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Spanish Fort UMC
6530 Spanish Fort Blvd., Suite D Spanish Fort, AL 36527
ADDRESS SERV ICE REQUESTED
STAFF
Bill Price Senior Pastor
Rebecca Rutherford Associate Minister
Beth Allen Director of Congregational Life
Bonnie Hariel Worship Arts Director
Brittney Liebbe Youth Director
Jennifer Robertson Children's Director
Beth Bedsole Preschool Director
Mandy Reeves Nursery Coordinator
Andy Cloninger Contemporary Worship Director
GIVING OPTIONS AVAILABLE |
• Give ONLINE on our website at
www.spanishfortumc.org/giving
• Scan the QR code with your cell
phone/app
• Text SFUMCGIVE to 73256 and follow
the link
• Log into the Realm Connect app on your phone
• Set up a regularly scheduled automatic withdrawal
from your bank account, contact Faye in the
church office or at [email protected].
• Mail check designated as offering to 6530 Spanish
Fort Blvd., Suite D, Spanish Fort, Al 36527
• Drop in mail slot by the church office front door.
Thank you for your continued giving,
especially during these difficult times.
*all gifts are tax-deductible and a year-end giving statement
will be prepared for you for tracking and tax purposes.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
September 13 & 26 | Bishop
David Graves, in
collaboration with
conference leadership and
the annual conference planning team, is announcing
that the 2020 AWF Annual Conference session will be
held in two parts in the fall of 2020. Both sessions will
be held at Frazer Memorial UMC in Montgomery, AL.
The clergy session will be held on Sunday, September
13, 2020, and the half-day annual conference session
will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2020. A non-
voting live stream option will be available to those
who are unable to attend on the 26th. All guests and
families are asked to watch via live stream this year to
reduce the number of persons in the building. The
previously announced virtual session, planned for
June 28-29, will not be held.
Dear Church Family and Friends,
These continue to be very uncertain times. I wanted to
give you some updates. The Covid Task Group met last
week to give further discussion about “in person”
worship. As you know our anticipation was to try to open
the church in August, but the Covid cases have now
increased. So, the decision was made not to reopen the
church for now. Our Council unanimously affirmed this
decision in our meeting on July 27th. From the outset of
this pandemic we have used a month to month process
of evaluating and making determinations about
reopening our church. One of the criteria used is the
CDC recommendations of diminishing cases of Covid-
19. Unfortunately, as noted earlier, the Covid numbers
have increased. Simply stated the risks of reopening
remain too high at this time. The Covid Task Group will
continue to meet twice monthly to assess and make
decisions which will also be reviewed by our Council.
Meanwhile, we will continue to offer our Facebook live-
stream worship every Sunday at 10 a.m. and on the
radio on FM 103.3 at Noon. In addition, we plan to
continue to offer Sunday evening drive-in services every
other week. We will have our next drive-in service on
August 16th at 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot behind the
sanctuary. This will be a special service as we will have a
time of blessing for back to school as well as hymns, a
short sermon, and the celebration of Holy Communion.
Some of our small groups and classes have asked about
meeting “in-person” at the church. We understand the
need for greater connection and fellowship especially
since we are not able to gather for normal worship
services and fellowship times. We are looking for ways
for classes and small groups to meet while still adhering
to the proper safety guidelines. Group/Class leaders
have received a survey to help us with coordination of
scheduling of locations and proper cleaning needed for
CHURCH INFORMATION
Monday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.| Friday 8 a.m. - Noon
251-626-1334 | [email protected]
6530 Spanish Fort Blvd., Suite D, Spanish Fort, Al 36527
www.spanishfortumc.org
@spanishfortumc Spanish Fort UMC
WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP
Regular Schedule
Traditional Worship - 8:45 AM (Sanctuary, Main Campus)
Coffee Fellowship - 9:45 AM (Fellowship Hall, Main Campus)
Contemporary Worship - 11:00 AM
(Sanctuary, Main Campus)
08/2020
this to happen for those classes/groups that desire to
meet “in-person”. Some groups have met or are
meeting off campus or in outside areas while
maintaining safety guidelines also. We will communicate
with our Group/Class leaders when a decision is made
on how and when we can begin meeting “in-person”.
I encourage your prayers for our leadership. These are
very difficult times that require very difficult decisions.
This is not only for the church but for our community and
civic leaders also. I know we are all quite weary from
being apart especially in worship. None more than I. I
do pray for a vaccine and more permanent solutions for
this Covid pandemic to come quickly. Until then, we are
looking to make wise decisions that help us continue to
worship our Lord and serve in ways that we can. The
Prayer of Serenity is a daily prayer for me. This helps me
focus on what I can do, not what I cannot do. I
commend it to you also.
Grace and Peace, Bill
UNIFORM CLOSET | Ongoing | The Uniform Closet will
be accepting phone orders only through the church
office. Requests for school uniforms will then be filled
with what we have available & participants will receive
a phone call to set up an appointment time to come to
the church office & pick up the uniforms. It is on a first
come, first served basis.
If you have uniform donations
you can drop them off at the
church office door from 8:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. Monday
through Thursday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to
12:00 p.m. For exchanges
or returns, you must call the
church office to schedule
an appointment time.
Currently, the Uniform Closet will not have regular open
hours /days. Pickup and drop offs will be curbside at
6530 Spanish Fort Blvd., Suite D, Spanish Fort, AL.
WAYS TO COMMUNICATE | During these ever
changing times, we want to continue to be the
church. We want to continue to stay in touch and
remain connected in the ways that we can and to
focus on that instead of the things we cannot do right
now. In that effort, we have rolled out a few new
avenues for you to connect. They are listed below and
will also include all of our established ways to
communicate and remain a church family.
