WORSHIP SERVICES IN JUNE

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MUSIC NOTES
 Lisa Cardwell | music director 

Chancel choir rehearsals have moved to Sundays at 9 a.m. If you have been considering joining the choir, this would be a great time to come try us out.

We also welcome soloists to provide special music for us this summer. Jack Williams will sing a solo at the 8:00 service on June 2. This is in celebration of Cecil Gartman’s birthday. He will sing “I Want To Stroll Over Heaven With You,” one of Cecil’s favorite songs.

Keith and I will be attending the music and worship conference June 16–21 in Montreat, North Carolina. I will be looking at and purchasing music for our chancel and handbell choirs, as well as attending seminars on leading church music and attending daily worship services. We look forward to this time of continuing education and seeking God’s guidance in our leadership and personal spiritual development.

If anyone feels led to purchase music in honor of or in memory of a loved one, please let me know. One anthem for chancel and handbell choirs usually run $50 to $60.

I’m grateful to be a part of Swift’s musical ministry.

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WORSHIP REPORT
 Greg McNair | worship elder 

The Easter worship season is coming to a close.

■ June 2 is the seventh and final Sunday of Easter, and our guest minister, the Rev. Dr. Julian Walthall, will preach on the Ascension of the Lord. He is a retired Presbyterian minister who has served as pastor of churches in Baldwin and Mobile counties and in West Virginia. Most recently, he was senior pastor of Spanish Fort Presbyterian Church. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Everyone is invited to the table.

■ June 9 is when we observe the Day of Pentecost. The Rev. Lauren Peters, campus minister of UKirk South Alabama, will preach. Please wear something red as a reminder of the flames of the Holy Spirit. There will be a “moment for mission” for UKirk.

■ June 16 is Trinity Sunday, and Elder Philip Melton will preach. He is a graduate of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary’s Christian leadership program. This is also Father’s Day, and we will continue the tradition of asking people to wear Hawaiian shirts in honor of all fathers and men who have served as mentors and inspired others. The session will meet after both services to welcome new members.

■ The Rev. Lauren Peters will preach again on June 23, and the Rev. Dr. Julian Walthall will return to preach for us on June 30.

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Looking farther ahead to the first Sunday of next month (July 7), youth who attended Montreat will lead the 10:00 worship service in the sanctuary. This will be the only service that day, and we hope people who normally worship at 8:00 will come a bit later and support our fine young people.

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When worshipers visit a church for the first time, what makes them decide to return?

Sure, many things can figure into the equation, such as theology, structure and length of the worship service, worship time and location. But I would say the top factor is how the visitors are treated — how did they feel when they were at church and how did they feel when they reflected on the experience later.

I guess a few people want to visit a church and blend into the woodwork quietly and leave right away, practically without being noticed.

However, we on the worship committee think most people will be more likely to come back if they feel the presence of God and are shown radical hospitality — being greeted warmly and having several people talk to them and show that the pastors and congregation are glad that the visitor is among us.

As worship elder, I think our church does a pretty good job with this, but all in the church family constantly need to be mindful of new faces among us so that no one “falls through the cracks” and walks away with a poor impression of who we are and why we are here. We are the hands and feet of Christ in this place — and when we walk out of the church doors.

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“Summertime … and the livin’ is easy.” That’s an excerpt from “Summertime,” a song written by George and Ira Gershwin for the musical Porgy and Bess, but I’m not too sure how accurate that line is when the high temperatures hit the 90s and it feels like 100 degrees or so to us. That’s the way May has turned out to be in our area, and the forecast is for more of the same for the first half of June. But by the calendar it’s still spring, and the summer solstice will occur June 21 at 10:54 a.m. in our time zone.

Our church calendar has a considerably slower pace now that many classes and activities are taking a seasonal break. Our normal schedule will resume in September. Children’s church and Sunday school for children and youth will return, along with adult Bible study classes outside of Sunday school and the normal rehearsal schedule for the choirs.

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Come join us for worship, study, fellowship and mission work at Swift Church.

