Organ Benefit Concert

Yesterday, Sunday, October 14, 2012, was a busy one at First Congregational UCC.

The worship service was the kick-off for the Stewardship effort of the church in preparation for next year.  The sermon was "Give God the Best" and there was an additional stewardship speaker from the congregation, Katie Harle.

There was a Mission Fair that ran all day.  There were several tables selling gifts and fair trade items from around the world.  Our Illinois Maya Missions sponsored a table, selling Mayan craft items.

At 3:00 pm there was a concert to benefit a fund to improve and repair the pipe organ of the church.  The Quad City Brass, Chancel Choir, Bell Choir and a sporano soloist were featured.  A highlight was a solo by organist Dalaie Choi, the church organist.

The concert was followed by a Chili supper to benefit Christian Care.  The chili was good.

Busy as this sounds, each activity seemed to compliment the others.

Blessing of the Animals

 Here are a couple of photos from the Blessing of the Animals service held at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moline, Illinois, last Saturday, October 6, 2012.  This date was chosen because it is near St Francis Day, which is October 4.  We think we had 14 dogs and three cats along with the two legged creatures at worship.  It was brisk outside, but the grass and trees provided good space for the animals!

NAMI Walk

First Congregational United Church of Christ, Moline, fielded a team of for the walk sponsored by the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill at Centennial Park in Davenport on Saturday, October 6, 2012.  Here is a photo of most of the team.  We ended up with a few more people and one more dog!

The team was organized by Sara McLees, parish nurse at the church.

The walk is a way to raise both funds and awareness for mental illness.  The day was both bright and brisk.

Prayer Vigil for Jobs Equity

I attended a religious prayer service up at First Christian Church last evening, sponsored by Quad Cities Interfaith, to promote jobs equity on the rail project coming to the Quad Cities.  Read Linda Cook's article about this event in the Quad City Times.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/religious-groups-back-job-equality-for-rail-project/article_7f6f7e40-05fa-11e2-9d57-0019bb2963f4.html

Second Sunday First Church

Yesterday was my second Sunday at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moline, Illinois. It was a good day, the highlight being the baptism of a little fellow named Ryan in the morning service. I am still unpacking books in my office. There was a funeral last week at the church and another today at a local funeral chapel. Busy. At lots of names and meeting folks. It surprises me a little how many people we have some sort of connection with already - know a family member, kids went to school together, neighbor of members at Church of Peace. It is a new adventure.

Short Retirement

Nancy wrote this in a note to her family:

It will be a short retirement, specifically July. Michael is taking the position of full-time Interim Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moline, IL. This church is larger than Church of Peace and has more worship services and a full-time associate. They have been looking for some time for someone to fill in when their current pastor leaves this month after a 7-year stint. A cousin of a friend of mine who is on the committee saw the article about Michael's retirement in the newspaper and was talking about it at a baseball game with his cousin (my friend). She said, "Oh I know his wife!" And the connection was made - you can't make this stuff up!

Michael will begin his duties at First Congregational the first weekend of August. I guess my dream of weekend getaways will have to be put on hold for awhile. We aren't sure how long this will be - the church is looking to call a full-time pastor. But as they say, "the Lord does work in mysterious ways" and Michael has the experience they are looking for to help their church move forward. Plus it's some extra money and that's always nice. So keep us in your thoughts as we transition to the next chapter. He is continuing his part-time work with the non-profit group, Quad City Alliance for Immigration and Refugees (QCAIR). He will try to juggle both for awhile-we'll see how it all goes.

So the week before the wonderful retirement weekend at Church of Peace I got a call from the fellow heading up the committee to find an interim for First Congregational UCC, Moline. They wanted someone for six months to two years, depending on how their search goes. One positive meeting led to another, and soon we had reached a meeting of the minds.

This is not what I had in mind a year ago when I announced my retirement from the Church of Peace. My mental picture was to goof off for six months to a year and then take interim training, and then look for interim ministry in the area while Nancy still works for the AEA as a speech therapist. And then the people from First Congregational Church called me. Nevertheless, I am pleased to serve First Church, and look forward to helping through the transitional period. At least my skills are fresh!

The Chairman of the Search Committee at First Congregational Church announced in church last Sunday, July 8, that I would be their interim senior minister. I had contacted the Chairperson of the Church Council at Church of Peace and she also let the people know there.

Cute Photo

Here I am with Meghan and her two sons, Charles and Oliver, in our regular spot for children's time in worship.  I post it because we all look our best!  My last Sunday worship at Church of Peace was filled with warm memories and fond wishes.

