THE SIGNAL

The Signal is published monthly by the Swansea First Baptist Church of Swansea, SC.

Volume 22 Issue 12 December 2011

The Annual Kick Off to Christmas!

Sunday, December 4th

Town of Swansea Christmas Parade 4:00 PM

The Judging of the Soup and Chili 5:00 PM

Enjoying the Meal at 5:15 PM

Silent Auction from 5:00 until

5:45

Let the Bidding Begin at 6:00 PM

Return Service

Requested

SWANSEA FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Post Office Box 550

Swansea, SC 29160-0550

NON PROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE PAID

LEXINGTON, SC

PERMIT NO. 107

From Your Pastor’s Heart

The Wilder boys are having lots of girls. We

just found out this week that Shannon and Jeremy

are expecting a new little girl in April. I am so ex-

cited! Three little granddaughters are just fine with

Kathy and myself. I have learned to change girl’s

diapers, put in bows and even take Georgia-Nell to

the potty. She has her papa around her little finger. McKinley is go-

ing to have me wrapped next as well.

I am thankful for my wife, the boys, their wives and the grand

babies. Christmas is going to be an exciting time at the Wilder’s. I

want to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

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 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

March Birthdays

1st……………….Michael McCarson

Ashleigh Steen

3rd……………….….Duane Steinhoff

Jenna Redmond

4th…………………………..Bill Deal

Laura Pound

Tammy Caudill

5th…………..…………Robert Taylor

7th……………………...Wilma Davis

9th……………………...Bryan Corley

11th………………...Gladys Redmond

Jessica Calp

12th………………….Rebecca Sharpe

15th…………………….Nancy Blithe

Tyler Dasher

16th…………………....Adam Jumper

18th………………...David Zeigler Jr.

Susan Norris

Leigh Ann Teal

20th…………………..Chad Williams

21st…………………Permilia Luongo

Alan Hoffman

22nd……………………....Jean Burns

Melodie Sharpe

24th……………………....Jeff Corley

27th……………………..Rhonda Rast

28th…………………...…..Jack Burns

Dawson Sandifer

Isaac Sandifer

29th…………….….Carter Livingston

Seniors to Attend

Columbia Christmas Pageant

The First Baptist Church of Columbia

will be celebrating its 24th Annual Co-

lumbia Christmas Pageant this year.

This has been a South Carolina family

tradition since 1988! The pageant is

called “Light Up the Town”. Admission

is free but you do have to have a ticket

to get in. Join the Adults and Senior

Adults on Saturday, December 10, for

the 5 o’clock performance. The group

will depart from our church at 3:30pm

and will eat on the way home after the

performance. This is a spectacular pro-

duction with beautiful costumes, scen-

ery, and stories of Jesus born in Bethle-

hem. We have 25 tickets - anyone is

welcome to attend with us...just sign up

in the hall.

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 Rev. John 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

September Birthdays

2nd………….…………....Durant Sharpe

Jenna Kinard

4th………….…………....Wanda Jumper

6th………….………….…....Zellie Mack

7th………………….…….Daniel Martin

8th…….…..…………...…James Stevens

9th……...……………….....Linda Chavis

10th……..…….………..Mildred Earnest

13th……..……………..William Granger

14th……...………………......James Deal

15th…….……..………….Kayla Cassidy

16th………..…………....Joyce Meredith

Thomas Pittman

Lee Cassidy

17th……......…………...Bryce Redmond

Braelyn Knight

19th……..…………..…….Chippy Flake

20th……..………….…….Joye Hoffman

24th……...………………..Jayna Patidar

25th……..…………….…...Faye Stabler

Donna Jeffcoat

Kevin Kneece

26th……..……………….Duman Taylor

Jim Kinard

27th…...…………………..O’Neal Wise

28th……...…………...…..Georgia North

Cory Smoak

29th……..…………..……….Ruth Hutto

Jan Argoe

30th……...…………………..Cole Baker

Welcome

New Member!

Sandra Westberry

By Letter

Metallic Club Celebrates

Christmas

On December 19th at

11:00am the Metallic Club will

meet to Celebrate the birth of Je-

sus. Instead of a speaker, the

group will bring items for Christ-

mas bags and assemble them for

the homebound and those in nurs-

ing homes.

Afterwards, the group will

have a Christmas Party with fin-

ger foods instead of a large meal.

The group will distribute over 20

bags to seniors in our area. Join

us that day for a Christmas cele-

bration. You’ll be glad you did!