‘TWO OR MORE’ FELLOWSHIP LUNCH
Thursday, June 6 • 11:30 a.m.
O’Charley’s — 3060 S. McKenzie St., Foley

BUTTERFLY GIRLS/GUYS’ NIGHT  OUT
Thursday, June 20 • 6:30 p.m.
Mellow Mushroom — 2303 S. McKenzie St., Foley

Please contact Mary McNair at 251-295-5267 if you plan to come, even if a maybe, by that morning so she can make seating arrangements.

Our group is growing ever since the girls and guys meet at the same place, although we sit and visit together separately. Come join us this month. Couples or singles are welcome. Join us and suggest new places for us to try.

Come join us this month. Couples or singles are welcome. Join us and suggest new places for us to try.

MISSION REPORT
 Pate Cardwell and Al Sprouse | mission elders 

Food pantry
Our Swift food pantry served 28 families on May 8 and a new high of 41 families on May 22.

The food pantry is venturing beyond its past and joining with Feeding the Gulf Coast to become a USDA-certified food pantry. This giant step forward will allow us to accomplish much more to serve our area with our financial resources. By using Feeding the Gulf Coast, we can purchase grocery items for a fraction of the retail prices. Our commitment in this direction will need a few more people to donate a few hours each month to achieve this goal.

Please prayerfully consider assisting with our food pantry. If everyone that voted on the survey for maintaining our food pantry would donate one hour a month, the success of the food pantry would not be dependent on a few people. As part of this growth, the mission elders have formed a Swift food pantry committee that includes Pate Cardwell, Lee Mansell, Phil Melton, Gail Skinner, and Tina Sprouse.

Please continue to pray for the work that is being done with the Swift food pantry in God’s name.

UKirk South Alabama
On June 9, we will be honored to have the Rev. Lauren Peters return to Swift to deliver the sermon. In as much that she is the minister for UKirk South Alabama and our current mission is for UKirk, we will have an opportunity to make a donation to support the good works of UKirk. Our donations that are above and beyond our normal tithes and offerings should be clearly marked to go to UKirk.

Local community support
Our newest mission, providing snacks for the students at Elberta Elementary School, really doesn’t get underway until August. However, this mission will be supported with our “two cents a meal” donations. Our pennies can provide daily snacks for the less-privileged children in our community.

We have extended an invitation to the faculty and staff of Elberta Elementary School to Swift Presbyterian Church for a back-to-school luncheon. This is tentatively planned for the week of Aug. 5.

OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP WITH FELLOWSHIP TIME

Thank you to all who have signed up to bring snacks for the fellowship time after the 10:00 service. Everyone is enjoying the mixture of healthful and sweet snacks. If you are able, your fellowship deacons, Kathy Knipe and Tina Sprouse, would appreciate you signing up to provide a sweet snack, a healthful snack, or for cleanup duty. If you are able to participate in any way, please sign up on the sheet located in the fellowship hall or call Tina at (251) 510-5444. Reimbursement for expenses is available.

We will offer fellowship time through the end of June. Historically very few, if any, people come over for fellowship during the summer months, so we will take the months of July and August off. After that, fellowship time will resume Sept. 8.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION REPORT
 Brett Cardwell | elder/children • Tara  Morrow | elder/youth 
  

‘ROAR!’ VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
COMING UP JULY 12 AND 13

Vacation Bible school is coming up in July at Swift Church. Join us for “ROAR! Life Is Wild — God Is Good!” Friday night, July 12, and Saturday, July 13.

This epic African adventure engages the whole herd. At Roar, kids explore God’s goodness and celebrate a ferocious faith that powers them through this wild life. There will be classes for preschool through high school.

We will need crew leaders (teachers for mixed-age elementary-age children as well as preschool teachers), playtime leaders, snack leaders and providers, decorators, and more. We will have sign-ups before the weekend for the students. Please contact Brett Cardwell for more information, (251) 747-4036.

SNACKS WITH SUSAN AND DARYL
 Susan and Daryl Pichoff | leaders 

The class meets in the fellowship hall on Sundays from 9 to 9:45 a.m. and is led by Susan and Daryl Pichoff.

Join us as we discuss Philip Yancey’s study on prayer. Topics are:

■ June 2 — “Keeping Company With God”
■ June 9 — “How To Pray”
■ June 16 — “Prayer Problems”
■ June 23 — “Does Prayer Change Anything?”

