11 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/10ab2d1f8abdbb05f7973b43dd4d333d.mp3 b25bd84f434c14dd63e5055df27b3671 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c1990c845257229d4da37c8167227525.pdf 32699691eb453188dc0bb15e01abcf69 PDF Text Text A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Jeremiah 7:1-7,11; Luke 19:41-46 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 9, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon Let me say a word about the strange title of this sermon, "A Non-Election Year Election Sermon." It is a non-election year, but it's not really a non-election year because we did have elections, but we didn't have elections on the national or state issues or candidates, and so my point of saying it is a non-election year is it is a time without the intensity of feeling or concern about particular issues. At such a time, when there are not pressing issues upon us where there is likely to be polarization and strong feelings, it is the best time to look at how we deal with those kinds of social, political, national, world issues that confront us as a people. So, I call it an election sermon, not necessarily a good name for what I am trying to talk about, but what I mean is a sermon that would be preached in the light of a democratic people casting their votes and making up their minds on issues and candidates on the basis of some sense of awareness of the spiritual dimension of the issues or the candidates that are being placed before us. I got the idea from a great English preacher, Henry Perry Liddon, who was a 19th century intelligent, scholarly, conservative, evangelical Anglican preacher who held the pulpit of great St. Paul's in London. When I was in seminary, we studied some of the great preachers and Liddon was one of the models, and I began then to buy used volumes of Liddon's sermons from England, accumulating a shelf full of them. I would go back to those sermons many, many times, and occasionally I would read a particular sermon of his, the title of which I can't remember. I could remember if I could have gone to my shelf and picked up the book and found it, but I sold the book last summer. Dumb thing to do. There was no need to do it and it was the first time I'd sold some books and I'm sorry. Liddon would annually preach a sermon in great St. Paul's that would address the issues, the critical issues that were facing the English people. He did this very responsibly, very scholarly, in a marvelous manner. I suppose that it was the Church of England's counterpart to the Queen's annual address to Parliament. Maybe it was something like, in our situation, the President's State of the Union Address. It was a sermon that addressed the nation and those critical issues that were before it. Of course, this was simply because in England the Church is established. The Queen appoints the Archbishop of Canterbury, and so there is © Grand Valley State University   �A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Richard A. Rhem Page 2   the union of Church and State still in England to this day. But, what was going on there was that the Church had a voice addressing critical issues of a social political nature, like the Hebrew prophets. Israel began as a theocracy. God was the sovereign. But, there came a point, remember, when Samuel was the leader and the people came and said, "We want a king so we'll be like other nations," and he said, "You'll be sorry." They said, "Nonetheless." So, a king was appointed and Israel became a monarchy. However, the prophetic office arose along with the monarchy and those who study these things tell us that Israel was saved from the autocratic rule of despots that marked their neighbors by that prophetic office that always reminded the king that he was the king by the good pleasure of God who alone was sovereign. The king was anointed by the priest with oil, the sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign that he was a servant of God, he was not autonomous. Once again, this was natural because there were not separate state and religious establishments in Israel. It was all one and the temple was the center of that. The text we read this morning is Jeremiah's famous Temple Sermon, in which he stands on the steps of the temple as the people are coming to worship and says, "Don't say, 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.'" In other words, don't find your security in the fact that there is a temple here which you can attend, which is the symbolic center, the seat of God's presence in your midst. Don't take that for granted. Don't think that you can violate the covenant community life that was characteristic of God's people Israel, the doing of justice, the care for the marginalized and the poor and the weak, and total devotion to Yahweh. In the society of the day, in Jeremiah's time, there was corruption, they were violating this and Jeremiah was saying to them, "Babylon is coming and exile is imminent because it will be the judgment of God for your failure to live according to the covenant of God." Jesus picked up that text from Jeremiah, combining it with one from Isaiah, "My house shall be a house of prayer. You've made it a den of thieves." In other words, you think you can go out and do all kinds of corporate scandals and so forth, and then come hide in the temple and somehow or other you will be sheltered from judgment because you're hiding within the temple. You have made the temple a den of robbers, a den of thieves. And so, Jesus was picking up that same prophetic role of the Hebrew prophet. He was a prophet in the best sense of the word. There again, one didn't have the political establishment and the religious establishment. There was a nation whose political-religious reality was all one, with the temple as the symbolic center of it all. I suppose one could say it was natural for the prophet to address Israel as that special people of God. What do we do? We are an experiment, a very marvelous experiment in the separation of Church and State. Thomas Jefferson's image of that wall of separation between Church and State, that wall is being chipped away in our day, to our hurt. I want to be very clear that I affirm the separation of Church and © Grand Valley State University �A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Richard A. Rhem Page 3   State. I believe that our nation was born in that age of reason, that dynamic period of human history, the Enlightenment, post-French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," all of that democratic ferment rising to the surface. Our nation was an experiment throwing off all of that baggage of the European systems and all forms of authoritarianism, lifting up the inalienable rights of the human being. That was a great breakthrough in human experience. I do not trust organized religion. I do not trust organized religion with power. There has been too much tragedy, too much violence in the history of humankind that has used religion as its fuel. I affirm our situation of separation of Church and State. My question to you this morning is a serious question and a sincere question. I come to you asking you to consider a question, not having an answer for you. My question is: Given that we have the separation of Church and State, how does the Church play its role over against the State in order that in the issues that we as a people face, the spiritual dimension of those issues might be lifted up? Obviously, in the political establishment, there is going to be political rhetoric, propagandizing, campaigning of all forms and shapes, opposing parties, and that's all part of our political system and it has its strong points, and it can have some weak points. But how do we as a people, a religious community, a people who want to have more than politics as usual, more than just pragmatism, more than just expediency, more than elections being able to be bought and paid for, how do we bring the spiritual dimension before the people so that, when we cast our votes, or when we make our decisions as a nation, we have become aware, a consciousness has been raised, as to the spiritual aspects of those respective issues or candidates for whom we will be asked to decide? With the separation of Church and State - how does the Church exercise its responsibility for the whole people, for the well-being of society? That is an honest question that I want you to think about with me this morning, because our situation is somewhat unique and, as I think about this, I think about my own story. I came out of school and to this congregation in 1960 and I was a salvation preacher. I really believed that my responsibility was to preach the Gospel, to call my people to repentance and to faith in Jesus Christ in order that they might have their sins forgiven and the hope of eternal life. I didn't really have to deal with issues of political, economic, social implication. I didn't deal with them. I didn't think... I was raised on the cliché, "Religion and politics don't mix." In my early years, it wasn't a problem. Then I left here and went to New Jersey and during that time the Vietnam War situation was becoming critical and I can remember hearing the prophetic voices and protests and realizing that we were in a fix, but it ended; we left without victory or honor, and I had not raised my voice. I was growing restless about that because I was recognizing more and more what a large slice of life was not taken into account in my ministry. © Grand Valley State University �A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Then I went to Europe, but what I had to do was take a theological bath. I had to figure it out theologically and biblically and that's where my growing edge was. For four years, I wrestled. It was really the first education I got. It was the first time I ever asked an honest question or really sought an answer that I didn't start out with. I had gone to school until age 25 using every bit of intellectual power I had to buttress the presuppositions that I imbibed with my mother's milk. It's a tragedy, but it's true. But, I had to do it theologically and biblically. For the last 30 years here, I've been dragging you kicking and screaming through this experience of trying to figure out how to translate the theological tradition into a relevant statement for today, how to re-imagine the faith and spiritual life. I'm so delighted that Ian Lawton is coming here without all that baggage that I've carried and dragged along and bothered you with, so that he can start out fresh with all of the enthusiasm and optimism and joy of finding out what it means to live a spiritual life in the 21st century. Isn't it going to be fun? It's going to be so much fun. But, what we've been through has brought us to the point where we're ready for that. But I'm asking you now myself, in the springtime of my senility: How should this kind of thing be handled in a nation that values the separation of Church and State, and yet certainly wouldn't advocate that its whole national life be devoid of spiritual commentary, spiritual comment? How could we do that? It is one thing to enunciate ideals and principles, but they have to land somewhere. It is easier to look in retrospect and try to think about those things. That's why I keep coming back to Bonhoeffer so often, because here was a Christian man who really in his heart believed that to follow Jesus was to be a pacifist, who saw what was going on in his nation and who said explicitly, "I have to choose whether to will the downfall of my nation in order that Western civilization may be saved, rather than the success of my nation which will be the destruction of Western civilization." Here was a Christian thinker who was really a pacifist, who was wrenched in his soul, who put himself in the place of a conspirator's to assassinate Hitler, an act, a concrete act. His ideal, his passion had to find concrete action. He didn't just do that on the side. He also preached it until they cut him off the air. O, blest be the preacher who gets cut off, you see, because he is saying something that's touching the nerve, that is, as Luther would say, addressing where the battle is raging. How do we do that? We, as a church community, generally in this country have pretty much operated on the basis that religion and politics don't mix, and you may say, "I don't come to church to hear politics." Okay. Then tell me, how does Christian faith, how does biblical faith, how does a prophetic witness lift awareness and raise consciousness so that we might be helped to see a larger picture and choose wisely? I know we can do it in various ways, and that is done here. We're going to do it here next week. We're going to do it here following the service today. © Grand Valley State University �A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Joel Toppen is going to talk about The American Empire, and that's good because that's a forum and there are questions and answers and interaction. Next week, Howard VanTill will talk about Intelligent Design and that's very pertinent right now. It is a state issue. Our state is focused by these right-wing forces that want to get Creationism back into the school, and next week Howard will lecture and demonstrate. I was so glad for the wonderful interview in the paper with him where he was able to say, "Trying to get Creationism in the school is a stealth approach and it's bad theology and it's bad science." It is important because three of the legislators who sponsor these bills come from Western Michigan. I was so happy in the article that our Representative Barbara VanderVeen was quoted because she says she's for this because she believes in a Creator! That's ignorance! Of course we believe in a Creator! That's not the point. If you sponsor a bill in the legislature, you ought to understand something about it, I would think. Tomorrow night come to the Circle of Friends. You don't have to be gay, you can just be happy. The issue there is important. We have again in our state this ridiculous idea about defining marriage constitutionally, and the Ottawa County Commissioners are being asked to support such a constitutional amendment. It really is an attack on the gay-lesbian community, and that paranoid fear about same sex unions. So, it's good in those forums because there is talk-back. But, I raise the question: How can we handle it as a community as a whole? Otherwise, what the Church becomes in its worship is an irrelevant gathering of like-minded people trying to find comfort and security, a kind of ritual society that is unrelated to where we really live. We really live in the broader culture. We really deal with these broader issues. There should be the light of the word of God. I don't have the word of God, but I should be responsible at least to lift up these things in order that we might think about it together and in order that we might vote with great diversity but with intentionality so that we know and we have thought about it so that we have not simply on national issues submitted or yielded to tribalism and nationalism, which is sin. That we have thought about it in the presence of the God who transcends every border and who transcends every image that the respective religions have of God. I don't want the militant Religious Right, which for the last two or three decades has really gotten into the fray, to be the only voice of people who value the spiritual dimension. I want an intelligent, passionate, open, liberal congregation like this, not as a congregation. We don't need to do it together. But, where you are, do it intelligently and seriously. How can we do this? I would be satisfied this morning if you would go out of here and if you would say, "Dick has raised an honest and a real question." I have to quit; I have so much good stuff here, I can't ... You're going to have to come back another time. It's really good stuff. © Grand Valley State University �A Non-Election Year Election Sermon Richard A. Rhem Page 6   I knew I was going to be handling this and I knew that I was handling it, but I don't know how to handle this, so at Duba's table last Tuesday, I said, "Duncan, you had this powerful pulpit in the city for all of those many years." Of course, Duncan always gets after me and tells me in no uncertain terms how to do it. Don said, "Duncan, you were a preacher that preached. Dick is a pastor who preaches." Duncan would wail away from that pulpit and he was oblivious to who was out there. He spoke to issues local, national, with a powerful prophetic voice. He had the kind of armor about him which I don't have. Right now they're doing a movie on Gerald Ford and he is being filmed because when Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, his assistant counseled with Duncan Littlefair and Duncan went into the pulpit and advocated the forgiving of Richard Nixon. From Grand Rapids a pulpit that touched the nation's capital. Relevance! Power! Prophetic! I'd rather be your priest. I really would. Last week, All Saints Day, candles, remembering those we've loved and lost a while, and I sat up there and watched you stream forward to receive the Eucharist. It is so deeply moving. Then I could speak to you about how the secret of dying well is living well. In the narthex, Michael Bouman came up and said, "Dick, the timing was right. Tomorrow my Dad's going to go off the respirator." He said, "I want to take the tape," and he took the tape. Monday they took Michael's father off the respirator, but he was able to be with the family. Mr. and Mrs. Bouman listened to the sermon, Tuesday morning he died. That's what I really love to be about. We'll never lose that here. But, this is too important a place and the world has critical issues too important for us not to deal with the larger picture, for the well-being of society, for the healing of nations, for the creation of global community. I'll consider this morning a success if you go out of here saying, "It's an honest question. I have to think about it." And if you'll promise me never, never to say, "I didn't come to church for politics." © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XXII Scripture Text Jeremiah 7:1-7, 11, Luke 19:41-46 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20031109 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-11-09 Title A name given to the resource A Non-Election Year Sermon Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 9, 2003 entitled "A Non-Election Year Sermon", on the occasion of Pentecost XXII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 7:1-7, 11, Luke 19:41-46. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Spiritual Dimension of National Issues https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c81ebf04d3d22a61d91880716717372d.pdf 5efa757c01cd5b9180309e5cfe331efa PDF Text Text A Palm Sunday Peace Parade And a Personal Pilgrimage Luke 19:41-44; 23:32-34, 46 Richard A. Rhem Unity Church on the Lakeshore Douglas, Michigan Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010 Prepared Text of Sermon It was last fall when I received a call from Jan Weren inviting me to preach here at Unity Church on the Lakeshore. She was lining up Sunday speakers for the first quarter of 2010 and, having just begun, I had the whole period from which to choose a Sunday. I chose the last Sunday of the quarter, not to put it off as far as possible but, rather, because I saw that March 28, today, was Palm Sunday and Palm Sunday is my favorite Sunday to preach. I’ve come to recognize that in retrospect – one of the luxuries of retirement, which for me was June, 2004, is that one can reflect on the way one has come. I have been aware of my being gripped year after year by the Palm Sunday arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem. Luke narrates much of his story of Jesus as a journey to Jerusalem. In 9:51 we read that Jesus set his face as a flint to go to Jerusalem. And it is particularly Luke’s account that moves me. Matthew, following Mark, makes it the triumphal entry of the king with tinges of nationalism which would be perceived as a threat to peace and order – and indeed there were many who would have loved it to be so. But Luke and John are clear – this is no display of nationalistic fervor – this is a Peace Parade. Not a war-horse but a donkey, an animal bespeaking humility. Not a military band but the voices of children. And Luke’s portrayal of Jesus on the crest of the Mount of Olives, surveying the city and weeping, moves me greatly. Luke’s portrait of Jesus was written over a half century after the events. By the time he wrote, the Temple at Jerusalem was an ash heap and the city no longer the center of Jewish faith nor of the Jewish Jesus movement. Thus, the words he puts in Jesus’ mouth as he overlooks the city from the Mount of Olives are not prediction but description of the actual situation when Luke wrote. But the core of Luke’s story, as well as that of the other Gospels, is most certainly true; Jesus came to Jerusalem. In the Synoptics he came only once; in John, three times. In any case, Luke, after the birth narratives, the Galilean ministry, puts Jesus on the way to Jerusalem (9:51). The crisis will build until it spills over in his tears; he weeps for the City. He needed not to be a predictor of © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 2 future events; any sensitive, insightful person might have known catastrophe was around the corner. In spite of his sense of the inevitable disaster, he entered the City and went to the heart of the religious, spiritual life of his people – the Temple. His coming was peaceful. Luke and John present it as such, using the images found in Zechariah 9:9-10 of humility, peacefulness, non-apocalyptic, nonpolitical. Jesus acted out symbolically his non-violent protest – he negated the Temple and all it stood for. It had become a den of thieves. The politics of domination and the economics of injustice were all tied up with the Temple as symbolic center, and Jesus’ symbolic action was the climax of his non-violent protest in the name of the God of justice. It was a dangerous, subversive action, for it called in question the legitimacy of the whole structural, religious, political, economic life of the Jewish nation under Roman imperial domination. For this action he was executed as a threat to the safety of the State. So, there Jesus is on the crest of Olivet overlooking the city – weeping, “O Jerusalem, if only you were able to recognize the things that make for peace … but they are hid from your eyes. Devastation approaches, for your violence in response to Roman violence will bring on greater violence and you will finally be destroyed, the Temple a charred ruin.” Going back over the last two decades of my ministry I discovered I had preached seventeen times on Palm Sunday and on seven of those seventeen I had used the passage from Luke. And even more significant for me, two of those seven were pivotal moments in my own understanding of Jesus, of the way of Jesus – indeed, of Christian faith itself. Two past Palm Sundays represent moments of epiphany, or perhaps more accurately, having experienced epiphanic moments as I wrestled with the message, I made, for me, fresh expression of the Gospel. It was Palm Sunday, April 15, 1984, that I preached on the subject, “Jesus, You Are Really Something!” I remember it well; it was a moment of discovery. While studying in The Netherlands in the late 1960’s I had purchased Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. In the days of heavy theological reading, Bonhoeffer’s little volume sustained me spiritually as he recorded his prison experience, which was the consequence of being a part of a group that sought to assassinate Hitler. Hitler ordered Bonhoeffer’s death in May, 1945, as the U.S. forces were closing in on the prison camp in southern Germany. On Palm Sunday, 1984, I confessed to my people a discovery – that the life of Bonhoeffer moved me more than the life of Jesus. This is what I said then: Jesus has no doubt been the greatest inspirer of human faith and life in the whole of human history. I have been reflecting on why his life has not been © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 3 more powerful for me. I think I understand why Bonhoeffer moved me more – or so it seems. I think it is because Bonhoeffer was of our time. He seems more human – more one of us. He took on Hitler – not the Jewish High Priest or the Roman Emperor. He was a man – just a man. But Jesus was something else. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the Church in her theological discussion has removed Jesus – the real, historical, human figure – from me. Yet the more I penetrate through the theological haze surrounding him, the more I see him for what he was, the more overwhelmed I am at the grandeur of his life, the more I am moved by his faith and commitment, the more I love him and want to be like him. It is a paradox; the more I see him in his full humanity, the more I am inclined to bow in worship before him…. Of course we cannot get back into the skin of those first Palm Sunday pilgrims. We cannot divest ourselves of centuries of theological discussion and church doctrine. Yet sometimes someone catches a glimmer of what it might have been like. For example, in the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, which some Christians picketed and of which many more disapproved, I personally think I see something of the power and the impact of that truly human existence. Mary Magdalene’s solo has always struck me – even moved me. Listen to the words: I don’t know how to love him, what to do – how to move him. I’ve been changed – yes, really changed in these past few days When I have seen myself. I seem like someone else. I don’t know how to take this. I don’t see why he moves me. He’s a man. He’s just a man. I’ve had so many men before in many ways, he’s just one more. Should I bring him down? Should I scream and shout? Should I speak of love, let my feelings out? I never thought I’d come to this. What’s it all about? Don’t you think it’s rather funny I should be in this position? I’m the one who has always been so calm, so cool, no lover’s fool… He scares me so. I never thought I’d come to this. What’s it all about? Yet, if he said he loved me, I’d be lost, I’d be frightened. I couldn’t cope, I just couldn’t cope. I’d turn my head, I’d back away. I wouldn’t want to know. He scares me so. I want him so. I love him so. Whether true to the real feelings of Mary Magdalene or not, something of the confusion, the adoration and yet the drawing back in wonder must have been true of Jesus’ contemporaries. To meet him was to be changed by him. His power was not the power of coercion, but the power of grace; © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 4 not the overwhelming of pomp, but the weight of truth, of authenticity, of humility; it was the power of a person in whom God became transparent. That was Palm Sunday, 1984. Something very deep was going on in my being – Jesus, the human being, and the way of Jesus as the way of non-violent resistance, the way of peace was gripping me. I knew well enough the history of those early centuries of the Christian era. I knew of the intertwining of the Constantinean establishment of the Church, emperors calling church councils, and elevation of the man Jesus to the supernatural status of Son of God, second member of the Trinity. Jesus’ humanity was never denied. Indeed, in 451 C.E., the concise formula was rendered – Jesus, true God and true man. But I think my experience was not rare – the human Jesus got swallowed up by the Divine being. But for me, the man Jesus was emerging as the one I wanted to follow and in the ensuing decade became the one who more and more found expression in my preaching. The second significant pivot point in my own understanding of Christian faith came to expression on Palm Sunday, 1993. Again from Luke 19, my sermon title was “Jesus Died Because of Our Sins, Not For Our Sins.” This was a radical move because in making that claim, I was really denying the whole structure of atonement theology. In fact, I stood it on its head. I was beginning to see Jesus in the great tradition of Israel’s prophets and thus his concern for the very real historical context of his life – Roman imperial domination with establishment Judaism’s collaboration, oppressing the poor on the one hand and the revolutionary elements, the Zealots, plotting insurrection against Rome on the other. Jesus spoke truth to power. The common people heard him gladly. The authorities of religion and politics saw him as a threat to order – one that needed to be silenced. On that Palm Sunday, 1994, I said, Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” Was not his point that there is only one way to deal with that which is so endemic to the human situation that spews violence and spawns response in violence? That is the way of sacrificial love – turning the other cheek; loving the enemy; embracing the one who despitefully uses me. Of course, you can’t run a world that way. But my point is, you see, God’s problem is not that God cannot forgive me. God’s problem is that God doesn’t seem to be able to change me. Jesus didn’t die so that I could have the sentence removed and I could have a passport to heaven. I mean, wouldn’t that be wonderful! I could say, “Yes, I believe. I’ll take that ticket. Thank you very much,” and remain unchanged. We have this neat theological system of Christian doctrine where the problem is our sin and the solution is Jesus’ death. Sin is removed, guilt is removed, and there is openness to God. Yet the world continues to be on the brink of exploding because in the human heart there is never any significant transformation. Not in my heart. And not in the hearts of the Muslim fanatics, and the Jewish © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 5 Orthodox, and the Christian fundamentalists. The problem is not that God can’t forgive my sin. The problem is God can’t break through to me. But, don’t you see, the word repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia, which means to change one’s thinking? The problem with the world is not that God can’t forgive the world of sin. The problem is that the world’s thinking will not change. We egg each other on, and we escalate the violence. We raise the stakes and nothing changes! The die was cast; my focus had moved from Jesus as the Divine Interloper who came to be a sacrifice for the sin of the world to Jesus, the fully human being who came to challenge the human structures of domination, political, religious, social – the Jesus whose non-violent resistance spoke truth to power. One Lenten season I taught my people a mantra which occasionally is repeated to me: He died the way he died because he lived the way he lived. In the last decade of my ministry it was issues of social justice and peace that occupied me. Happenings in the nation, the political scene and international relations became the arenas in which I applied the way of Jesus as I understood it. I was greatly energized but, to be honest, I have often despaired, because it seems violence, conflict and war are ever present. And, to be honest, I have despaired of the imperial designs of our own nation. There is a recent book by the journalist James Carroll whose title says it all – The House of War – the Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power. It is a history of the last seven decades, the history, thus,from the Second World War to the present. Generations of good and decent persons have led our nation, genuinely wanting peace, and we have carried a heavy burden of liberating people and ensuring peace. But that is only one side of the story. James Carroll documents the disastrous rise of American power. Through historical circumstances we have evolved into a powerful nation with a military that has become the shaping force of American policy. We are a military state upon which depends our economy, our industry, even our great research universities. In Carroll’s telling of the history through which I’ve lived, it is clear that, had our leaders the mind of Jesus, there would have been no Cold War with Russia and again, had the Way of Jesus informed our leadership following the end of the Cold War, there would be no problem of nuclear proliferation today. Thank God our nation and Russia have just agreed on a significant reduction of nuclear arms. But they could have been banished at the Cold War’s end. Lest I leave you in too dark a mood on this Palm Sunday, let me speak of a relatively new understanding of our human nature and the whole cosmic dance into which our lives are caught up. © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 6 Did you watch the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver? If you did, is there one moment in particular that stands out for you? For me it was the moment when Joannie Brochere, the Canadian figure skater, finished her first program – a brilliant performance and, at its completion, burst into tears. Her parents had come to Vancouver to support her bid for an Olympic medal. A day after arriving, her mother died of a heart attack. It was decided Joannie would skate nevertheless. She did. She did it beautifully – for her mother – and then burst into tears. I think there was not a dry eye in the Olympic stadium nor anywhere in the world where people were watching. The TV commentator Scott Hamilton’s voice cracked with emotion. In those moments the world was one, united in empathic embrace of that young woman. I use that phrase “empathic embrace” because at the time of this event I was reading a book by Jeremy Rifkin entitled The Empathic