December Birthdays

2nd………………………..Wayne Grimsley

Lori Myers

3rd……………...…………….Bonnie Heath

4th………………..…………...George Hutto

6th……………………...…...Betty Pritchard

Daisy Garcia

Melanie Burns

Kaitlyn Manuel

8th…………………...….Melanie Wyndham

9th…………………..………….Sara Lackey

Georgia Nell Wilder

11th………………………..Michelle Sturkie

12th……..…………………..Celia Goodwin

13th…………………………….Lisa Jumper

14th………………….……….Henry Jumper

Stuart Yarborough

15th………….…………….Angie Redmond

18th…………………….…………..John Jay

Fran Granger

Rachel Burns

19th………………………..Paula McDonald

22nd…………………………..Henry Sharpe

23rd…………………...………..Jacey Smith

26th………………..………...Denise Sturkie

27th…………………….Addison Livingston

Kristen Hollar

Ethan Sandifer

28th………………...……………...J.P. King

30th…………………….……..Kenny Myers

31st………………………….....Janice Large

Student Ministry News

We have once again reached the end of a year and as usual we have

a lot going on this month. There are many events that will be taking place

at the church throughout the month of December. I want to encourage eve-

ryone to take part in those activities. We will be having our Student Minis-

try Christmas party on Wednesday, December 14th during our normal meet-

ing times. Those that have signed up to bring something to eat or drink,

please do not forget to bring it on the 14th. Each year we have fun with a

White Elephant gift exchange. This year we are asking that everyone brings a gift (maximum

of $10) for this exchange. I also want to encourage everyone to be here on Sunday, December

25th for a service of carols and communion. I can’t think of a better way to reflect on the fact

that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior than to come to the table for the Lord’s Supper.

We also have our annual Lock-In scheduled for December 30th beginning at 8:00pm.

This is always a great night of fun and fellowship and I hope to see you there. We are asking

that all students bring $5 to help with the cost of the lock-in and for guys to bring canned so-

das and for girls to bring desserts or other snacks. If any adults would like to join us for the

lock-in your are always welcome.

In the midst of everything on the calendar we are also making preparations for our

Chillipepper trip the weekend of January 19-22. We will be leaving the church at 2:00pm on

January 19th. We will be skiing on Friday before the first session of the conference. We will

return on January 22rd around 7:00pm. We will be cooking many of our meals this year in an

effort to keep the overall cost down for each student. This year the cost will be $150 which

will include the conference, lodging, skiing, and all but 2 meals (while we are traveling). Cur-

rently the trip is full. Anyone who would like to go can now be put on a waiting list for spots

that may be made available.

Speaking of Chillipepper I want to thank everyone for supporting our fundraisers for

this trip. This is a great opportunity for each student to be able to earn money for their trip. I

especially want to thank Becky Zeigler and Carla Lucas for do a great job organizing our

fundraisers, and David Zeigler Jr. and his crew for getting up early to cook the pork loins for

us. We have a bake sale planned for December 18th and another fundraiser early in January

and I want to thank you in advance for supporting us with these fundraisers.

In Christ,

John Harmon

Eph. 3:16

*****Don’t forget to check out the calendar for upcoming events*****

MoMA’s

Please come join us for Moma’s (Mothers of Many Ages) group. We are a group of moma’s that meet the first Thursday morning of every month (Sept. to May) from 9:00am - 11:00pm at the Swansea First Baptist Church., for some moma time, fellowship and fun. Child care is available for newborn to preschool if needed. It does not matter if you are a new mama or a veteran mama, we would love to see and meet you. We will have light refreshments and lots of fellowship. So please join us and bring a friend.

For more information, please call Jan Marie Booth @ 568-3881 or Char-lyse McCarson @ 210-9661. Mark you calendar, our next meeting will be De-cember 1 @ 9:00 am.

A special thanks to our MoMA’s helpers. Without you we could not provide this ministry. Thanks again.

Jan Marie

The Backpack Project The Mission Friends and GA’s will need 26 jars of peanut butter and 6

boxes of Rits crackers to place in the backpacks for Christmas holidays. A box

will be placed in the hall to collect these items. We appreciate your willingness

and kindness. Thank you!

The Mission Friends and GA’s

The folks at this church have been so gracious to me after falling and having a

hip broken. I can’t thank each of you all enough for your cards, visits, gifts, and

prayers during my hospital and therapy stay. My love to you all.

In Christ,

Wauleska L. Taylor

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

December 14th – Student Ministry Christmas Party

December 18th – Bake Sale for Chillipepper

December 30th – Lock-in

Everyone please bring $5

Guys bring can drinks

Girls bring snacks

January 19-22 – Skiing and Chillipper

***Be on the lookout for other events and fundraisers.***

December Bible Reading Plan

Upward Basketball and Cheerleading We are excited about the Upward Basketball and Cheerleading season that has

just started. We have a couple of changes this year. First we are in a new gym.

Thanks to the Lexington County Recreation Commission we are able to move to

the Senior Center Gym this year. Second, we have changed our schedule to in-

clude a couple of games before Christmas. We hope to see you out at Upward

on Saturday mornings beginning December 10th.

