor and oppressed. For more information about this mission, you can go to http://specialofferings.pcusa.org/.

 

GriefShare Support Group
Paula Brewer

Facing the reality of losing a loved one is not something that anyone is ever ready for, and talking to someone who is going through the same thing is always comforting.

Helping people find ways to start putting their life back together again after a loss is the main purpose of GriefShare. Helping people find hope and support after they have lost a loved one is part of the process.

Society puts pressure on people to get on with their lives, which is not an easy task. People don’t know how to face tomorrow.

GriefShare offers important tools that make the process of facing tomorrow a little less confusing. GriefShare is a Christ-centered 13-week program, open to anyone, taking people on a journey of how to deal with grief through a series of group meetings with a DVD, a workbook (at a cost of $15), and sharing.

The DVD and workbook help individuals discover the necessary steps needed to deal with the grief and move on with life one day at a time. The sharing helps us to realize that we are not alone. It is sometimes scary to enter a meeting alone when you don’t know anyone.

If you don’t need GriefShare, be a support system for someone who is dealing with grief and come with them until they are comfortable. Grief has no time limit — so if you lost someone a few weeks ago or 20 years ago, you are welcome. Let’s walk this journey of grief together and go from “mourning to joy.”

Location:                                                                             Contact:
Swift Presbyterian Church fellowship hall                            Paula Brewer, facilitator
23208 Swift Church Road                                                    Telephone: 251-284-4225
Foley, AL 36535                                                                   Email: jdandbutterflies@gmail.com
Telephone: 251-943-8367

Details:
• Saturdays from 3 to 5 p.m.
• $15 registration fee (includes important workbook)
• No child care

Here’s a week-by-week look at the topics for the Saturday sessions:

Session 1 — Feb. 4             Is This Normal?       
Session 2 — Feb. 11           Challenges of Grief  
Session 3 — Feb. 18           The Journey of Grief — Part 1
Session 4 — Feb. 25           The Journey of Grief — Part 2
Session 5 — March 4          Grief and Your Relationships         
Session 6 — March 11        Why?                                      
Session 7 — March 18        Guilt and Anger        
Session 8 — March 25        Complicating Factors          
Session 9 — April 1             Stuck  
Session 10 — April 8           Lessons of Grief — Part 1   
Session 11 — April 15         Lessons of Grief — Part 2   
Session 12 — April 22         Heaven          
Session 13 — April 29         What Do I Live for Now?

We Appreciate Our February Volunteers

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,
faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” — 1 Peter 4:10

GREETER/USHER TEAMS
Feb. 5 — Lynda Walden, Sue Ann Lay, Susie Alexander
Feb. 12 — Willard Penfold, Lynn and Mike Barnwell
Feb. 19 — Kim and Tony Whitchard, Lynn Aspray, Jane King
Feb. 26 — Bridget Gosa, Jessica Gosa, Lee Mansell and Greg McNair

NURSERY VOLUNTEERS
Feb. 5 — Lezli and Kenny Thomason
Feb. 12 — Aaron and Lyndsey Ward
Feb. 19 — Bridgit Gosa and Tara Morrow
Feb. 26 — Megan Curry

TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
Feb. 5 — Cathy Rogers
Feb. 12 — Jane King
Feb. 19 — Teresa Thomas
Feb. 26 — Judy Walker

CHILDREN’S CHURCH
Feb. 5 — No Children’s Church
Feb. 12 — Tosha Thomas and Brett Cardwell
Feb. 19 — Teresa Thomas and Lynn Aspray
Feb. 26 — Aaron and Lyndsey Ward

FELLOWSHIP DEACONS
Feb. 5 — Tresa Melton
Feb. 12 — Brett Cardwell
Feb. 19 — Tosha Thomas
Feb. 26 — Tresa Melton
 

   
 EXTRAVAGANT  GENEROSITY 

ABOUT ONLINE GIVING . . .

You may have noticed this box in your bulletin. Using your “smart phone” and this box you can connect to the church’s online giving page. You can set up for automatic donations of your tithes or one-time gifts to a number of funds benefiting ministries of Swift Church. Use this by either entering your credit/debit card information or your checking account information. Of course, this is a secure website. You can also do the same thing by clicking the donation link on the church’s website, www.swiftchurch.org.