Worship
Each evening’s worship provides us with an opportunity to come together as a community in celebration of our time here at SWIM. Our services tend to be lay-led, and usually follow a tradition of informal sharing not often found in Sunday morning worship. Our worship coordinator, Hannalies Bosman, will be available to assist any who are interested in helping to make worship happen, and will be keeping an eye out for those of you with a song, reading or idea to share.
Sunday/26th: Our Opening Celebration is part worship/part orientation. Please come and allow us to welcome you to SWIM 1999, through sharing, through song, and perhaps most importantly, through reminding you where you may and may not park your car! These and other logistical details will be revealed to all.
Monday/27th: Transitions & Origins is the theme of our first program service. As we come together, we will examine through song, ritual & sharing where we have come from–and where we are headed – as the millennium approaches its close. Led by Hannalies Bosman & Coleen Murphy.
Tuesday/28th: A Wiccan celebration of life, brought to us by Mary Ann Somervill and Kip Barkley.
Wednesday/29th: A service created by our children, guaranteed to be beautiful and insightful. Facilitated by the children and staff of the Children’s and Junior High Programs.
Thursday/30th: The Teens will present this service, many of them using worship facilitation skills honed at youth conferences all over the continent. A long standing SWIM tradition, this service is not to be missed!
Friday/31st: One Door Closes, Another Opens: The final SWIM worship the 1900s is not to be missed, and will be facilitated by the participants in the week-long Renaissance Module on Worship.
This year, in addition to nightly services at 7:30, we are offering an 11 PM Vespers service. These later services will be smaller, less formal and provide a chance to unwind and perhaps focus a bit as the day comes to a close.
Evening Programs
Campfire – Every evening from 8:30 until the last of us have wandered elsewhere we gather around our campfire to share songs, stories, and instrumental music. One night will be a coffeehouse for our entire community to show off the talents of our participants. Bring everything you need to share your musical, story-telling, dance, or other talents at campfire and at our coffeehouse.
Lounge – Sometimes it’s nice to have a conversation without shouting over the dance music. Sometimes it’s nice to play a game of cards without squinting at the strobe lights. Join others seeking a less noisy alternative each evening from 9:45 on.
Evenings at the Rec – Each evening, the Rec Hall is transformed into a social hub, usually with music and dancing. Most evenings feature dance instruction from 8:15 to 9:30 (including folk, ballroom and 30’s style swing), after which we let our volunteer D.J.’s treat us to an eclectic mix of tunes based on our requests. You know what that means – bring your favorite records, tapes and CD’s!
Sunday Night Fever/26th: Our first night together will feature disco and whatever else you want to hear, so please remember to bring your music.
Monday/27th: We’ll start with folk dancing, then ease into another mix of requested dance music.
Tuesday/28th: Take swing dance lessons from 8:15 ’til 9, then scurry back to your cabin to put on your swankiest attire because The SWIM Casino opens at 9:30 and PROPER DRESS IS REQUIRED! We hope you’ll join us for big band tunes and gambling all evening – and remember, last year’s money is worth double this year; money from SWIM ’97 has TRIPLED in value.
Wednesday/29th: You won’t want to miss the lessons in ballroom dancing, especially if you want to be in step at our first ever Masquerade Ball. Who are you, REALLY? Masked and unmasked will rub elbows at this high class affair, a prelude to our annual Mardi Gras Festival.
Thursday/30th: The SWIM Coffeehouse, a place to perform before an unconditionally loving audience, a place to listen to great poetry and music, a place to see a wacky skit, a place to drink A LOT of coffee...and when it’s all been said and done, there may still be time to dance.
Friday/31st: New Year’s Eve! Partying like it’s 1999 – wait a second–oh my god(dess) – it is 1999! This is gonna be good.
Children’s Program (Ages 3 — 9)
Last call for camp fun in the 20th century! Children three to ten are invited to join us as we explore the theology of Dr. Seuss through his writings. We will also take field trips to the beach & to the zoo, create an all-camp worship, relax at the pool, and celebrate the last week of the century with food and song.
Hours of the children’s program are 9AM to Noon, 2PM to 5PM, and 7PM to 9PM beginning December 27th. Thursday there will be no evening programming, as it is staff night off, the evening of the SWIM Coffeehouse.
Parents and guardians must attend orientation at 9:30PM, December 26th. Location to be announced. Contact Kathy Murphy if you have any questions.
Junior High Program (Ages 11 — 12)
For ages 11 and 12 (with a year’s flexibility on either end of the age range).
Starting on December 27th, the hours are 9AM to Noon, 1PM to 5PM and 7 to 9PM, until 10PM on Friday. Thursday there will be no evening programming so the staff can have the night off for the SWIM Coffeehouse.
This is an active program full of work, and play, serious discussion and serious fun. Plans include canoeing and a day at the beach, a scavenger hunt and a night of sleeping under the stars. We will create a worship service for the SWIM community and help with the food at the Mardi Gras celebration. And still have time for jokes, videos, music, games, and more. Be sure to bring your favorite tapes, CDs, ideas, camping out needs, et cetera.
Parents and guardians must attend orientation at 9:30PM, December 26th. Location to be announced. Contact Kathy Murphy if you have any questions.
Teen’s Program (Ages 13 — 18)
We plan lots to do, and then there are always impromptu adventures and late-night antics that we never could have planned. Expect dancing (hip-hop, disco, swing, and more), canoeing, coffeehouses, casino night, convenience stores, the Amish bakery, Mardi Gras, frisbee, thrift shops, late nights, long van rides...and whatever else comes up. Somehow in the midst of all that we always manage to form a pretty amazing community. Here’s what’s set so far:
Monday evening: Night sail. Watch the stars as we sail around Biscayne Bay. Need we say more? This trip is subsidized by SWIM so we can all go. And everybody does go. Sign up for this trip by registering for 195 Teen Night Sail, $15.
Tuesday: Teen canoeing. A quiet afternoon communing with nature or an opportunity for water fights? You decide. Sign up by registering for 295 Teen Canoe, Free.
Also Tuesday: Casino Night. We’ll spend much of the day scheming and shopping for our big production for the rest of the SWIM community. There’s money to be made...and roulette wheels, craps tables, and whatever else we need.
Wednesday: An all-day mystery. Please don’t register for anything else on Wednesday.
Thursday night: Teen worship. It’s always the best one at SWIM. After that, there’s an all-SWIM coffeehouse. So bring music, poetry, or anything else you might want to share at either of these events.
Friday: Volunteer day. We’ll stick close to camp and help out with the meals.
Friday night: New Year’s Eve. We’ll have our own closing circle.
Feel free to register for other stuff, too. Check out the rest of this brochure. Just keep in mind that we usually don’t plan stuff early in the mornings because we’re up late at night – bring an alarm clock if you’ll be getting up before the rest of us.
What else should you bring? We never know what the weather is going to be like, so you’ll need to bring warm and cool clothing, and plenty of bedding. Plus you may want your music, toiletries, beach wear, hair products, soccer balls, dancing shoes, what have you. Since we can get kind of piled on top of each other, you might not want to bring too much, especially things that are fragile or can’t get dirty. And remember, SWIM is about living in an intentional community – so you can also leave at home any behavior that would be destructive to the community.
Parents and guardians of teens must attend orientation in the teen dorm at 9:30PM, December 26th. Contact Kathy Murphy if you have any questions.