June 23 will be our last class for the summer. We will be taking a break and will resume Aug. 25.

If you have questions, please let me know. Contact Susan at tabfanatic@gmail.com or 251-233-9486 (phone or text).

ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL
 Cheryl Jensen | leader 

The class meets from 9 to 9:45 a.m. in room 2 in the annex. We are studying the New Testament in chronological order, led by Cheryl Jensen.

We continue in Corinthians as Paul address problems in the early church, around A.D. 55–56.  Some of our upcoming topics are “Avoiding Offense,” “Spiritual Gifts,” “The God of All Comfort,” and “The Glory of the Gospel.”

If you feel God is leading you to dig deeper into His Word, or you just want to check us out, we would love for you to visit our class.

BIBLE STUDY AND FELLOWSHIP 
FOR ADULTS AT A GLANCE

We are blessed to have so many people who would like to be part of Bible study and fellowship at Swift Church. Here is a listing of the groups that are meeting. All of them are open to people visiting and/or joining the group, whether you are a member of Swift Church or not. For more information, contact the leaders or the church office.

Weekly:

• Sundays, 9 to 9:45 a.m., adult Sunday school class, room 2 in the annex, continuing a chronolgical study of the New Testament. Led by Cheryl Jensen

• Sundays, 9 to 9:45 a.m., Snacks with Susan and Daryl, fellowship hall, led by Susan and Daryl Pichoff; topic varies. The class usually watches a DVD and discusses informative topics.

• Sunday evening and Thursday morning Bible studies are not meeting for the summer. If you are interested in studying a particular book of the Bible, or a topical study, please contact Pastor Jody Beth or Adult Christian Education Elder Andrew King.

• Thursdays (first Thursday of month), 11:30 a.m., “Two or More” fellowship lunch at O’Charley’s in Foley on South McKenzie Street. Contact is Lee Mansell.

• Thursdays (third Thursday of month), 6:30 p.m., Butterfly Girls and Guys’ Night Out fellowship dinner at area restaurants, different place each month.

WE APPRECIATE OUR JUNE VOLUNTEERS

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“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

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GREETER/USHER TEAMS
June 2 — Sue Ann Lay and Lynda Walden
June 9 — Susie Alexander and Janelle Armbruster
June 16 — Willard Penfold and Eunice Ray
June 23 — Lynn and Mike Barnwell
June 30 — Kim Whitchard and Judy Walker

ACOLYTES
June 2 — Cadi Cardwell and McCoy Cooper
June 9 — Lainey Thomas
June 16 — ZoeyLynn and Zadie Grace Barnwell
June 23 — Sully Curry
June 30 — Cadi Cardwell and McCoy Cooper

NURSERY VOLUNTEERS (if needed)
June 2 — Jane King and Carlie Sims
June 9 — Ginny Kleinschmidt and Tara Morrow
June 16 — Megan Curry and Debbie Schmidt
June 23 — Pate and Brett Cardwell
June 30 — Tracy Akins and Lisa Turner

TIME WITH THE CHILDREN
June 2 — Cathy Rogers
June 9 — Lynn Aspray
June 16 — Pate Cardwell
June 23 — Debbie Schmidt
June 30 — Ginny Kleinschmidt

CHILDREN’S CHURCH
(Will resume in September.)

ELDER OF THE MONTH
Brett Cardwell

PROJECTIONIST
Devery Thomas  

SANCTUARY FLOWER SCHEDULING
Please contact Susie Alexander to reserve your date.

Flowers can be offered for a special occasion, birthday, anniversary, in memory of someone special, or just because you want to. They don’t have to be an expensive bouquet or arrangement, but something out of your own garden can be just as beautiful. We keep a calendar in the office so that you can check to see if your date is available.

You can reach Susie at 251-943-4145 or at thfairynfoley@gmail.com.

THANK YOU
From South Baldwin Literacy Council

What words can we say? You gave of your time, energy and effort to make our graduation ceremony a true celebration! We had so many wonderful comments from our families and students about the event. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your behind-the-scenes work and the many hours you gave. I am so grateful for your many kindnesses and your availability. You went above and beyond! May God bless you richly! — Allison Smith and the South Baldwin Literacy Council

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 a donation link on the church’s website.