Civilization, (Penguin Group, 2009). He opens chapter one with an account of December 24, 1914, in Flanders, Belgium: “The evening of December 24, 1914, Flanders. The first world war in history was entering into its fifth month. Millions of soldiers were bedded down in makeshift trenches latticed across the European countryside. In many places the opposing armies were dug in within thirty to fifty yards of each other and within shouting distance. The conditions were hellish. The bitter-cold winter air chilled to the bone. The trenches were waterlogged. Soldiers shared their quarters with rats and vermin. Lacking adequate latrines, the stench of human excrement was everywhere. The men slept upright to avoid the muck and sludge of their makeshift arrangements. Dead soldiers littered the no-man’s-land between opposing forces, the bodies left to rot and decompose within yards of their still-living comrades who were unable to collect them for burial. As dusk fell over the battlefields, something extraordinary happened. The Germans began lighting candles on the thousands of small Christmas trees that had been sent to the front to lend some comfort to the men. The German soldiers then began to sing Christmas carols – first “Silent Night,” then a stream of other songs followed. The English soldiers were stunned. One soldier, gazing in disbelief at the enemy lines, said the blazed trenches looked “like the footlights of a theater.” The English soldiers responded with applause, at first tentatively, then with exuberance. They began to sing Christmas carols back to their German foes to equally robust applause. A few men from both sides crawled out of their trenches and began to walk across the no-man’s-land toward each other. Soon hundreds followed. As word spread across the front, thousands of men poured out of their trenches. They shook hands, exchanged cigarettes and cakes and showed © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 7 photos of their families. They talked about where they hailed from, reminisced about Christmases past, and joked about the absurdity of war. The next morning, as the Christmas sun rose over the battlefield of Europe, tens of thousands of men – some estimates put the number as high as 100,000 soldiers – talked quietly with one another. Enemies just twenty-four hours earlier, they found themselves helping each other bury their dead comrades. More than a few pickup soccer matches were reported. Even officers at the front participated, although when the news filtered back to the high command in the rear,, the generals took a less enthusiastic view of the affair. Worried that the truce might undermine military morale, the generals quickly took measures to rein in their troops. The surreal “Christmas truce” ended as abruptly as it began – all in all, a small blip in a war that would end in November 1918 with 8.5 million military deaths in the greatest episode of human carnage in the annals of history until that time. For a few short hours, no more than a day, tens of thousands of human beings broke ranks, not only from their commands but from their allegiances to country, to show their common humanity. Thrown together to maim and kill, they courageously stepped outside of their institutional duties to commiserate with one another and to celebrate each other’s lives. While the battlefield is supposed to be a place where heroism is measured in one’s willingness to kill and die for a noble cause that transcends one’s everyday life, these men chose a different type of courage. They reached out to each other’s very private suffering and sought solace in each other’s plight. Walking across no-man’s-land, they found themselves in one another. The strength to comfort each other flowed from a deep unspoken sense of their individual vulnerability and their unrequited desire for the companionship of their fellows. It was, without reserve, a very human moment. Still, it was reported as a strange lapse at the time. A century later, we commemorate the episode as a nostalgic interlude in a world we have come to define in very different terms.” But was it a lapse or was it an epiphany moment when what is deepest in our human nature came to expression in a most remarkable fashion? “Yet what transpired in the battlefields of Flanders on Christmas Eve 1914 between tens of thousands of young men had nothing to do with original sin or productive labor. And the pleasure those men sought in each other’s company bore little resemblance to the superficial rendering of pleasure offered up by nineteenth-century utilitarians and even less to Freud’s © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 8 rather pathological account of a human race preoccupied by the erotic impulse. The men at Flanders expressed a far deeper human sensibility – one that emanates from the very marrow of human existence and that transcends the portals of time and the exigencies of whatever contemporary orthodoxy happens to rule. We need only ask ourselves why we feel so heartened at what these men did. They chose to be human. And the central human quality they expressed was empathy for one another.” Thus Rifkin begins an extensive portrayal of the empathetic core of human nature, the recognition of which is a relatively recent discovery and calls in question the traditional understanding of human nature. He points out that the official chroniclers of the human story – the historians – “have given short shrift to empathy as a driving force in the unfolding of human history. They write about social conflicts and wars, heroes and evil wrongdoers, technological progress and the exercise of power.” Only rarely is the other side of the human experience covered – the side that speaks of our deeply social nature and the evolution and extension of human affection. Rifkin continues: History, on the other hand, is more often than not made by the disgruntled and discontented, the angry and rebellious – those interested in exercising authority and exploiting others and their victims, interested in righting wrongs and restoring justice. By this reckoning, much of the history that is written is about the pathology of power. Perhaps that is why, when we come to think about human nature, we have such a bleak analysis. Our collective memory is measured in terms of crises and calamities, harrowing injustices, and terrifying episodes of brutality inflicted on each other and our fellow creatures. But if these were the defining elements of human experience, we would have perished as a species long ago. All of which raises the question, “Why have we come to think of life in such dire terms?” The answer is that tales of misdeeds and woe surprise us. They are unexpected and, therefore, trigger alarm and heighten our interest. That is because such events are novel and not the norm, but they are newsworthy and for that reason they are the stuff of history. The everyday world is quite different. Although life as it’s lived on the ground, close to home, is peppered with suffering, stresses, injustices, and foul play, it is, for the most part, lived out in hundreds of small acts of kindness and generosity. Comfort and compassion between people creates goodwill, establishes the bonds of sociality, and gives joy to people’s lives. Much of our daily interaction with our fellow human beings is empathic because that is our core nature. Empathy is the very means by which we © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page 9 create social life and advance civilization. In short, it is the extraordinary evolution of empathic consciousness that is the quintessential underlying story of human history, even if it has not been given the serious attention it deserves by our historians. Rifkin explains the relatively recent recognition of the empathic core of human nature: There is still another reason why empathy has yet to be seriously examined in all of its anthropological and historical detail. The difficulty lies in the evolutionary process itself. Empathic consciousness has grown slowly over the 175,000 years of human history. It has sometimes flourished, only to recede for long periods of time. Its progress has been irregular, but its trajectory is clear. Empathic development and the development of selfhood go hand in hand and accompany the increasingly complex energy-consuming social structures that make up the human journey. (We will examine this relationship throughout the book.) Because the development of selfhood is so completely intertwined with the development of empathic consciousness, the very term “empathy” didn’t become part of the human vocabulary until 1909 – about the same time that modern psychology began to explore the internal dynamics of the unconscious and consciousness itself. In other words, it wasn’t until human beings were developed enough in human selfhood that they could begin thinking about the nature of their innermost feelings and thoughts in relation to other people’s innermost feelings and thoughts that they were able to recognize the existence of empathy, find the appropriate metaphors to discuss it, and probe the deep recesses of its multiple meanings. We have to remember that, as recently as six generations ago, out greatgreat-grandparents – living circa mid-to-late 1880s – were not encultured to think therapeutically. My own grandparents were unable to probe their feelings and thinking in order to analyze how their past emotional experiences and relationships affected their behavior toward others and their sense of self. They were untutored in the notion of unconscious drives and terms like transference and projection. Today, a hundred years after the coming of the age of psychology, young people are thoroughly immersed in therapeutic consciousness and comfortable with thinking about, getting in touch with and analyzing their own innermost feelings, emotions, and thoughts – as well as those of their fellows. The precursor to empathy was the word “sympathy” – a term that came into vogue during the European Enlightenment. The Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote a book on moral sentiments in 1759. Although far better known for his theory of the marketplace, Smith devoted © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page10 considerable attention to the question of human emotions. Sympathy, for Smith, Hume, other philosophers, and literary figures of the time, meant feeling sorry for another’s plight. Empathy shares emotional territory with sympathy but is markedly different. Rifken connects empathy to its origins in sympathy and makes the distinction. The term “empathy” is derived from the German word Einfuhlung, coined by Robert Vischer in 1872 and used in German aesthetics. Einfuhlung relates to how observers project their own sensibilities onto an object of adoration or contemplation and is a way of explaining how one comes to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of, for example, a work of art. The German philosopher and historian Wilhelm Dilthey borrowed the term from aesthetics and began to use it to describe the mental process by which one person enters into another’s being and comes to know how they feel and think. In 1909, the American psychologist E.B. Titchener translated Einfuhlung into a new word, “empathy.” Titchener had studied with Wilhelm Wundt, the father of modern psychology, while in Europe. Like many young psychologists in the field, Titchener was primarily interested in the key concept of introspection, the process by which a person examines his or her own inner feelings and drives, emotions, and thoughts to gain a sense of personal understanding about the formation of his or her identity and selfhood. The “pathy” in empathy suggests that we enter into the emotional state of another’s suffering and feel his or her pain as if it were our own. Variations of empathy soon emerged, including “empathic” and “to empathize,” as the term became part of the popular psychological culture emerging in cosmopolitan centers in Vienna, London, New York, and elsewhere. Unlike sympathy, which is more passive, empathy conjures up active engagement – the willingness of an observer to become part of another’s experience, to share the feeling of that experience… What does this tell us about human nature? Is it possible that human beings are not inherently evil or intrinsically self-interested and materialistic, but are of a very different nature – an empathic one – and that all of the other drives that we have considered to be primary – aggression, violence, selfish behavior, acquisitiveness – are in fact secondary drives that flow from repression or denial of our most basic instinct? Is there perhaps a different future than we have yet known? Might we be in an adolescent age with all its awful partisanship in our political life, the rage of © Grand Valley State University �Palm Sunday Peace Parade Richard A. Rhem Page11 extremists, the awful acid that oozes from radio and the blather of cable TV’s talking heads? Remember Joannie Brochere skating for her mom. Remember the Christmas Eve on Flander’s Field Jesus wept. So do I. But Jesus found the human cause worth dying for. So do I, for down deep, for all that makes us enemies, there is something deeper that makes us one. References Jeremy Rifkin. The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis. New York: The Penguin Group, 2009. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Palm Sunday Scripture Text Luke 19:41-44, 23:32-34, 46 Location The location of the interview Unity Church, Douglas References Jeremy Rifkin. The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, 2009. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20100328 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-03-28 Title A name given to the resource A Palm Sunday Peace Parade and a Personal Pilgrimage Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 28, 2010 entitled "A Palm Sunday Peace Parade and a Personal Pilgrimage", on the occasion of Palm Sunday, at Unity Church, Douglas. Scripture references: Luke 19:41-44, 23:32-34, 46. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Jesus' Nonviolent Resistance to Domination Systems https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/84248d424ecb9ac32ff67c6c3e6cb6b0.jpg 40fc4afd8a879c5566abe1ccc16dfd5e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS3501.N5615 P37 1901 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0420 Title A name given to the resource A Parfit Gentil Knight Description An account of the resource Binding of A Parfit Gentil Knight, by Charlton Andrew, published by A.C. McClurg & Co., 1901. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1901 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/87af67759271f57b65c8372f1f2f8ec5.jpg 4f9ec0ebefec1a1eb591585cafcaf04f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_042 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-08 Title A name given to the resource A Peak on Cripple Creek RR Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a peak on the Cripple Creek Railroad in Colorado. Subject The topic of the resource Mountains Colorado Cripple Creek (Colo.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d81e441dbfe6a32cd6610051d520c7fc.jpg 2e58e04348029ff1957a0752b860993b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Oxbow-04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Battles, Bob Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 Title A name given to the resource A Place Called Ox-Bow Description An account of the resource A brochure for the Saugatuck-Douglas Museum 2010 Exhibition, "A Place Called Ox-Bow." The brochure describes the exhibit and also gives the location, admission cost and dates of the exhibition. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists' Residency Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History from the Saugatuck Douglas History Center for the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/05125a4b45def7e5bf0c16ebb057ca24.pdf d7cb10fb5e3b6ef62ea316d1cf1a5d14 PDF Text Text A Plan For Wyandotte 's CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT �• • • • • • • • • • • . FR_QM H LI ~RA~V OJ!) Planning & Zoning Center~ Inc• A PLAN FOR WYANDOTTE'S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT prepared for: THE CITY OF WYANDOTTE prepared by: ■ ■■□■■ Vilican■ □oo■■ Leman □□□■■ . □□□■■ & Associates, oo□o■ Inc. ■ COMMUNITY PLANNING & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE • 28316 FRANKLIN ROAD SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN 48034 • (313) 356-8181 FEBRUARY, 1991 �II II • • TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO. INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS BACKGROUND ..................................... 1 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF THE CBD ........................... 2 PRIMARY GOAL ............... . ............................ 3 SPECIFIC GOALS .... . ...................................... 3 DIAGNOSIS OF THE CBD CBD AREA ACTIVITY CENTERS : ................................ 5 VISUAL ASSESSMENT ........................................ 5 DESIGN STUDY CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL AREAS ......... . .................. 9 OFFICE COMMERCIAL AREA ...... . ................. . ........ 11 CBD CORE AND BIDDLE AVENUE . . . ............ : . .' ............ 11 PORTSIDE MARINA AND SOUTH RIVERFRONT AREAS .. . . . .· . . . . . . . . . 12 EFFECTUATION MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE LAND USE ........ ... ............ . . DEVELOPM ENT CONTROL .................. ... .............. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMING ........ . ........ . ...... PLANNING - A CONTINUING PROCESS ....... . ........... . ...... 15 15 17 17 MAPS EXISTING LAND USE . . ..... . .......... . .................... 1A LAND/ BUILDING VALUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B CBD AREA ACTIVITY CENTERS ................................ 5A PLANNING OVERVIEW - VISUAL IMPRESSIONS .................... SA C.B.D. DESIGN PLAN ...................................... 14A ELEVATIONS - CBD DESIGN PLAN ............................ 14B ENTRANCE DESIGN STUDIES ................................ 14C BIDDLE AVENUE - STREET PARKING STUDY . .................... 140 EUREKA AVENUE EDUCATIONAL AREA ........................ 14E APPENDIX DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARKET POTENTIAL ........ .. .... ·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PARKING NEEDS ....... . ......... . . . ...................... C.B.D. WORKSHOP SURVEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE LAND USE (CBD AREA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A B C D E �THE DDA's CHALLENGE AND MISSION • • •II II II THE CHALLENGE While the Wyandotte CBD cannot hope to directly compete with large scale regional oriented, enclosed shopping malls like Southland or Fairlane, it can serve a separate need. Most of the current shopping center complexes in the downriver area are of contemporary design and unspecialized in tenant mix or "theme." This mass appeal meets many needs. However, a shopping area attuned to its rich architectural history, ethnic diversity and waterfront access such as the Wyandotte CBD can also meet shopper needs for the "unique," the "colorful" and the "different." THE MISSION A combination of well designed store facades, a complementary streetscape, adequate and convenient parking and a strong linkage to the CBD's unique natural resource - the riverfront, coupled with vigorous self promotion by CBD businessmen should enable the CBD to expand its commercial base while retaining its urban small town atmosphere. Reference: Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. 1983 Downtown Wyandotte Study COD 11 /21 /89 �INTRODUCTION �., Iii •II • •II II -II II II I II •I I I INTRODUCTION Within the Wyandotte CBD and its immediate fringe some 500,000 square feet of retail space services a sizeable portion of some 200,000 people who reside in Wyandotte's primary trade area. The continued health and prosperity of the central business district is a prime concern in providing a direction for present and future uses of land in and around the CBD. Central Business Districts throughout history have represented the "lma;Je of the City." In a sense it is "Everyone's Neighborhood" and should be preserved and nurtured to be a source of pride to all of the City's residents. Over the past few decades (1960, 1970, 1980) strong inroads have been made by new shopping centers in competing for the retail shopping dollar. While the ·wyandotte CBD cannot hope to directly compete with large scale regional oriented, enclosed shopping malls like Southland or Fairlane, it can serve a separate need. Most of the current shopping center complexes in the downriver area are of contemporary design and unspecialized in tenant mix or "theme." This mass appeal meets many needs. However, a shopping area attuned to its rich architectural history, ethnic diversity and waterfront access such as the Wyandotte CBD can also meet shopper needs for the "unique,· the "colorful" and the "different." A combination of well designed store facades, a complementary streetscape, adequate and convenient parking and a strong linkage to the CBD's unique natural resource -the riverfront, coupled with vigorous self promotion by CBD businessmen should enable the CBD to expand its commercial base while retaining its urban small town atmosphere. ~ A strong sense of community exists in downtown Wyandotte as is evidenced by efforts to keep the CBD not only a strong retail center but also through a continuing program to make it an attractive activity center. Building maintenance, streetscape improvements, pleasant lighting and a solid business/government partnership have all played significant roles in the preservation of downtown Wyandotte and in making it more than just a regional retail center. Past accomplishments with regard to the improvement of the CBD, while laudable, should not lull the community into a false sense of security regarding the well being of downtown for the years ahead. Times and conditions are constantly changing . ANALYSIS BACKGROUND At the outset of planning for the Wyandotte CBD area, several basic studies were undertaken. These studies, summarized in the appendix relate directly to the potential for additional market growth, anticipated demographic trends and parking needs to support a sound business district. The existing land use and building/land values on a block by block basis are indicated on the maps which follow. 1 �• E XI sT I N G L AND DOWNTOWN CITY OF • . -- - usE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WYANDOTTE _ ,, JANUAOY IHI · MICHIGAN - DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AREA �~1;1:1:1:111 11111 L_J L_J _J LJ LJ LJ LJ .__________. LJ L__J L__J LJ LJ L LJ l_J [__J LJ FIFTH :t: 1:1:: 1::: r1: 1 :i:11:: 1 It : 1i { 1: : r 111r~111111111 1 ::::::::[,I II [ Jl ~ Bi 111 il l ~ 1 !1:: : : ~ l]ill ~ ~ ~ I□ I[ ] ~ 1:l: 1 1 ::::: =====:=: ::::::: ::=:::= ::::::== 1 1 ]: ::=::::: :=:::== :=:=::: =:::=: ::::=== ::::::= _=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=j m:mnw ~:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=:=l 1 FOURTH 1 :1:1:1:1:1~1:1:1:::11::::::1 Q. ::::::: : ::=::::: 0 :::::::: ::::::: 1:1:::1:: ::1:1:: W :::::::: 1:::::1 u, :::::::: :::::: 2 1:1:1:1: 1:::::::1:1:::1:1 1:1:1:::11i:1 1::1::::::111:: ::::::::1::::::: ::::::: ::::::: W ::::::: :::::::: 0 U ::::::::: :::::::: • •.•.; . :,;,:.;.;.;,:,:.; SECOND ~ ■ ■ ■ l!lll!l!I ~ -·-·-:;:::::=:: 1:1111111 ■ 11111 ·II. •,..· [c v:,Fi!l!l!li ............ ~ !litH O • 30,000 ~ 30 001 ' 60 000 ~ 60 , 001 90,000 ~ 90,001 120,000 ~ 120,001 150,000 1111 150,001 a OVER ~ EXEMPT BLOCK BASED ON li!i!l!ll:!l!i!l! [ ............. . FIRST ~ > u, DD l\tIt:11\:t:( 1)/tt I/}tt 1/f : 1 : : 1 II II [ ti· II I@ OW THIRD J~{)\\f l~f ((t/ <ttilil]J' ::::::: ~ ' • D f: r ......___ I/ 0 r I w•·-:-:•:•:-~ 0:::-:-:::::: (;-:-:-:-:•.·.·.·.·.· .;.;:~;~\~:;:1 ■ c [ I/ I i , 1989 f: I/ ASSESSEO 114LUE IN DOLLARS LAND VALUE PER ACRE _J L_J L_j L__J LJ L . . _ __ _ _ _ , LJ LJ LJ LJ LJ LJ L_1 L_J l_J L L_J LJ FIFTH 1 ■ ]l: : : -: -:-:-:-: 1:1 WJLJ : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :;: : : ,11i!l,l1 ■ [ 1 !lil:!ili! l1!ilil 11:::::: !i!/i!i!l111!!:lii 11::ltl~lj/j l li1ii1tliliji/ll/ }llllt{_ 1::::1:1: FOURTH ■ g~ ■i~ ■ ~ 1li ! il l l ~ l{(•1::::::: ■ !~ ■ ~□![ ] w1:11:1:::t~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ {) i ){ ; ::i:::::!:i:i:l ]:!:l:::!:l:! /} (} ; THIRD J•~~~-==~ □0 111 ■■ ■ [ 1trtH a . 200.000 [ : ;: ;:;::\ 200,001 300,000 ~ 300,001 400,000 ~ 400,001 500,000 ~ 500,001 6 OVER ~ EXE M PT BLOCK BASED ON •, , I/ 0 ~ ~ ! II t 7 r I Ii I v 1989 {' I/ ASSESSED VALUE IN COL " \RS 0 LAND VALUE PER ACRE PLUS BUILDING VALUE CENTRAL BUSINESS CITY OF W YANDOTTE MICHIGAN ~ 20 0 ~ <00 fl auoun "" DISTRICT VILICAN-LEMAN&ASSOCIATES, INC. C ~ r , ~ ( 0,,.WA l ...,.,t, ~ '1Kl•IIC1 ) 1 11 1 1!!! !/l!l/lil ll �•ill • • • •Ill -Ill -Ill •Ill GOALS AND OBJECTIVES �• • • • • GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Imperative to the success of any planning effort is the assurance that a proper direction or goal is established which if achieved, will provide a desired and acceptable end result. Part of the answer is found in the process by which goals are set up. If offered from on high, they may seem too abstract, too idealistic and romantic, and their presentation may be resented or ignored. Worse yet, they may fail to truly represent what the community wants. One road to clarity, then, is procedural : it lies in having all interested parties or their representatives take part in the process of drawing up the objectives. A series of public workshops sessions were conducted with the City Council, the Downtown Development Authority, the Planning and Rehabilitation Commission , city administrative personnel, Chamber of Commerce, business and property owners, news media and the public. During these sessions, workshop participants were asked to identify what they felt were current assets and liabilities of the C.B.D. These are included in the appendix, however, the primary assets and liabilities identified during this session are as follows : LIABILITIES ASSETS 1. The riverfront 1. Inadequate parking (patrons and employees) 2. Camaraderie of existing retail shops 2. Lack of an anchor store 3. Appearance of downtown; historic character / cleanliness 3. Biddle truck traffic 4. Friendliness of merchants 4. Poor commercial diversity 5. Small town ambiance 5. Accessibility to downtown 6. Appearance of vacant/ blighted buildings Goals and objectives were then explored and defined for the improvement of the Downtown area. The objectives of establishing goals is stated as follows : GOALS GIVE DIRECTION TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR PLANNING PUBLIC FACILITIES - ENABLING Tf:-IEM TO PREPARE PLANS IN ACCORD WITH COMMUNITY DESIRES. 2 �THEY CAN CREA TE A COMMON GROUND OF AGREEMENT WHICH IS t.ECESSARY WHEN MANY INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN PREPARING AND ACHIEVING PLANS. THEY CAN PREPARE THE WAY FOR ACHIEVEMENT BY WARDING OFF UNWARRANTED - "JOHNNY-COME-LATELY'' CRITICISM WHEN THE TIME COMES TO PUT A PLAN INTO EFFECT. It is essential to achievement of goals that they be clearly stated. For this reason, it is often advantageous to develop two sets of goals for the future development of a central business district. First, a fundamental, underlying goal toward which all programs developed later presumably will be directed. And second, subsidiary and more specific goals that grow out of the underlying goal. PRIMARY GOAL FOR WYANDOTTE'S CBD Through government, business cooperation enhance CBD growth opportunities to enable it to continue as the prime retail, service and community event center for the downtown area. This will be done in a fashion sensitive to the existing character of the downtown area with emphasis on river access and proximity. Each new development will be expected to contribute to the economic vitality, service capability and attractiveness of the CBD. SPECIFIC GOALS A series of eight specific goals in support of the primary goal were developed which were further supported by numerous objectives as enumerated in the appendix. The specific goals were established as follows: GOAL I: ACCESSIBILITY- Access from the south and west as well as north should be improved. Routes to the CBD should be distinctively identified. GOAL II: TRAFFIC CIRCULATION - Downtown streets should provide easy access and smooth traffic flow for the downtown visitor and shopper with a minimum of pedestrian and vehicle traffic conflict. GOAL Ill PARKING - Every effort should be made to increase convenient safe and attractive customer parking particularly in areas where a deficiency in parking exists. GOAL IV SIZE OF CBD - The CBD will need to expand to keep pace with market area growth. Future growth should be concentrated as a compact business area conducive to walk-in business and through careful interaction with developers provide for the continuation of 3 �• • • • • - • • • • the unique character which typifies Wyandotte 's CBD. An additional 50,000 square feet of retail and supporting business activity in the Wyandotte CBD should be achieved by the year 2000. GOAL V CBD APPEARANCE - Provide a clean, efficient and tasteful environment that will enhance the Central Business District as a place to do business and a place in which all the citizens of Wyandotte take pride. GOAL VI THE RIVERFRONT - The Detroit River is Wyandotte's most attractive natural feature. Every effort should be made to make the river accessible to the public with particular emphasis on tieing the downtown area more intimately to the river. GOAL VII CBD MAINTENANCE - It is essential to keep a neat, orderly and safe downtown which attracts and keeps high quality businesses and maintains a comfortable retail atmosphere for the shopper. GOAL VIII EFFECTUATION - Every available tool for the improvement of downtown Wyandotte will be pursued. 4 �DIAGNOSIS OF THE CBD �-II Ii II II II II Iii DIAGNOSIS OF THE CBD CBD AREA ACTIVITY CENTERS The current land uses which occur in the Central Business District are identified in eight activity areas. They are: The CBD Core shopping area, residential usage area, civic activities area, office/commercial area, historically significant area, parks/recreation area, and a potential marina/waterfront usage area and the Roosevelt High School Campus area (see concept diagram). These are further defined as 11 land use sectors in the Master Plan for the CBD Area listed in the appendix. An analysis of each area leads to a stronger suggestion for greater identification of its own inherent characteristics and most importantly, identity through its connection with all areas, i.e., linkage.· In the course of the workshops conducted, key word-concepts like connection, access.linkage, internal and external nodes, and edges were used repeatedly to describe how the CBD might best function as a unified whole. It is through these spaces that the movement of people occur. It has been proven that people become more secure in their environment when specific usage areas are less jumbled, and confusion is reduced. Briefly these terms can be described as follows : Nodes: Are centers where usage areas meet and where edges join typically identified intersections or special places of use. Linkages: Tie nodes together by connecting them in such a way that movement is a pleasurable experience. Why? to get people out of the automobile and on their feet where the access to goods and services are convenient. Edges: Are the fringes of areas. abutting neighborhood. For example, preserving the integrity of an It is through careful integration of these land use applications that a long range plan for downtown Wyandotte emerges. It is a process of bringing the whole CBD picture into focus . VISUAL ASSESSMENT The current function and appearance of the CBD is the result of historical trends relating to economic conditions, geographic location and political decision making. In order to identify · the current elements that provide us with both positive and negative visual impressions of the CBD, a reconnaissance survey was performed that serves as an overview of current problems relating to land-use relationships within the CBD and 5 �.,, IL••••~• •l•: m J□·oo·oo~oo· t..,.'" ST. CAMPUSAREA RESIDENTIAL ) NEIGHBORHOOL.J ITT' I s1 xrH f-srl llllor--.~r SIXT.., e:1111 , ,. p 1, , I 11 ~ 9 In "'n- - - - - n --- _ FIFTH ■ ~......._.._~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . , , . . . . . . , . . . . ST •• ••u... civic I _ I _ i!_____ __ _ ST _ ____ _ _ __ ·s ·i..--..10 ~~ - - "-- 0 0 DD DD DD Ld bci e ,7 . ~ ~ O ~ -~ ! a: ~ g Q. a O er ~ " 1 eus_1N~~~-- E FIRST s=-----: v __ . --□ DD DD - ~ LJLJENWLJLJ D.W Jg"[ . r, CENTRAL R I _ I I RESIDIII :NTIAL Wl=lr.l-lR( ---- -- ---->RHOOD THIRD · ( 1G "-;;-,;;M_l M,_ 1--1• ---om- -- , - ~ II,, -•--- ~- - - •< ~LJI ~~;n .,I HIGH SCHOOL THIRD Li~ ~I:==- ' .ix II Q. JD DD DD DD DD Pr■, JD DD DD 0[100 10 JD DC LJLJ LJLJ o . 