SWANSEA FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Post Office Box 550 Swansea, SC 29160-0550 NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID LEXINGTON, SC PERMIT NO. 107 THE SIGNAL Return Service Requested The Signal is published monthly by the Swansea First Baptist Church of Swansea, SC. Volume 22 Issue 5 May 2011 119th Homecoming and the William Deal Day From Your Pastor s Heart What a tremendous last few weeks. The children s choir was just wonderful with their special music on Palm Sunday. Then this past Easter Sunday, the Adult Choir was spectacular. The video and the music brought the life of Jesus alive. I just cannot thank Chad and Jane Ann Meredith enough. We are so blessed to have this family in our church. I am in awe of these two. We also had such a great attendance on Sunday. It had to be a record for us. 370 people in attendance! I am amazed at the number. I am glad so many people were in attendance. It was truly a special Sunday. I hope to see you this week as we have Homecoming. I am looking forward to honoring Mr. Deal as well. It is going to be fun! Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 11:00 am Covered Dish Dinner at 12:30 pm Rev. Terry C. Wilder, Speaker The Bill Deal I Know Dr. Ron Rowe, Homecoming Speaker Executive Director of Uttermost Ministries
March Birthdays May Birthdays 1st.Michael McCarson Ashleigh Steen 3rd..Duane 1st..Kelly Steinhoff 2nd...Sarah Jenna Redmond Strickland 4th..Bill Vanne Sandifer Deal 3rd.Jenna Zeigler Laura Pound 6th..Earl Watts 7th..Charlene Tammy Caudill Baker 5th.. Robert 8th...Michael Kubischke Taylor 12th...Betty 7th...Wilma Dasher Davis 9th...Bryan 13th. Jeremy Corley Wilder 11th...Gladys 14th..Cara Redmond Lucas 15th...Chris Hoffman Jessica Calp 16th...Jennifer Liester 12th.Rebecca 17th...Bernice Sharpe Stevens 15th.Nancy Austin Sturkie Blithe 18th.Brenton Tyler Dasher Lucas 19th....Thomas 16th...Adam Jumper Sharpe 18th...David Riley Zeigler Livingston Jr. 21st..Justin Poole Susan Norris Robert Ott 23rd....Bobbie Leigh Ann Adkins Teal 25th...Marlene 20th..Chad Williams Sturkie 21st Permilia 26th..Amanda Luongo Brazell Donette Alan Hoffman Kirkland 22nd...Jean Burns Melodie Sharpe 24th...Jeff Corley 27th..Rhonda Rast 28th.....Jack Burns Dawson Sandifer Isaac Sandifer 29th..Carter Livingston Swansea High School Graduation Wednesday, June 1 6:00pm The Graduation Ceremony will take place at the Carolina Coliseum. There will be no Wednesday night services this night. We encourage you to join us in celebrating our graduates. The Signal is published monthly by the Swansea First Baptist Church in Swansea, South Carolina. The Swansea First Baptist Church is in friendly cooperation with the Lexington Baptist Association, the South Carolina Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention. The Church Staff The Senior Pastor Reverend Terry C. Wilder Minister of Music Mr. Chad Meredith Student Minister Reverend Rev. John John N. Harmon Parish Nurse Mrs. Angie Redmond The Organist Mrs. Jane Ann Meredith The Pianists Mrs. Brenda Hoffman Mrs. Jackie Cagle The Secretary Mrs. Joyce Saylor Preschool Director Mrs. Diane Goodwin Custodian Mrs. Kim Taylor In the event of a change of address please contact the church office: Swansea First Baptist Church 145 South Church Street Post Office Box 550 Swansea, South Carolina 29160 (803) 568-3368 The Church Website www.swanseafbc.com Tour The Billy Graham Library and BBN Radio Tuesday, May 24 Don t miss this exciting trip! First we will tour the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. Many new things have been added or enlarged since our last visit. Here you will encounter highlights of Billy Graham s extraordinary life, a journey from the pastures and dirt roads of North Carolina to platforms and arenas in the world s greatest cities. After lunch, we will visit the nearby Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) headquarters. BBN is a radio network committed to sharing the Word of God around the world in many different languages. The church bus will leave the parking lot at 8:15am. We will return in the late afternoon. There is no charge for either tour. The Senior Baptist Adult Men s Trip Supper Tuesday, May 17th at 7:00 PM Last month the trip to the JAARS Center was cancelled due to the winter weather Terry forecast Wilder