Bishop Leontine Kelly

Bishop Leontine Kelly died at age 92 on June 28, 2012.  She was the first female African-American bishop in the US and in the United Methodist Church.  She had an unusual career and there were many unlikely turns that brought her to the prominent position in the church.  That story is readily available in other places.

Part of the back story is that there was great interest in the role of women in the church in 1984 when she was elected.  And it was the much more liberal Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church that elected her to office.  (The UMC in the US is divided into five regional bodies.)  Bishop Kelly was  a member of the Virginia Annual Conference.  And it was the San Francisco Area, California-Nevada Annual Conference received her to be their bishop.

She was our bishop and my bishop.  I was mesmerized with her preaching that was at once energetic, poetic and resonated with my theology.  And it was deeply personal.  Listening to her I learned about the underground railroad from the perspective of those whose family members had travelled on it.  This is a much different perspective than textbooks.  She was a great blessing to me and I thank God for her leadership and her presence among us.

And although it is not very good grammar, it used to delight me when I was sitting in multi-denominational minister gatherings and began a sentence, "My bishop, she..."

New Job

From:  Ed Hanna

Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 2:56 PM

Subject: QCAIR Development Director and Program Director

It is my pleasure to announce that contracts have been signed for an interim Development Director and an interim Program Director for QCAIR.Rev. Dr. Michael A. Swartz, retiring pastor of Church of Peace United Church of Christ, Rock Island will be the interim Development Director and Nana Ouro-Agoro of Moline will be the interim Program Director. Rev. Swartz brings a wealth of experience in grant writing and has experience in immigrant and refugee issues and services. Ms. Ouro-Agoro has a Masters Degree in Business Administration and experience in administration and project management.

The interim contracts are for a period of six months and will give us 
time to do a thorough search for permanent employees.


Last Friday Ed Hanna, President of the Quad City Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees sent out this email announcing newly signed contracts.  This will be my part time work in retirement, and I am excited to have something to do that I have a passion for.  I am also grateful that is far less than full time!


Wish me well in my new position.

Summer Food Program - day 2

 It is not a good sign to arrive in the church parking lot and see that the service and repair truck of the commercial kitchen equipment company has already arrived.  Fortunately, they were able to respond quickly.  Our walk-in cooler had problems in the night and the temperature was above the acceptable point.  We lost milk.

 Here is the technician recharging the coolant, which should be the correct fix.  The  temperature is already going down.

 Meanwhile the church program was serving breakfast.  We served 120 total.  I asked Ed, our cook, "120 even?"  "Yes," he said.  "We had 120 ham, egg and cheese biscuits, and we served them all!"  There were about the same number of lunches served yesterday.  So we are off with a big group.

This is mainly because the Family Literacy Program that we work with Blackhawk College, the Regional Office of Education, the Library and the Rock Island School District #41 found a little extra money and is able to continue for the month of June.  What a blessing for these families!  And Katie Colbrece of the Summer Enrichment Program was able to find some teachers to begin our Summer program for Elementary age children early - we were scheduled for July only.

Well, here are some children enjoying a nutritious breakfast, which is the goal of all this.

Bike Rack at Church

One of our church families has donated a bike rack for the church and here I am with it in the spot where I hope it will be installed.  Soon.


You may remember the photo of bikes inside the building from last summer.  Children ride their bikes to church so they can eat lunch.  Now there will be a bike rack so they can secure their bikes and not need to bring them inside building.


Also, some of our members ride their bike to church!  So now there will be a rack for their bike.

Community Organizing means relationships

 Today I visited with my friend Lisa Hicks-Dumanske in San Carlos, California.  Lisa is the Development Director for Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) which has for its area San Mateo County - which is the peninsula south of San Francisco and north of San Jose.  Lisa has worked for PIA for 12 years, and represented her church at PIA for many years before that.  We did a lot of shop talk.  PIA has many elements in common with Quad Cities Interfaith (QCI) that Church of Peace has been involved with over the years.  PIA works with about 25-30 faith based organizations; 18 of which are active.  An interesting statistic they keep is that they have some 250 "trained leaders" of which about 100 are active.  PIA seems to do a fair amount of issue analysis on a regular basis.  Lisa is in charge of fundraising for PIA and I was very interested in this aspect as well.

It all seemed so familiar.  PIA is located in Community UCC in San Carlos.  We stopped in and Lisa introduced me to the pastor, Rolf Hansen, who has been there about 19 years so far.

Lisa was part of the youth group in one of the churches I served in San Mateo County.  I officiated at her wedding with John, and their oldest child is graduating from High School this month and off to college next fall.  We did a lot of personal visiting too.

