Leadership role brings Forneys "back home" to Kroc Center

An installation service for the Forneys is planned for Sunday, July 2.

“There’s a lot to glean and hear and learn — so much potential,” she said. “We’re ready to see what God has in store for us.”

Salvation Army officers for 12 years, the Forneys served in congregational life and youth development from 2011 through 2014 at the Kroc Center in Quincy, then spent six years serving in Aurora and three in Elgin, focusing on building projects in both communities.

Coming back to the Kroc Center, “we want to come alongside directors and staff, be brought up to speed on what’s been happening since we’ve been gone and to dream about where we can go, what this will look like in the future,” Rich Forney said.

“We want to find ways to mobilize the membership and help accomplish the Salvation Army’s mission to reach out to the community and meet people at their point of need.”

It’s work, Linnea Forney said, made easier with familiarity.

“We’re not meeting strangers. We’re meeting friends,” she said. “When we told our kids we were appointed here, both said ‘you’re going back home.’”

It’s rare for Salvation Army officers to return to a previous post, but welcome for the Forneys, who hope to get reacquainted with some of the young people they worked with in the past.

“They’re good leaders. They’ll do a great job,” Shelley McClintock said. “The Kroc’s in good hands. Quincy’s in good hands.”

Rich Forney worked in youth ministry for 20 years, and Linnea operated state-licensed in-home child care, before following in the footsteps of their parents, and his grandparents, in feeling called to officership in the Salvation Army.

With their first posting in Quincy, “our hearts became part of the Kroc ministry,” she said. “Our hearts are very much still there in Elgin, but there’s a piece of me that never left Quincy.”

The Forneys said it’s humbling to follow the McClintocks in the leadership role in Quincy, Jacksonville and Hannibal, Mo.

“They counseled us and mentored us,” he said.

“Because of them we’re officers today,” she said. “The Quincy Area command’s leadership team is nationally recognized throughout the Salvation Army. It’s a privilege to rejoin this team.”

The McClintocks, who have been in Quincy since June 2021, move onto big responsibilities in Wisconsin.

“We’re excited for (the Forneys) to come, but we’re very sad to leave,” she said. “We really have loved our time here. We love Quincy.”