s for that day. Crew On March 17, the Adults Bill and Strickland Senior Adults will travel to Waxhaw, NC Bill to visit Starr the JAARS Center. The group will be introduced to their unique role Doug in Bible McGaha translation through videos, interactive John presentations, Ernst and a tour of their campus and museums. They recommend you wear comfortable shoes and Steve Strickland they ******************************************* will make special arrangements if the group can t walk the distance. Metallic Club Lunch will be in their dining hall. The Don t cost forget will be Metallic around Club $7.00 on plus Monday, tax. We will May be 16. leaving Join the at group 7:45am for on lunch Thursday, in the March Fellowship 17th. Hall Please at 11:00am. sign up in We the always hall if you would like to be a part of this very interesting tour. have good fellowship, good food, and good information. Angie Redmond, our Parrish **************************************** Nurse, will be doing blood pressure screenings for us. ********************************************* Graduate Metallic Recognition Club Sunday, May 29th On Monday, March 21, the Metallic Join us Club in celebrating will meet at our 11:00am. Graduates: At this meeting Haley Meredith, we will Garrett play Bingo Sharpe, after Stacey the business Ward, Franki session. Jumper, At Davis 12 o clock Harmon, the group Matt Leonard, fellowships and together Kristofor while Reagan. eating a This delicious group has home-cooked numerous meal. accomplishments including for information, Haley and fun, Garrett food, in and a Join the group conversation. tight race for valedictorian and salutatorian.
Mission Events in May The Karen Smith Walk and Craft Fair for the St. Karen Smith s Orphanage Saturday, May 7, 2011 Registration at 8:30 am The walk and run begins at 9:00 am The Annual Salad and Sandwich Make-off Baked Goods, Crafts and Treasures Auction For the Kenya Mission Team Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 5:30 pm Cost for the meal is $5.00 Make your favorite sandwiches and salads and then place them to be judged. We will have a first, second and third place winner. We also need you to clean out your attic and garages for the auction. Bring those treasures to be sold to the highest bidder. We also need your crafts and baked goods. Practice your bidding and we will have a great time! Meredith Moments I am tired, and unfortunately Spring Break is over time to get back to the old grind stone. That is how it works sometimes. However, working on the past couple of projects with the two choirs has been exhausting, but well worth it. I am truly proud of the children s choir and the adult choir for their performances. The children were absolutely incredible and really did an awesome job presenting Hallelujah, What a Savior! Thanks kiddos for working so hard! Also, I am truly thankful to all the choir members for their willingness to serve in this ministry. The cantata on Easter morning was simply wonderful. I hope the church enjoyed our multimedia presentation of the Easter message. Furthermore, I trust the message of Christ dying for our sins and offering salvation was felt throughout the congregation. I appreciate all the support everyone has offered these last few weeks. As we prepare for the next couple of weeks, the children s choir will have one more presentation before we call it a year and take the summer off. This will be on the Sunday after Mothers Day, May 15 th. Therefore, parents be sure to bring your little ones to practice the next several weeks. Until next time God Bless! In Christ, Chad
Student Ministry News The end is in sight. If you are like me you can see the finish line that marks the end of the school year and it can t get here soon enough. I want to encourage you not to look too far ahead and to finish this year strong. The summer will be here soon enough and as usual we have a lot planned for this summer, more about that in minute. First things first, we have a big weekend coming up. Disciple Now weekend is quickly approaching, May 13-14, and it is going to be a great couple of days. This year we are partnering with Sardis and Faith for an even bigger event. Our weekend will center around the movie To Save a Life and will also include midnight bowling, flag football, and other activities. We will