Health Care Coverage

Here is a letter to the editor that was published in the Quad Cities Times today, April 30:


The congregation of the Church of Peace United Church of Christ in RockIsland along with other Quad City churches sent postcards to our USSenators regarding health care coverage.This program was coordinated by Quad Cities Interfaith.

These cards made the points that Health Care Coverage should:- Be available to all.- Be continuous.- Be affordable and sustainable for society. Congregants were asked to sign and make comments on the card and put them in the offering plate. Some of the comments were very interesting.

"No more delays!" "Get your acts together and get this done!" Some were more specific: "I am a federal retiree and would like to seeeverybody have the plan I enjoy.""My sister got sick, lost her job because of her illness, then lost herhealth coverage and is probably going bankrupt."

The many good comments reminded me that the concern is not just for sometheoretical "other people." Rather the concern is for ourselves andthose we love, along with a concern for society in general.

Jesus spent a lot of time in healing and health care efforts. Storyafter story of people with fever, skin disease, blindness, menstrualproblems, back problems are given in the Bible. And Jesus provided careto those who approached him. So maybe we are not far from the mark when we make efforts to see thathealth care coverage is readily available in America.

Rev. Michael Swartz
Rock Island
http://www.qctimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_4ffc8ff8-350c-1...

Parish Nurse

Last Thursday evening I attended an annual banquet for the Parish Nursing program in the Quad Cities as a guest of our Parish Nurse, here at Church of Peace, Mary Oelschlaeger. It was an enjoyable dinner and presentation.

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the program here in our area. There was a lot of remembering and celebrating past and visionary leaders.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Deborah Peterson, Executive Director, Internationa Parish Nurse Resource Center/Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries of St Louis. Her organization of Deaconnesses grows out of the same German Evangelical roots as does our local church. It was good to meet her and hear her message.

We are greatly benefitted here at the Church of Peace by our Parish Nurse, Mary O, and her ministry among us.

Michael on Deck

Here I am on the deck of an Alaska cruise ship in Tracy Arm Fjord with Sawyer Glacier in the background. We were priveleged to enjoy this together as a family a few years back. What a wonderful experience.

This is my specific reference for global warming. Tracy Arm Fjord is 23 miles long from its mouth. When Captain Cook was in this area in 1778 the entire 23 miles was filled with a glacier. When Mark Twain was in Alaska the fjord was much smaller.

It is clear that our planet is warming. It is less clear that we can and will work together to address this.

Art on the Wall

The photo above is of the wall constructed by the United States along the Mexico/US border. It is constructed from steel temporary landing strip materials recycled from the Viet Nam war, topped with barbed wire. The wall has been colorfully decorated on the Mexico side by artists.

On May 6 I will travel to Tucson, Arizona, for a pilgrimage with a group called BorderLinks. This church based group conducts several experiential learning events each year to help bring about deeper understanding on immigration issues and the US-Mexico border.

My travel companions will be some Mexican Pastors from the Guadalajara area in Mexico, as well as some church folks from Illinois. While I have been on BorderLinks delegations before this will be a different experience to see the border travelling with Mexican nationals.

It will be good to have a change of pace from local church work for a week or so. Holy Week and Easter is pretty busy. Funny thing, the busier I get the more my blog gets neglected. There is an inverse relationship between working in the parish and being able to write about it!

Sad Day

Yesterday, April 8, I attended the sentencing of our church burglar, Archie Ross, along with Michelle Isaacs and Connie Hayes from the Community Caring Conference. Judge Walter Braud was presiding.

It turns out that counting this conviction, Mr. Ross has been convicted of thirteen felonies over the years. He has convictions in Minnesota and Iowa as well as Illinois. In exchange for not prosecuting additional cases against him the prosecution put a detective on the witness stand who testified about three additional burglary cases that were pending. DNA evidence connects Mr. Ross with a break-in at a hairdresser in the community. DNA evidence connects Mr. Ross with a previous burglary at the Church of Peace. Chain-of-evidence connects Mr. Ross with yet another burglary at the Church of Peace - one of our stolen computers was purchased by a pawn shop out on Eleventh Street, the serial number showed that it was ours, interviews with the seller connected it to Mr. Ross.

Mr. Ross offered his apologies to the church and commented that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions. He spoke of his addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine.

Judge Braud sentenced Mr. Ross to twenty years in light of his consistent pattern of behavior. While this sentence is certainly just it is sad to see a man of 64 years of age have such a life, and so sad a prospect for the future.

One Great Hour of Sharing

One Great Hour of Sharing is one of those church wide offerings that we will receive at the Church of Peace this Sunday, March 22. This is one of those big offerings that benefit things like clean water and food, education and health care, micro credit loans, emergency relief, resettlement for refugees world wide. This program was established just after WWII in 1949 along with a number of other Christian Denominations. Last year the UCC collected about $2.9 million for this effort. The logo above is the one used in the UCC.



Just after WWII there was a great appreciation of what many people could accomplish if they worked together cooperatively. The second logo is one used by the Presbyterian Church as they too collect monies for OGHS.



This third piece of art is one used by the United Methodist Church as they too participate in the OGHS appeal.

I know that I should be thinking about the needs of people around the world for agricultural assistance, basic education and the like. But I find the spirit of ecumenical and international cooperation still excites me. I believe that God calls us to work together, and when we do we please God.

Dubuque Missions Conference

I spent two days this week at a missions conference at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. One of the speakers, Hunter Farrell, was very good. He is the missions executive for the Presbyterian Church.

He talked at length about a Dallas Consultation on world mission that took place in January 2008. This group decided to embrace some of the diversity that exists in mission that is taking place with some twentysix groups affiliated with the Presbyterians in one way or another. And instead of asking who is doing the mission, they were trying to shift to what principles does the mission employ.

Farrell passed out copies of the Dallas Declaration which can be found at http://www.pcusa.org/calltomission/about.htm This link describes the event, participants and provides a copy of the document produced.

In one of the plenary sessions Farrell presented an synopsis, that he called What does Christ's Way of Mission Look Like?

• It is sensitive to the local language, culture, and religious traditions (Incarnation)


• It is a mission to the whole person (body, mind and spirit)


• It is a sustainable mission with continued impact over time. (relational)


• It is a mission of partnership -- including the gifts and abilities of the local partners.

On the one hand, all this looks pretty basic. But on the other hand to get in one place at one time several groups who have been critical of one another, and then to have these representatives come up with a set of common principles, does indeed seem to be evidence of the Holy Spirit at work.

This is only the second year that Dubuque has sponsored a missions conference. It was worthwhile, local and inexpensive. Doesn't get much better than that.