3 ]D~oo ~ egh i ~ riu~++ ii 0 a: lJl. 1 XI ST ~ ~ ~o~ - □□►D, ... i 7 J i : FIRST L--JL--J ~ J Q. ooc::i, ~==ID C ER LJ OI I .,..,-......._ ---------o ' CBD AREA ACTIVITY CENTERS I VAN 6, : : 11 p ALSTYNE PARK 1 1 I n C] I �impressions of the primary transportation corridors into the City. This information is presented on the "planning overview" map at the end of this section. Further assessment of the primary transportation corridors into the city is provided below. NORTH ENTRANCE: The Ecorse bridge landmarks the boundary and separates Wyandotte from the City of Ecorse to the north. The area, south of the bridge has a pleasant pastoral character that should be protected. The idea is not to create a grandiose entry presentation but to encourage the preservation of well established trees and good housing stock with ample setbacks which provide for an entrance statement of its own. Further refinement of entrance identification could consist of a center landscaped median in Biddle Avenue. This approach would complement the existing character, reduce the scale of the road and benefit the abutting residential community as a whole. The Ecorse bridge structure, if improved, would enhance the entrance image to the City. Such improvements should consist of repairing the facial damage and broken pediments that reveal the aging and weathering that has occurred over time. Further study could produce a new color scheme with supportive street graphics and amenities that introduce a nautical theme as an attachment to the bridge while being careful to avoid overstatement. The Biddle Avenue landscape changes dramatically beyond Clinton Avenue. Between Clinton and Perry Avenue the similarity to the several blocks at the entrance to Wyandotte ends . Boat storage racks, chain link fence, concrete hardscaped surfaces crowd the right-of-way edges. The tree stock is dwarfed as a comparison and offers little value to the overbearing elements behind their branches. It is not that the character of this space cannot be reworked to bring out positive values, it can. This area lacks transition and continuity. The transitions in this space are sharp, abrupt and allow for visual bleed-off into unsightly pockets. Further study needs be conducted to identify inherent improvement opportunities of this entire area. The visual character begins to improve from Perry Avenue to Ford Avenue. At Ford, a sense of urban character takes shape. Large trees and historic building facades return to the streetscape. The space between Ford and Superior Avenue has been defined as an opportunity for historic preservation and is discussed in another portion of this report. SOUTH ENTRANCE: Wyandotte 's south boundary is defined, by Pennsylvania Avenue. The greatest exposure to the community is via Biddle Avenue. At this junction the Wayne County waste treatment plant to the west, a Detroit Edison transformer sub-station on the southeast corner and the Penn Walt Company to the east dominate this entrance. Some changes are currently underway to improve the image of this area. These efforts have been 6 �focused on landscaping the lot immediately south of the Nichols Vending site, and in addition, the city is currently completing the construction of a planting median on Biddle Avenue from Pennsylvania to Grove Street. While these efforts are good, they also need to provide consistency iii selection of materials, consideration for size and scale of the right-of-way, and the impact on future land uses currently projected for the waterfront. EAST ENTRANCE: A great deal of discussion in workshop sessions centered on Wyandotte's opportunity to connect with the resources of the Detroit River. The City's eastern edge runs the entire length of the river's shoreline. Historically this land has been dominated by industry. Vacant properties now exist for sizeable portions of this area. It is of immense importance to the CBD and the people of Wyandotte that new development of this riverfront property be utilized to provide public river access wherever feasible. Currently, Bishop Park is the only sizeable public access pQint on the riverfront in Wyandotte. WEST ENTRANCES: Eureka Avenue provides the major east-west connection to the Central Business Area from east of Fort Street to Biddle Avenue within the heart of the CBD. Eureka Avenue is appropriately under study for improving its business function and its visual quality. Eureka Avenue is a major commercial corridor linking the communities to the west with Wyandotte. The prominent features of Eureka are its generous right-of-way, the railroad bridge structure, Roosevelt High School which is just east of the bridge, and the intersection with Biddle Avenue within the CBD. The Fort and Eureka Intersection is the gateway into Wyandotte from the west. As a gateway it should function to extend to commuters who would normally pass by without notice, an invitation to participate in community activities. This intersection serves as a doorway into the City. This means that the intersection must take on a form consistent from one side of the right-of-way to the other; one that communicates "welcome" and induces movement into the City, (see Entrance Design Studies, Concepts A and B). The "communication" can be festive or subtle yet dynamic, thematic or even inspirational. Whatever characteristic this gateway emulates, it purpose is to set up a level of expectation for the events that are to occur once past this point. Ford Avenue which parallels Eureka to the north, is smaller in scale and has some commercial activity east of the railroad tracks but changes into residential character between the tracks and Biddle Avenue. For this reason increased traffic volumes could have a negative impact on the character of Ford Avenue. 7 �II • • •II II - EUREKA BRIDGE: Continuing concern is expressed for the improvement of the railroad bridge to stop its overall decay. Potential exists to improve its image and to utilize the bridge as an entry introduction to the Central Business District. The bridge presently serves the interest of Conrail Railroad and Detroit Edison. The west side face of the bridge is owned and maintained by Edison and is open to any proposals for improvements including the attachment of structural signage. In this study a concept has been developed to embellish this structure and the adjacent slopes, (see Entrance Design Studies, Concept C). This concept is an attempt to work with some elements that exist and combine them into a design that perhaps represents a current trend. Much refinement would be required to make this idea feasible, but the intent allows for a graphic image to bring together colored panels for interest, a nautical flavor by the use of flags and a symbol previously developed for the CBD storefronts. Supporting plants should be new materials, further adding to a fresh appearance. Although this approach is a bold one, the conquest for bridge refinement combined with signage is justifiable given the opportunity to promote the CBD to the east. Additional improvement opportunities should be given further study. 8 �• • • • • ,__ PARKING • PRIVATE PARKING LOT DOMINATES Tl1E AREA • INTERNAL PlAHTING IS ADEQUATE • SUGGEST BEA MING AREAS BETWEEN ROAD AND PARKING TO DEFINE EDGE AND LIMIT VIEWS ACROSS LOT • RECENT STREET CLOSURES HAVE PROVIDED EXTRA PROTECTION BY ELIMINATING EXCESS TRAFFIC • HOUSING COMPOSED OF OLD SINGLE FAMILY AND MULTIPLE (LOW TO MID-RISE) PRIMARY PEDESTRIAN ZONE----' • NEED LINK TO RIVER CE NTR A L BUSI NESS DISTRICT 0 to0 • .-00 VAN ALSTYNE CLOSED TO Tl1ROUGH 'TRAFFIC AT Tl11S POINT •OO"'f A PLANNING OVERVIEW CITY OF WYANDOTTE M ICHIGAN RIVER FRONT PEDESTRIAN USE AREA NEEDS A TERMINATING FEATURE ON SOUTli END • INTENSELY USED RIVER SIDE PARK. POSmVE FEATURE FOR THE c 11.l). AND NEIGHBORHOOD ' • LINK TO RIVER WALK EAST OF lHE C.B.D. COULD BE STRENGTHENED, SUGGEST EXTENDING RIVER WAIJ(llfTO PARK. AMERICAN LEGION NEEDS TO BE RELOCATED TO ACCOMPLISH l,JNK �II ii I • • • • • •II • • • •■ •~ • DESIGN STUDY �•I I •II II II II II II • • DESIGN STUDY It is the intent of this design study through simulating an overlay on the described usage areas and, by careful interaction between nodes and key linkages, that the Wyandotte Central Area urban fabric begins to knit together. A design concept is presented representative of only one way to create such an environment by the positioning of in-fill development, parking structures and streetscapes using all of the existing commercial buildings where they presently stand. These spaces are meant to encourage positive relationships between usages, provide convenience to shoppers, and create a stimulating environment for city dwellers. This is a process of bringing the whole community picture into focus with our objective of making the CBD area "everyone's neighborhood ." CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL AREAS There are many historic features in Wyandotte worthy of historic preservation such as home sites, church spires, historical monuments and artifacts relating to the City's early history. Wyandotte 's Historic Preservation Society is a non-profit organization that has been granted stewartship over the protection of these elements. It's principle objective has been to provide a sense of identity to the community and strengthen it's cultural heritage. Presently the Ford-MacNichol house and the museum is the nucleus for a potential historic district. The location for this district is on Biddle Avenue between Walnut and Chestnut Streets. Encouraging the growth of the historical society includes building up it's endowment and also strengthening the image of the district to provide a historical gateway into the city from the north. A district of this nature and location communicates to others that Wyandotte has dimension, is preserving its cultural heritage, and is selective about the types of development that are to occur . Because of the close proximity to Bishop park, the historic district has direct linkage to open space which is vital to conducting public awareness programs. Current programs include: the historic festival, preservation week and the christmas program. These types of functions bring people into the CBD area. Additionally, a historic theme in this location compliments the residential areas to the west and south by preserving the harmony and integrity of each land use. In this historic entry area, Elevation C depicts Biddle Avenue without curb and gutter with a raised center planter. These elements are intended to slow down vehicular traffic, discourage Biddle avenue as a trucking route through Wyandotte and heighten the awareness of motorists for pedestrian safety. The parking lot between the library and the high-rise apartment building has been converted to a pedestrian access corridor creating courtyards orienting the entrances of both structures inward while linking this area to Bishop Park. Vehicular parking has been shifted across Van Alstyne into a parking 9 �structure to supply parking for the high rise apartments, the library and park visitors. The tennis courts :. re now located on the roof top of this parking facility . Additionally a new Recreation/Cultural Center is depicted adjacent to the River Towers further strengthening the concept of a Cultural Area. EDUCATIONAL AREA How much is Wyandotte willing to invest in the future of it's young people? What would be an ideal learning environment for the high school student of Wyandotte? These are very important questions to ask of Wyandotte's citizens relative to the use of land within the vicinity of the Roosevelt High school area. The high school is a significant part of the central area of the City. Daily some 2,500 students and there parents converge on its premises. Additionally, this learning center encourages students and the community to indulge in the arts, sciences and the humanities on a continual basis. Why wouldn 't it make sense to develop this area into a campus environment, a place where students can find an extension of the classroom out into the real world? Opportunities for employment, pilot programs for student/private business enterprises, a student operated bank, and a plaza for public forum and exhibition of academic accomplishment, are examples of a place used for human development within a cultural context. Why not contain community supported educational activities and possible student employment within a campus atmosphere as an alternative to aimless vehicular loitering throughout the city? This educational, trade learning, and employment complex, envisioned specifically for three blocks of Eureka Avenue from seventh to fourth streets, would be a high school nucleus capable of supporting a wealth of community resources. Immediately east of the high school lies a vacant parcel of land. This parcel of land is visualized as a potential campus plaza that would be used for art display, cultural exhibits, exchange of ideas and information. This proposed plaza provides for the display of expressiveness through the arts , sciences and humanities. It also proposes the installation of a snack shop and bookstore on the east side of the plaza area. This concept has tremendous potential and will require well conceived policy and action to carry it's conception into reality. CIVIC AREA Currently the city hall complex occupies valuable downtown real estate. When Federals Department Store left the downtown, a void was created that was filled by the city offices. Currently, this use functions to draw people into the CBD area, however it occupies a valuable site in the center of an important retail block. Over time consideration should be given to conversion of this site back to a retail activity. The CBD plan proposes the relocation of civic oriented activities to a fringe area of the CBD on the north east corner of Eureka and Third Street. This new position provides gateway identification to the urban core for those entering the city east bound on Eureka. Furthermore, the location has a compatible relationship, through linkage, with the educational complex envisioned to the 10 �I I I I ii . • • •I I ii ii • • • • • west and the commercial office area envisioned to the north. This concept couples a new civic building to a parking deck directly east, closer to the CBD. The civic complex provides an opportunity to expand and tie-in with the yack arena area and to provide shared parking for the civic complex and for the CBD. OFFICE COMMERCIAL AREA This concept encompasses a rectangular area bounded by Maple, Oak, Second and Fourth Streets. A commercial office complex mixed with mid-rise housing is compatible with the civic activities proposed directly south and also serves as a use that buffers the residential district from the CBD. A plaza space connects the civic center to a mid-rise housing structure by a pedestrian mall that would otherwise be an alley. Three new office buildings that are integrated with existing buildings are proposed on the block between Third and Second and Maple and Elm. The placement of office use in this area implies greater emphasis on Second Street to make connections with the CBD. Every opportunity to invite direction east towards the CBD area is made and is further encouraged by the cross street enrichment paving and interior mall through ways. Downtown housing is preserved and integrated into this scheme by working with the existing housing units. The addition of a mid-rise housing structure on the east side of second Street between Maple and Elm, improves the population base in the downtown which supports retail activities and community vitality. With the addition of housing and the increase in office and commercial activity comes a greater demand for parking. A new parking deck is indicated on the south side of Oak street between First and Second streets. This deck located next to the Wyandotte theater would also serve the parking needs of the merchants on Oak street and in the whole retail core of the CBD. CBD CORE AND BIDDLE AVENUE The CBD core includes activities of major retailing, commercial services, financial institutions and offices. This area is vital as the major focal point of the community for the provision of retail goods and services to residents and its contribution to the community's tax base. Well designed and healthy commercial areas are a tremendous asset to any city, while incomplete, unhealthy and poorly designed areas can pose many land use problems and greatly hinder effective community preservation and development. This concentrated retail core area is the focus for the entire CBD study area and will continue to serve as the prime retail, service and event center for the Downriver area. Continued attention to maintenance and improvement is essential to its further prosperity . VAN ALSTYNE RESIDENTIAL BLOCKS A great deal of discussion has evolved around Van Alstyne. This block of residential houses offers some of the most desirable housing units in Wyandotte. The plan for the CBD recognizes the importance of preserving this small residential neighborhood. Linking 11 �i i ■ i 11 ■ II II II II • • • • • • • the CBD to the proposed marina development south of the CBD and to Bishop Park makes a great deal of sense when community vitality is at a premium. The sketches indicate a connection of the CBD by a tree lined pedestrian way on Elm, leading to Bishop park and focused on a fountain at Elm and Van Alstyne. This fountain is aligned to the center of Elm and is intended to draw people towards the river. It also serves as a terminus to the north end of Van Alstyne. The fountain is a focal point from all directions and ties a look out pier on the rivers edge to Biddle Avenue. Directly west of the Van Alstyne residential blocks is the alley and the back side of the CBD. The sketch (see elevation B) indicates a connection from the south through the alley to the park and represents an opportunity for businesses to establish dual exposure. A "privacy separation" between this improvement and the rear of residential properties on Van Alstyne would be made possible by a decorative wall. Further connection between the south area and the park is made by a suggested pedestrian oriented center island proposed through Van Alstyne (see elevation D) . EUREKA AND BIDDLE AVENUE INTERSECTION One of the most repeated comments made by workshop participants was that Wyandotte needs to capitalize on the Detroit River. The Eureka and Biddle intersection is vital to the CBD because it is ttie arrival zone to the CBD core and provides the first glimpse of the river for the east bound traveler. This zone welcomes, influences, directs and provides a sense of orientation and evokes participation in CBD activities. Expanding the properties on the east and south sides of Biddle and Eureka to include arrival and identification is highly recommend by this design study . This intersection is strategic to the CBD because it allows direct pedestrian access to the Detroit river and the developments to the south. A riverfront promenade and look out pier further embellishes this connection. PORTSIDE MARINA AND SOUTH RIVERFRONT AREAS Potential for developments south of Pine Street bordering the river are continuing to be explored. Environmental pollutants have hampered development feasibility and it is still questionable whether this site can perform to the extent of marina, housing and recreation purposes proposed in a recently completed Riverfront Study. If indeed these activities are implemented based upon the assurances of protecting the health safety and welfare of its occupants, the potential positive impact of this development for the CBD are significant. Public access to the river front via connections north and south have been explored and has been highlighted in the Riverfront study. It is envisioned that a direct link along the river front to the CBD without the impedance _of noise, and visual obtrusion of the 12 �I I I I I I • • • • • • " "• • • • automobile, would be an asset to the public and retail establishments. Additionally the open space environment that the riverfront setting offers is a prime location for festival and fair oriented activities which would provide additional shoppers for the CBD. The on-going construction of marina and housing units on the north side of Pine Street in the portside area is a positive development. This demonstrates that high quality waterfront projects can be successful for those with imagination and the initiative to pursue them. BISHOP PARK Bishop Park has been utilized for fishing, picnicking and festival space. A fishing pier was recently constructed for public use and is actively used. This CBD design plan depicts a redesigned configuration of the parking lot to allow for an arbored promenade, central sculpture and extension of an additional sea wall north in the direction of the fishing pier. This extension engulfs a new port of entry for Wyandotte for pleasure craft. This concept indicates a day use boat dockage although longer term stays may also be accommodated. Improvements to the American Legion facility and a joint agreement with the city would allow for the sale of goods and services catering to boaters and park users. The American Legion structure is the most visible element in the park as seen from the waterfront. If this structure can be viewed as a resource to the community and if the American Legion organization would be willing to participate in a program that supports marine activities, a day use boat dockage facility could provide an effective way of capitalizing on the transient boaters (see elevation A) . The extension of an additional pier would also mark a position for the dockage of an entertainment cruise vessel along the south edge of the park's waterfront. People in route from lower southeastern Great Lakes and Canadian communities would port temporarily and become a potential market group for the CBD . To accommodate increased demand for parking in this area, a parking structure is proposed where the tennis courts presently exist. The tennis courts would be reestablished on the roof top of this parking deck. In addition, some park frontage would be taken to allow for the boat slips. A study should be conducted to determine how much frontage is necessary for the special demands of the boaters. These waterfront proposals strengthen Wyandotte 's position in the boating community and provide opportunities for CBD merchants to capitalize on increased activity by providing goods, services and entertainment needs. PARKING Parking on Biddle Avenue has continued to be an issue focused on convenience. During recent holiday shopping seasons, Biddle Avenue has supplied a portion of the demand by allowing parking in the center of Biddle A,;,enue. A special design sketch was requested to depict the integration of center street parking, pedestrian safety and design 13 �I I I I I I I I I II II • • • • • • • • amenities, (see Biddle Avenue Street Parking Study). In this sketch, mid block crossing with depressed curbs, bollards and changes in paving materials and patterns at the intersection will help to ward off risk of accident. These elements provide a clue to the driver that they are in a highly pedestrian oriented zone and to proceed with greater awareness. Speed limits within these blocks should be reduced to further encourage safety. Within these blocks are planter boxes constructed of light weight concrete. The use of trees in planter boxes in the street adds significantly to an urban streetscape feeling by softening the hard environment and aids in increasing motorist awareness. These tree planter boxes are designed to be removed by truck so streets can be cleared for parades and street fair activities. PARKING STRUCTURES During the inventory and analysis phase of this study and in workshop sessions the project team observed that issues of parking convenience, supply and identification are most important. The merchants confided that many employees park in adjacent lots and at curbside all day, discouraging their use for potential customers. This problem can be corrected through each proprietors better management of staff parking needs. Additionally, rear store entrances could provide important access to the shopping street and store owners are encouraged to improve the rear entrances where parking accessibility can be improved. Shops that do not desire rear entrances could still benefit from an enhanced area that contributes to an improved parking environment. The cost-benefit of parking structures is directly linked to the vitality of businesses in the downtown. According to the presentation on parking structures by Carl Walker and Associates, these facilities are considered viable when a healthy market place exists and continues to provide a revenue base that can fund the expected debt service and maintenance. As a demand for more retail space increases the potential for conversion of parking lots to parking structures may prove feasible . 14 �• L THIRD ST. SECOND ST. · ltt:<tJ EXISTING BUILDINGS I 1 INFILL BUILDINGS 11111111 INTERIOR MALL SPACE \111\1111111111! POTENTIAL SKYWAY CONNECTION FIRST ST. a: 0 C 0 0 a: ~ C. z w ::::, (/') w > a: :5 Q. 0 Q. OK OUT LOOK OUT PIER-t-~- A SCULPTURE-_;;;_,,.c......._...- @iluW §IF ~IBilllQ)(Q)lfil~ VAN ALSTYNE -r1--PARKING DECK WITH ROOF TOP TENNIS BUFFER PLANTING �• • • •Ill ~~ ~ !(\ " 111· • •II • • • • ~ Iil I i IilltI I(gJ ~ .... ~ . .: ~ I d] TI@ @ @ i ~ t::l ~ i ~ Ib ~ i d] lfilIJ �• • . ■ ■ II • • •If • • • • • • • ~ \ m1r~~(g§ §~TI@JINIJ ~lfCUJ[g]D@~ �•ill •iii \\ -,~ ,-~ ~~U-~~>A ~ \ ~~, ~?--~- -=:;: .~ _-"}\\_ r--,---_ A:::.'✓--_E.-:::_-z:_-_~~,l ~-,- ,~•---=, ~~---.,1ff~" 11 I B== ID.::,D1l l--..-1 w ~ a: w a: ...J <( <( 2 ::::> w 1111 w a. 0 (.) >en Iii Iii ill w, '", 2 w ...J 2 ~@~~u ~ :it, CONCRETE BANDS D~ ~ -a DEPRESSED CURBS tr ,:,' EXISTING PLAN ~:~ ill Iii iii ~Q~~~Q> tJ MID-STREET CROSSING li'I' &' Ii ~ I(,' e,' 1111 BRICK PAVING EXHIBIT A 52 SPACES Iii 111111 EXHIBIT B 56 SPACES ~ II �~r t- ~ ALLEY :c l w > w en l~cc ::> 0 u. LL - -- ART DISPLAY ~ ENRICHMENT PAVEMENT ~ OUTDOOR CAF~ RDCSEVELT PLAZA PLAN~:~ §llJJ~l§IK~ ~~IgIRJJlUJ{§ §§llJJ@~1fIJ(g) .4--..--..... Ji p ~ �EFFECTUATION �• • • • • • .. • EFFECTUATION The most important effectuating tool centers around cooperative interaction between all of the players who are committed to preserving, improving and bringing new development activity to the Central Business Area. A strong cooperative spirit between City government and the business community exists in Wyandotte. As is expressed as one of the goals of the downtown area plan, various interests including the Mayor, City Council, Downtown Development Authority, Planning and Rehabilitation Commission and the Merchants Association will cooperatively continue to work toward improving downtown area. THE MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE LAND USE The Master Plan For The Central Business District Area as adopted by the Wyandotte Planning and Rehabilitation Commission sets a policy framework for the long term land utilization of properties in the CBD area. It also reflects the goals and objectives for the downtown area established through numerous workshop sessions involving widespread community interests. A number of public hearings conducted by the Planning and Rehabilitation Commission provided further input prior to adoption of the plan. The plan is based on information gathered at the present time given the existing circumstances. If the circumstances which shaped this plan change in the future, the plan may need to change as well. It is not a rigid document. It should be allowed to change to adjust to new trends and information and to allow for alternatives which may be desirable. Daily decisions, as they are formed week after week, month after month, and year after year, are those which create downtown as it exists at a given point in time. There have been all too many instances of logical, even inspired plans which failed to change the community in any effective way. To be effective a plan must live in the minds of those who make daily decisions to guarantee that those decisions are constantly working toward the final goal. It must also be recognized that change is a process, not an event. it happens slowly over a long period of time. DEVELOPMENT CONTROL The legal devices for plan effectuation include zoning, and building and housing codes. Development controls are the tools by which the City directs the daily changes occurring in a community. It is important to note that such controls are a means to an end and not an end in themselves. This point is highly significant since no controls of this type can ever be successful unless they are based on a sound understanding of the community and reflect the citizens' desires, needs, and concepts of what the community should be. 15 �ZONING ORDINANCE Zoning is the most important common type of development control. It consists of the regulation by districts (under the police power) of the height, bulk and use of buildings, the use of land, and the density of population. • There are a number of objectives to be achieved through zoning. It is intended to conserve and protect property values by encouraging the most appropriate use of lands and by preventing the intrusion of objectionable or incompatible uses in any given area. Further objectives are to facilitate adequate and economical provisions of public improvements and to maintain a high quality of community living. Zoning regulations restrict the freedom of the property owner, but at the same time protect him from the uncontrolled freedom of others. They prevent development that might be objectionable to the community as a whole. It is in this way that property values are maintained. • Legally, courts have been emphasizing that zoning must be based on a plan before it can be valid . The Master Plan For Future Land Use for Wyandotte's Central Business District Area provides the plan on which the zoning district map and the ordinance are based. A review of zoning districting in the CBD Area should be undertaken to assure that zoning reflects plan objectives . BUILDING AND HOUSING CODES There are other codes which are instrumental in encouraging high standards of development. These include the building code, the housing code, fire codes, sanitation codes, smoke abatement codes, air pollution codes, and many others. Building and housing codes are separate, distinct items. The building code is designed to insure that a structure is sound from an engineering viewpoint. The technical requirements are such to adequately provide for fire protection, proper ventilation, necessary strength to prevent collapse, and similar things. Housing codes are designed to protect the occupant of the structure in a different way; their purpose is to insure that there will be no overcrowding, that there will be adequate separate sanitary facilities and adequate light and heat, and that the arrangement and design of rooms will provide adequate facilities for occupants. Administrators of these codes working closely, with the planning program, can aid in cooperative area planning and orderly development. 16 �•I •I I I • • • • • • CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMING Improvement planning, consisting of a capital improvement program and a capital budget are prerequisites to sound planning in any community. These processes involve the orderly budgeting of community funds in conjunction with a logical scheduling of the various required community improvements. The capital improvement program is designed for a period of years (normally five years) and is prepared anew each year with a reevaluation of community needs. The capital improvement program lists those improvements required in the community and establishes a priority (timing or phasing) for their construction. The capital budget is designed to allocate funds for the right project at the right time. In private lives, people plan in advance for those large items to be bought whether it is a home, a car, or vacation. The community, too, must attempt to anticipate its needs in advance so as to plan the financial outlays for maximum value with a minimum of sacrifice to the taxpayer. Public improvements are financed through taxes, and in order to have the highest economy and utilization of tax monies, a planned budget must be prepared . Community needs are listed according to priority need, and projects are scheduled over a definite time-period, generally five or six years. These are given priority and indication is made as to what year they will be performed in whole or in part, with items of greatest urgency handled first. The Downtown Development Authority in consort with the Mayor and City Council should assure that downtown area long and short term improvements are programmed into the City's overall capital improvements program . PLANNING - A CONTINUING PROCESS As previously stated - change is a process, not an event. The downtown plan must be a continuing process through time in a community aware of its changing needs. There must be a periodic review of the plan and of the data supporting the plan, with the necessary updating of various proposals or provisions. Data of the kind used in the planning process is perishable; that is, it becomes invalid or simply obsolete as time passes. New data, therefore, must be acquired, analyzed, and integrated into a revised plan as conditions change. 17 �• • • • • • • • •II • APPENDIX �I I I APPENDIX A II II • • • • • DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE CITY OF WYANDOTTE WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN NOVEMBER, 1988 �I I I SUMMARY Itemized below are the key findings and conclusions from the Demographic Profile of the City of Wyandotte. POPULATION TRENDS • • • • 1. Between 1970 and 1980 the City experienced a decline in its population base of over 7,000 persons. In the 1980-1987 period, the City's population tlad a slight gain. Despite this recent gain, longer range forecasts indicate a continuation of the historic trend of gradual population loss. 2. Among the many factors contributing to this loss is a declining birth rate, increased divorced rates and greater longevity of the population such that more older people are living along rather than as part of families with young children. These factors combine to create a shrinkage in the average number of persons per household . ·HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSING TRENDS 1. A household is an occupied housing unit. From 1970 to 1980, the City had a slight loss in the number of housing units. With this decline came a corresponding decline in the number of households. Much of this loss can be contributed to demolition activity undertaken to make way for either new non-residential construction or to eliminate substandard, deteriorated housing in residential neighborhoods. 