Denise and I are absolutely thrilled that God has called me to Swift Presbyterian to be your interim minister! The warm welcome that has been extended has been such a blessing and we look forward to getting to know everyone as we journey with you through this threshold time.
In Celtic Christian spirituality, thresholds are a sacred place where the veil between heaven and earth is thin. They are a place of birthing; legend has it that Brigid, the Irish Saint of scholars, poets, and healers, was born on a threshold. When we find ourselves straddled over a threshold — with one foot firmly rooted in what has been and the other tentatively stepping into what will be — we can be certain that the Spirit is breathing new life into us. My calling is to walk with and guide our Swift family through a time of discernment and rebirth. As we celebrate who and what Swift Presbyterian has been, we are also invited to consider how God is calling us to walk into a brand-new future as a family of faith.
Denise and I have been married for almost nine years and between us have three grown boys. She lived in Mobile for nearly thirty years before we were married. I have lived in many places thanks to my twenty-one years on active duty as a USAF chaplain. Since my retirement from the Air Force in 2011 and our getting married, we have lived in DeFuniak Springs, Florida; Estes Park, Colorado; and Carrollton, Georgia. In that time, we have stood on many thresholds throughout the past nine years, and we are thrilled to be journeying with you, the good folks of Swift Presbyterian Church!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Michael
