Kettlecamp, Joyce to serve as pastors at Cambridge Methodist Church

    Steve Kettlecamp of Moline is the new interim pastor of the Cambridge United Methodist Church.

    For the last eight years, he served as pastor of the Colona United Methodist Church.

    Kettlecamp got his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1969. After working in that field for several years, he felt someone else was calling him for another important task.

    In 1996, Kettlecamp received his master of divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago.

    “Becoming the interim pastor of the Cambridge church is like coming home,” he said. “I was raised in a small farm setting and then went into the corporate world for a while, and now I am back.”

    Kettlecamp has a vision for the Cambridge church and hopes to lead it into the future.

    “I feel like I’m on a special assignment,” he said. “I have a vision and I know that the church congregation has the interest and willingness to explore those new possibilities.”

    Kettlecamp will have set hours at the church, Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon.

    “Most of the time I will be there most of the day until 5 p.m. since I live out of town,” he said. “I will perform a Saturday evening service and a Sunday morning worship service too.”

    Outside of the church, Kettlecamp enjoys following his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals.

    “I am also a do-it-yourselfer and love to work around the house,” he said. “Now that all of my children are grown I would love to help them out as well with some home projects.”

    Kettlecamp has found Cambridge to be a very friendly town, where everyone knows everyone.

    “It reminds me of my hometown,” he said. “The biggest difference is that my hometown wasn’t the county seat.”

    When asked what would Cambridge people find interesting about him, he responded he has had a lot of life experience, some good and some not so good.

    “I’m just a normal guy who has worked with the government, worked with the legislative and now have found my way to help spread the word of God. I am very diversified,” he said.

    Since coming to Cambridge at the beginning of July, Kettlecamp has also joined the Cambridge Rotary Club.

    “The club does a lot of positive things for the community,” he said. “It is the kind of club which has the same type of values that are important in my life.”        

    Kettlecamp and his wife, Gail, have four grown children. Three of them live in Texas, while one resides in Bloomington.

    Kettlecamp, who hopes to be in Cambridge for the next two or three years, will share the pulpit with Dave Joyce of Geneseo.

    “Dave will be preaching eight to 10 Sundays a year,” he stated. “Dave is a candidate of ministry and is currently going through the process. He will give the sermon on days I am out of town for business or pleasure.”

    Joyce and his wife, Tammy, have five children. The children live in Des Moines, Davenport, Naperville, North Carolina and New York City.

    Joyce will give his first sermon at the Cambridge church the last Sunday of August. He will also preside during a couple of weeks in November.

    “This is my first official church,” Joyce stated.

    He is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and works full-time as a salesman at Monagan Corporation, Rock Island.

    Joyce, like Kettlecamp, felt God was calling him for a special task, but he ran from it briefly and now feels that this is truly his calling as well.

    “I am looking forward to working with and learning from Steve,” he said. “I know this is what God wants me to do.”

    He is also a huge Cardinals fan and enjoys working outside in his yard and garden. They also have a small fruit orchard. When his kids were younger, he coached baseball.

    Joyce has been a resident of Geneseo since 1994, but grew up in a county seat of 4,000 people.