Upward Game Schedule

9:00am - 5th-8th Grade Girls

10:15am - K5/1st Grade and 2nd-4th Grade Girls

12:00pm - 2nd/3rd Grade Boys and 4th/5th Grade Boys

1:15pm - 6th-8th Grade Boys

1st Esther 9-10 Jonah 1 Heb. 6-7 16th Job 20 Zeph. 2 1 John 1-2

2nd Job 1-2 Jonah 2-3 Heb. 8-9 17th Job 21 Zeph. 3 1 John 3-4

3rd Job 3-4 Jonah 4 Heb. 10 18th Job 22 Haggai 1-2 1 John 5

4th Job 5 Micah 1 Heb. 11 19th Job 23-24 Zech. 1 2 John - 3 John

5th Job 6-7 Micah 2 Heb. 12 20th Job 25-27 Zech. 2-3 Jude

6th Job 8 Micah 3-4 Heb. 13 21st Job 28 Zech. 4-5 Rev. 1-2

7th Job 9 Micah 5 James 1 22nd Job 29-30 Zech. 6-7 Rev. 3-4

8th Job 10 Micah 6 James 2 23rd Job 31-32 Zech. 8 Rev. 5-6

9th Job 11 Micah 7 James 3-4 24th Job 33 Zech. 9 Rev. 7-9

10th Job 12 Nahum 1-2 James 5 25th Job 34 Zech. 10 Rev. 10-11

11th Job 13 Nahum 3 1 Peter 1 26th Job 35-36 Zech. 11 Rev. 12-13

12th Job 14 Hab. 1 1 Peter 2 27th Job. 37 Zech. 12 Rev. 14

13th Job 15 Hab. 2 1 Peter 3-5 28th Job 38 Zech. 13 Rev. 15-16

14th Job 16-17 Hab. 3 2 Peter 1-2 29th Job 39 Mal. 1 Rev. 17-18

15th Job 18-19 Zeph. 1 2 Peter 3 30th Job 40 Mal. 2 Rev. 19-20

31st Job 41-42 Mal. 3-4 Rev. 21-22

RA Express Christmas Card Delivery

Announcing the 2nd Annual Royal Ambassador Express Christmas Card Deliv-

ery beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Deliveries will be 25¢ for cards to

be delivered within the church.

Don’t Let The Grinch Steal Your Christmas What is a Grinch? My definition of a Grinch is something or

someone that spoils a pleasure or happy time. So what are your

Christmas grinchs? Perhaps all of the holiday cooking, shop-

ping in the crowds, endless house cleaning, the Christmas traf-

fic , getting the Christmas decorations down from the attic or

spending time with those favorite or not so favorite people?

Holiday time is stressful because we strive to make the holiday Martha Stewart

perfect. We want our children to have magical memories…those special Christ-

mas pajamas for Christmas morning opening of the gifts “picture taking” ses-

sion. We spend hours trying to fill the table with everyone’s favorite dish. And

for the men folks they are stressing that the T.V. is not BIG enough for the up-

coming football games. Do I hear an amen?

So what are some Grinch busters? First, take a deep breath and repeat I am not

Martha Stewart. Let go of perfect. Perfect is not the measure of a holiday to re-

member. You can’t make everyone happy even if the gift is perfect. It’s not the

value of the gift but the thought that counts. Stay on budget. Less is more. Less

materialism more time with those you love. Accept others for who they are.

Don’t think you can change them in one day. There are 364 other days to work

on the relationship.

It’s a season of expectation but somewhere in the hustle and bustle we lose sight

of what we should be celebrating, His birthday. We can choose how we are going

to experience this Holy season. Don’t let The Grinchs steal your holiday!

Until Next Time,

Angie Redmond, RN, FCN Contact me: angela.redmond@palmettohealth.org

or 568-5404

Retaining Wall

Received: $15,400.00

Begin taking down the trees Saturday, December 3 at 8:00 AM

A Special Invitation to hear the

Sanctuary Choir perform the

Christmas Musical,

“O Holy Night”

Created by Russell Mauldin and Sue C. Smith

Arranged and Orchestrated by Russell Martin

The Choir Conducted by Mr. Chad Meredith

Sunday Evening, December 11, 2011 at 6:00 PM

Followed by a Covered Dish Dinner at 7:00 PM

We shall also have a special guest from the North to

make a visit. He will be available for your children’s

wishes and for pictures!

We hope you will attend!

A Christmas Puppet Show

The puppet team will perform a

special Christmas Program for us on

Wednesday night, December 21st at 7:00

pm. Be sure to invite your family and

friends for an evening of puppets and

music.

Baptist Men, Wives and Senior Adult Christmas Dinner

The Baptist Men will sponsor their annual Christmas dinner on

Tuesday, December 20th at 7:00 pm. Terry’s crew will be in charge of

the cooking. If you need a ride please let Terry know.

Terry’s Crew

Bill Strickland

Bill Starr

Doug McGaha

John Ernst

Steve Strickland

The Baptist Men wishes all a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

From the Church Staff

Terry C. Wilder

Chad Meredith

John Harmon

Joyce Saylor

Jane Ann Meredith

Kim Taylor

The Week of Prayer for International Missions

December 4 - 11, 2011

Emphasis on the City of London, England and its

Muslim Population

40% of the city’s children speak another language at home

other than English

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Our Goal: $5,000.00