Pleased To Meet You: Wayne Swift
Wayne A. Swift united with the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown in 1959 and is full of memories and opinions about the church.
He believes that Dr. Reginald Thomas (1955 1967) was “probably the most outstanding pulpit preacher in my tenure. His Welsh accented preaching style was to preach his sermons from memory, and he could make you laugh or cry throughout. He had great humor. His 1961 book Love So Amazing is still a good read to sense his style. Chapter 9, `Come Out Come In’ is still timely reading for First Church members.” Dr. Thomas was known throughout the country for his preaching on “The Bible Study Hour.” You can hear Dr. Thomas’ Easter message of April 18, 1965 here.
Wayne notes that his four children all attended Sunday schools that were set up by grades and totaled more than 100 children. Youth met Sunday evenings and probably had about 15 at the Junior High level. The Swift children and grandchildren were all baptized at First Church, and the family has had at least three wedding services in the sanctuary.
When asked what he sees as the future of First Church, he says the expectations should be to preach the Word of God and our salvation through Jesus Christ, to sing His praises and to fill the sanctuary and school rooms. He appreciates the well maintained facility of the church located in a populous area, but he is concerned that on any given Sunday the sanctuary is less than 20% filled. "From my perspective I think the future rests with attracting a great number of families to Sunday service. To do that (hopeful expectations) will require great preaching, great music/choir, more parking and possibly two services each Sunday to better accommodate today's family life styles."
As far as the Presbytery of Philadelphia is concerned, Wayne feels the leadership is weak and has not stepped up sufficiently to meet the needs of the urban churches. He deplores their solution to many of the urban problems to just close churches. At First Presbyterian, Wayne Swift has served on the Deacons, the Session, the Trustees (as President) and on numerous committees such as Flower/Visitation, Christian Education, Property, Administration, Finance, and Stewardship. He has also been a member of search committees for ministers and of Director of Christian Education.
The next time you see Wayne in church, stop and say hello!
[This is another in a series of interviews of church members conducted sometime ago by Elizabeth Cameron and Marlene Young].