San Damiano

Greetings from San Damiano Retreat center in Danville, California.  I am here for a pre-retirement seminar with the California Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  This is a Franciscan center, and the interior courtyard is beautiful.  However, we spent yesterday inside learning about personal financial matters.  

It is good to see old colleagues from the conference.  Somehow we all look different after all these years.  There is one fellow here that I remember from student orientation when I began seminary!  He is  currently serving the last church to which I was assigned in California.  

We meet again this morning and conclude with lunch.

There is still some green on the foothills where San Damiano is located, and live oaks provide texture.

Gloria Vicente

 Illinois Maya Ministry met today in Warrenville, Illinois, at the home of Rev. Denise Griebler, to listen to a very pregnant Gloria Vicente share about her work in Guatemala as a missionary through Common Global Ministries.  Gloria was able to explain in depth about her experience at Guatemalan Christian Action (ACG).  She also talked a little about her plans for her future work in Guatemala.  Part of the work of IMM is to accompany our missionaries with Mayan people.  Below our host prepares lunch.

Transportation Equity

Quad Cities Interfaith has been working for over a year now on the issue of Transportation Equity, by which we mean providing more equitable access to jobs that will be created when the passenger train service comes to the Quad Cities.  The word is that over 2000 jobs will be provided and 700 of those jobs will be permanent.  We want to see that all of our citizens, including minority citizens of the area, have access to those jobs.  We also hope that our capacity for good paying positions will be built through training.


Well, anyway, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was in the QC for a Law Day Speech and to meet with local politicos.  So some of us were able to meet him at the i-wireless center at lunch.  Here from (L-R) is Illinois Chief Justice Tom Kilbride, Clara Delle Thompson (15th Avenue Christian Church), US Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood, Leslie Kilgannon (QCInterfaith organizer) and me.

Honoring Bishop Samuel Ruiz

There are different ways of honoring someone who has  died.  Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia (3 November 1924 – 24 January 2011) died a little over a year ago.  He was instrumental in building positive ecumenical relations between and among Mayans, Catholics and Protestants in the Diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas, where he served for many years.

The top photo is of the Mayan altar that was used during the Fiesta at INESIN.  It would have made me pretty uncomfortable years ago.  But now I can see that this is a way of honoring a person, as we would at a memorial service in our church.  We too use candles and flowers.  The basked and bowl are filled with earth and water, respectively.  The various colors of flowers and candles represent the cardinal directions.  This is a way that Mayan folks honor Bishop Ruiz.

The lower photo is of our group from Illinois Maya Ministries along with Felix Ortiz-Cotto.  We are standing on the foundation/slab/footing of a new building that is being constructed at INESIN.  This is how North American Protestants honor someone who has died who was beloved and appreciated.  IMM set a goal of a $10,000 to help build this building that will include an assembly room named for Bishop Ruiz.  And we have met our goal and sent the $10,000.  And we know that additional gifts have been sent by the Wisconsin UCC Conference, and by other donors. 


INESIN is able to receive and benefit from various sorts of contributions to honor one of their spiritual founders.

A Meeting is a Meeting is a Meeting

 It was a full day of meeting at INESIN.  Here is Hermana Lucy sharing some memories of the beginning of the project 15 years ago.  She was one of several such speakers.

 This is one of the discussion groups talking about what we have heard.  This particular group is international partner groups.  Around the table are folks from Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and mainland USA.  We are Mennonite, Reformed, Catholic, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ.

 This is the next step.  Here is Felix Ortiz Cotto, our Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean from Common Global Ministries, reporting back to the whole assembly what we talked about in our smaller group.

 We took a bit of a break from all the talking and planted a tree to represent a commitment to the future.  The whole group did it with some ceremony, but we were so crowded together it was difficult to get a picture.  Here is Marina from SiPaz and her young son giving the new tree a little bit of water.  The tree will bear at least two kinds of fruit - it is grafted together.  An apt symbol for an organization promoting ecumenical work.

And the day concluded with Mariachi music and dancing.  This is, of course, Mexico!

Opening with Mayan Prayer

 After a few opening and welcoming remarks from Ernesto Martin, the three day celebration of the 15th Anniversary of INESIN began with a Mayan Prayer time led by spiritual leaders from Huixtan, Chiapas, Mexico.  The prayers centered around an altar formed on the ground; a circle of flowers and candles, oriented on the four cardinal directions.  

Rhythmic prayer in the Tzotzil language was accompanied by stringed instrument music and maracas played by several of the congregants.