2. Minimal new housing construction has occurred in Wyandotte in recent years. As a result, current household estimates indicate only a small household gain of less than 150 households since 1980. 3. The vacancy rate among housing units in 1980 in the City was 3%, indicative of a healthy housing market but one which also borderlines on having a shortage of a variety of housing vacant and available for move-in by persons desiring immediate residency in the City. 4. Compared to the County at large, the City has substantially fewer housing complexes consisting of five or more units per structure. The majority of the City's housing stock consists of single- and two-family dwellings, creating a relative lack of variety of housing choices. Additionally, a major portion of the two-family homes are estimated to be located in structures converted from single-family use. While many of these conversions have been done well, with good materials and design, others are less well planned. In several neighborhoods, the creation of a large A-1 �I I I I • •I proportion of two-family homes from former single-family homes has created a shortage of both on and off-street parking, over-usage of lawn areas and a general appearance of congestion which could eventually lead to blight. 5. This blight and/or the potential for it to occur also exists as a result of the overall age of the bulk of the City's housing stock, of which over 65% were constructed prior to 1950. While most of these older homes are well maintained, a large number of them are oversized or of antiquated internal design by modern-day housing standards . AGE TRENDS AND LIFE CYCLES 1. Public school enrollment has declined in the City over the last several years with continued declines anticipated. Despite this decline in school age children, households containing such children -as well as pre-school children, are anticipated to increase both in actual number and proportion of all households in the City. The growing trend toward working mothers and/or single parent families indicates that additional consideration must be given by both the City and School District toward meeting the growing need for child care programs and facilities . 2. In contrast to many other communities in the Detroit metro ·area, in Wyandotte , future trends indicate a gradual reduction of the number and proportion of households containing persons in their middle or retirement years. Households containing seniors, from the early 1970's through the present, have seen the greatest increase in numbers. This trend is now reversing. A possible reason for this reversal is the relative lack of housing types both attractive to and affordable by persons, in or nearing their retirement years who may no longer desire (or be able) to care for the large, older homes in which they earlier raised their families . SOCIOECONOMIC PROFILE 1. In comparison to Wayne County at large, Wyandotte has fewer of its residents employed as professionals, technicians, and managers than the County. These types of occupational classifications tend to be more stable and flexible, thus less susceptible to economic downturns which drastically effect areas tied to one sector of the economy. Wyandotte's large proportion of residents employed as craftsmen, operatives and laborers - many within the cyclic auto industry - is thus, more subject to economic downturns than would be the case with a more balanced resident labor force. 2. Keys for strengthening the earnings and occupational potential for Wyandotte residents may be education. Substantially fewer of the City's residents had any college education compared to the County at large. A-2 �I I DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE ,. I I • • • Knowing the characteristics of an area's population, especially with respect to its household composition and age group distribution, are of critical importance in the planning process. For example, the demand for larger or smaller housing and whether it is multiple or singe family is to a large extent dependant on the composition of households. Households with young children .generally prefer multiple bedroom homes with both inside and outside play space. Those households with older children may need additional on-site parking on a regular basis, but tend not to need large exterior play areas. Households whose members have reached or are approaching their retirement years may desire to move to new housing which is smaller and/or easier to maintain than the homes in which they have raised their families. Additionally, the changing household and age group composition of a community impacts the need for various types of commercial and community services and facilities, recreation programs and recreational facilities . These demographic factors affect the City of Wyandotte both now and in the future . As such , an understanding of recent demographic trends and future prospects needs to occur as part of the preparation of the Master Plan for Future Land Use. POPULATION TRENDS • Between 1970 and 1980 the Wyandotte area experienced a general decline in its population from approximately 41,000 to 34,000 people. An estimated loss of 7,055, this represents a decrease of 17% for the decade. As a whole, Wayne County experienced a decrease in its population base of approximately 332,500 people during the 1970's. This was 12.5% of the 1970 population base . Estimates of 1987 populations are shown on Table 1. These estimates are derived from population and household forecasts developed by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). They show that between 1980 and 1987, both the City of Wyandotte and Wayne County have experienced slight population gains. Wyandotte, with an estimated base population of 34,720 in 1987, increased by 714 people over 1980 figures. This represents a 2% gain. Wayne County with an increase of approximately 22,900 people for the period showed a gain of slightly less than 1%. Other population estimates for the City of Wyandotte and Wayne County prepared by Urban Decision Systems, Inc. estimates a population loss for both the City and the County for the period between 1980 and 1987. This is inconsistent with SEMCOG derived estimates which show a slight temporary gain for the period from 1980 to 1987. However, both data sources project decreases in population over the next several years. It may A-3 �I I I I • • • not be possible to resolve the inconsistency covering the 1980 to 1987 period between the two data sources until the next decennial census in 1990. For the purposes of this effort of community planning, the SEMCOG population and household estimates and forecasts will be utilized. Among the many factors which have contributed to Wyandotte's gradually declining population has been such factors as a declining birth rate, delayed age of marriage, a greater longevity of the population as a whole, increased divorced rates and the increase in two-earner couples. All of these factors and many others, have combined to create a smaller number of persons per household. When the average household size decreases, unless there are major numbers of new households being formed in a community, then a strong potential for population decline exists. In fully developed communities like Wyandotte, where there is a scarcity of vacant, residentially appropriate land, little room exists for new housing construction without major redevelopment. To date, this has not taken place. As a result, with a declining household size, the City's population has declined or remained essentially stable . Forecasts project that the City of Wyandotte will have a population of 30,294 in the year 2005. This is a loss of 4,426 people from 1987 SEMCOG estimates. As a point of comparison, Wayne County is also projected to experience a . general decline in population through the year 2005. The result will be a net population loss of 5,605 people for the County over this period. With the exception of neighboring Grosse lie and Brownstown Townships and the southern end of Trenton, relatively little vacant land exists in the immediate Wyandotte area either zoned or planned for significant amounts of new residential growth. This is not the case in the western and southernmost suburbs of the County. It is these latter areas which have been the focus of the County's recent growth and the anticipated location of most of its future population gains which may be insufficient to compensate for the losses expected to occur in the more heavily developed, older communities like Wyandotte, the rest of Downriver and Detroit. • A-4 �TABLE 1 POPULATION TRENDS: WYANDOTTE AREA NUMERIC CHANGE • • •II • 1970 1980 1987 2005 1970-1980 1980-1987 1987-2005 Wyandotte 41 ,061 34,006 34,720 30,294 -7,055 714 -4,426 Brownstown Twp. 7,088 14,447 21 ,467 35,767 -11,214 3,165 14,300 Ecorse 17,515 9,320 14,249 12,810 -3,068 -198 -1,439 Grosse Isle Twp . 8,306 45,105 9,566 11 ,451 -1 ,014 246 1,885 Lincoln Park 52,984 32,058 45,292 42,503 -7,879 187 -2,789 Southgate 33,909 22,762 32,371 30,630 -1,851 313 -12,741 Trenton 24 ,127 2,337,891 23,025 24,234 -1 ,365 263 1,209 Wayne County 2,670,368 2,337,891 2,360,759 2,355,154 -332,477 22,868 -5,605 HOUSEHOLD TRENDS A household is an occupied housing unit. From 1970 to 1980 the City of Wyandotte had a slight decline in the number of households from 12,922 to 12,889. This loss was due, in large part, to demolition of homes as part of various efforts by the City toward urban renewal. Thus, either older, often deteriorated housing located in primarily nonresidential areas of the City have been gradually removed to make way for new, non-residential development, or clearance of substandard housing in residential areas has occurred as part of neighborhood improvement efforts. Over the same period of time, Wayne County also experienced a loss in its total number of households from a total of 830,441 units in 1970 to 823,484 in 1980. The net loss for the decade was approximately 7,000 households. This is a loss of slightly less than 1%. According to SEMCOG estimates, Wayne County gained 34,508 households between 1980 and 1987. SEMCOG also projects that the County will gain another 133,632 households between 1987 and 2005. This translates to a 20% gain for the period between 1980 and 2005. The substantial household gain for the County as a whole is not, however, reflected in the City of Wyandotte which is anticipated by SEMC0G to see a household increase of less than 150 new households. Table 2 provides a summary of household trends in the City of Wyandotte, its neighboring communities, and Wayne County. A-5 �•I I II II Given the extensively developed character of the City, unless existing single family or two family homes are cleared to make way for new development, or, unless significantly new residential development occurs elsewhere in the City, such as along vacant or redeveloped former industrial areas of the Detroit River front, it is unlikely that this forecast of new household growth will be exceeded - or even come to pass. Indeed, household projections by Urban Decision Systems, which are based on recent U.S. Census estimates and projections, anticipate a gradual decline in the number of households in the City. In order to prevent the potential loss of population and housing from having a negative impact on the City's existing and planned industrial, commercial and office base, a serious attempt must be made to encourage the retention of the types of housing attractive to the City's present and future residents. An improved housing stock can substantially aid the City's potential support for its business community. Housing that is attractive to persons of middle and upper incomes, can retain or bring such people into the City. Thus, the extent of retail sales dollars that the City's merchants can pursue will be increased and the vitality of the City's downtown improved. Attractive and suitably designed housing can draw corporate decision makers into the City who desire to locate their businesses near their homes. Finally, attractive neighborhoods, containing appropriate mixes of housing with a range of value levels and structural characteristics will appeal to a range of lifestyle needs, enhancing the City's vitality and its quality of life. · TABLE 2 HOUSEHOLD TRENDS: WYANDOTTE AREA NUMERIC CHANGE • 1970 1980 1987 2005 1970-1980 1980-1987 1987-2005 Wyandotte 12,922 12,889 12,908 13,053 -33 19 145 Brownstown Twp. 2,039 6,070 7,098 15,285 4,031 1,028 8,187 Ecorse 5,326 5,076 5,140 5,477 -250 64 337 Gross Isle Twp. 2,167 2,976 3,235 11 ,451 809 259 8,216 Lincoln Park 15,999 16,583 16,650 17,358 584 67 708 Southgate 9,189 11,032 11,795 13,444 1,843 763 1,649 Trenton 6,530 7,691 8,155 10,590 1,161 464 2,435 Wayne County 830,441 823,484 857,992 991,624 -6,957 34,508 133,632 Source: U.S. Census; SEMCOG A-6 �I I TABLE 3 HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS I 1980 Total Housing Units I CITY OF WYANDOTTE I WAYNE COUNTY 13,287 875,018 3.0% 5.8% 12,889 824,267 Owner Occupied 67.3% 62.6% Renter Occupied 29.7% 31.6% 2.63 2.80 $35,058 $32,597 $195 "$166 One Unit 72.9% 68.5% Two Units 12.9% 11 .6% Three-Four Units 4.8% 3.7% Five+ Units 9.3% 16.2% 1970-1980 4.2% 10.1% 1960-1969 7.7% 12.2% 1950-1959 22.6% 23.9% 1949 or earlier 65.5% 53.9% Stability 66.7% 60.9% Turnover 6.6% 7.4% Estimated Occupied Housing Units 12,908 849,347 Estimated Persons Per Household 2.68 2.75 Percent Vacant Occupied Housing Units Persons Per Household Median Value Owner Occupied Non-Condominium Units Median Contract Rent Units in Structure Year Built • 1987 Source: U.S. Census; SEMCOG A-7 I �I • • • • • • • • • • TENURE OF OCCUPIED HOUSING 1980 70% ~ I b ~ ~ 50% renter 40% Fig. 1 30% 20% 10% 0% W'r'/>NOOTI[ WAYNE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS 1980 ~ 5 • owner 60% ~b ~ 80% W',1',,@A 70% one fan ~ 60% two fan ~ 50% m.Jlti. fern 40% Fig. 2 30% 20% 10% 0% W'r'..ANDOTTE WAYNE �•I ii • • HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS HOUSING TENURE AND VACANCY LEVELS Table 3 presents an overview of some key 1980 housing characteristics for the City of Wyandotte and Wayne County. The table indicates that the City of Wyandotte has a vacancy rate of approximately 3.0%. This is almost half of Wayne County's 5.8%. The fact that Wyandotte has a greater percentage of owner occupied housing may be the reason for its lesser vacancy rates as compared to Wayne County . A vacancy rate within a range of 3 to 5% is indicative of a stable residential situation. Levels below this would correspond to a very tight housing market. This can have the ill effect of forcing people out of a community should they desire to change residences, due to a relative lack of available homes to buy or lease within their same community. The citywide vacancy rate in 1980 of 3% was about the lowest rate acceptabl~ for a healthy housing market. STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS • • • The Census concept of the number of units per structure does not provide a complete count of what is defined by urban planners as two-family housing. The planning definition of such a term is a housing situation in which there are two dwelling units, structurally connected in some fashion, located on the same parcel or lot. However, for the purposes of this planning effort, the Census definition of two units per structure is presumed to be the same as the planning definition. This is despite the fact that the Census definition would not consider side-by-side attached units, each with separate entrances from front and rear, as a two-unit structure. These type of units, commonly known as a townhouse or attached ranch style of units fall within the planning definition of two-family homes. The Census would consider as two-unit structures those cases in which one dwelling is located over the other (a flat arrangement) or situations in which a single exterior door leads to separate lower and upper units or to separate side-by-side units. Since these latter two situations are estimated to account for the great majority of the two-family housing situations found in Wyandotte, the Census count of two-family units is considered acceptable. The distribution of dwelling units by structural type, as shown on Table 3, indicates that there is a general similarity between the City and the County. The main difference which can be observed is the percentage of structures containing five or more units. 1980 Census counts indicate that only 9.3% of the City's total housing units were in structures containing five or more units compared to over 16% of units county-wide. This differential between City and County could be indicative of several situations. First, it may imply that the market has not shown sufficient pressure in Wyandotte for the construction of larger forms of multiple-family housing. At the same time, it may mean A-8 �•I I • that a market may exist in Wyandotte of which area residential developers may not have taken advantaye. Another reason for this differential may be the lack of sufficiently sized parcels in the City to accommodate larger multiple-family buildings. It should be noted that from a demographic standpoint there is a need .directed towards households containing fewer people. One possible means of accomplishing this is through the construction of multiple-family housing. Another means, and one which appears to have been extensively followed in Wyandotte, is for the subdivision of larger, former single-family homes into structures containing two or more dwelling units. If done effectively and well, with high quality of construction and design, and combined with adequate on-site parking and open space, this latter solution can positively contribute to the vitality of a community. If, however, converted units are poorly designed, constructed and located on undersized parcels of land, neighborhoods can begin to deteriorate as problems of structural deterioration and parking problems escalate. HOUSING TENURE Multiple-family housing is generally, either condominium or rental property. Figures show that there are more single-family homes in Wyandotte than homes which are owner occupied. When the number of homes for sale is included in the calculations, there is still a large extent of single-family homes not owner occupied. This indicates that there is a large number of such homes being rented. Estimates are that the proportion is about 7.7%. Thus, there are two possible conclusions. One, is that housing which cannot be sold is being rented. Given the low vacancy rates this is probably not true. The other conclusion, is that there is a need for rental housing which cannot be sufficiently met through the types of multiple-family housing now existing in the City. AGE OF HOUSING STOCK • • • The City of Wyandotte contains a large amount of older housing. In total, 65.5% of its housing was constructed before 1949. This is well above Wayne County's 53.9%. Older housing can be of great benefit to a community. If well maintained, it lends character to a community. Also, ·homes of this era tend to be of very solid construction with a number of homes being architecturally significant. At the same time older housing is, all too often, a disadvantage to communities. It tends to be much larger, suited to a larger or extended family lifestyle that is now obsolete. Thus, older housing may be abandoned or unkept which can lead to a blighting affect. Additionally, the presence of concentrations of such older, larger homes can create an impetus toward conversion to two-family homes in response to market demand and the financial needs of the owners. The next largest segment of the City's housing stock was constructed during the 1950's. An estimated 22.6% of the City's housing falls within this range, a proportion similar to A-9 �• • • • • • that of the County as a whole. This concentration of housing built in the 1950's is a reflection of the post-war housing boom and the large suburban growth characteristic of the 1950's . The City's housing stock appears to have few homes dated post 1960. Only 7. 7% of the City's total housing was constructed during the 1960's. Only 4.2% of the housing was built between 1970 and 1980. At a total of 11.9%, this lags behind Wayne County's post 1960 construction of estimates of 22.3% . PERSONS PER OCCUPIED HOUSING UNIT For the City of Wyandotte in 1980, there was an average of 2.63 persons per household. This is somewhat smaller than the figure of 2.80 persons per household in Wayne County. According to calculations based on SEMCOG estimates, the figure slightly increased over the period between 1980 and 1987 to 2.68 for Wyandotte. Wayne County 's figure declined to 2.75 persons per household. This slight increase for Wyandotte represents a slight bend in the curve but not a continuing trend. Projections from both SEMCOG and Urban Decision Systems, Inc. show a gradually declining number of persons per household for the City of Wyandotte as well as Wayne County. HOUSING VALUE • In 1980, housing values in the City of Wyandotte were significantly higher than comparable values in Wayne County. The median value of owner occupied , noncondominium units in the City of Wyandotte was $35,058 in 1980. This is about $2,500 above the median value of $32,597 in Wayne County. The 1980 median contract rent in Wyandotte was also higher than that for Wayne County as a whole. STABILITY AND TURNOVER Stability is a measure of the proportion of an area's households living in the area who also lived in the same house five years earlier. Thus, it is a measure of a neighborhood's transience . In 1980, the City of Wyandotte had a 66.7% stability rate. This is 5.8% above the rate for Wayne County. A high stability rate represents commitment to a community. It suggests job stability and faith in the community's future. • In contrast to the five year period measured by "stability," the term "turnover" is a measure of the percent of households who have moved into their residence within the single year prior to the Census. The turnover rate of both City and County are similar: 6.6% and 7.4 %, respectively. A-10 �•I I • • • • • • • • AGE TRENDS AND LIFE CYCLES Changes in the number and proportions of various age groups that make up the City's population can affect the housing needs, recreation needs, shopping preferences and other community concerns. The following is a discussion of Wyandotte's age and life cycle trends and their implications for planning and community development. Included are tables and graphs to help illustrate and summarize specific aspects of the analysis . PRESCHOOLERS In recent years, the number of preschoolers has remained relatively stable with only a slight decrease in both number and percentage between 1980 and 1987. Table 5 indicates that households containing very young children are anticipated to remain a relatively stable proportion of all households in the area. It is projected that after 1987 the number and proportion of preschoolers will increase until they represent 8.15% of the population in 2005. This is not a sizeable difference, but it demonstrates that a continuing community concern with facilities and programs directed to this age group is a necessity . (See Table 5 and Figures 1 and 2.) With the number of working mothers on the rise , daycare and other programs directed towards the very young have been a growing concern. The abiiity to provide good programs and services for preschoolers is not just a social, but an economic issue. It is in the best interest of the community to keep employed those who demonstrate an ability and desire to work. Through greater provision of preschool care programs by the School District and zoning standards in the City's Zoning Ordinance which encourage the development of well planned daycare facilities, the City can work to ensure that the needs of its citizens are met in a safe and responsible manner. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN Citywide, total public school enrollment has declined from over 4,900 children in 1980 to less than 4,700 in 1987 as shown on Table 6. The lowest enrollment in the elementary grades K-6 since 1980 was in 1982, when 2,352 elementary school children attended the City's schools. Since 1982, however, the trend for elementary enrollment has been steadily upward such that by the 1987-1988 school year, the number elementary school children surpassed that found in 1980-81. We note, however, that since its peak in 1984, the number of kindergarten children has been decreasing and is now far less than 1980 levels - though still in excess of its lowest level, experienced in 1981. Recent enrollment at the City's junior high schools (grades 7-9) remains below that found in 1980. However, even at its lowest levels in· this decade, found in 1984, the total number of such children was only 133 less than the 1980 level. This is largely due to the A-11 �• • • • • • • • • fact that although the population is gradually declining, the proportion of school age children that are between the ages of 5 and 14 is increasing. In the near future , the growth at the elementary levels may soon be reflected in the junior high grades . High schoolers continue to decline in numbers in the City, from a 1980 level of over 1,200 children to 1,024 in 1987. While the rolling increase found at the elementary levels may eventually make its way forward to the high school grades, in the long run , there will continue to be an overall decrease of school age children in the City . In sum, while the sheer numbers of school age children in the City are anticipated to decline, households containing such children will account for an increased proportion of all households in the area. As a result, the possible willingness of residents to have the City and School District increase expenditures for child related programs and facilities , may increase over present levels . Because the overall decline in the number of children, the pressure to accommodate them in existing schools and city parks will decrease from current levels. Thus, there may be opportunities for alternative uses of school sites and small scale, neighborhood oriented, city parks for other than child related purposes . TABLE 4 HOUSEHOLDS BY LIFE CYCLE WYANDOTI'E 1980 • 2005 NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT Head aged less than 35 yrs. 1,915 14.86% 1,782 13.81% 1,788 13.70 Head aged 35-64 yrs. 4,239 32.90% 4,035 31 .26% 4,102 31 .43% Head aged 65 + yrs. 2,460 19.09% 2,422 18.76% 2,148 16.46% 8,614 66.85% 8,240 63.83% 8,038 61 .59% Youngest less than 6 yrs. 1,904 14.78% 1,987 15.39% 1,966 15.07% Youngest 6 + yrs. 2,367 18.37% 2,682 20.TT% 3,046 23.34% Total with children 4,271 33.15% 4,669 36.17% 5,012 38.41 % Total Households 12,885 100.00% 12,908 100.00% 13,050 100.00% LIFE CYCLE • 1987 Households without children (by age of household head) Total without children Households with children (by age of youngest child) Source: U.S. Census SEMCOG Small Area Forecasts, 1984 A-12 �•I I I • • • • • • TABLE 5 AGE GROUP DISTRIBUTION WYANDOTIE 1980 AGE GROUPS 1987 2005 NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT NUMBER PERCENT 0-4 2,377 6.99% 2,361 6.80% 2,470 8.15% 5-14 4,478 13.17% 5,069 14.60% 4,631 15.29% 15-19 3,023 8.89% 2,784 8.02% 2,307 7.62% 20-34 9,074 26.68% 8,326 23.98% 6,250 20.63% 35 -44 2,934 8.63% 4,524 13.03% 4,466 14.74% 45 -64 7,935 23.33% 7,362 21 .20% 7,288 24.06% 65 + 4,185 12.31% 4,296 12.37% 2,878 9.50% Total 34,006 100.00% 34,722 100.00% 30,290 100.00% Source: U.S. Census, 1980 SEMCOG Small Area Forecasts, 1984 FAMILY FORMING The age range between 20 and 34 years is labeled the family forming group. This group has seen a steady decline since 1980. This decline is anticipated to continue through the year 2005. In 1987, persons in this age group represented almost 24% of the population ; a decrease of about 3% since 1980 . MATURING FAMILIES The age range between 35 and 64 years old constitutes the maturing families group. Not surprisingly, this group has been increasing in number and proportion. Included in this age range are persons in the age group commonly called "baby boomers." Born in the period between 1946 and 1964, such persons are an inordinately large proportion of the nationwide population. It is this age group which is generally presumed to have entered their peak earning years, in contrast to younger adults and retirees whose incomes generally fall at lower ends of the economic scale. As they age, they will cause an increase in the proportion of persons in older age groups. SEMCOG estimates that by the year 2005, the age range from 45-64 years will constitute 24% of the City's population. The entire "maturing families" group will constitute almost 39% of the population by 2005. A-13 �I I I I •■ • • • • HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN CITY OF WYANDOTTE ~W"ff/43 <6 yrs. ~ 6+ yrs. Fig. 3 1980 1987 2005 BY /J.Gf. 0::- YCUNGEST 011..D AGE DISTRIBUTION TRENDS CITY OF WYANDOTTE • ~ 5-14~ W/ff/ffff/21 15-19~ ~ 20-34~ t1///ff//1//41 35-64~ 65+~ 1980 1987 ,t,,G£. GRCX.JP BY YEAR 2005 Fig. 4 �•II •I • • • • • • • •II • SENIOR CITIZENS Since 1980, the number and proportion of senior citizens has remained relatively stable . The number of seniors rose slightly from 4,185 in 1980 to 4,296 in 1987. Projections, however, show a decline in the number of seniors to 2,878 for the year 2005. This is a loss of 1,418 people from levels found in 1987. At the same time, the proportion of seniors in the City's population make-up is also projected to decrease from 12.37% in 1987 to 9.50% in 2005 . SOCIOECONOMIC PROFILE An area's housing stock and the age and household composition of its residents impact that area's needs for community services and facilities. Additionally, from an economic standpoint, the employment pattern of its residents, their income and their educational levels all interact to determine the overall character of the area. Table 7 provides an overview of selected socioeconomic characteristics of the City of Wyandotte as compared to Wayne County . The City of Wyandotte, according to 1980 Census data, has a greater median income than Wayne County. According to 1987 statistics prepared be Urban Decision Systems, Inc. , based on Census data, this trend, though somewhat narrowed,·has continued. The City has a higher proportion of households with incomes between $10,000 and $35,000 in comparison to the County. The high number of households with incomes under $10,000 for Wayne County is one reason that Wyandotte's median income is higher. Furthermore, although Wayne County does have a slightly higher number of households in the upper income range, (greater than $50,000), it is not enough to compensate for the abundance of lower income households and lack of mid-income households. In terms of occupations, the City of Wyandotte has fewer people in the professional, technical, managerial and clerical areas than Wayne County. These jobs tend to be more stable and flexible and thus, less susceptible to economic downturns which drastically effect areas tied to one sector of the economy. Wayne County as a whole is still very dependent upon the automobile industry. Wyandotte, having a large segment of its population within the crafts, operatives, and laborers occupations may be especially susceptible. It is in the best interest of the people and the economy of the community to diversity industries and occupations. Keys for strengthening the earnings potential of Wyandotte residents may be greater education. The correlation between education and occupation is apparent from 1980 Census data. In the City of Wyandotte, only 19.0% of the population over 25 years of ·age has had some college education. This compares to the Wayne County statistic of 26.2% (a 7.2% difference). A-14 �I I •I •I • • • • • • • • • • • Greater education and job training can enhance job skills and create greater job flexibility. A variety of training programs exist, both for school age children and older persons , at public schools in the Downriver area at the Wayne County Community College , the Downriver Community Conference, and at area vocational specialty schools as well as through local school districts. Widespread distribution of information about such programs and financial assistance and/or child care assistance might assist Wyandotte residents to enhance their job skills and thus their earning potential. While such programs are not typically part of a Master Plan for Future Land Use, they form an integral part of a community's overall approach toward maintaining and increasing the quality of life and the economic climate within the community. A-15 �• • • • • • • • TABLE 7 CENTRAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHARACfERISTICS: 1980 I I CITY OF WYANDOTTE Income : Median Household $19,463 I WAYNE COUNTY $18,629 Income: Distribution (Household) Less than $10,000 26.1% 28.9% $10,000-$19,000 25.2% 24.4% $20,000-$24 ,999 13.5% 12.0% $25,000-$29,999 11 .8% 10.1% $30,000-$34 ,999 8.9% 7.7% $35,000-$39,999 5.7% 5.6% $40.000-$44,999 6.2% 6.2% $50,000-$74,999 2.1% 4.1% $75,000+ 0.4% 1.0% 12.17 ·12.32 19 26.2 Professional , Technical , Managerial 16.8% 22.2% Clerical 16.9% 19.1~ Sales 8.6% 8.5% Crafts 17.3% 12.3% Operatives 19.4% 17.9% Service 14.4% 15.5% Laborer 6.3% 4.2% Other 0.4% 0.3% 28.4% 28.2% Median Years of School Completed Any College• In College 1980 as % of persons 18-34 yrs. Occupation Non Family Households * Based on persons 25 + years. Source: U.S. Census A-16 I �• • • • • • • • • APPENDIX B AN OVERVIEW OF THE MARKET POTENTIAL FOR DOWNTOWN WYANDOTTE SEPTEMBER, 1989 �• • • • • • • COMMERCIAL MARKET ANALYSIS This commercial market analysis is undertaken to provide the City of Wyandotte with realistic guidelines by which to determine the future course of commercial development in the City's Central Business District. Such planning will enable the City to meet the challenges of a strong business climate by providing ample land area, good parking and a good circulation system capable of attracting new businesses to the CBD while retaining viable existing businesses . EXISTING COMMERCIAL LAND USE Before the commencement of any demographic or economic analysis of the CBD's commercial potential, a land use survey was conducted to ascertain the extent of the existing commercial base. Commercial uses were divided into four main categories ; convenience, comparison, and general commercial, and restaurants & taverns. The following table presents an accounting of the gross floor area associated with almost 120 commercial establishments located in or near the Wyandotte CBD. It should be noted that floor area has been allocated to the CBD and to the "fringe" area. The latter is the commercial area that lies outside the main clustering of commercial development within the CBD . • • B-1 �• • • • • TABLE 1 EXISTING COMMERCIAL FLOOR AREA WYANDOTTE CBD AND FRINGE GROSS FLOOR AREA I I I CBD FRINGE I TOTAL I Convenience Establishments Food 14,568 2,157 16,725 Drug 18,510 -- 18,510 Personal Service 5,596 3,020 8,616 - - -- 38,674 5,177 43,851 General Merchandise -- -- Furniture, Appliances 131 ,612 Apparel 40,413 Shoes 4,605 Other Comparison 77,349 ----- 253,979 -- 253 ,979 General Commercial 149,434 14,984 164,418 Restaurants and Taverns 91 ,137 -- 91 ,137 533,224 20,161 553,385 Hardware TOTAL Comparison Establishments TOTAL GRAND TOTAL SOURCE : 131 ,612 40,413 4,605 77,349 Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. field survey, April 1982 - Wyandotte Assessor's records, May, 1982. PRIMARY MARKET AREA One of the first steps involved in a commercial market analysis is the determination of the Primary Market Area (P.M.A.) of the area under study. Generally, shopping centers that contain a mix of convenience, comparison and restaurant establishments of a scale similar to Wyandotte's will have a trade area extending five to ten miles. The former distance is believed to be applicable to Wyandotte's CBD due to its lack of a major name anchor in the form of a department store. This estimate was confirmed by interviews with selected CBD retail businessmen who indicated ttiat roughly 70- 80 percent of their trade appears to be drawn from within !ive miles. B-2 �I· 94 TAYLOR •Iii • • • • • • • ....