Spanish Fort UMC

6530 Spanish Fort Blvd., Suite D Spanish Fort, AL 36527

ADDRESS SERV ICE REQUESTED

STAFF

Bill Price Senior Pastor

bill@spanishfortumc.org

Rebecca Rutherford Associate Minister

rebecca@spanishfortumc.org

Beth Allen Director of Congregational Life

beth@spanishfortumc.org

Bonnie Hariel Worship Arts Director

bonnie@spanishfortumc.org

Brittney Liebbe Youth Director

brittney@spanishfortumc.org

Jennifer Robertson Children's Director

jrobertson@spanishfortumc.org

Beth Bedsole Preschool Director

bbedsole@spanishfortumc.org

Mandy Reeves Nursery Coordinator

mandy@spanishfortumc.org

Andy Cloninger Contemporary Worship Director

andycloninger@mac.com

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 faye@spanishfortumc.org.

• 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 | ministries@spanishfortumc.org

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

ministries@spanishfortumc.org. 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

ministries@spanishfortumc.org 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 beth@spanishfortumc.org. 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 ministries@spanishfortumc.org.

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

ministries@spanishfortumc.org.

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 rebecca@spanishfortumc.org.

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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