A Good Neighbor Church in Illinois

November 24, 2005

The churches of the Golden Gate District each week pray for one of our churches, or one of our extension pastors in their ministries.

For Thanksgiving week, the Golden Gate District is praying for the Rev. Michael Swartz and his extention ministry church, the Church of Peace (UCC) in Rock Island, Illinois. They have about 100 in worship each week, and a membership of about 400.

The Golden Gate District is grateful this Thanksgiving for churches that are "good neighbors" beyond prayers alone -- that underscore their prayers with their service.

I have been here 14 years now. Rock Island is a rust-belt city on the Mississippi River, right across from Davenport, Iowa. Here in the midwest our area is known as the "Quad Cities" which are Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. The area has about 300,000 population.

Please pray for the Church of Peace United Church of Christ as we celebrate our 110th Anniversary this year.

Since the middle 1960s, the church has been in an African American neighborhood which has become simply a neighborhood of poor people. 100% of the children in our neighborhood elementary school are on the federal school lunch program. This school has been severly impacted by the No Child Left Behind legislation, and was closed down and reopened this fall in a newly organized fashion.

Through the Outreach program of the church we are partners with this school providing volunteers on a regular basis, sponsoring a "Book Nook" that supplies children with books of their own for a very low price, and being a neighbor the school can call upon. The Outreach program and director respond to about 600 requests for emergency assistance each year with food vouchers, bus passes, hygene items, emergency disposable diapers and information and referral. In partnership with the health department and our parish nurse we have guided people to dental health assistance, free mamograms, pap smears and other health services.

We help rehabilitate houses in the neighborhood through a summer work camps program.

We share our building with the Community Caring Conference, a community organizing project here in Rock Island. They are a United Way funded organization founded by a coalition of churches, including Church of Peace.

And we do this as we continue with the regular program of the church with worship, Sunday School, confirmation, fellowship groups, weddings, funerals, with a music program that includes a chancel choir, children's choir, bell choir, brass band and women's vocal ensemble.