| Former superintendent faces charges BY MELISSA LAUBER UMCONNECTION STAFF The Rev. Bernard Keels, former superintendent of the Baltimore West District, is scheduled to appear in Harford County District Court Dec. 19. on charges of possession of cocaine and driving with a suspended  license. According to police reports, Keels was arrested Sept. 8 following an automobile accident on I-95 in Harford County. Keels currently serves as pastor of the 2,500-member Newark UMC in Newark, Del. A statement issued from the office of Bishop Peter D. Weaver of the Philadelphia Area states that Keels denies any drug use and it is expected that the Rev. Keels will be cleared of all charges. According to the statement, Keels license was not, and had never been, suspended. Secondly, the statement said, Rev. Keels shared that on September 8th in the process of ministering to a person that the church has been seeking to help, he discovered that she was in possession of cocaine which he took from her. He had not yet disposed of it at the time of the accident later that day. As far as Im concerned, the pastor has not done anything wrong, said Bishop Weaver in an article that appeared in the News Journal newspaper. The article appeared in the paper Nov. 16, before the congregation had been notified of the events. Prior to accepting an appointment in Delaware in March 2001, Keels served as pastor at St. Marks UMC and Christ UMC in Baltimore; at A.P. Shaw UMC in Washington, D.C.; and as superintendent of the Baltimore West District. | 
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