stay overnight in the church so make sure you bring your sleeping bags and/or air mattresses. We will have our shower unit here so please bring your own towel (yes, you will need to take a shower). The cost for the weekend is $30 per student. This is going to be a great weekend that you will not want to miss. I hope you are making plans to attend, please see me to sign up ASAP. Our two big events for the summer are Screamin Eagle Outfitters, our summer camp, and Community Changers. We will be going to camp the week of June 19-24 and the cost is $175. Community Changers will be the week of July 10-15 and the cost will be $25. Hopefully you have already received a letter with the details of both of these trips. If you have any questions about the details please let me know. Finally I want to recognize all of our upcoming graduates. We have a great group of students that will be graduating this year: Haley Meredith, Garrett Sharpe, Stacey Ward, Davis Harmon, Matt Leonard, Franki Jumper, and Kristofor Reagan. As a group these students have many great accomplishments both in school and in the community. I can t tell you what a great influence they have had on our student ministry as well. They have been instrumental in making our student ministry what it is today. I hope you will join us in recognizing these students on May 29 th during our Graduate Recognition Service. In Christ, John Harmon Eph. 3:16 *****Don t forget to check out the calendar for upcoming events***** Flowers for Bibles Sale Friday and Saturday, May 6th & 7th What a wonderful ministry this is for our area churches. The churches of North, Swansea and St. Matthews began this ministry many years ago. It has been a tremendous success. We have so many people who give of their time and talent to make this ministry a reality. Over the last five years they have raised literally thousands of dollars for Bibles, orphanages and medicines. This group of women really have a heart for ministry. The concept of this ministry was very simple but tremendous. The ladies decided to take flowers and plants from their yard and sell them. What a innovative idea. The sales take place at the Orangeburg Fair Grounds and at our church. I hope that you will be able to help with this ministry by buying plants and working at the nursery. Please see Faye Stabler, Deloris Zeigler and Kaye Hoffman for more information. ******************************************************* Thank you, Kaye Hoffman We would like to thank Kaye Hoffman for the wonderful work she has done in the flower beds and prayer garden. She has the grounds looking so beautiful. Thank you Kaye for all that you do!
1st Deut. 18 May Bible Reading Plan Ecclesiastes 10 Acts 9 16th Deut. 33-34 Isaiah 6 Col. 3-4 2nd Deut. 19 Ecc. 11 Acts 10 17th Joshua 1 Isaiah 7 3rd Deut. 20 Ecc. 12 Acts 11-12 18th Joshua 2 Isaiah 8 1 Thess. 1-2 1 Thess. 3-4 4th Deut. 21 Song of Sol. 1 Acts 13 19th Joshua 3-4 Isaiah 9 1 Thess. 5 5th Deut. 22 Song of Sol. 2 Acts 14-15 20th Joshua 5-6 Isaiah 10 2 Thess. 1-2 6th Deut. 23 Song of Sol. 3 Acts 16-17 21st Joshua 7 Isaiah 11 2 Thess. 3 7th Deut. 24 Song of Sol. 4 Acts 18-19 22nd Joshua 8 Isaiah 12 1 Tim. 1-3 8th Deut. 25 Song of Sol. 5 Acts 20 23rd Joshua 9 Isaiah 13 1 Tim. 4-5 9th Deut. 26 Song of Sol. 6 Acts 21-22 24th Joshua 10 Isaiah 14 1 Tim. 6 10th Deut. 27 Song of Sol. 7 Acts 23-24 25th Joshua 11 Isaiah 15 2 Tim. 1 11th Deut. 28 Song of Sol. 8 Acts 25-26 26th Joshua 12 Isaiah 16 2 Tim. 2 12th Deut. 29 Isaiah 1 Acts 27 27th Joshua 13 Isaiah 17-18 2 Tim. 3-4 13th Deut. 30 Isaiah 2 Acts 28 28th Joshua 14 Isaiah 19 Titus 1-3 14th Deut. 31 Isaiah 3-4 Colossians 1 29th Joshua 15 Isaiah 20-21 Hebrews 1-2 15th Deut. 32 Isaiah 5 Col. 2 30th Joshua 16 Isaiah 22 Heb. 3-4 The Student Ministry at Swansea First Baptist Church will GIVE GOD THE GLORY with everything we do; and we will have FUN while GROWING TOGETHER, MEETING OTH- ERS NEEDS, and SPREADING THE WORD. Mark Your Calendars Mark Your Calendars May 13-14 Disciple Now Cost $30 May 29 Graduate Recognition Sunday June 13-17 VBS June 19-24 Screamin Eagle Outfitters Cost: $175 July 10-15 Community Changers Cost: $25 ***Be on the lookout for other events and fundraisers.*** Graduate Recognition Sunday May 29th If you are graduating or have graduated from high school or college this school year we want to celebrate your accomplishment. Please let John or the church office know by May 1 st what school you have graduated from, where you are going to college, or any other future plans. 31st Joshua 17 Isaiah 23 Heb. 5