MIDDAY MESSAGES | Ongoing | We encourage you
to continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer at noon as a sign
of unity in praying for God’s will to be done in addition
to the Prayer of St. Francis. We encourage you to also
continue to pray for our community, the church and
the concerns we are facing today.
We know you miss one another and miss seeing each
other. So, Midday Messages (Music Monday, Teen
Tuesday, Wisdom Wednesday (senior adults), Thoughts
on Thursday (from your clergy), and Family Friday) will
continue on our Facebook page to highlight different
groups of people from our congregation to share how
they see the church at work during this time of social
distancing as well as in their own lives.
PHONE | You can call the church office and leave a
message at 251-626-1334.
EMAIL | Our primary contact email for the church is
[email protected]. Emails will be forwarded
onto the appropriate person or department.
WEBSITE| You can view previous sermon audio or
video, Contact newsletters, and bulletins on our
website at www.spanishfortumc.org/media.
YOUTUBE | Please go to www.youtube.com, then
search for Spanish Fort United Methodist Church. There
you will find videos posted that you might not be able
to catch live or see elsewhere.
OFFICE HOURS | The “physical” church office will
remain closed for the time being. However, we are still
here to help you. We are answering voice mails, social
media, and emails. This is for the safety of our
members and guests, as well as the staff. This will be in
effect until further notice.
FACEBOOK | You can catch live and recorded
videos, as well as get a lot of current information on
the church’s current happenings.
RADIO BROADCAST | You can also now listen to our
Sunday 10 AM Blended Service on Go Forth Media's
radio station WBHY 103.3 FM or 840 AM at Noon on
Sundays! So if you miss the Facebook LIVE stream or
can't get to a computer, you can always listen then.
*** ALL EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO LAST
MINUTE CHANGES DUE TO THE
ONGOING PANDEMIC SITUATION*** BOOK OF ACTS SERMON SERIES | Ongoing |
Continue with us in our current sermon series as we
cover the Book of Acts from the Bible, which will run
through the end of August. If you have any questions,
please contact the church office by email at
[email protected] or by calling 626-1334
and leaving a message.
UPPER ROOM DEVOTIONALS | If you usually come
into the office to pick up an Upper Room or have
someone bring them to you, please call the church
office at 626-1334 and leave a message for Beth Allen
or email her at [email protected]. She will be
happy to make arrangements for you to come by the
office to pick one up or have a copy delivered to you.
The current edition available is the July/August issue.
“BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS” & DRIVE-IN
VESPER SERVICE | August 16 | 6:30 PM | Please
arrive at 6:15 PM to get your parking spot.
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We will have a time of worship, hymns and communion.
In addition, we will have a special Blessing of the
Backpacks (backpacks, computers, tablets, etc.).
When you drive in, we will give you an order of worship,
the station to tune in to, communion elements, and
hymn lyrics. In order to practice social distancing and
stay safe, please remain in your vehicles. If you have
any questions, contact the church office at 626-1334 or
by emailing our staff at [email protected].
DRIVE-IN VESPER SERVICE | August 30 | 6:30 PM
| Plan to arrive at 6:15 PM to get your parking spot in
the lot behind the Sanctuary. We will have a time of
worship, hymns, and communion. When you drive in,
we will give you an order of worship, including the
station to tune in to, communion elements, and hymn
lyrics. In order to practice social distancing and stay
safe, please remain in your vehicles. If you have any
questions, please contact the church office by leaving
a voicemail at 251-626-1334 or by emailing our staff at
MISSIONARIES WE SUPPORT SERVING THE LORD |
John and Lisa Hamilton; OMS International (Uruguay)
Rob and Amy Ellis; Ethnos360 Missions (Tanzania, Africa)
Ronnie and Nanny Calvert (Quito, Ecuador)
Monica Maxwell; IMB Connecting (Southern India)
TANZANIA UPDATE WITH BREAD OF LIFE | The Bread
of Life ChristCare group met at May Day Park in
Daphne in July. It was a great time of fellowship
including lunch, a devotion and prayer. Our special
guests were Amy, Shelbyann, Marilyn and Donovan Ellis
along with Amy's mother Catherine Adkins. Amy and
the children spoke about their life in Tanzania and
shared some of the difficulties they encounter in their
ministry. God bless them for their dedication and
example of Christian giving, living and sharing.
BLUE LAKE CAMP | Blue Lake is our conference camp
near Andalusia, Alabama. This camp has been a part
of the lives of countless children, youth, and adults. Due
to the current pandemic, the camp has been unable
to host groups and summer camps and is in need of
funding. If you would like to help, please go to
www.bluelakecamp.com to see how you can support
this wonderful ministry!
NEWROOM CONFERENCE | September 25-26 |
SFUMC will be hosting one of the multiple sites for the
NewRoom Conference. It will be part of the day Friday
and all day Saturday. More details will be coming
shortly. If you have any questions, please contact
Rebecca Rutherford at [email protected].
DEATHS | Our condolences and prayers are
extended to:
Anna Boyce Keplar and family on the death of her
husband, Cliff Keplar. Mr. Keplar passed away on
July 21, 2020.
Ken Coale and family on the death of his father,
George Oliver Coale. Mr. Coale passed away on
July 24, 2020.
Joyce French on the death of her husband Ed French.
Mr. French passed away on August 5, 2020.
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