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Students at Madison Avenue Baptist Church are giving Wednesday night Bible study a new identity.

They have been texting friends, putting it out on Facebook and extending an invitation to the community to come along and SWAAG.

SWAAG stands for Students Worshipping An Awesome God, and the first service was held June 17. Steve Hodges, minister of education and students at Madison Avenue, has been working with a student committee for weeks to get this upbeat and contemporary worship gathering started. It will be held once a month until fall when it goes weekly, with the next session set for July 29.

Once it gets rolling on a weekly basis, SWAAG will replace the Wednesday Bible study these teens and twenty-somethings have attended. In its place will be worship time with local contemporary Christian bands, drama performances, speakers and refreshments. There is enough musical talent already present here to start up a SWAAG band, something that is in the works.

Meredith Haynes, Jordan Ridenour, Lindy McGuire and Caleb Elkins have all been part of the Madison Avenue family their entire lives. Haynes is a senior at Carson-Newman College, while Ridenour will be a junior at the University of Tennessee. McGuire starts the school year as a junior at Alcoa High School while Elkins is set to begin his senior year at William Blount High School. Each attended the first SWAAG service and are doing their part to spread the word in the community about this new worship option.

Room to grow

They have the space to accommodate a large crowd. When Madison Avenue expanded and built a new sanctuary, the old one was turned over to the youth. They have named their worship space The Rock. Hodges said this group is very focused with SWAAG on reaching out to the community to students who are looking for a different kind of Wednesday worship.

"This is not just a Madison Avenue thing," Hodges said. "The purpose is not to get other students to come here and then join our church. I don't care about that. The purpose is to come and enjoy fellowship and worship."

The middle of summer might not be the best time to start such a ministry. Hodges and his students agree. Their intent, after all, is to tap into the college crowd, specifically Maryville College. Classes will resume there weeks from now. This gives Haynes, Elkins and the others time to plan for some powerful SWAAG gatherings.

"By the time fall rolls around, we will have a couple of services under our belt," Hodges said. "These guys can then spread the word whey they get back to school."

Ridenour and some of his friends came up with the name SWAAG. He said it is catchy enough to draw attention and says exactly what the ministry is all about. It does sound more intriguing to ask someone if they are SWAAG-ing on Wednesday instead of 'will you be at church?', he said.

A Knoxville church has something similar to SWAAG, also on Wednesdays, but Ridenour and the others prefer close to home.

Haynes believes the new ministry at Madison Avenue is just what college students like her are seeking. She said she often goes to more than one church to experience different styles.

"I like the variety," she said. "I can worship in the traditional style at one place and contemporary at another. This is a different kind of worship for our church and it relates to college students."

These students are busy with jobs this summer and playing sports. Elkins has football camp and McGuire is playing lots of golf. Ridenour enjoys playing softball for the church league while Haynes has an internship this summer with an accounting firm. They all know how fast this summer will fly by.

And when fall does arrive, they will be ready to take SWAAG into its weekly time slot.