The First United Methodist Church of Boothbay Harbor will host a special speaker this Sunday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m. who will share his experiences as a ski resort minister for a joint service of the Boothbay Cooperative Parish.

Rev. Dr. Skip Schwarz founded Sugarloaf Area Christian Ministry in 1982, which is still ongoing, and in more recent years, Loon Area Christian Ministry in Lincoln, N.H. in 1990. He hopes to inspire his hearers about outreach ministry at this joint service of the United Methodist parish comprising East Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport churches.

Schwarz grew up in California the son of a preacher and says he came to faith as a believer in Christ while attending Army Officer Candidate School in the mid-60s.

A graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Schwarz received his Master of Divinity degree from Bangor Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Ministry from Boston University with a project paper entitled “Establishing Evangelistic Ministry in Recreational Areas.”

In the early 1970s, he founded Experimental Youth Ministries in Maine. Later he served as pastor of Cox Memorial Methodist Church from 1973-1980, and pastor of the Kingfield, Salem and Strong area United Methodist parish from 1980-1982.

Retired from full time ministry since July 2013, Schwarz and his wife Joyce now reside in Hampden, where he started work on a book relating stories of five resort ministers and their works.