Mending a Broken Heart Losing someone you love is one of life s most stressful events and can cause us much pain. Within our hearts we all know that death is a part of life. Death gives meaning to our existence everyday because it reminds us how precious life is and that we are not promised tomorrow. When an unexpected death occurs within our family or in our community many of us feel numb and shocked. We say No, It can t be. Denial, disbelief, shock and sadness overcome us. Along with these emotions our mood can change quickly from despair, sadness guilt and even anger. All of these feelings are normal and common reactions to loss. Mourning is a natural process we must all go through to accept the loss we feel. Remember everyone grieves and mourns in their own way and time. There are no steadfast rules that govern grief. But here are a few things to think about. Seek out caring people that understand your feelings. Don t be afraid to really tell others how you feel. Take care of your health. Postpone making major life decisions such as moving, remarrying or changing jobs. Be patient. It will take time to absorb your loss and accept your changed life. Celebrate the memories you have of your loved one. In closing let me say Chandler Fulmer Allen was loved by many. She touched lives with her patient spirit and sweet smile including mine. Indeed she will be missed by all. For the family and friends left here take comfort in an epitaph on an old Irish tombstone. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. With much sadness, until next time, Angie Redmond, RN, FCN Call 568-5404 or email angieredmond@palmettohealth.org
National Day of Prayer Thursday, May 5, 2011 11:00 AM until 6:30 PM The Swansea United Methodist Church will be open to the public from 11:00 am until 6:30 pm on May 5 for people to enter the sanctuary or Prayer Room to pray. Everyone is invited to come by the church any time between these hours on the National Day of Prayer to join with others as our community shares in the power of prayer. The Swansea United Methodist Church is located at 305 North Church Street and can be reached at (803)568-4391. Swansea First Baptist Preschool The End of the Year Preschool Program will be on Wednesday, May 18 at 11:00am. This year our program is entitled Praising Jesus. Please come and join un to celebrate and recognize our children for all their hard work! We are now enrolling for the 2011-2012 school year! We are accepting children ages 14 months thru 4 years old! Please contact the church at 568-3368 or Mrs. Diane Goodwin (568-3693) for more information! Enrollment forms are available at the church s welcome center!! Dear Swansea Baptist Church, My name is Samantha. I am in Mrs. Zeigler s third grade class at Sandhills Elementary School. I am writing to thank you for buying me new clothes after my house caught on fire. I love my new clothes and shoes! Thank you to all the people who gave money and went shopping for me. I feel very good when I wear my new outfits. Love, Samantha You Are Invited to a Sewing Party May, 2011 9:00am 1:00pm We will be making dresses for girls, shorts for boys, and bags for medicines. The Kenya Mission Team will take the dresses and shorts to the to the children in our orphanages. The medicine bags are used during the medical clinics. Items you can bring to help: Portable Sewing Machines Irons and Ironing Boards Pieces of Cloth 0 Ribbon Scissors/Straight Pins/Needles Thread/2 Gallon Plastic Bags/Yarn Every one can help-whether you sew or not there will be something you can do. Please join us we plan to have a sewing party each month until Au-gust or until we have a lot of dresses, shorts, and bags to take to Kenya. Gel Packs For Sale The 2011 Kenya Mission Team is selling gel packs from Accurate Manufacturing as a fundraiser for our trip. We greatly appreciate Mr. Doug McCarthy for working with us on this fundraiser. The gel packs can be used either hot or cold. Please see one of the mission team members or the church office if you would like to place an order. 10x15 $15.00 5x18 $12.00 7x25 $15.00 Eye Mask $10.00 Penguin Pack $5.00