• ll) ..... I : ·- , WOODHAVEN 0 2MI. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil TRADE AREA �Ii II Ii II Ill Ill II II The P.M.A. of the Wyandotte CBD contains all or portions of twelve communities. However, nine communities form the bulk of the P.M.A. These communities include: Wyandotte, Allen Park, Ecorse, Grosse lie Township, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Riverview, Southgate and Trenton. MARKET SHARE The sales potential of the P.M.A. 's residents was estimated and translated into supportable floor area. This floor area was then compared to the floor area of the CBD to obtain an evaluation of the CBD's strengths and weakness. A similar operation was conducted with the sales potential of the City of Wyandotte's 30,000 + residents. Table 2 presents the results of this analysis. Due to the widely diverse nature of general commercial uses and their relatively low ties to specifics of geographic location, no market share is computed for these uses nor are sales estimated for their respective supportable floor areas at this time. Table 2 is the result of comparing the floor area existing within the CBD to that supportable by the residents of the two different geographic areas (City of Wyandotte and P.M.A.) . •II ii 8-3 �• • • • • • • • ~ TABLE 2 CBD MARKET SHARE OF SUPPORTABLE FLOOR AREA CBD MARKET SHARE* CITY OF WYANDOTTE PRIMARY MARKET AREA Food 10.1% 1.6% Drug 47.5% 7.9% Personal Service 14.6% 2.5% -- -- 14.1% 2.3% General Merchandise -- -- Furniture, Appliances 345.9% 53.6% Apparel 89.5% 13.9% Shoes 60.7% 9.4% Other Comparison 104.3% 18.0% 77.4% 12.3% 78.1% 12.4% 53.5% 8.3% Convenience Establishments Hardware TOTAL Comparison TOTAL •II • • • Restaurants and Taverns TOTAL SOURCE: Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. from estimates of sales from Urban Decision Systems; 1977 Census of Retail Trade; 1977 Census of Selected Services; and Dollars and Cents of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute . * Includes market share attributable to CBD core and fringe area. ANALYSIS CONVENIENCE MARKET Generally, convenience stores in a CBD serve the residents and employees of a fairly restrictive geographic area (two - three mile drive). To the extent that other supermarkets serve the same geographic area, the population of that area must be larger since its sales potential is "shared" between the different stores: 8-4 �• • ■ ■ ■ ■ • • Therefore, it becomes obvious why the convenience stores in the CBD are small and do not exert a suustantial draw to either P.M.A. residents or to the City as a whole . The presence of full sized conveniently located competition probably contributed to the closure of the CBD's only grocery. There are five specialty stores within the CBD and two in the fringe area. These food stores are generally small party stores as well as a limited few food specialty stores selling baked goods and the like. The other convenience stores are generally scattered throughout the CBD and the fringe area. It appears that the CBD does not exert strong convenience commercial draw to an area much beyond its boundaries. Unless the resident population of the CBD were augmented substantially, most likely through the development of high rise housing, and that augmented resident base were of at least moderate income, significant additional convenience floor area would not be warranted although the total convenience floor space may increase over time with uses shifting in nature and to new locations . It is likely that over a period of time, several of the smaller family run personal service establishments and food stores may close. Since several of them are surrounded by single or two family residential uses, their reuse for residential, rather than commercial purposes, is desirable. COMPARISON MARKET It can be seen from Tables 1 and 2, that while the CBD no longer offers P.M.A. and City residents a department or general merchandise store, its mix of other comparison uses is strong. With recent retail trends creating a shift in demand away from traditional department stores to discount and catalogue stores and to small specialty shops, the CBD's concentration of miscellaneous comparison stores, apparel and shoe stores should continue to prove quite viable. In addition, when a percentage of market share is greater than 100 percent, it means that the CBD's floor area is providing more space than that directly supportable by the specific geographic area, indicating a substantial draw beyond that geography. Thus, the 345+ percent share of the City's furniture store potential suggests that the CBD's draw of sales is to an area well beyond the City limits. To take advantage of the trend away from the department store's impersonal service to the individualized attention found at many smaller specialty shops, additional comparison floor space could be developed in the CBD, such as more shoe and specialized apparel stores. The CBD's proximity to several downriver marinas could act as a theme promoting boating wear and fishing equipment stores. The recent and apparently pervasive emergence of the trend toward jogging or running for recreation lends support to the establishment of an athletic footwear stor~. B-5 �• • • • • •II • •.. II • •II • • • • • As indicated in Table 2, the unusual strength of the CBD's furniture stores warrants the opportunity for furnishing accessory establishments such as art galleries that offer sculpture, glass and wall hanging and other related accessories that would serve to complement furniture stores. These facilities could be developed either as entirely new stores or expansions of present stores . As noted earlier, restaurants and taverns play a large and growing role in the CBD's commercial base. As the City of Plymouth, in northwestern Wayne County, has grown into a major furniture, specialty store and restaurant center, capitalizing on its historic structures and viable residential base, it appears Wyandotte's CBD is becoming the main non-shopping center commercial force for the downriver area . FUTURE POTENTIAL Over the next two decades, regional planning officials at SEMCOG have projected a continuing decline in the P.M.A. population while, at the same time, an increase in actual number of households. This seeming discrepancy is a direct result of decreasing household size resulting from a variety of factors. Generally, while fewer people mean a lower aggregate sales volume of some goods and services, the potential sales volume of other goods and services may increase, being tied not to population but to households. Types of commercial establishments such as furniture and home furnishing stores are generally not as adversely effected by a population decline as food stores when such population decline is coupled with a household increase. However, the amount of furnishings and scale of such materials sold to smaller households is generally less. Thus, the overall aggregate sales of furniture stores might decline unless the product mix is changed to match the changing market. Table 3 presents projections for the floor area supportable by the projected population of the P.M.A. for the years 1990 and 2000 and Table 4 shows potential targets of market share for such floor area compared to the current market share . It should be noted that all projected floor area targets are approximations of what could happen provided sufficient land area and parking were available. Neither the projected floor area nor the market share are hard and fast numbers. This is especially true with regard to the distributions of floor area among commercial subcategories. Instead, the numbers are intended to reflect the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the CBD so that recommendations regarding the future direction of growth can be made . B-6 �• • • • • •II • • • • • • • •II • TABLE 3 PROJECTED SUPPORTABLE CONVENIENCE AND COMPARISON COMMERCIAL FLOOR AREA WYANDOTIE CBD PRIMARY MARKET AREA COMMERCIAL CATEGORY CBD & FRINGE EXISTING FLOOR AREA (SQUARE FEET) SQUARE FOOTAGE, PRIMARY MARKET AREA 1981 1990 2000 Convenience Establishments Food 16,725 1,023,400 948,400 944,300 Drug 18,510 237,400 220,CXXl 219,000 Personal Services 8,616 347,CXXl 321 ,500 -:. 20 ,100 - 111 ,500 103,400 103,000 43,851 1,719,300 1,593,300 1,586,400 General Merchandise - 1,046,300 969,600 965,400 Furnitu re, Appl iances 131 ,612 245,500 227,500 226,500 Apparel 40,413 291 ,CXX) 269,700 268,500 Shoes 4,605 48,800 45,100 44,900 n ,349 430,500 398,900 397,200 253,979 2,062,100 1,910,800 1,902,500 91 ,137 736,900 682,900 680,CXXl 388,967 4,518,300 4 ,187,CXXl 4,1 68,900 Hardware TOTAL Comparison Establishments Other Comparison TOTAL Restaurants TOTAL SOURCE: Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. estimates. NOTE: It should be noted that the 1990 and 2000 projections represent a conservative projection solely based on per capita sales. The changing character of the population and its households will most likely increase the sales potential somewhat in at least the comparison categories since children's clothes, furnishings, etc. are generally less expensive than those for adults. Children will represent a smaller proportion of the population than at present. Also, drugstore sales will increase since an older population generally requires more pharmaceutical goods. Personal services will also likely be higher than projected since older persons tend to use tailors, barbers, beauty shops, dry cleaners and the like more frequently than younger persons . B-7 �ii • • •Ill -ii •II • •II II • • • TABLE 4 PROJECTED MARKET SHARE TARGETS WYANDOTIE CBD OF THE CBD PRIMARY MARKET AREA 1990 1981 I I SHARE I SQ.FT. I SHARE I 2000 SQ.FT. I SHARE I SQ.FT. I Conven ience Establishments Food 1.6% 16,725 2.3% 24,000 2.5% 24,000 Drug 7.9% 18,510 8.4% 18,500 8.5% 18,500 Personal Services 2.5% 8,616 2.2% 7,000 1.7% 5,600 - - - - - - 2.3% 43,851 49,500 3.0% 48,1 00 General Merchandise - - - - - - Furn iture, Appl iances 53.6% 131 ,612 61 .1% 139,100 64.4% 145,900 Appare l 13.9% 40,413 17.8% 48,000 19.4% 52,000 Shoes 9.4% 4,605 14.6% 6,600 22.3% 10,000 Other Comparison 18.0% TT,349 21 .7% 86,700 23.9% 95,000 12.3% 253,979 14.7% 280,400 15.9% 302,900 12.4% 91 ,137 13.9% 95,100 14.6% 99,000 8.6% 388,967 10.2% 425,000 10.8% 450,000 Hardware TOTAL 2.8% Comparison Establishments TOTAL Restaurants TOTAL SOURCE: Vilican-Leman & Associates , Inc. It can be seen from Table 4 that an additional 36,000 square feet of floor space is recommended for development by 1990 followed by 25,000 by the year 2000. The higher increase by 1990, then between 1990 and 2000, reflects the reuse of the 11,200 square foot Lucky Strike Market for convenience commercial. The distribution of CBD (and fringe) floor space will shift to a higher proportion of comparison uses over time. The increase in floor area for food is somewhat misleading since instead of "new" convenience space, it included retention of the Lucky Strike Market as a food store or grouping of food stores. B-8 �There are almost 43,000 1 square feet of first floor building area vacant in the CBD. Much of this floor space may be too small, in poor condition or too far off the main commercial streets to be suitable for many commercial uses. It is anticipated that at least one-quarter of this vacant space can be used to meet the projected targeted floor space. Utilization of this area would then leave approximately 50,500 square feet of additional floor space to be developed by the year 2000. It is further anticipated that over a period of time some of the existing general commercial uses in the CBD will be phased out. While these floor areas may offer expansion potential for other commercial uses, the extent cannot be readily projected. = II It is concluded that at the minimum, to meet the expansion/relocation requirements of present CBD businesses and allow for new concerns, a minimum land area capable of accommodating between 40,000 and 50,000 square feet of commercial floor area be designated for such use. Determination of the amount of land required depends on analyzing the parking and other site plan requirements for business uses. Further, this analysis is closely allied to the examination of parking availability for present commercial uses. I II II II •II II II -II • This included the Lucky Strike Market which was vacant at the time this study was undertaken. 8-9 �•Ill •II •II II •II •II • •Ill • • •II • APPENDIX C AN OVERVIEW OF PARKING NEEDS FOR DOWNTOWN WYANDO'ITE DECEMBER, 1989 �• PARKING NEEDS II •II II II II II II II This element of the design study of the CBD will review and discuss the following basic parking concerns relative to the Wyandotte CBD . 1. Existing parking need to meet present demands. 2. The proper distribution of parking. 3. Providing adequate parking to meet projected development. commercial growth and The attached parking study map provides peripheral lines involving two basic areas of study. These two areas include the delineated critical CBD core area and an overall study area. The overall study area contains 46 blocks and extends from Orchard Street to Superior Street, between Fourth and Biddle; from Eureka Road to Poplar Street, between Biddle and the Detroit River and from Superior Street to Mulberry Street, between First and Van Alstyne. EXISTING PARKING INVENTORY Within the designated study area there presently exists a total of 67 off-street parking lots. These lots range in size from two and three car parking areas adjacent to an individual business, to large improved lots containing hundreds of marked parking spaces. • • •II II , At the present time there exists a total of 3,683 parking spaces within the total study area . The numerical breakdown between on-street and off-street parking is as follows: II C-1 II On-street parking Off-street parking - 1,238 2.445 3,683 Most of the off-street parking lots are improved lots and contain marked parking spaces for vehicles. Several parking areas are not improved lots, however. These parking facilities are less efficient since random undelineated parking exists which results in fewer usable parking spaces and poor vehicle circulation. The unimproved off-street parking lots are small lots which lie outside the CBD core, towards the periphery of the study area. �~ ~ ~ -I II II II i I UJ ~ 0 C z <t i I II • • • • ~ I <t UJ a: <t > C :::, t- en C, -z ~ a: <t C. �I • ,• • • - EXISTING PARKING - WYANDOTTE CBD �•I II I II II Ill • I • • •I • EXISTING PARKING NEEDS Parking needs within the designated study area, and more particularly within the CBD core area, can be determined in part by applying the off-street parking standards of the City 's Zoning Ordinance to the collective square footage of applicable floor area that presently exists within the study area. For the purposes of this study, applicable area includes retail commercial, office and public land uses. The parking to floor area ratios that were applied to the various uses were, as noted, taken from the Wyandotte zoning standards. These standards include: Retail Commercial Uses - One (1) space for each 150 square feet of usable floor area. Office Uses - One (1) space for each 400 square feet of usable floor area. Public Uses - One (1) space for each four (4) seats, or in the case of a public office, i.e., City Hall, the ratio for offices was uses. These standards were then applied to the known square footage of ·floor area data from the commercial market analysis. As such, the exercise of determining parking need in this manner must be regarded, to a certain extent, as theoretical in its approach . The theoretical technique provides us with a numerical evaluation of parking needs, it cannot and is not intended to provide a practical evaluation of what may ultimately become the number of parking spaces that can be provided. Nevertheless, the theoretical evaluation provides a technically sound methodology for determining parking need and a basis from which to plan actual parking capability. Actual parking development, of course, will be based on what the community can afford to spend on new parking areas and the physical limitations that exist with respect to locating future parking with the least disruption of existing land use. As an example, the block in which the Yack Arena is located can be used to provide a comparison between theoretical need and what can ultimately be provided from a practical standpoint. Theoretically, the total numerical parking need for this block (C-2) is 1,055 spaces . However, since most of the activities held in the arena are held in the evening after the stores and offices are closed, the entire 216 parking spaces available for the block can be used by both the arena as well as the stores and offices. Furthermore, the arena can also count on the 255 car parking capacity of the block to the south and the 95 car offstreet parking capacity of the parking lot north across Maple street from the arena. This brings the total potential existing parking for Yack Arena to 566 spaces. This exceeds the C-2 �. . lllt - - - •• •• • • • ..... JDD DD DD DD DD Do dD DD DD DD-E9 PD DD DD DL rn DD 5I] DD DD [I] DD DD DD og [ · · ·□·t3.;w-~ ~n n~ ~ □□ DD DD DD ttJ w , [ J ·;· ~ J: I~': l~,[]J!tE{E:FlJiDD DD DQ [ jl]i~iDD,G□irn --~---.:......._ ~ ::::.i·'.; .............,. :g • ~ ' 0 .· • ~ . u=LJ:J 45 " 1 DD.. 1 E· 1 1 .. , ~~Nl2 CIO ~ " _ - ·, 11-?A lh I , ~ " ",,. O:tSTINI •a•11tNe L0TS STUDT - · - STUOT aftta 1ou•o•t1tT -.;, ••• 11 •• 11 - ---·-- ~c!!] ro 63 0 ..., ~ ~ ,,. , ~ -·- ,, , • ' •• ". -- ~5 _:¾t [!]6 ;ae , 33 ,1 I~---+-' e,p ~ - NI ~~ - ·- -, d , --.. -~ ... 0 - '•••ovr• •••• 0 -••• 11 t ••••• ••• 3 .' Alt(A OUAOIUNU c-c .. , •• ,. • . ,. . "~· . . . . . . ,. I 4 2 e :,.----- - ~ _ -,. 000 0NU11tt1:Tl'AltlllNG 000 OIi Sflll(T l'AltKING 000 TOUL l'A/IIKINO IY ILOCIII: c:::J c:J ~'ff~ pWYAHOOTT[ A R K ING AN A Ly s I s C(NTRAt. 8US I N[SS DISTRICT ICIOI ....._ --~- --"" - I J~: rp-==~·. l' - .........- �• •I • • 550 space numerical parking need noted above. Hence, parking for the Yack Arena may be adequate at this time. This conclusion is, of course, based on the premise that the arena's programs are held at times when the stores and offices within the designated CBD core area, and particularly on blocks C-1 and C-2 are closed. When programs or activities are held during store and office hours, then an obvious shortage of parking capacity for the arena and the commercial uses of these two blocks is going to exist. The question is whether or not it is practical to provide the theoretical number of parking spaces to meet the combined needs of all these uses. It would seem to hinge on the frequency of activities at the arena going on during store and office hours . CBD CORE AREA The core area of the CBD as noted previously consists of 14 blocks located near the geographic center of the designated study area. It is within this core area that the greatest concentration of commercial floor area exists. It is also the area in which the greatest lack of adequate parking exists. At the present time a total of 1,548 parking spaces exist within the core area. Of this total 449 are on-street parking spaces. The remaining 1,099 spaces are in off-street parking lots located within the CBD core. Table 5 indicates that there is a theoretical need for 2,069 parking spaces to meet all needs. Based on the preceding discussion of the Yack Arena parking , a possible 550 space need reduction still leaves a theoretical need for 1,519 parking spaces. This represents a need for nearly twice as many parking spaces as presently exists within the core area. I I I I Table 6 further indicates that there are five blocks within the CBD Core that have the least amount of convenient parking available to them. These blocks are nearly built up with commercial land use, leaving little area available for convenient off-street parking. The lack of parking for these blocks is further complicated by extensive ancillary use of the parking lot on Van Alstyne between Elm and Oak. The frontage along the west side of Van Alstyne between Eureka Road and Oak Street has been considered in the past for off-street parking and some small lots have been developed in this area. The feasibility of expanding these lots should be explored. The addition of expanded on-street parking on Biddle also deserves consideration to help alleviate the shortage of convenient parking space in the key shortage blocks in this area. Even with these areas being utilized for added off-street parking , it may ultimately be necessary to consider the construction of a parking deck. The great advantage of parking decks is their ability to provide a maximum number of parking s·paces on minimum land area. This approach to resolving the numerical parking problem as well as the problem of convenient distribution is being used more frequently in many older downtown areas similar to Wyandotte's throughout the metropolitan area. I I I C-3 �-----------------1111111111-- • I I I ' I f c:::l BLOCKS WITH SHORTAGE THEORETICAL PARKING SHORTAGE - BY BLOCK �• Ill PARKING DISTRIBUTION In order to more easily discuss parking distribution throughout the designated study area, the area has been divided into the four quadrants previously noted. These quadrants include: The CBD Core Area. The North Area - being the area of the CBD lying north of Oak Street. The West Area - being the area of the CBD lying west of Third Street between Oak Street and Eureka Road. The South Area - being the area of the CBD lying south of Eureka Road . THE CORE AREA For the east side of Biddle, off-street parking lot expansion on the west side of Van Alstyne from Eureka Road to Oak Street should be pursued. This parking corridor will provide for convenient access either directly into the rear of the stores or via the block ends and into the front of the stores. The re-routing of through truck traffic from Biddle Avenue would offer the opportunity for the wide street right-of-way of Biddle from Eureka Road to Oak Street to be used for increased parking . The street could take on the proportion of a large elongated parking lot with local traffic movements only. This would create more parking spaces immediately in front of the stores along both sides of Biddle. The other major resolution of the numerical as well as the parking distribution problem is geared to serving the blocks within the CBD west of Biddle. This improvement involves the expansion and improvement of the parking lot located at the northwest corner of Maple and Second. This lot would be expanded northward to Elm. Ultimately it may become necessary to erect a parking deck in this general area to meet increased parking demand for those blocks. In addition to customer parking needs a concerted effort must be made to provide convenient employee parking. Should a parking deck be feasible in the downtown area a portion of the deck could be set aside for employees. As an interim solution some of the more remote CBD parking lots should be utilized by employees and a shuttle bus service provided to places of employment. THE NORTH AREA The north portion of the designated study area _is composed of 19 blocks. This area contains the greatest number of residential uses as well as public and quasi-public uses within the total study area. C-4 �• Based on the data provided in Table 5, there exists a total of 1,070 parking spaces within the 19 block area. There is a present numerical need for a total of 873 spaces. This would indicate a numerical excess of some 138 spaces. In other words there are 138 more parking spaces within the north area than is theoretically needed to provide adequate parking. Even though there is numerically sufficient parking to serve the north area, its distribution is limited. Those uses near the park, including the City Museum should be provided with adequate off-street parking facilities. This is particularly true of the mid-rise co-op apartment building next to the public library. Possibly an off-street parking lot for the apartment building can be developed south across Superior Street from the co-op. The co-op 's present lot at the corner of Superior and First Streets could then be made available for public use. Providing adequate nearby parking for the co-op should in turn make the library parking lot adequate for library parking needs. This will also free the diagonal parking spaces for park use. THE WEST AREA The west portion of the designated study area is the smallest of all the quadrants. consists of four blocks in which the predominant use of land is residential. It The four blocks combined presently provide a total of 105 parking spaces. All of these parking spaces are on-street spaces with the exception of a 23 car parking lot at the northwest corner of Eureka Road and Third Street. The estimated numerical parking needs for this area is 47 spaces. In the case of this area, existing parking is well in excess of existing need. It should be noted, however, that these blocks lie directly west of Yack Arena making these parking spaces accessible for arena parking. I At the present time no extensive future commercial growth and development is expected to take place in this area. This is not to say that the dwellings located along the west side of Third Street may not become commercial or office oriented in time. Providing adequate off-street parking to serve these conversions could then become a problem. • • A more practical use of this four block area could be for expanded off-street parking at the east block ends for the Yack Arena. Conversions that may take place within the four block area near expanded arena parking would be able to utilize these parking spaces in much the same manner as appears to exist within the CBD core, that is on a nonconflicting shared basis . SOUTH AREA The southern portion of the designated study area is composed of nine blocks, much of which contains the newer commercial and office· uses within the study area. C-5 �• •II • There are presently 1,037 parking spaces available within the southern portion . This represents an excess of some 370 spaces over the estimated numerical need of 697 spaces. Since the bulk of the south area contains newer land use, adequate off-street parking is provided on site or near these newer uses. As noted previously much of the parking within this area, particularly at its north end, is used by the Yack Arena on a shared basis. With the exception of some scattered commercial uses, the five blocks west of Third Street in the south area are residentially oriented, with much of the parking consisting of on-street spaces. However, should the residential dwellings fronting Third Street convert, in time, to commercial or office use, sufficient on-site parking will need to be provided . This may require the assemblage of two or more parcels together in order to provide adequate on-site parking . PROJECTED PARKING NEEDS II •II • The preceding study element dealt with an analysis of the CBD's market capability and its future growth and development potential. This report estimated that approximately 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of additional comparison and convenience commercial floor area could be added to the present commercial floor area of the CBD . Based on the off-street parking ratios presented earlier in this report, the following additional parking spaces would be needed to properly accommodate the new floor areas . 40,000 sq. ft. of floor area = 267 spaces 50,000 sq . ft. of floor area = 333 spaces Based on these figures , the overall numerical parking needs of the CBD could range from 5,408 to 5,474 spaces . II • II C-6 �.. .. - - .. - • - •• - • • llt. TABLE 5 PARKING HEEDS WYANDOTTE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT PERIPHERAL AREA nirr. Existing Ex ls tine Retail Existing BLOCK OH StrHt HO . Parking Exist Inc OFF Street Parking TOTAL PARKIHO Commercial Floor Area BLOCK HO . Exlstlnc Office Floor Area TOTAL FLOOR AREA -Other- --- Com mercial Parkins HHd Ex ls tine Olllca Parkins ~ BLK . HO. TOTAL COMM/ OFFICE PARKIHO HEEDS Detw~~n Public Use Perkins Heed TOTAL PARKING HEED Ex ist ing Parklnc & Par~lnc :-feed HORTH AREA 0 51 0 HI 0 0 0 0 0 HI 0 0 0 0 ' 23 0 H2 b 0 0 0 0 HZ 0 0 0 ·o 31 13 1,941 H3 0 0 1,941 13 0 Hl 13 0 13 •50 2 20 0 H4 1,314 0 1,314 0 3 H4 3 0 3 • 11 2 44 41 0 HS 0 (C) 0 0 0 HS 0 0 0 +46 21 5 33 2,014 HI 0 0 2,014 14 0 HI 14 0 14 •19 - 48 HI 51 H2 14 H3 32 H4 11 HS HI H7 21 4 25 HT T,161 0 15,384 55 II HT 13 0 13 HI 32 90 122 23,531 HI 3,751 0 27,211 1$1 I 165 0 166 - 44 H9 23 13 105 13,542 H9 1,211 0 14,850 91 3 94 0 94 •12 SI 13 HI Ht HID 11 0 71 •4 Hll 99 0 99 •13 -121 1,191(0 HID 35 40 TS HIO 5,078 0 13,191 HII 11 95 112 14,111 Hll 0 0 14,111 Hl2 22 31 59 21,953 H12 0 0 21,953 " 0 110 0 Hl2 110 0 110 Hl3 35 S9 104 Hll 11,'50 (Fl 11,HZ 40 30 Hll 10 11 91 ., Hl4 34 49 u Hl4 0 0 11114 0 0 0 •13 23 0 u 0 HIS 0 0 0 HU 0 0 0 •23 31 0 35 0 HU 0 0 0 HU 0 0 0 •35 Hl7 19 0 19 172 HIT 0 0 0 0 172 0 HU HU 0 0 0 0 s 0 HlT 5 0 5 •14 NII 30 0 30 0 HU 0 0 0 0 0 HU 0 0 0 +30 Hl9 • 33 0 33 1,524 H19 0 0 1,524 ST 0 HU 57 0 57 - 24 l,T22!el 1,032 · 0 WEST AREA W?O 20 0 20 W21 15 56 11 W20 0 0 2,912 20 0 W20 20 0 20 0 0 W2l 0 0 0 0 0 W21 0 0 0 •II 5,281 0 0 W22 0 0 0 •JO 4,078 27 0 W23 27 0 27 •13 •26 2,912(k) 5,281(1) W22 30 0 30 0 W22 0 103 17 23 40 4,071 W23 0 S24 10 27 37 1,270 S24 0 2,151 S24 11 0 11 21 5 33 2,910 S25 0 0 2,910 ' 2 S25 u 0 S25 II 0 19 •14 S21 29 31 1,190 S26 0 0 1,190 13 0 S26 13 0 13 •II ... 0 SOUTH AREA S27 27 34 1,722 S27 0 0 1,722 12 0 S27 12 0 11 •22 S21 33 82 115 1,310 S21 0 0 1,310 0 0 S21 0 0 0 •72 S29 27 123 21,544 S29 1,718 0 30,332 144 22 S29 IU 0 166 - 16 S30 17 250 150 211 26,353(a) S30 5,922 0 32,285 171 IS S30 191 0 191 +76 S31 5 203 201 17,131 S31 10,500 0 27,631 114 27 Sll 141 0 141 •67 S32 19 4 23 0 S32 3,003 0 3,003 0 I S32 8 0 8 •15 512 551 1,070 115,IIT 30,541 0 145,651 16' 1' 145 21 873 12 19 171 7,0IO 0 5,261 12,321 41 0 47 0 4T TOTALS: Horth 11tst • 116 South 115 703 .,, 79,210 29,101 0 IOl,311 530 14 604 0 604 •294 Core 499 1.099 1,541 372,416 144,251 0 515,174 2,414 360 2,144 773 3,117 - 2,069 GRANO TOTAL 1.231 2. 