Here one of the women worship leaders moves around through the congregation with copal incense.  The copal is placed on hot charcoal in a terra cotta censor which she is able to hold in her hand by the base.  It looks like a big chalice.  She then blows on the charcoal and is able to direct puffs in incense smoke in particular directions.


After the Mayan prayer service there were the lectures about the historical context of the area, followed by a substantial lecture General Secretary of a Swiss mission sending association which has been deploying young adults at INESIN for several years.

Melel Xojobal

This morning we visited with one of our partners in San Cristobal, Melel Xojobal.  They work with indigenous children in the area, provide a nursery school, and do an outreach to children who work on the street in San Cristobal.  Here is their website and you will enjoy how colorful it is.  http://www.melelxojobal.org.mx/   


This is Rebecca posing in front of part of their mural in the garden.

Visit to a community

It was a busy today.  In the morning we went to a Maya medical herbal museum and learned about Mayan spirituality, use of natural plants, and agricultural plants also.  Found out that tomorrow is a big day on the Mayan calendar - the day for the blessing of the seeds and planting in this area.  The museum is called OMIECH.


In the afternoon we took a combi cab up to San Andreas Larrainzar, a community a little over an hour away to the northwest.  There we met with a women's weaving cooperative called Mujeres de Maiz (Women of the Corn) and learned something about their experience.  They showed us some of the things they have made, and we did some purchasing.  They prepared a meal for us and we ate together.  They are pretty traditional Mayan women and somewhat reluctant to be photographed.  However they consented to a picture of us in the back yard.  There is a deep ravine behind us and on the other side is the local cemetery which you can almost see in the background.


Tomorrow we visit with two partner groups - those that Illinois Maya Ministry works with on a regular basis.

Delegation assembles

Here are all eight members of the delegation gathered for lunch at Tierra Dentro in San Cristobal de Las Casas, today, May 1.  Six of us had flown in today from Chicago and two were already here.  We are here to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of INESIN - an ecumenical and intercultural institute dedicated to peace building.

Dancers from Burundi

Last Thursday evening, April 26,  my daughter Rebecca and I attended a fund raising dinner for World Relief, Moline, that took place on the campus of St Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.  After the meal World Relief made their case for support and then there were various performances by groups of young adults who are refugees from other countries.  One of the groups was women and girls from Burundi who danced some traditional dances.  And in this group were some folks from Light Mission Pentecostal Church that meets with us at Church of Peace.  On our way out we met some of our dancers and Becca took a shot of us together on her phone.  It was a wonderful evening.

Delegation, May 1-8, 2012

A delegation of Midwestern church people are off to Southern Mexico to celebrate the 15th anniversary of INESIN, an ecumenical organization whose purpose is to bring together religions and cultures, particularly Mayan people.

The delegation will take place May 1-8 and travel will be to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.  Participants include clergy and laity, United Church of Christ (UCC) and Disciples of Christ (DOC); Rev. Paula Bidle and her husband George Moore (UCC), Rev. David Geenen and his wife Sonya Geenen (DOC), Rev. Michelle Prentice-Leslie (UCC), Jeanne O'Melia (DOC), Rev. Michael Swartz and his daughter Rebecca Swartz (UCC).  They will be joined in Mexico by Area Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rev. Felix Ortiz Cotto, of Common Global Ministries.

The main purpose of the delegation will be to joint together with INESIN - the intercultural institute in San Cristobal.  We are attending to respond to their invitation to us to join in their Fiesta.  (Here is their website, both English and Spanish:  http://www.inesin.ironie.org/  )  We will also visit with other partner groups in the area to learn from them about their concrete experience and to accompany them in their witness.

We ask your prayers for traveling mercies and that our efforts will provide support and encouragement to all those involved.  We also ask you to keep INESIN in your prayers - that they may continue to grow and serve in this conflicted area of God's world.

Engagement Party

I was honored to be invited to an engagement party for one of the young women in the Light Mission Pentecostal Church, which shares the building with the Church of Peace.  Here is a photo from my phone of the bride-to-be, Violet,  pinning a flower on the lapel of the groom-to-be.  There is a little stylized drama of the groom choosing the right girl from among several possibilities, with much laughing from the assembled well wishers.  At this moment the selection has been made and gifts are being exchanged.  I had a wonderful time.

Closet Rehab

 It is always a challenge to occupy a 100 year old building.  Our sanctuary was built in 1912, and the lower level of that 1912 structure is getting some rehabilitation.  There is a small room that we now use for a closet, but was actually used as the church kitchen when the church began, that is getting an overhaul.  Termites were discovered in the area.  So the wood floor was torn out .  Now it is being replaced with cement.

