Rev. Kevin Harbin
Pastor Kevin is new to Swartz Creek UMC as of July 1, 2011. However, he is not new to ministry. Since 1997 he has served United Methodist Churches in a variety of places after working in the business industry for ten years in sales and sales management. Pastor Kevin brings a passion to Swartz Creek UMC for developing a balanced life for all followers of Jesus Christ. This includes intentional decisions to attend worship regularly, growing in their faith through various discipleship opportunities, developing relationships with others, and serving inside & outside the church. This balanced approach lives out the United Methodist denomination mission statement of “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.”
Kevin is married to Ellen and they have six children. Christine is Youth Director at the Utica United Methodist Church, Andrew is a U.S. Marine. Eric attends Spring Arbor University and Troy is a student at Swartz Creek High School. The youngest two joined the Harbin family by choice (adoption) in 2010 and are elementary aged children; Jaylen and Sukanya.
Youth Minister – Brian Kelley
Brian is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems. After working inMidlandfor Dow Chemical for 8 years, Brian came to UMCSC in July of 2003 to lead the youth ministry program. He is also a musician playing the trumpet, guitar and a little bit of piano. He is a big sports fan (especially Michigan Football and Basketball and the Detroit Tigers) and enjoys playing sports as well. He leads the Tuesday Night Adult Basketball program at the church and is an active runner, having completed several marathons.
Brian has been married to MaDonna since 2003 and they have three children, Sam (born April 13, 2005), Anna (born February 12, 2009) and Eli (born December 6, 2012). MaDonna is a Kindergarten teacher at Elms Road Elementary in Swartz Creek and is a fabulous singer. Brian and MaDonna are both members of the praise team.
Brian is passionate about providing as many youth as possible with opportunities to experience God in various settings. His biggest hope is to see our teens have the chance to know God in unique ways and then be touched enough by His love that they can’t wait to serve Him for years to come.
Choir Director – Richard Moreland
Richard Moreland has served as Director of Music at Swartz Creek United Methodist Church since 1972. He conducts eight different ensembles from age 3 through adult including choirs, hand bells and an instrumental ensemble of band and orchestra instruments. At the request of several orchestra members, Richard began orchestrating selections from The Faith We Sing with the goal of making these pieces accessible to instrumental soloists and ensembles from duets to full orchestra. The results can be found on Cokesbury.com under Digital Music.
Richard’s wife, Hope, recently retired as Director of Christian Education at Swartz Creek church. They have two children, Laurel Graves of Swartz Creek, and Randall Moreland of Miami, Florida. They have four grandchildren, Lisette and Livia Moreland of Miami, and Brendan and Delaney Graves of Swartz Creek. Brendan and Delaney spend a couple days each week with Nana and Papa.
Richard grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska and came to Michigan to be near Hope’s family. For 27 years he taught middle school band for Swartz Creek Community Schools. He and his wife have co-written several Christmas plays for Group Publishing. Rich’s hobbies include walking and hiking, composing and arranging music (with several published works) and playing computer games.