449 3,517 573,803 203,900 5,261 712 ,971 3,130 510 ◄ ,340 801 5, 141 - I .SH ♦ 124 �- 'illl~ - ~ .. , , .. .. _ _ -- - - - lllllf T/\llLF. 6 P/\Hl{ING NEEl1S WY ANDO1TE CENTHAL £1USINESS DISTRICT CORE AREA Existing BLOCK ON Street NO. Parking Existing OFF Street Parking TOTAL PARKING Existing Re tell Commerciel Floor Area BLOCK NO. Cl 49 206 255 C2 45 171 216 CJ 31 95 126 C4 31 42 73 cs 43 126 cs 54 82 C7 26 0 26 11,433(c) C8 29 2 31 54,080(d) C9 30 128 158 44,934(g) C9 Cl0 30 4 34 56,248 Cl0 Cll 33 54 87 l5,912(h) C12 19 23 42 Cl3 2 0 C14 -11. Core 499 0 Other TOTAL FLOOR AREA Existing Office Perking Need BLK. NO. TOTAL COMM/ OFFICE PARKING NEEDS Public Use Perking Need TOT/\l, P/\Hl<ING NEED Dirr. Between Existing Purldng & l'orking Need 54,361 0 54,361 0 136 Cl 136 0 136 •119 C2 3,102 (B) 77,579 497 8 C2 505 550 1,055 -839 7,189 C3 0 (G) 7,189 48 0 C3 48 0 48 •78 12,25~(j) C4 3,500 15,759 82 9 C4 91 0 91 -18 169 26,428 C5 0 0 (E) 26,428 176 0 cs 176 19 195 -26 136 41,463(i) C6 21,344 0 62,807 276 53 cs 329 0 329 -193 C7 4,151 0 15,584 76 10 C7 86 0 86 -60 CB I 2,947 0 67,027 361 32 C8 393 0 393 -362 20,050 0 64,984 300 50 C9 350 0 350 -192 20,972 (D) 77,220 375 52 Cl0 427 79 506 -4H Cll 3,831 0 19,743 106 10 Cll 116 0 116 -29 27,993 Cl2 0 0 27,993 187 0 C12 187 0 187 -145 2 0 Cl3 0 0 0 0 C13 0 0 0 •2 166 193 _ _o 0 C14 (A} 0 0 0 C14 0 125 125 •68 1,099 1,548 372,416 0 516,674 2,484 360 2,844 773 3,617 -2,069 74,477(b) Cl Existing Office Floor Area Existing Commerciel Perking Need·- - - ~ _ _o_ 144,258 �• • APPENDIX D CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT ASSET & LIABILITY RESPONSES II II CBD WORKSHOP SESSION JULY 18, 1990 II I I I I I I I I Conducted by: Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. �WYANDOTTE C.B.D. WORKSHOP SURVEY· 7/18/89 RESPONSE COUNT PERCENT OF TOTAL 1 Accnalblllty (neighborhood and " - Y pa,tdng p,oxlmlty) 3 3.3,t, Ael&tMI MClu•lon 1 1.1,r, ' 4 .4,t, ASSET RESPONSES ii ACCESSIBILITY TOTAL GOVERNMENT • II II Concemect and eflact,,.. mayo, (and gowm....nt) 2 2-3 Crty..-..d utllttln r -11 run) 2 2-3 Public lalety 2 2.2'!1. a 11.8'1. TOTAL BUSINESSES Frler>dty buolneu / owner r.lalionahip a 8.11%' Variety of buslnMMI 2 2.2,r, Bu•lneu community concem 1 1.1,t, 9 9.9% TOTAL APPEARANCE His1oric 7 1.1•w.1 Appearance of dowr>t"""' (and ci.ar,Hnea) 8 8.8'1.' Small t°""' -boance 4 4_4,r,.S Recent -hetlc building lmp,""'""'8nll 3 3.3,t, St•-• and •-ks on good condKlon 2 2-3 Lack of vaea,,t storn 2 2-3 AdequaJ• algnage 1 1.1,r, ughtlng 1 1. 1,r, 2e 21.11% The m,eo1ront 22 24.2'!1.1 Nucleut of exi.tlng retail thope a a.a,r,1 Fn1illals and actMtln 7 7.7'143 Yack Ar- 2 2.2'!1. Major employers (Cily Hall, Hospllal, etc.) 2 2.2'!1. 41 45.1,t, TOTAL SITES ANO ACTMTIES I I I I TOTAL OTHER -Untapped potentoar p.e., gl'ffle< shop d.....ity) 2 2.2'!1. Cttlzeno 1 1.1,r, Changing land UM 1 1. 1~ 1 1.1,r, Easily manageable arH TOTAL TOTAL RESPONSES I • lr>dicatn rank order (Top r,,.. only). I I I 0-1 5 5.5,t, 91 100.00% �i • • • I I UABIUTY RESPONSES RESPONSE COUNT I PERCENT OF TOTAL. ACCESSlBIUT'Y General aceeulbttlly 5 NOi CondU91W lo pedfltnan Ira/lie; 4 5.4% 1 1.1% e e.5"- 4 4.3"'J 1/acanl build,nga 4 4.3%.l S1ore fronlt 2 2.2% Pr0•1mity lo amo•..1ack 1ndustn.. (a,ghl, odor) 2 2.2"' Cieanlll''MtU 2 22"' 2 2.2% 1 1. 1% Eureka Road blighl 1 1.1% Viaduct ayes<>r• 1 1.1% 18 20.4% lna<Mquale 1)811dng (palrona and employfftl 14 15. 1%1 On s1r- parldng (Stddl<t) 2 2.2"' Lack of par1dng 1 1.1% 17 18.3"' TOTAL APPEARANCE General appearance Ratlroed btMCltOn ol lown Visual problema cauted by lhe - ot Biddle TOTAL PAAKJNG Alff definttton TOTAL BUSINESS ot 2 22"' Bus,nes,i owner empalhy 2 2.2% Lack ol ewnlng commercial hou~ 2 2.2"' 6 8.5% Lack ol an anchor store 7 7.5%1 Poor commercial di....rslly e 8.5%) Lack ol "'AfO' food SIO<e 4 4.3"'-' Lack of adequ&1• ad\lenls,ng 3 3.2"' I.Ack ol growth a,eas 1 1.1"' Lack of an eUI aid. mantel 1 1.1"' Umiled mas1<eting area 1 1.1"' Marllel lna1al>lllty 1 1.1"' 24 25.8"' Btddle 1ruck lralfte 7 7.5%1 Building S1C1Ck quallly 4 4.3"'-' Dtsruplion al n,ghl by young people 3 3.2% Lack _,.,han1 operallonal unity TOTAL MARKET I I I I I I I I I TOTAL OTHER road■ 2 2.2"' Lack of h,gh densny housing 1 1.1% Lack of quality housing 1 1.1% Walerfron1 localion 1 1.1"' Community &lt~ude 1 1.1"' Poor Ou1side pedalrian nelwor1c (allec!ed by -••hell 1 1.1% TOTAL 21 22.8" TOTAL RESPONSES 93 100.0% D-2 I �I I APPENDIX E I I -II II I II I I I I I I MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE LAND USE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT DECEMBER, 1990 �I I I I I I I I I INTRODUCTION .......:... Within the Wyandotte CBD and its immediate fringe some 500,000 square feet of retail space services a sizeable portion of some 200,000 people who reside in Wyandotte's primary trade area. The continued health and prosperity of the central business district is a prime concern in providing a direction for present and future uses of land in and around the CBD. Central Business Districts throughout history have represented the "Image of the City." In a sense it is "Everyone's Neighborhood" and should be preserved and nurtured to be a source of pride to all of the City's residents. Over the past several decades (1960, 1970, 1980) strong inroads have been made by new shopping centers in competing for the retail shopping dollar. While the Wyandotte CBD cannot hope to directly compete with large scale regional oriented, enclosed shopping malls like Southland or Fairlane, it can serve a separate need. Most of the current shopping center complexes in the downriver area are of contemporary design and unspecialized in tenant mix or "theme." This mass appeal meets many needs. However, a shopping area attuned to its rich architectural history, ethnic diversity and waterfront access such as the Wyandotte CBD can also meet shopper needs ·tor the "unique," the "colorful" and the "different." A combination of well designed store facades, a complementary streetscape, adequate and convenient parking and a strong linkage to the CBD's unique natural resource - the riverfront, coupled with vigorous self promotion by CBD businessmen should enable the CBD to expand its commercial base while retaining its urban small town atmosphere. A strong sense of community exists in downtown Wyandotte as is evidenced by efforts to keep the CBD not only a strong retail center but also through a continuing program to make it an attractive activity center. Building maintenance, streetscape improvements, pleasant lighting and a solid business/government partnership have all played significant roles in the preservation of downtown Wyandotte and in making it more than just a regional retail center. Past accomplishments with regard to the improvement of the CBD, while laudable, should not lull the community into a false sense of security regarding the well being of downtown for the years ahead. Times and conditions are constantly changing. With this thought in mind the Wyandotte Planning and Rehabilitation Commission, with the assistance of the Downtown Development Authority, have undertaken the establishment of a series of goals and objectives to give direction to the Future Land Use Plan (Master Plan) for the central business area of Wyandotte. E-1 �I GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR WYANDOTTE'S CBD AREA I I The Future Land Use Plan (Master Plan) for Downtown Wyandotte is a statement of basic goals and objectives to be achieved, from which a plan for action can evolve. Action toward plan implementation is often best expressed through a series of policy statements relating to overall goals and objectives. The relationship among goals, objectives, policies and alternative implementation techniques is as follows: Goal - A goal is a destination, a final purpose which a community seeks to attain. A goal is the most general level of policy and by itself is not very helpful to decision makers. It needs further refinement to assist decision makers to reach their selected destination. I -I I I I II I I Objective - An objective is the route which specifies in general terms the way (route) by which the goal (destination) can be reached . An objective indicates the kinds of actions that should be used to achieve the goal. Policy - A policy is a means of transportation along the route. It is a course of action which , if followed, will achieve an objective. A policy is more detailed than an objective and can be readily translated into specific action recommendations or design proposals. Implementation Alternatives - These are the specific action recommendations suggested by policies. Among the more commonly used implementation techniques are zoning and subdivision ordinances, capital improvement programs, and site-specific proposals or programs. A plan will suggest alternative ways to implement policies. City officials must make the choice of which implementation techniques to actually use . Goals, and objectives which shape the Master Plan for the Central Business District area and the eleven sectors relating to the CBD, are expressed as follows: PRIMARY GOAL FOR WYANDOTTE'S CBD THROUGH GOVERNMENT/BUSINESS COOPERATION, ENHANCE CBD GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES TO ENABLE IT TO CONTINUE AS THE PRIME RETAIL, SERVICE AND COMMUNITY EVENT CENTER FOR THE DOWNRIVER AREA. THIS WILL BE DONE IN A FASHION SENSITIVE TO THE EXISTING CHARACTER OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA AND SURROUNDING RESIDENT/AL AREA AND WITH EMPHASIS ON RIVER ACCESS AND PROXIMIT-Y. I I EACH NEW DEVELOPMENT WILL BE EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO . THE ECONOMIC VITALITY, SERVICE CAPABILITY AND ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE CBD. I E-2 �I SPECIFIC GOALS I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I GOALI I. ACCESSIBILITY- Access from the south and west as well as north should be improved. Routes to the CBD should be distinctively identified. A. OBJECTIVES: 1. 2. FROM NORTH a. An attractive entrance to the City is provided as you leave Ecorse however, the Ecorse Creek bridge should be improved and beautified as an entrance feature to Wyandotte. b. The appearance of marina and boat storage areas along Biddle Avenue should be improved to create a more attractive image. C. Encourage the continued improvement qf the appearance of the industrial districts bordering on Biddle Avenue. d. Intensify tree planting in all residential, business and industrial areas along Biddle Avenue from Ecorse Creek to the CBD. e. A study should be undertaken to determine the feasibility of boulevarding Biddle Avenue north of the CBD. f. CBD identification signage should be provided. g. An extension of pedestrian level lighting north to the hospital should be considered. FROM SOUTH a. Factory blight as you enter Wyandotte on Biddle Avenue provides a poor image which needs improvement. b. Street pavement conditions should be improved, particularly at the Riverview /Wyandotte entrance to the City. c. Boulevarding of Biddl~ Avenue will improve the appearance of this street from Pennsylvania to the south edge of the CBD. E-3 �I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 3. d. Attractive Wyandotte identification signage and landscape treatment at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Biddle should be provided. e. Pennsylvania Avenue Street conditions should be improved to encourage traffic to utilize Biddle Avenue as an entrance to downtown. f. Additional tree planting on both sides of Biddle Avenue should be provided. g. CBD style pedestrian lighting should be extended from Eureka to Plum Street. h. CBD identification signage should be provided at Plum Street. FROM WEST a. Identification signage and downtown event announcement signage should be provided at or near Eureka and Fort Street. b. Access by way of Eureka is the most important western entrance to the CBD and needs to be improved in appearance with particular emphasis on the area from railroad tracks eastward. c. The railroad viaduct and the underpass embankments should be rehabilitated to a pleasant appearing entrance to the CBD. d. Boulevarding of Eureka with a landscaped center island between Biddle Avenue and Fourth Street should be considered. e. The improvement and parking plan for Eureka prepared in 1990 should be implemented as appropriate. f. Identification of the entrance to the CBD should be provided at or near the railroad . g. CBD style pedestrian lighting should be provided on Eureka from Biddle Avenue to Fourth Street. h. Street tree planting should be intensified on Eureka between the railroad and Biddle Avenue . E-4 �• i. I 4. II I I I I I I Both Oak Street and Northline are important CBD feeder streets and should be improved to increase their traffic carrying ability into the CBD. Excessive turning movement options on Northline appear to diminish its traffic flow potential. Excessive truck traffic should be discouraged on Oak Street. RIVER ACCESS a. Create access for boaters wherever possible, particularly as it relates to encouraging canadian tourism and trade. b. Explore the potential for ferry service to Canada. C. Pursue· the potential for the use of grassy island as a recreation facility with a downtown connecting ferry service. GOAL II 11. TRAFFIC CIRCULATION - Downtown streets should provide easy access and smooth traffic flow for the downtown visitor and shopper -with a minimum of pedestrian and vehicle traffic conflict. A. OBJECTIVES: 1. VEHICLE a. Every effort to eliminate through truck traffic from Biddle Avenue should be made. b. A study of the origin and destination of trucks entering and leaving the CBD on Biddle Avenue should be undertaken as a basis for determining alternate truck routing. c. The speed limit for traffic on Biddle Avenue in the CBD should be evaluated. d. Turning movements to and from Biddle Avenue need to be clearly identified. e. Parking lot access points need to be identified. E-5 �I f. Night time traffic looping should be discouraged. The possibility of extended signalization times, curfew hours and restricted turning movement should all be explored. g. Semi-truck turning movements create traffic blockages . Semitruck servicing of stores should be discouraged. h. Alleys should serve auto, service vehicles and pedestrians and should be designed to provide shopper safety. I I 2. I I I I I I I I I I I I PEDESTRIAN a. A comfortable safe and inviting pedestrian atmosphere is essential to all shopping streets in the CBD and should receive the highest priority for the enhancement of features that promote these aspects. b. Street pedestrian crossings should be visually identified (by brick pavers, paint, or other means). C. Signalization of cross walks should favor ·the pedestrian on all streets and particularly on Biddle Avenue. d. Pedestrian safety in parking lots and at rears of stores should be evaluated relative to night lighting. e. Vehicle conflicts with pedestrian access to rear store entrances should be minimized. GOAL Ill 111. PARKING - Every effort should be made to increase convenient safe and attractive customer parking particularly in areas where a deficiency in parking exists . A. OBJECTIVES: 1. EMPLOYEES a. Continued effort must be made to discourage use of prime parking spaces by employees in the CBD. b. The provision of shuttle bus service from more remote parking lots for employees should be explored. E-6 �I 2. I I CUSTOMERS a. Parking areas should be expanded wherever feasible with particular attention to the core area of the CBD. (Eureka, Third, Oak to the River). b. Customer walking distances should be no greater than 500 feet between any store and a parking facility. C. Parking standards as specified in the zoning ordinance should be re-evaluated particularly as they relate to business and office uses. d. The area of greatest parking deficiency, the east side of Biddle Avenue from Oak to Eureka, should receive a high priority for addition of parking. e. In order to provide early relief for areas of high parking deficiency the provision of a shuttle bus which circulates throughout the CBD should be implemented. f. The possibility of providing additional parking on Biddle Avenue should be analyzed. g. The financial feasibility of deck parking for employees and customers should be explored. h. Existing parking lots should be landscaped and screened to lessen the visual impact of expansive areas of parking and to provide an attractive appearance in keeping with CBD character. i. Parking lot lighting should be evaluated to assure a safe atmosphere for the parking lot user. I 1B I I I I I I I I I I GOAL IV IV. SIZE OF CBD - The CBD will need to expand to keep pace with market area growth. Future growth should be concentrated as a compact business area conducive to walk-in business and through careful interaction with developers provide for the continuation of the unique character which typifies Wyandotte 's CBD. An additional 50,000 square feet of retail and supporting business activity in the Wyandotte CBD should be achieved by the year 2000. E-7 �I I I A. OBJECTIVES: 1. CBD GROWTH AREAS a. The major retailing activities in the CBD should be concentrated and should include both sides of Biddle Avenue from Eureka to Chestnut and all of the area between Eureka and Oak west to Third Street. b. Through careful interaction with developers, new developments should be encouraged to relate to the river front and its park like setting. c. Under utilized blocks or buildings with retail user potential within the CBD should be upgraded thcough land and building assembly and marketed for uses that will strengthen the CBD. i I I I I I I I I I I 2. CBD FRINGE a. Close in areas immediately adjacent to the CBD serve as areas for higher ·density housi.ng and They should be developed with sensitivity to the neighborhood and which will reinforce the downtown business and services. b. CBD related and supporting activities, particularly housing, entertainment and waterfront related activities should be encouraged in the areas south of Eureka to Plum Street, west to Third and east to the river. · C. The Eureka Avenue frontage from Fourth to the railroad should be upgraded as a high school business and campus area with emphasis on the provision of activities operated by and serving the student population. d. Development of new multiple-family housing, pursuant to current zoning standards, should be considered for the area adjacent to the CBD on the west side of Third Street from Oak to Sycamore and in the area between Third and Fourth Streets between Plum and Orange. e. The north entrance t9 the CBD along Biddle Avenue from Poplar south should be carefully monitored as changes in uses occur. The preservation of historic structures in this I I I I E-8 core should office uses. surrounding market for �I I I area is essential. The area should become a special historic preservation district which emphasizes this entrance to the CBD. f. Ii I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 3. A change in uses of isolated properties which are out of character with the area in which they are located, such as general and automotive types of business, should be encouraged. OTHER BUSINESS GENERATORS a. The CBD as an activity center should be the location for varied area wide events. Not less than one major event per month should take place in downtown Wyandotte. b. Yack Arena should continue to serve as a multi purpose event center and should be a major focal point for the expansion of other civic facilities and appropriately related business in the blocks to the south and west between Sycamore and Eureka. C. The provision of bed and breakfast facilities in close proximity to the CBD should be encouraged. d. On going activities, in addition to currently programmed events, which promote the ambience of downtown should be encouraged such as: (1) Waterfront activities - In water boat shows, tall ships display, naval or coast guard ship visits. (2) Musical events in the park and at various street locations downtown. (3) Street vendors and outdoor cafes. (4) Outdoor art displays at various locations. (5) Farmers market. GOALV V. CBD APPEARANCE - Provide a clean, efficient and tasteful environment that will enhance the Central Business District as ·a place to do business and a place in which all the citizens of Wyandotte take pride. E-9 �I I I I I I a I I I I I I I I I I A. OBJECTIVES: 1. ARCHITECTURAL a. The whole of downtown Wyandotte creates a town center character which should be preserved and nurtured through all possible means including: (1) Individual existing building architecture should reflect initial building design. Store front remodelling should be encouraged to reflect a unifying architectural theme . (2) No single motif should be promoted ; however, the style of the early tradition of the City should be respected as it relates to new construction in the CBD. A chronology of building construction in the downtown area should be prepared. (3) Color coordination in both new construction and in remodeling is essential. (4) The two-story character of downtown, particularly along Biddle Avenue, should be preserved and encouraged for both building remodelling and new developments. (5) Efforts should be made to promote the use of second floor space for activities which will lend support to downtown's primary retail function i.e. , offices and dwellings. (6) Awnings which obscure building facades or obliterate the true nature of the building design should be discouraged. (7) Awnings which serve as signs should be discouraged and should be carefully scrutinized under the City's sign ordinance for compliance with sign size provisions. (8) Awnings when provided should be so designed as to provide a unifying effect to the downtown area. (9) All new permanent signs should be reviewed by a design professional or a committee of the ODA to assure compatibility with the character of downtown. E-10 �•I •II 2. I I -11 I I I I I I I I I I - 3. THE SHOPPING STREET a. Additional decorative paving should be programmed for installation on sidewalks where none now exists to add a unifying effect to all of downtown Wyandotte. b. Additional street tree planting should be undertaken. C. Downtown pedestrian level lighting in keeping with that provided on Biddle Avenue should be considered for additional downtown streets and for streets bordering the CBD for both its utility and its decorative appeal. d. Side street lighting should be restricted to pedestrian level lights whenever possible. e. Additional well designed street furniture (benches, directional kiosks, trash receptacles, etc.,) should be added at appropriate locations throughout the downtown area. f. Street and traffic signage should be effectively located and be distinctively designed to give direction and not create excessive clutter in the downtown area. g. The use of "Downtown Wyandotte" street banners should be limited to the CBD area and major approaching streets. ALLEYWAYS a. A long term program should be instituted to place all overhead utility lines underground. b. A continuing emphasis should be placed on the improvement of rear store facades and entrances to the rear of stores providing convenient access to parking facilities. C. Alleys at the rear of businesses should serve for both service access and as an attractive and safe pedestrian area. d. Alley service delivery hours should be restricted to off peak shopping hours. e. Trash receptacles behind businesses should be screened from public view. E-11 �I I I I I I GOAL VI VI. THE RIVERFRONT - The Detroit River is Wyandotte's most attractive natural feature. Every effort should be made to make the river accessible to the public with particular emphasis on tieing the downtown area more intimately to the river. A. -fl I I I I I II II I I I OBJECTIVES: 1. Physical ties to the river in the downtown area through pedestrian ways, visual access and events need to be encouraged. 2. Every opportunity for the development of a river walk, or portions thereof, should be pursued. 3. Downtown Wyandotte will be one of the major terminuses in a river walk system . 4. Encourage the development of lands near the river in the CBD area and its fringe to develop with exposure to the river which will provide for public access. 5. Waterfront activities and events should continue to be stressed as a downtown activity. 6. Encourage events and provide transportation to the CBD for people utilizing the waterfront from marina's, the yacht club, and other remote riverfront locations. 7. Bishop Park should be designed to serve as an event center including the addition of some daily use facilities such as an outdoor ice and roller skating rink, music event center, and additional senior citizen recreation facilities. 8. Improved pedestrian access from the CBD by way of specially designed walkways or sidewalks on streets leading to the riverfront (Eureka, Elm, Oak, Chestnut and Superior) should be undertaken. 9. Explore the potential for State assisted marina development. GOAL VII VII. CBD MAINTENANCE - It is essential to keep a neat, orderly and safe downtown which attracts and keeps high quality businesses and maintains a comfortable retail atmosphere for the shopper. E-12 �•I I! I I I I 5. Support for programs and activities which will assist in improving downtown including the following, among others, will be essential: a. Wyandotte Community Alliance. b. Programs for financing building improvements. c. Assistance in financing from lender institutions. d. Explore the use of P.A. 120 of 1961 maintenance, promotion and operation. e. Support efforts to revive Act 255 of 1978 Commercial Redevelopment District Act relative to tax incentives for real property improvements. f. Explore the development of a bank holding company Community Development Corporation as a possible tool for assisting in developing activities. g. Explore the potential for tax credits iri the restoration of historic structures in the downtown area. Community Revitalization Tax Act. h. Pursue the ramifications of licensing Wyandotte businesses to provide an inventory and record of active businesses and to provide assistance in code enforcement. fl I I I I I I I I I I - E-14 on Downtown �I I I! I I I II I & I I I I I I I I THE CENTRAL BUSINESS AREA FUTURE LAND USE PLAN The Future Land Use Plan for the Central Business District Area, as shown on the Master Plan for Future Land Use, presents a composite of land use decisions that resulted from studies of current land use, land and building value studies, a population analysis, a potential retail market analysis and a parking study all conducted with the Downtown Development Authority, Planning and Rehabilitation Commission, residents, property owners, business owners, City Officials and City staff. The resulting land use plan and the goals and objective statements will serve as a guide for improvement and the maintenance of a strong, growing and vital central business district. Achieving the long-range goals and objectives set forth in the Future Land Use Plan requires that planning be carried out on a continuing basis. The Planning and Rehabilitation Commission must continue to take an active role in reviewing each new development in light of the long-range objectives of the Plan. The planning program must also provide for continual reevaluation of the Plan to take into account changing conditions, trends and technology. In this way, the Plan will remain a dynamic instrument for guiding the development and redevelopment of Wyandotte. The City planning process, of which land use planning is but one part, involves a continuing program of assessing development and redevelopment projects that bring about change to the existing fabric of the community. The objectives of communities change over time and unforseen events sometimes make the best plans obsolete. The process of plan making should try to guide the direction and rate of change in keeping with the overall goals and objectives of the plan. The planning process thus becomes time oriented in three ways: (1) It is continuous, without termination. (2) It seeks to affect and make use of change, rather than provide for a static future land use plan. (3) It is expressed in part in long- and short- range programs of action through capital improvements programming. IMPLEMENTATION The Future Land Use Plan for Wyandotte is of little value unless it can be realistically implemented. The first and most important factor in effectuation of the Plan is reflected in the independent actions of the people who live in Wyandotte and by the developers who buy and sell property, homes, businesses and industries. Overall, the Plan will serve as a framework within which these individual actions can take place, thereby lending stability to them. Other factors which can serve as means for implementing the Plan include: · I I E-15 �I I i! II I I rl r. ZONING ORDINANCE The Zoning Ordinance is the most powerful legal instrument available to the City for controlling the development of land. The proper administration of a sound zoning ordinance will bring about a pattern of development called for in the Future Land Use Plan. In addition, zoning regulates the density of population and structures, lot sizes and coverage of lots by buildings, building setbacks and off-street parking, in order to serve the best interests of community at large. The City's zoning ordinance is structured to assist in accomplishing the objectives of the Future Land Use Plan. Application of the Planned Development District, as new development takes place for specific projects, will provide property use and design flexibility to accomplish plan objectives. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM There are three basic purposes for having a capital improvements program : (1) To assist in the development of a realistic program of capital spending relating proposed projects to the City's fiscal ability to support such ventures. Therefore, all proposed projects must be related to the City's debt outstanding, the tax base, and the wealth of the community. (2) To coordinate the various public works projects and improvements with one another. (3) To accomplish the community's Future Land Use Plan in providir)g the improvements contemplated therein in a practical, economic and timely manner. I I I I I I I I - E-16 �I I I! I I I I I Ii I I PROPOSED LAND USE FOR THE CBD AREA The Central Business District for the City of Wyandotte, and its immediately bordering area, is composed of 11 land use sectors. These are depicted on the accompanying Master Plan of Future Land Use Map. A mixture of land uses exist in the Central Business District with a primary emphasis on retail activity. The core retail area, sector 5, is bordered by areas having a direct impact on the core area and are considered a part of the Central Business District Area in order to provide a well integrated Master Plan which respects the effects of abutting land use activities. This large Central Business District Area overlaps to some degree the Southeast Neighborhood in Sectors 1, 2 and 3 and due to its close proximity to the CBD the Roosevelt High School campus area in Sector 11. On the north, Sector 8 exists as a sound residential neighborhood which should continue to be preserved as such. The Master Plan For Future Land Use which is portrayed on the accompanying map reflects the land utilization policy, which if effectuated, will support the Goals and Objectives established for Wyandotte's CBD. The proposed land use for the various sectors of the Master Plan are further explained in the following text: CBD AREA LAND USE BY SECTOR 1. The adopted southeast Neighborhood Master Plan recommends the revital ization of this area as a single-family residential neighborhood and the blocks fronting on the south side of Eureka from 7th to 3rd are designated as central business district. This plan proposes three blocks from 7th to 4th as part of the high school campus area with 4th to 3rd as part of a civic development area. 2. The adopted Southeast Neighborhood Master plan has this area designated for multiple-family housing. This plan proposes that single-family housing and multiplefamily be encouraged in this area. Block ends such as on Third and Fourth Streets are well suited for multi-family dwelling when properly buffered with walls and landscaping in harmony with single-family dwellings on abutting properties. 3. The adopted Southeast Neighborhood Master Plan has this area designated waterfront-mixed use; no change is proposed for this area. This is an important entry point into the CBD and land uses should compliment the CBD retail core. 4. This area is proposed to be preserved as an existing single-family /multiple-family residential area. Existing off-street parking areas are proposed to remain. I I I I I I I - E-17 �5. The CBD will be strengthened by more intense development on underutilized properties and by in filling on vacant parcels. Where off-street parking can be provided through multi level systems some current surface parking areas may be utilized for more intense retail development. New uses of property that provide retail or service to the pedestrian shopping public will be encouraged. Downtown should return to its early heritage as a place in which to "shop around." 6. Bishop Park is Wyandotte's most important public waterfront access point. Enhancement of the CBD relationship to Bishop Park and to other riverfront access points will be paramount. 7. The north entrance to the CBD on Biddle Avenue contains significant historic structures. Enhancement of this area through the elimination of non-compatible uses and promotion of a historic theme is proposed. 8. This residential neighborhood located northwest of the CBD area, while not specifically the subject matter of the current master plan revision, is viewed as a sound , low density single-family residential neighborhood which will be encouraged to continue as such. This neighborhood and all other residential neighborhoods will need to be part of further master plan analysis. 9. This predominantly single-family residential area with its close proximity to the high school, though envisioned as a high density residential area in previous plans, is proposed to be changed to a low density single-family neighborhood in keeping with the existing character of the area. Current multiple-family zoning between Third and Fourth Streets and on the Oak Street frontage should be evaluated. 