Bad luck for the termites!  But there are a lot of steps to get a job like this done.  Yesterday was putting in the under-layer of fill.  Today was pouring and smoothing the concrete.  Keep tuned.

Palm Sunday

 Today was Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday at the Church of Peace.  The service began with a procession with palms - which included the choir, the children, the confirmands and a few of the rest of us also.  Josh read the account of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem from Mark, and the children's choir sang.  The bigger events were the baptism of Kinley Clare and the confirmation of Micah and Evan.  Top photo is me with Kinley Clare.

 And with her parents...

Here I am with Evan and Micah.

The service ended with the shorter passion reading from Mark.  Altogether a wonderful day.

Chapel Wedding

Nan Wischnak and Todd Ewen were married at the Church of Peace this Saturday in the chapel.  Nan is the daughter of Brian Wischnak who is the sexton of the church.  Nan was also the work camps director for two summers.  I was a joy to officiate at the service.

STAND AGAINST CANCER

We had a news conference at the Church of Peace to launch a book in the Stand Against Cancer that was funded by the Susan G. Komen Quad Cities group.  The first photo is of Amy Westfall, from Komen.  After that is the news release that tells our story in detail.

The Stand Against Cancer Program (SAC) is an early breast and cervical cancer screening program that serves women 18 – 39 years of age, who are low income, uninsured, and reside in the state of Illinois.  The mission of the SAC program is to reduce racial and economic disparities in accessing these services by partnering with Federally Qualified Health Centers, health departments, faith-based and community-based organizations, the American Cancer Society and advocates in various regions of the state from Rock Island to Cairo (excluding the Chicago Metropolitan Area). The services provided by Stand Against Cancer are free of charge to eligible women.  The program is funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health Center for Minority Health Services and administered by the Springfield Urban League, Inc.

Since 2006, Nora Steele, Office Manager for Church of Peace, has acted as the local Advocate for the Stand Against Cancer program.  In her Advocate duties, Nora has passed out information at local fairs, events and at her daily job at the Church of Peace.  She educates women on the importance of early detection and provides women who are eligible for the SAC program with a referral to the local provider. The Church of Peace became a host of English as a Second Language classes through Black Hawk College two years ago.  With this responsibility, the doors opened to a new population in the community – the immigrant population.  Most of the women of this community have not seen doctors although they have had many children.  Mammograms and pap smears are not common words to them as they are to U.S. citizens.  Education has proven to be difficult because of the language barriers.  A better method of communication was needed, but difficult to address.

Nora and Church of Peace Parish Nurse, Mary Oelschlaeger, decided that a visual aid with limited verbage would help get the message to the women.  The question then was, how do we produce this visual aid?  It was decided that a book needed to be written with pictures, and it needed to be done professionally.  A grant was applied for through the Susan G. Komen Quad Cities group, and it was received.  A partnership was then formed with Augustana College’s Doug Tschopp who heads the graphic arts department and Kathy Conrad, Nursing Faculty at Trinity College of Nursing.  Kathy taught students who were able to provide the initial concept for the project as a part of classwork assignment.  Doug listened to what Nora and Mary wanted to do with the project and helped them walk through the process.  He determined that an illustrator needed to be hired to create some of the pictures that could not be copyrighted.  This person was found amongst the members of Church of Peace.  Barbara Crede agreed to help with the project, and it was on its way!

After the illustrator was finished with the pictures, everything was turned over to Augustana College student Joe Santucci under Doug Tschopp’s supervision.  Copies were tweaked here and there, and the book is finished and ready to be used for the Stand Against Cancer program.

Our hope is to have the book translated into several different languages to make it easier in talking with of the women of the immigrant community.  More grants will be written, and more partnerships will be formed!

Family Literacy at the Putnam Museum

 It is difficult to get photos of 80 or so people enjoying an experience together, but here are a few photos of the last day of the Inter-Session of Family Literacy Program that meets here at the Church of Peace.  We took two busses over to the Putnam Museum in Davenport.

 This dad has his family posing for a snapshot in front of the dinosaurs.

 This group is in the Under Sea exhibit.  The coral reef in the background is on loan from the Smithsonian and is crocheted!

These children play excitedly on the model octopus.

More Family Literacy Inter-Session

Here are some photos of the Family Literacy Program from today.

The top photo is of Alana, the teacher, working with the older elementary school age students.

Next is a group of four girls who have prepared a dance to share with a whole room full of children and adults after lunch.  The did some singing too!


After lunch a group of students from Augustana College came by to do some tutoring; some one-on-one and some in small groups.  Here are two photos of one-on-one tutoring.  I think the children really enjoy the college age students.