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.