Children's Time

One of the members sitting in the balcony of First Church snapped a photo of children's time on an Advent Sunday.  That's me in white.

Healthy Clergy Ethics certificate of training

Certificate



Congregational UCC in Sparta, Wisconsin

 Here we are on Palm Sunday singing the processional hymn and getting ready for the blessing of the palms.

 Confirmation was on Pentecost.

And here I am with the confirmands.  Not only were they confirmed, but they were liturgists during the service.

Verification Letter 2

Verification Letter

Interim Ministry

Last week I received my certificate for completing my Transitional Ministry course of study provided by the Interim Ministry Training.  I had begun the training process about a year ago and getting it completed and certificated was satisfying.  Made good my advocacy for lifelong learning.  The training had three components:  a class on the work of the leader; a class on the work of the congregation; and a fieldwork piece with conference call check-ins.

 I took the first class at an Episcopal Center in Echo Park in Los Angeles, California.  Got to see some family and friends on the trip.  That was in April 2013.

 In the small world department the instructor for the class, Rev. Bill Peterson, grew up in Moline, Illinois.  And his late mother had been a member of First Congregational Church United Church of Christ in Moline, where I was then serving as the Interim Pastor!  And I am acquainted with his sister.  Very funny.

 The second class on the work of the congregation took place in Buffalo, New York.  Above is the group shot taken on the last day.  The class was in November 2013.

The fieldwork took place in early 2014.  There were five of our Buffalo group in the cohort and each of us did a project and made presentations about it in the conference call context.

One of the satisfying elements of the instruction was to meet others who were similarly taking the classes.  Bill's connection is just the most dramatic example of the ways we found ourselves connected through different affiliations.  US seminary trained clergy have lots of connections and culture that we share across denominations.  It was nice to brush up on church administration stuff - the basic subject of the classes.  And it was good to have the issues of interim ministry lifted up in an intentional way.

Good experience.  Now, to find the next interim ministry setting for me.

Summer Vacation

Nancy and I enjoyed traveling in July to Southern California to see family and friends.  Here we are in a restaurant in Long Beach, along with our daughters and with Nancy's parents.  We were also able to visit with my sister, Gloria in Huntington Beach, and also Nancy's brother Jim and his wife Mary, who also live in Huntington Beach.  It was wonderful to reconnect!

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.