Installation Service

Yesterday afternoon Rev. David Geenen was installed as the pastor of Fifteenth Avenue Christian Church in Rock Island, Illinois. I was one of several participants - representing the Rock Island/Milan Clergy Association. Here David (l) is pictured with Rev. Joseph Williamson of Second Baptist Church.

It was a good and upbeat event. David is twenty-something, so he brings down the average of our group, and that is a good thing.

Fifteenth Avenue Christian Church is one of the churches in town that generally participates in wider community activities and I have enjoyed working with the pastors of the church over the years I have been in the community.

Welcome, David!

Just Coffee 2

Last fall I wrote a blog on the importance of coffee as an international comodity, and the idea of purchasing "fair trade" coffee as a way of making it more likely that small farmers could make an adequate living in their home country.

This series of photos illustrates how a very small, botique coffee producer works to make this all possible. The sign above is atop a very small shop and coffee producer located in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, not far south of Douglas, Arizona. This small producer receives shipments of coffee beans from much farther south in Mexico; from Chiapas, Mexico, where the beans are grown. The coffee growers in Chiapas have very small plots, usually located on the sides of mountains under the shade of trees that grow above the coffee plants. The growers also dry the beans in the sun near where they are grown, they sort and select beans by hand. So they are able to add some value before the beans even leave the location where they are produced.

Here a young man holds a bucket of the green coffee beans.

Such beans are roasted here at Agua Prieta. This next photo is of the beans being poured into the roaster. While on the one hand the roaster seems pretty impressive compared with home models, it is quite small by industry standards. The electrical apparatus on the wall controls the temperature and duration of the roasting process. The roasting is done in small batches. The more freshly the beans are roasted the more delicious the product.

Here someone in our group examines the beans. The tecnician is explaining some facet of the roasting process.

This is one of the coffee grinders. The grind can be adjusted for the sort of brewing that a person will use. This is an old grinding machine, it reminds me of the coffee grinders that I would see in some grocery stores when I was a boy. It has been modified a little.

And here is our group shopping, buying the finished product. While we carried the coffee home in our luggage such coffee can also be ordered on the internet. Some groups import the coffee from Mexico, Guatemala or other warm southern parts of the world to a location in the United States to do the roasting and packaging. What Agua Prieta and US locations have in common is that they are close to the consumers so the coffee can be freshly roasted and good.

Buying Fair Trade coffee from such botique suppliers provides both a superior product and a way to help small farmers make a living.

Good Friday Cross Walk

On Good Friday of Holy Week members of the Church of Peace participate in a Cross Walk coordinated by Rev. Drew Nagle of Gloria Dei Presbyterian Church. The walk winds through Rock Island, beginning at city hall and ending at Gloria Dei Church.

Here is a snippet of video where a young woman from our church, Marrisa Elliott carries the cross in front of the Church of Peace, which is along the route.

One of the good things about the cross walk is that it is experiential. In church life we often talk about things more than we do them. By participating in this walk we can deepen our experience of Holy Week and participate more fully in the life of Jesus. We intend to join in on Good Friday this year as well. The walk will step off at 8:00 am. at city hall in Rock Island on Friday, April 10, 2009. All are welcome.

Children's Time

Every Sunday in the service of worship a few moments are set aside as "children's time." Not that other times are not for children, but in these minutes the activity is specifically tailored to children. Usually I am the leader. This last Sunday Nancy McConnell was the leader, and I was able to snap a few photos.

Nancy talked about Jim Strathdee, who is a church musician with whom she sang in Southern California. She pointed out how Jim sets scripture to music, as in "The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me," (Luke 4:18-19), "Create in Me a Clean Heart," (Psalm 51) and the "Lord's Prayer." She mentioned "Glory to God," and "The Spirit in Me," which we often sing in our gathering music. In each of these instances she included a few chords on the guitar and sang a few words. The children's time concluded with the children gathering around and singing "I am the Light of the World," a song Jim wrote that is included in our New Century Hymnal. Nancy's conclusion was "You know your are getting older when your friends have songs included in the denominational hymnal!" The kids in the above photo are leading the congregation in song.

There is more going on here as well. Many of the children are wearing red because it was "Wear Red for Women's Heart Health" Sunday.

One boy, Dylan Lerch, has his Cub Scout uniform on because it was also Scout Sunday. Dylan and I are working on his "God and Me" badge for scouts. Last week we talked about Matthew 19:13-15 where Jesus tells the disciples "Let the little children come to me..." We then walked around the church and made a list of evidence that our church tries to follow Jesus' teaching and welcome children. Here is the list Dylan and I made together.
1. Children's time.
2. Children's choir (Dylan is a good singer.)
3. Sunday School.
4. Children's Church.
5. A low table with small chairs and coloring books in the fellowship hall.
6. Videos for children.
7. A child sized restroom.
8. Toys.
9. Children's books.
10. Bags with children's activities for church.
11. Pictures of Jesus with children on the wall.

Our Sunday School Superintendent, Ed Johnson, has been really instrumental in helping us find concrete ways to let children know that they are welcome. He keeps us doing new things. Children's time is one of the key ways that we try to follow Jesus' teaching to welcome children in our congregation.

Super Bowl

Last Sunday several people from the church got together to watch the Super Bowl at George and Mary Oelschlaeger's home. I snapped a few photos at half-time and we all look pretty silly. I thought the game was good because it was close and interesting.

Up in the World

They say that serving as a pastor of a church gives one all the skills needed to manage a small apartment complex. I will admit that over the years I have learned more about roofs, repair and replacement, than I ever anticipated.

One of the minor ironies of this last year has to do with some events in previous blogs. First, you may recall that last October we celebrated the installation of a rebuilt echo organ, which is part of our pipe organ at the church. As you might imagine, pipe organs are hand built items and very expensive. The church had let a contract with the Levson Organ Company of Buffalo, Iowa, many months before to be able to have the installation in October. As part of the preparation for the installation the chamber in which this echo organ was to be installed was also being prepared. Styrofoam insulation was placed on the West wall of the organ chamber to moderate temperature fluctuations when the afternoon sun beats against that wall and raises the temperature. The chamber was also being cleaned and repainted.

The second irony from previous blogs is that there was a very strong wind in the area in July, which resulted in a power outage at the church that lasted for three days. Also, it blew down an oak tree on the top of one of a church member's house that resulted in serious damage. The wind blew from West to East. Thus it pealed up several shingles from the church building roof - right over where the chamber was being prepared for the installation of the rebuilt part of the pipe organ!

Custom built parts for antique pipe organs are very expensive, and while a leaky roof is a bad thing in all instances, the possibility that the leak might occur right over the newly installed very expensive organ was a special worry to me.

The photo above is of a roofer finally repairing the roof and replacing the shingles right over the organ chamber - some two months after the organ parts had already been installed. Roofers have been very busy this fall, repairing the damage from the summer winds. We had requested prayers in church that there not be any hard rains between the time the organ was installed and the roofers could get the roof repaired.

God is good. All the time.