10. The Yack Arena serves as an anchor element in this 3-1/2 block area. Additional civic uses will be encouraged in this area as well as CBD supporting business and office activities. 11 . A campus area expansion is proposed for Roosevelt High School with efforts made to enhance high school surroundings. Activities on Eureka that stress a high school campus orientation will be encouraged, i.e.; businesses, offices, activity centers, etc. Expansion of the high school's physical plant is not proposed for this portion of the campus area south of Eureka. Visual and environmental improvement of this important entrance corridor to the CBD will be pursued. I! I I I I I ii I i I I I I I I I I E-18 �- - - .i- -j Jo~oo~oo~oo~ ■J ■i ■1 ■i 1!1 ■1 ■i ■1 JD DD DD DD DD JD DDI DD □[10010 l.J NEIGHBORHOOL.J JD D LJLJ LJLJ ,--,,----, ]DIDO D r-,~==== . ~ E:g~. ,i, ~U~++ 21 [) ST. ST. g THIRD ST 3 ~ l____ LI ~ : 3: --...:::::::::, 11 ST . ) ■1 II I~== I.____ _ ;,.!.!,'"'" '::..------ - HIGH SCHOOL :;;.---. CAMPUSAREAi . .' .--::,___ , -- 1r1 I FIFTH i'xir I j ii ............--,L 9 ST ~ RESID~tiriA~n r ..... u u 1□ ~00~00~ i~F I ~I CB 1870000 NEIGHBORHOOD ST FOURTH LJLJEN-LJLJLJOLJLJD CIVI~ ST ..-THIRD---.. 1~=10 LIii NTRAL SINESS T .___, ~ci . - - . bci DD DD DD § nrl!nn~nn~oo~□ r-1-~h~ 1 • FIRST l==L-.{ R;vER ~-6 .......,_ CBD AREA MASTER PLAN Jg~[ THIRD 7 . L-lyj DECEMBER 1990 ■i I 1c= oYo;;..::....••----, - '---11"- RESIDENTIAL ■: • VA L-JL-J HISTORIC ENTRY N ALSTYNE 11 PARK ~ II I I I □ DO c=JI CJC I IF=~I BLVD � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization) Wyckoff, Mark A. Description An account of the resource Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960/2023 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Comprehensive plan publications Master plan reports Zoning--Michigan Zoning--Maps Maps Land use--planning Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-240 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Wyandotte_Business-District-Plan_1991 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02 Title A name given to the resource A Plan for Wyandotte's Central Business District Description An account of the resource A Plan for Wyandotte's Central Business District was prepared for the City of Wyandotte by Vilican-Leman & Associates in February 1991. Subject The topic of the resource Business districts, Central Wyandotte (Mich.) Wayne County (Mich.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c2837192ee0376d99115a2b95a1c5149.pdf 57519ee30c733ca623c348bb13f62d81 PDF Text Text A Profile in Love Celebrating the Life of Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13; I Corinthians 13; John 14:1-3 Richard A. Rhem St. John’s Episcopal Church Grand Haven, Michigan August 1, 2013 We gather in worship to give God thanks for the life of Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens and to celebrate her life, lived so fully, so well. In preparation for the service I went to my Kruizenga file – Richard and Kathryn, Georgia, Stella, most recently Margaret. I am very much aware that the meditations I have offered all have in the beginning my own story, as my life has been impacted by the Kruizenga family. I am a bit self conscious about that but I cannot help myself – my life has been shaped by the Kruizenga clan and I am, at times like this, so acutely aware that I owe so much to the family and to no one more than Dorothy. Just two months ago I expressed at Margaret’s service how entwined my life has been with this family and I must do so once more for no one has been as responsible for all I have become and the community we shared for so many years as Dorothy Boelens. And making that claim, expressing my debt, my gratitude, my love, I include you, Gord. Without your complete support and full involvement and generous provision, it could not have happened. But on this occasion of the celebration of Dorothy’s life, I say without reservation, she saved my life, was responsible for the wellbeing of my children – for whom it was Aunt Dort and Uncle Gord – and made possible my ministry in Spring Lake and the renewal, rebirth and creation of Christ Community, in which we shared such rich community life. No one was more key than she. Her father, with great wisdom and finesse brought the congregation to the decision to invite me to return, risky decision that it was, given my personal circumstances, facing divorce and custody struggles. But it was Dort who made it work. So many were so gracious and helpful, but Dort filled in all the blanks. I could regale you with story after story but it would take the day. Just one accomplishment – she arranged for me to meet the love of my life – Nancy. She probably knew if her life was ever to return to normal, my life would have to find normalcy. What better way than to lead me to the beautiful lady who would become my wife and a mother to my children. On Christmas Day, 1972, Gord and Dort stood with us as we spoke our vows. But that was only Act I. In the days of explosive growth and renewal, Dorothy was front and center. © Grand Valley State University   �A Profile in Love Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Bob Schuller’s Institute for Church Growth in California was new. I think nine of us went out there, Gord and Dort among the nine. We came home and implemented a plan for renewal and growth. R.J. Kruizenga was our volunteer Business Manager. We went from one to two to three morning services and the congregation voted to change our name from The First Reformed Church to Christ Community Church and on the same evening extended a call to Gordon Van Hoeven whom the congregation had sent into the ministry in the early ‘60’s. The vote for the call was 124 yes, 7 no, and for the next eighteen years Gord tried to discover who the 7 were! And then the name change: Dort’s mother, Kathryn, a consistory wife responsible to cut the pies, wagered I wouldn’t get such a margin on the name change proposal but, wonder of wonders, the vote was 120 yes, 4 no. “Ladies in the kitchen” was the way it was. Consistory and Ministers were men only! It was Dort’s Aunt Stella who broke that threshold, our first woman elder, the first in the Muskegon Classis and one of the first in the RCA and there was no one finer anywhere. With growth in members and growing programs, no way Gordon and I could keep up. At that time the paraprofessional idea was blooming and we formed a paraprofessional team that worked wonders. Dorothy was on the first team and served faithfully and fruitfully for several years. Her Young Moms’ Group was a great success. One blizzardy winter day, school was canceled, roads weren’t plowed, the parking lot wasn’t plowed, but from my study in the parsonage I watched them arrive – young moms with babies in tow. They were not about to miss their weekly gathering. Such was the importance of that group for those young women and Dorothy was their Mother Superior. She was quite amazing in so many ways – very intelligent, with fine gifts of leadership, organization, and vision – and she brought her best gifts and full energy to our ministry at Christ Community. There is an Honor Roll of persons and families who have given their all and given well. That is always the way with social movement, community endeavors and especially congregations. It has been true for our congregation. Familiar names – many of you can list them as you look back on the history of the Spring Lake congregation. But, in terms of dedication, gifts of leadership and tireless service, Dorothy heads the Honor Roll, flanked by her father and Aunt Stella. Where does one go in Scripture to find a portrait of such a remarkable disciple? I begin with the Hebrew poet who penned Ecclesiastes. The familiar third chapter takes in the full scope of life in all of its varied experiences: For everything there is a season And a time for every activity under heaven. … God has made everything beautiful in its own time And has put an eternal yearning in our hearts Even as we live before the face of Mystery. © Grand Valley State University �A Profile in Love Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Like the poet, Dort was a realist; she faced every day and every new experience with a healthy perspective, well traditioned, spiritually open, unafraid. She was well grounded and open to what may be opening on the far horizon. The poet somehow got into the Hebrew Bible canon but sometimes that surprises me when I read some of his wonderings, some of his doubts, some of his questions. He dared to look at life in all its ambiguity and confess in many instances he just didn’t get it – even in the ultimate matter of life and death. He writes, …the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies so does the other. They all have the same breath and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place, all are from the dust and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? He had no doubt that God is and God rules but as for the human situation – he simply couldn’t figure it out and he was honest enough and healthy enough to live with his questions. Yet, he affirms, God has made everything beautiful in its own time And he senses as well that God Has put an eternal yearning in our hearts. Dort was a person of faith, curious, questioning, but not pious. Invite her to a theology class and she would be there. Don’t expect her to start a women’s prayer group. She lived a wholesome spirituality, loved to think, to wonder. She was a healthy model for me, enabling me to move beyond the pietism with which I arrived in Spring Lake in 1960. My primary focus in this reflection is St. Paul’s Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13. I point out the context of Paul’s Love Chapter, not because of the nature of the tensions and divisions in the Corinthian congregation, but rather just the fact that the congregation was in a troubled state and how that stands in contrast to our Christ Community experience. And why? Because of wise and competent lay leadership. Names of beloved friends and leaders come to mind but in the context of the celebration of Dorothy’s life, I think of R.J., her father, Stella, her aunt, to say nothing of her mother Kathryn who kept the consistory wives in order as well as the pizza makers. Dort had a keen sense of where the future lay, what we should be doing, where we should be moving. And she so loved the church community. She would not have been caught up in any proud and ostentatious display of piety; that was not Dort. But no matter what might become an issue in our community life, she was openminded, big-hearted, intelligent, and wise. Paul could have used her in Corinth; I’m thankful I had her here. © Grand Valley State University �A Profile in Love Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Addressing the turmoil in Corinth, Paul wrote a Profile in Love. As chapter 12 ends, Paul writes, But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (Verse 31). In the first paragraph he declares no spiritual gift amounts to anything if love in its exercise is absent. Have we not all at some time or other witnessed a noisy gong and clanging cymbal Christian piety? We have witnessed ostentatious display of religious knowledge and boastful religious claims or proud offering of gifts. Not Dort. Paul could be describing her practical, caring, everyday living out of her following the way of Jesus as he writes, Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. That’s St. Paul’s Profile of Love. I submit to you it is a profile of Dorothy. Perhaps at this point you suspect I am making her some ethereal angel. Not really. Dort was a very remarkable person and in her practical, capable, caring ways she made love concrete. There were no limits to her caring, no hesitancy to her extending concrete care and aid. There was not a negative bone in her body, no pettiness, no jealousy, no negativity. Do I overstate the case? I don’t think so. I knew her intimately over many years in so many concrete situations, professional, personal, social. She was a rare human being. And thus I point you to Paul’s last paragraph – a beautiful expression of the now and the then – our present in the mists of history’s ongoing saga and the then of that future vision that awaits us, which in trust we await for ourselves and celebrate for our dear Dorothy. Remember again the context: St. Paul’s dealing with a congregation divided by rival claims to spiritual superiority. His antidote? Love – deep-down practical love expressed in personal and community relationships – common graces that are so uncommon – kindness, openness, forbearance, delight in the true, the good and the beautiful, never arrogant or rude or negative. And then he says, you know, we really don’t know so much. History is foggy; we see only dimly, in a mirror as it were. In fact, as we all once thought as a child and, thankfully, grew up, matured and put away childish things, so it is in life’s ultimate issues and questions. We who have grown up and put away childish ways remain, as a matter of fact, in our childhood when it comes to the grand scheme of things. We live before the face of Mystery. We do not know; we live by trust if we are wise, mature, aware. So there is no place for arrogant absolutism or too certain dogmatism. Humility befits us. © Grand Valley State University �A Profile in Love Richard A. Rhem Page 5   But that is not Paul’s last word. In terms of the cosmic drama in which we are caught up, we trust; we don’t see clearly – Now we see in a mirror, dimly, But he goes on with this marvelous affirmation: but then we will see face to face. And he continues, I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. In sum: Faith, hope, love abide…and the greatest of these is love. Our Dorothy knew that, lived that. She lived that. She lived with some questions unanswered and wasn’t ready to accept a preacher’s too easy answers without facing the depth of the issues, and to live with questions, not having all the answers, gave her no pause. She lived by faith! Her trust was in the good and gracious God; she rested there. But Love? Oh my, she loved without limit to one and all – generous to a fault! And as to life’s ultimate questions shrouded in mystery – St. Paul writes, …now dimly…but then face to face! While with us she loved us, living in faith and hope, living the questions. And now she knows! And I suspect it is more than she dared dream of! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens Scripture Text Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13, I Corinthians 13, John 14:1-3 Location The location of the interview St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20130801 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-08-01 Title A name given to the resource A Profile in Love Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 1, 2013 entitled "A Profile in Love", on the occasion of Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens, at St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan. Scripture references: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11, 13, I Corinthians 13, John 14:1-3. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith Grace Profile in Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8d5c142cc722774ac91a0a815ebab8c9.mp3 f99e79ddf49667fdec2ec6b91568df63 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/23795f50fbed4444baab8b162a2cc8d3.pdf 5fc8a395764b38b14a02c788916f2ce7 PDF Text Text All Things Are Yours! A Promise Full of Potential Jeremiah 29:4-14; I Corinthians 3:1-15, 21-23 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 21, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon You have had a wonderful beginning this season. I have heard glowing reports of the last two Sundays, and then I listened to the tapes and realized that the glowing reports didn’t tell the half. I was moved by Peter’s sermon and his epistle, the First Epistle of Peter to Christ Community. I was fascinated by Bob’s leftover macaroni and cheese and his call to us to continue to find fresh expression in the course of our religious quest together. Now, it is good to be back and to have this opportunity to have my share in the launching of another church year, what promises to be an exciting year of transition, a year which will be the beginning of a grand new beginning. I had thought about the fact that the more common phrase is the beginning of the end, and then I realized that is nonsense. Nothing is ending. What we are entering into is the possibility of a grand new beginning, and this is the beginning of the beginning, and I am so pleased with what I hear and what I sense and what I experience and the positive joy and confidence and the expectancy of this community. You are a great people and we are well launched on our way in this most significant year. I couldn’t be happier about the way you all are - our leadership stepping forward in such significant fashion, and so many of you, pew after pew after pew, a wonderful, loyal, faithful people who comprise this Christ Community. So, we embark on the beginning of a grand new, beautiful beginning. That reminded me of beginnings three decades and more ago as I went back and thought about some of the old texts that had been the trumpet calls of those early years. One of them was the passage from Jeremiah, the 29th chapter, a chapter that I had found personally very important and had claimed personally at a very difficult time in my life. For some of you who have been around here forever, this is perhaps old hat, but nonetheless there are enough of you who don’t know the story that I think it is worth remembering those opening days of another beginning some three decades ago. I sat alone in my flat in the Netherlands and had to write a letter to my parents. Now, if, as was my case, one is warped from the womb, if one is prayed over and massaged and nurtured and gently nudged to the realization of one’s parents’ © Grand Valley State University   �All Things Are Yours! Richard A. Rhem Page 2   dreams, then when one has entered into those dreams and fulfilled them, one has to write to them to say, “I sit here alone. The family is gone. My marriage is broken, and obviously my ministry is in jeopardy.” I concluded the letter with Jeremiah 29:11, in which I wrote to my dear parents, “Nonetheless, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.” After a few months, I came home to see the children and you learned about it and you invited me to preach one December Sunday in 1970, and I preached. I was a skeleton, if you can believe it. (There are some good things that happen in troubles.) One dear saint went out and said to me, “The doctor just said I had to lose 40 pounds. What’s your secret?” I said, “You don’t want to know my secret.” In the succeeding weeks, things began to happen in this community and before I knew it, before I was to go back to the Netherlands, there was an invitation to me to become a pastor again of this congregation. I was amazed all over again last night as I looked at those old files. I was amazed again at the courage, at the boldness, and at the grace of the leadership of this congregation to invite one to come to be their pastor whose first item on the agenda was a custody battle, and secondly, a divorce! This was 1971. Unheard of. Absolutely incredible, because at that point in the dark ages of those times, ministers didn’t have problems. Nonetheless, here I was, back here as your pastor, and the inaugural text was Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Now it was more than just a personal word that I hung to. Now it became a wonderful declaration, a promise full of potential for all of us together. I think the amazing grace of the leadership at that time and the congregation as a whole, the expression of grace, the courage, that kind of spirit spoke volumes and things began to erupt around us and within four months we held a special congregational meeting which was really well attended for congregational meetings, in the summertime, and there were two items on the agenda - the first item was whether or not without any budget provision whatsoever we should extend an invitation to Gordon VanHoeven to become an associate pastor, a co-pastor. Gordon had come out of this church, you will remember, had gone to seminary after accusing me of praying for him, but as a matter of fact, having seen a vision which I think now was just the sun in his eyes, but nonetheless, Gordon was invited to come here and the congregational meeting numbered 124 and the vote to invite Gordon, not knowing how in the world we would ever support him, was 117 to 7. Wonderful majority. Gordon spent the next 18 years trying to ferret out those seven who voted against him. About that time, the wives of the elders, which was the wont at the time, exited from the meeting to the kitchen where they cut the pies to be served with the coffee which would follow after the next item on the agenda, which was to change the name of this congregation after 100 years from the First Reformed Church of Spring Lake to Christ Community Church. I heard tell and I do believe it, that © Grand Valley State University �All Things Are Yours! Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Kathryn Kruizenga was taking bets in the kitchen, saying, “He’ll never get that kind of a majority on this issue.” Well, as a matter of fact, the name change passed 120 to 4, and I have had all kinds of people, pastors asking me in subsequent years, “How in the world did you do that?” I said it was just a piece of cake. Those were heady days. We changed the name of the church. I read again last evening the sermon I preached the Sunday night before the congregational meeting, and the theme was “It is reasonable and responsible to change the name of the church to something that will define us and give us an identity such as we are seeking.” The text was I Corinthians 3:23-25. “Enough of this ‘I am of Paul, I am of Apollos,’ for all things are yours. Life, death, the present, the future, all are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” Christ Community, a community of people who are set free. As I visited again that text, I was a bit nostalgic, I have to admit, and I recognized at significant points in the last 30 years I have come back to those texts, but every time there was a certain slant or an angle on those texts, and I use them today with a different angle than I have ever really used them before, and that is that both of these passages are addresses to communities, communities who are going through some kind of difficulty or crisis. In the case of Jeremiah 29, of course, as I mentioned with the reading, the people of Judah had been taken into captivity through that great world empire, Babylon, and they were now living in Babylon and they were feeling very sorry for themselves. And this letter of Jeremiah, who had been a prophetic voice of judgment before the crisis actually occurred, and had been imprisoned by the use of the Patriot Act for the treasonous crime of speaking truth to power, when finally the exile came, Jeremiah’s was the voice of hope and encouragement, and this is a marvelous letter that he wrote to the exiles. He says, “Look, deal with it. Get on with your life. Build houses. Tend gardens. Give your children in marriage, have grandchildren. Don’t decrease, increase. Pray for the welfare of the city that has taken you captive, because as that city prospers, so will you. So, come on.” If you want to know what bad religion can do for you, dealing with these very people to whom Jeremiah wrote, let me read you Psalm 137. These are the downin-the-mouth Jews in Babylon feeling sorry for themselves: “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our harps, for our captors asked us for songs and our tormentors asked us for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’ How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Because, as a matter of fact, you see, we don’t really think that God is able to spill over into the foreign land. O, if I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.” © Grand Valley State University �All Things Are Yours! Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Now, this is where bad religion comes in because if you’re all caught up with Jerusalem and the temple and a particular understanding of God, if you’re all locked into something like that, then you begin to become angry. “Remember, O Lord, the Edomites, the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, ‘Tear it down, tear it down, down to its foundations. O daughter of Babylon, you devastator, happy shall they be who pay you back in what you have done to us.’” Listen to this now: “Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock.” That’s what bad religion will do for you and that’s what was going on in Babylon when Jeremiah wrote the letter. He said to them, “Come on, build your houses, plant your gardens, get on with your family life. Pray for the welfare of Babylon, for goodness sakes.” It was a community in despair and Jeremiah had to remind them, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans of good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.” Paul’s situation was a bit different, of course, in the infant church there. He scolded them because he had been the founding pastor, but Apollos had come in becoming the preacher, and some delegations from Corinth had come to Paul wherever he was to let him know, “This community is fractured. There is the Apollos group and there is the Peter group and there is the Paul group.” Paul writes to him and says, “You’re infants. How immature! Don’t you know that I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase?” Then he begins to soar, as Paul often does as he gets excited in thinking about this whole thing. He begins to soar and says, “All things are yours! Don’t get so narrowed down and obsessed with one particular pattern. Open your mind, open your heart, recognize that all things are yours. It is as big as the world! Peter is yours and Paul is yours and Apollos is yours. All the great traditions are yours. The future is yours, life is yours, death is yours, all things are yours. So, you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” It was a community in trouble because they had gotten fascinated with a particular form or human leadership or a particular way of doing things, so Paul had to get after them. Sort of like Jeremiah did. Grow up! Grow up! Become mature and recognize that your world is too small, your God is too small. There’s a whole world out there and all things are yours. The future is yours. Do you see the slant of those texts this morning? I don’t have to write a letter like Jeremiah did, and I don’t have to scold like Paul did, because you are Christ Community and you’ve been living a dream for 30 years. You moved into a dimension of freedom that has enabled us to soar, to find a life together that is marked not by some crimped, dogmatic statement, not by some rigid ecclesiastical structure, not by some overpowering past, but rather, we have discovered a freedom that has enabled us to live, not just a freedom from, but a © Grand Valley State University �All Things Are Yours! Richard A. Rhem Page 5   freedom for, a freedom for a grace that is as expansive as the cosmos, a grace that has moved beyond the ignorance and the arrogance of exclusivism. We have entered into a freedom that has enabled us to embrace our brothers and sisters in other great faith traditions, honoring and valuing the insights and the beauty and the goodness and the truth that is there. We have entered into a freedom that has enabled us to put behind us the kind of social issues that divide society and polarize congregations. We have been able through the freedom that we have found in Christ to affirm the world as it is emerging and as it is coming to expression in all of the disciplines of human learning. There is no place where we have to close our mind or shut our eyes or bow our heads. We celebrate it because we believe that somehow or other, at the core of everything, is that creative spirit that is emanating forth out of an abyss of love that in the course of some 15 billion years has resulted in the gathering of a community of beautiful people like this. We have learned that all things are ours. We don’t have to be crimped and cramped and narrowed down and we don’t have to be pinched in, barriered out, but rather, we can live with fullness and joy, with excitement and anticipation, because the plans for us are plans of good and not for evil, and all things are ours, the future as well as the present. Promise is full of potential. We are on the threshold of something very wonderful. I am not unaware of the wisdom and the conventional wisdom of church leadership of all of those denominations that are dying that say when you have had a long and happy relationship as a pastor and people, a people need time to grieve. “By the rivers of Babylon,” I suppose. Hang up your harps for a while. Come on. That’s ridiculous. Some even say that, as sometimes we grow angry with loved ones who die on us, so a pastor could be the recipient of the anger of people who are mad about the fact that he got old on them. Come on! That may be true in traditional and conventional places, I don’t know, but it’s not true here. There are no wounds we have to bind up. There are no fractures we have to heal. And the identity? Do we know who we are? Yes, we do, thanks to the fires through which we have been put. We know who we are. We know why we’re here, and to those voices that come to me once in a while and say, “You just don’t know,” I say, “Look, my people are emotionally mature and intellectually acute, and they’ll handle it.” “But, it’s going to feel different.” Of course it’s going to feel different. “But it won’t be the same.” Of course it won’t be the same, can’t be the same, shouldn’t be the same. If it was the same, we’d be doomed to death. What has to happen is what happened 30+ years ago, it has to happen all over again, it’s going to happen all over again because, as a matter of fact, it’s not Cephas or Apollos or Paul or Bob or Peter or Don or Dick, it is a matter of the community. Continuity is in the community. © Grand Valley State University �All Things Are Yours! Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Continuity is in the community. Say it after me, continuity is in the community. That means it’s you. I have been accused of being a Johnny-one-note with grace, but the story I told you this morning will tell you that I didn’t bring grace here, grace brought me here. There was a community here that had the vision and the boldness and the graciousness and the love to invite me here, to have me experience grace so I could become the agent of grace. It is in the community, dear friends, it is in you. You have embodied it. You, and I’m with you. I want to be right on the sidelines cheering. I want to be right there. (We may have to move out of that pew, honey, but could we maybe have an honorary pew with a little brass plaque? ) Oh, isn’t it good? Isn’t it wonderful? I know the plans I have for you, said the Lord, plans of good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope, because the future is yours. All things are yours - life and death, the present, the future, all things are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s, and all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God. Amen!” © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XV Scripture Text Jeremiah 29:4-14, I Corinthians 3:1-15, 21-23 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030921 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-09-21 Title A name given to the resource A Promise Full of Potential: All Things Are Yours! Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 21, 2003 entitled "A Promise Full of Potential: All Things Are Yours!", on the occasion of Pentecost XV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 29:4-14, I Corinthians 3:1-15, 21-23. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community of Faith https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f8fff99039899f1496cb80225be5209f.mp3 ceb26ba0fb23a5952cae6f8dffbade36 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany III Series Look Again, Epiphany Series Scripture Text Matthew 11:3 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960121 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-01-21 Title A name given to the resource A Question Full of Anguish Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 21, 1996 entitled "A Question Full of Anguish", as part of the series "Look Again, Epiphany Series", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 11:3. https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9b4e1c0e0d08bcdcbb77f417206cecd3.jpg e104149a71fe9b510056769f3a92a466 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS1455 .R67 1897 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0111 Title A name given to the resource A Rose of Yesterday Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Edwards, George Wharton (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of A Rose of Yesterday, by F. Marion Crawford, published by The Macmillan Co., 1897. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1897 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a1538acda4e7feab9dd8bfb95525d923.mp3 e84c8740e522541c21d685bdee6c5f58 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Scripture Text Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, John 3:1-10 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20050828 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2005-08-28 Title A name given to the resource A Shared Yearning & Journey - The Religious Quest Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 28, 2005 entitled "A Shared Yearning & Journey - The Religious Quest", at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13, John 3:1-10. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives personal journey Religious Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/18d666d919328b3553429240fa62b341.pdf 8a058ad7d81c667cf013968095516be5 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Program-117 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Red Barn Theatre Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965-07-05 Title A name given to the resource A Shot in the Dark playbill Description An account of the resource Playbill for Red Barn Theater's production of A Shot in the Dark. On the back is an announcement for the following production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Community theater Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Donated to the Saugatuck Douglas History Center by Jeanne Hellgren. Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History for the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/061f039f53e1b1909c7a957f5f2e39d8.pdf ab7384b8853b936c8ef9c57ad3f7e62e PDF Text Text A Simpler Way From the series: Meeting God Again For the First Time Text: John 4:23-24 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 5, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon The writer of the fourth Gospel tells us explicitly that he was very intentional in the creation of the Gospel he wrote: John 20:30-31 - a portrait painted, a story told, that you might believe that Jesus was the Messiah, thereby finding life through his name. This one, the author believed, came from God and was the embodiment in human form of God’s being, purpose, and grace that, through God’s Spirit, possessed him and filled him. The God Who in the beginning breathed the creative process into being was now breathing life in a new dimension in and through this one, Jesus - Jesus was anointed with God’s Spirit. The Hebrew word for that anointing was Messiah; the Greek word, Christ. John was writing at a time of great turmoil, tension and ferment in the Jewish community. The center of Israel’s life and worship - the symbol of God’s presence in their midst – had been destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman occupying power. How now would they maintain their peoplehood, their identity as God’s chosen ones? The dominant group emerging was the Pharisaic party - to become the group that eventually determined the Judaism of the future, the Rabbinic group ensuring that Judaism would be a people of the Book, the sacred text. But, in the last decades of the first century, the movement stemming from Jesus was a viable contender. The followers of this crucified one whom his followers experienced as living and present to them made up a significant segment of the population. But they had reached out beyond the narrow confines of the Jewish community; they had, in quite revolutionary fashion, formed a Jesus community among the Samaritans with whom the Jews lived in great hostility and even among the Gentiles - that is, with non-Jews. At least in part, the fourth Gospel was written to root this outward reaching of the very early movement in the understanding and ministry of Jesus himself. © Grand Valley State University   �A Simpler Way Richard A. Rhem Page 2   The reason is obvious: There were strong differences in the Jesus movement that in its early stages was exclusively Jewish. There were Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah and the End was near, the reign of God approaching, but who failed to see the reason for reaching out beyond their own. And there were others - think of Stephen and of Paul who felt the call to bring the story of God’s grace in Jesus to the nations. In other words, there were advocates of a purely Jewish Jesus community and there were advocates of a universal mission. I think that is the rationale by which the Gospel writer chose the story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well who was encountered by Jesus. I will not retell the story; suffice it to say that Jesus chooses to go from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north by the direct route which takes him through Samaria, a hostile territory peopled by those the Jews considered alien, whose worship the Jews considered false, even though the Samaritans stemming from the ten Northern Tribes of Israel shared the Mosaic heritage, following the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scripture. It is in Samaria at the place of the ancient well of Jacob that Jesus engages a Samaritan woman in conversation. He asks for a drink of water from the well, only to offer her living water. The writer’s literary technique is to reveal the soul thirst of this woman for the truth. The conversation issues in a question that divided the Jews and Samaritans: the Samaritans claimed their Mt. Gerizim was the place of true worship, pre-dating the establishment of Jerusalem later by David, while the Jews, of course, contended it was at Jerusalem that God caused the Holy Name, or the Presence, to dwell. This allows the Gospel writer to put Jesus on the side of those who saw the universal implications of Jesus’ ministry "Woman," he says, "the hour is coming and now is when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem ... The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth." Without attempting to give an in-depth explanation of that response, it must be obvious on the surface that Jesus here points to a new situation and a new manner of worship and devotion. He does not say worship at Mt. Gerizim or Jerusalem had never been true worship, or that God could not be worshiped at one place or the other. He does, however, relativize the question of place which would represent the whole apparatus of the cultic forms used in the worship of the respective communities. © Grand Valley State University �A Simpler Way Richard A. Rhem Page 3   We have come to a moment in the practice of religious worship, Jesus contends, according to this account, when place and all the external accouterments that go with it become matters of indifference. The external forms of worship are intended to be and can be means by which, through which, the human spirit comes into communion with the divine Spirit the liturgy, the ritual action, the very physical space designated for the worship of God, can be vehicles of grace through which the communion with God is affected. The setting and the manner of our worship is not a matter of indifference to be tended to in a slovenly way. But they are the triggers only to bring us to awareness of the Holy, of that transcendent source of our being by whose grace we live and move and have our being. It has been characteristic of Christian preaching to set Jesus and thus Christianity off from Judaism as a spiritual religion over against a religion of outward observance. This is a distortion and it misses the point. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus was not saying Judaism as a religion was being superseded, to be replaced now by Christianity. Jesus was pointing to the nature of true worship and the temptation of all religious worship to become an outward form lacking inward transforming power. The result of this encounter is not Christianity - Jewish - 1 and Samaritan devotion - 0. Worship that is inwardly aware of the gracious ground of our being is present in many religious traditions. Formalism, devoid of Spirit, is to be found, as well, in all forms of religious devotion, Christianity included. But, that in no way detracts from the stunning breakthrough that Jesus represented in his life and teaching. Jesus saw the temptation of the religious institution to make itself exclusive and absolute and he broke through the false barriers that purported to demarcate the only true way. Jesus saw the demonic barriers that walled people off from one another, defining those who were in and those who were out, the accepted ones and the rejected ones. He conversed with a Samaritan. Jesus saw the oppression and domination of women by men who considered women of a lesser subhuman class. In a society where a man prayed daily thanking God he was not born a woman, Jesus conversed with a woman, treating her with respect and dignity and human decency. Jesus saw the restrictive limitations of religious and cultural patterns and dared to defy them, to shatter them and to declare by word and action a new day, a © Grand Valley State University �A Simpler Way Richard A. Rhem Page 4   movement toward a fuller humanization of society. And Jesus did it not because it was in the cultural air, but because he believed that is the way God intended it. God is Spirit. God must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. Jesus refused to bow to social custom or religious regulation when those violated the reality of the Spirit. Traditional definitions, conventional wisdom, social mores, cultural patterns - all of that, for Jesus, needed constantly to be examined, reformed, transformed in the light of the spiritual reality that comes from inward awareness and attentiveness. There are times of cultural crisis when old ways are challenged and foundations crumble. We are in such a time; it has been a long time building - perhaps since the 15th century, or certainly since the 18th. It is my contention that the church has not yet faced the implications of the modern period. The structure of faith and biblical understanding in which I was nurtured and trained and that has shaped the Christian tradition, Protestant and Catholic, is largely the product of the postReformation, a 17th-century paradigm of biblical faith impacted very little by the explosion of knowledge in the modern world. The Christian tradition from which we stem still speaks in terms of an absolute truth it claims to possess and an exclusive truth to which it must bring the world, denying the salvific value of all other traditions. I included a couple of paragraphs from Gordon Kaufman’s God, Mystery, Diversity as an alternative to the absolutism and exclusivism claims of Christian orthodoxy. I think what Kaufman is contending is very much in the spirit of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman The hour is come when the model can no longer be pronouncement of our way as the only way. Rather, the time has come when the Spirit is calling us to break down the barriers we have erected. Is it not ironic that the one who threw down the exclusionary barriers that divided people and defined the truth is, in the Christian church, made the absolute revealer of God and the exclusive source of the grace of God? The disciples returned from buying food to find Jesus in conversation with a Samaritan, and a woman at that, but they dared not mention it. Instead, they said, "Eat." But, Jesus wasn’t hungry any longer. The conversation triggered in him the realization of the deep hunger in the hearts of humankind. He was a man obsessed with his sense of calling to do God’s work. "Look around you," he said. "Don’t you see the spiritual hunger ... see how the fields are ripe for harvesting?" © Grand Valley State University �A Simpler Way Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Don’t you see it? The mainline churches are limping badly and the world is spiritually starved. The Promisekeepers have tapped into this spiritual hunger, but I don’t think the answer lies in what is an attempt to return to yesterday with a strong dose of emotion. The megachurches are flourishing, but there is no attempt to re-think the faith in the modern world. Jesus said neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem - old forms can’t bear the weight of truth for our world. The old institutional alignments are dead - the old orthodoxy cannot prevail. But, God is God. There is yet living water flowing to quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger of the soul - if only we would let go, wait with openness and awareness to hear and sense what the Spirit is saying to us. If only we would give up our certainties and wait in the darkness, trusting that the living God will show us wonders of which we’ve not yet dreamed. Reference: Gordon D. Kaufman. God, Mystery, Diversity: Christian Theology in a Pluralistic World. Fortress Press, 1996. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c657977270b6d84ea29123f64fdadf45.mp3 63a277b14df03c33cbf65eb7249af756 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XX Series Meeting God Again for the First Time Scripture Text John 4:23-24 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Gordon D. Kaufman. God, Mystery, Diversity: Christian Theology in a Pluralistic World, 1996 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19971005 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-10-05 Title A name given to the resource A Simpler Way Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 5, 1997 entitled "A Simpler Way", as part of the series "Meeting God Again for the First Time", on the occasion of Pentecost XX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 4:23-24. Awareness Follower of Jesus Inclusive Nature of Religion Spirit https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b81e72f568d04ab1ed9c18779a7f0152.jpg a7942b4dcbc8cad560ae82a8d48762c3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-LordB_A-Snowy-July Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-07 Title A name given to the resource A snowy July Description An account of the resource Page from Bob Lord's family photograph album with four photos depicting snow on the ground near homes and the beach. The photos have yellowed with age and have "JUL 78" stamped in the corners. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b599dfb08cd3e91d52462c112b3d2d1.pdf 41047aa1621d9bf010fde77fb856d445 PDF Text Text A Song of Quiet Trust Text: Psalm 131:1, 2; Matthew 11:28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan November 24, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon In this Sunday between seasons, I don't know why, but Psalm 131, a Psalm on which I've never preached, never even thought much about, seemed to strike me. Its simplicity and its beauty washed over me, and it is the text of the morning message. Listen to it again: O Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great for me or things too marvelous. I have calmed and quieted my soul as a weaned child with its mother. My soul within me is as a weaned child. A Song of Quiet Trust. A beautiful expression of deep trust in God. "My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I'm not involved, engaged in things too great for me" - three negations that point to a kind of candid honest, selfevaluation. This is who I am. I think it's a rather wholesome acceptance of creaturehood. Not a putting down of oneself because one is human, but an acceptance of oneself as human, therefore as limited, as a person on the way, vulnerable, flawed, yet one who has come to self-awareness and self-acceptance before the face of God. My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great or too marvelous for me. I don't think that's a resignation that simply throws in the towel and says, "Well, whatever will be, will be." I don't think it bespeaks a lack of passionate engagement with life, but I think it is a healthy coming to terms with the fact that one is creature, one is human, and that that is all right. Some years ago, Ernest Kurtz was here and spoke to us. He is the author of what has been the classic statement of Alcoholics Anonymous' philosophy and understanding, and the book in which he gives that rather profound analysis he entitled Not God. Strange title. Not God, because it was his understanding that, at the root of our human dilemma, is the fact that we would be God and that the thing that is imperative for us to discover is that we are not God and that, rather, © Grand Valley State University   �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 2   we must live one day at a time in dependency on a Higher Power. Translate that as you will. My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I'm not caught up in things too great for me. Just, here I am; this is who I am; God knows. That kind of wholesome self-acceptance and self-declaration is elicited from the person who has found that one can trust God. The image that is used for God is a bold image. It is very likely that the Psalmist was a woman. How could any man write of the intimacy of the mother with the weaned child on her hip or on her lap or embraced in her arms? The weaned child, literally, the child perhaps two to five years old that had been nursed at the breast but was there no longer, who had known enough, however, long enough to return there again and again for nurture and security and feeding, the weaned child. The Psalmist says, "My soul within me is as a weaned child in the embrace of her mother." It's not an isolated reference to God as Mother. Another Psalmist said, in Psalm 103, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust." So, it's not as though it is motherhood against fatherhood, but there is something about motherhood; it is the ultimate, it is the ultimate in that inter-human relationship of utter dependency and utter trust. Only a mother. God as Mother. Isaiah understood that. He said, in the 49th chapter, "Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me. My God has forgotten me.'" To which the Word of the Lord comes: "Can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion to the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. I have engraven you on the palms of my hands." That God is the God in whom the Psalmist trusted so much that he could come to a healthy self-acceptance and a total resting dependence. He could say, "I have calmed and quieted my soul." A wonderful place to be. Walter Brueggemann says life is lived between orientation and disorientation and new orientation. He groups the Psalms in those three categories. This is a Psalm of orientation. God guarantees the solidarity of things and the solidity of things. Life secure, serene. The first verb in verse two in Psalm 131 is to even or to smooth. This is life when everything is going smoothly and I simply come to an awareness of my total trust in God Who is Mother. It's interesting that that kind of God has often been lost sight of. Sigmund Freud points to most of the dysfunction within our human existence as being the consequence of that hatred of the father, that father complex. In fact, Freud says that God is an illusion; God is the projection of our earthly father, the father against whom we rebel, the father from whom we must be liberated, set free. Much of our problem is because there is a secret desire to kill the father in order to find our autonomy. Well, Freud didn't make all that up; he observed acutely © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 3   the human situation. He saw what is there for anyone to see, that bad religion can really twist a human person, distort the human experience. A mis-concept of God can be devastating to the health of a human being. Freud was reacting against the God that too often the Church has put forth: the stern, controlling father. But he missed the mark in terms of the biblical God, the God of Israel, the God whom Jesus reflected, the God who is like a compassionate father, who is mother-like, whose bosom embraces in an unconditional love that will never forsake and never abandon, a love against which there is no fight, against which there is nothing to rebel, a deep abyss of love. Douglas John Hall who was with us last June, speaks about the nature of God Who is gracious, and he suggests that we have missed it often in the Church because we have listed all of the divine attributes, all of the perfections of God, all of the ways in which God is the high and exalted One, distinguished from us, the Holy Other One. Then we list all of those attributes of God - one of which is grace. But, then grace has to be balanced with justice and with righteousness and on down the line, as though grace is one thing about God over against other things about God, as though all of those divine perfections somehow or other have to be taken into account. I like what he has to say. He says grace is not one attribute of God along with others. Grace is foundational, absolutely fundamental. It is the ground out of which all of the divine perfections flow and in terms of which they must be understood. Grace at the heart of things, you see. And that the Psalmist experienced - God like a mother, a mother into whose arms one can always run, upon whose lap one can always dwell secure, is a true portrait of the biblical God. "My heart is not lifted up, my eyes not raised too high." I don't get caught up in all sorts of great schemes. I come to an honest selfevaluation and esteem as one who with genuine humility can simply be in the bosom of God. How does one come to such an experience? Well, I would suggest not in splendid isolation, but rather, in tangible community. I do believe it is in the community of God's people that we come to the tangible touch of that God of all mercy. Nancy and I experienced that last week, last Sunday. We were in New York City. The week before we were in New Jersey where I had to speak at an event, and there was a pastor from New York present to whom I said, "We're going to come back. Tell me a restaurant; tell me a show." Well, we ended up engaged with this pastor. When we got to New Jersey the previous week, The New York Times had a big article with pictures about Middle Collegiate Church and the title was "Old Time Religion With a New Twist." Because the pastor had been very gracious to us, we thought it would be good to worship there, in the East Village, into 2nd Avenue, Sixth Street. Old Middle Collegiate, partner with Marble Collegiate and West End Collegiate, the old, ancient collegiate system of Reformed churches in the city. This one twelve years ago was ready to be closed, about 25 people left. Gordon Dragt was called there and somehow or other by the grace of God, was © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 4   used to build a community. We worshiped with them last Sunday and I've got to tell you - we were deeply moved by the community. When we walked in 15 minutes or so before the service, there was a marvelous jazz combo playing, black and white together. And as we sat there and enjoyed that, we saw the people stream in; there were black people and white people, there were old men and young women, there were married couples, husband and wife; there were Gay couples, Lesbian couples, there were children, young people, and there were hugs all around. It was obvious that when they came into that sanctuary, they were coming to their family and the grace was tangible and the love was obvious, and one couldn't help but experience in that community that all of the diversity of the human family, all of those differences really don't matter! They don't matter, you see, because that which transcends it all is that solidarity in our humanity, that humanity that is loved by God, that humanity that is nurtured by the grace of God and embraced in the bosom of God, so that all human differences really don't matter at all. I understand why, in the East Village in New York City, there is the rebirth of a congregation, the sanctuary now full, because when we walked in, there was the touch of grace, and the reality of grace in the tangible, human embrace. Gordon didn't really know I was coming, but the theme of the sermon was grace, and the biblical story was the story of the prodigal son. The whole service bespoke a conception of God as Mother, as Lover. You see, the nature of God as we understand it, will determine the nature of community as we experience it. When God is rested in as Mother, then that people gathered will be a warm womb, pulsating with compassion, able to embrace the whole human family in a wonderful feast of love. The week before in New Jersey, we spent Friday evening with a pastor and his wife and some other people who had been organizing the event. We learned that for this pastor and his wife it was a second marriage, that she was the daughter of an Ivy League professor who was an atheist, and that she grew up in the home of an atheist and just sort of took that for granted, then one day met this minister and, horror of horrors, fell in love! I mean, if you're an atheist, don't fall in love with a minister. And if you're a minister, don't fall in love with an atheist. Well, she was there on Saturday and when I was asked a question about whether God's grace extends to non-believers, I said, "You know, I don't really find a lot of nonbelievers. I find a lot of people who are outside of the Church, but I don't find a lot of people who don't have a deep spiritual hunger, a yearning, and I find that if I don't have a package to give to them, that there is an openness, a desire to speak of God because there is that deep yearning after God within us." And I caught her eye at that moment. Then after the event, at another home with some couples, we were about to take our leave and the pastor came to me and said, naming his wife, "She says if I will take her to Christ Community, and if you will baptize her, she would like to be baptized." © Grand Valley State University �Song of Quiet Trust Richard A. Rhem Page 5   I was deeply moved, and I knew again that it is that irresistible grace that alone beckons and enables us to lay down our arms and, in total dependence, calm and quiet our souls in absolute trust. That's really where it is, and those of you who've come in today to this community have come in committed to that kind of community, have come in because there was that grace, and have come in to say such a place must be because it's in community that finally we learn that, at the heart of things, the ultimate reality is a love that will never let us go. That's the good news. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cdbba2784814533a36e9b04dd7c7411d.mp3 c0c894b878d9578832834795b66e9648 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Thanksgiving Sunday, Pentecost XXVI Scripture Text Psalm 131, Matthew 11:25-30 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19961124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-11-24 Title A name given to the resource A Song of Quiet Trust Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 24, 1996 entitled "A Song of Quiet Trust", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Sunday, Pentecost XXVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 131, Matthew 11:25-30. Community of Grace Compassion Nature of God Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3eab6a43d32514739c6acfc1f0b7b882.mp3 4609fb47b960281d3782bac9d8f94377 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3cc9447ef09b915a2182a5cf3462fe6d.pdf 899b203b548a21fe3c53afcc1c52546f PDF Text Text A Song of Serenity A Reflection on the Psalms Text: Psalm 8:1 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 19, 1987 Transcription of the spoken sermon Human experience is uneven. It may seem that for some it is always Summer, and for others it is always Winter, but it would be more accurate to recognize that for most of us human experience is varied; it is dynamic, in flux, and it contains both light and shadow, good times and difficult times. The Psalms are a beautiful reflection of human experience as it is lived consciously before the face of God and, if we are honest in letting the Psalms speak to us in the full spectrum of these experiences, they will have a word for us in every season of our lives. They will bring to expression the depths of our experience, whether that be of joy or sorrow, of pain or pleasure. Walter Brueggemann in his study of the Psalms suggests that the whole range of human experience, which comes to expression throughout the whole Psalter, can be diagrammed as a movement. There are three life situations which are easily identified in many Psalms and those life situations are true to our common human experience. There are Psalms of orientation which express confident trust in the good order of Creation, reflecting the seasons of wellbeing; there are Psalms of disorientation which reflect the struggle of the person in conflict and confusion, the dark night of the soul; there are Psalms of new orientation which give expression to the joy and gratitude felt because of the surprise of grace which has effected healing and brought wholeness to life again. Most of life is lived in movement from one state or condition to the other. Human experience is uneven; we are always in process; life is fragile and we are vulnerable to the slight tilting of the axis of the heart, which can move us from settled confidence to disarray, and again, from disarray to the healing of grace. Each condition of our human expression finds an echo in the songbook of Israel. Psalm 8 is a song of serenity, singing the confident trust of one who is © Grand Valley State University   �A Song of Serenity Richard A. Rhem Page 2   experiencing reality, the world and life as well ordered, well structured, reliable and harmonious. The Psalm ends as it begins with a paean of praise to the majestic greatness of God, Who has created and Who sustains this well ordered world. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth! The psalmist stands in awe of creation, of the wisdom with which all has been ordered. How great Thy name means how gloriously Thou art manifested in the whole created order. Here is an expression of buoyant faith, of a sense of wonder, of a joyful acknowledgement of God Who has brought about the harmonious symmetry of all of reality. Here we have a confident, serene settlement of the faith questions. The Psalmist has found a place to stand, a place to set his feet. Since God is trustworthy and reliable, there are some things that are simply settled. One can go on to other things because there is a kind of untouchable core of trust that moves one beyond doubt and anxiety. Life is good because God in His goodness has created a good and hospitable space in which one can live and move and have one's being. There is an elemental certitude that forms a solid foundation on which to rest one's life. Such is the conviction of the poet who penned the eighth Psalm. Let us look at the heart of faith's conviction as it comes to expression in this song of serenity. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth! Exclamation point; so the Psalm begins, so it ends. Worship, praise and adoration of the greatness of God form as it were the brackets, the boundaries within which the psalmist contemplates the identity and dignity of the human person. At its heart, the Psalm is an affirmation of human power and authority, which is grounded in and bestowed by the eternal God. In this Psalm, doxology at the beginning and end form the context in which the dominion accorded to the human person is celebrated. There is a proper order and a careful balance in the contemplation of our place in the total scheme of things. And what is that place? We are placed over creation, under God. The prepositions are critically important. We are placed over creation. The psalmist celebrates this fact. In the beginning we find him feeling extremely small and insignificant as on a clear night he contemplates the stars and the moon and the vastness of the deep, dark reaches of outer space. Within him runs the question, © Grand Valley State University �A Song of Serenity Richard A. Rhem Page 3   What is the human person that Thou shouldst remember him, mortal humanity that Thou shouldst care for them? The eternal God Who spoke and brought the worlds into place, Who spoke again and hung the stars in place – that God behind and beyond the vast Creation must be so majestic, so awesome that One can hardly believe that One so mighty and magnificent would bother about the frail and fragile human creature who lives beneath the stars, so vulnerable to the overwhelming might and mystery of the natural world. That is the psalmist's initial reaction as he lies on his back, staring into starry space. But then he contemplates further; he goes on to realize, Yet Thou hast made him little less than a god, crowning him with glory and honour. The psalmist was no doubt familiar with the beautiful first chapter of Genesis, the Song of Creation. There, too, in poetic fashion the wonder of God's creative work is celebrated and the crown of that work, the pinnacle of God's creative genius is the creation of the human person in God's own image. God made us like Himself – that is the daring biblical affirmation, and therein the greatness and the dignity of the human person are proclaimed. The Bible will have nothing to do with the denigrating or scorning of humanity. Rather, it proclaims loudly and clearly the greatness of the human person. God has committed to us rule and authority. Thou makest him master over all Thy creatures; Thou hast put everything under his feet. Again the Creation chapter from Genesis comes to mind. The human person is charged with responsibility for the good Creation; to be the steward of Creation, to care for it, preserve it and make it fruitful. And so, as God is to the whole created cosmos, the human creature is to the good earth. The vastness of cosmic space, which the psalmist could only guess at but we know to be beyond our contemplation, which in the beginning seemed to dwarf him and his sense of significance, is now brought into perspective. Now the very wonder of Creation points to the pinnacle of Creation itself, the human person who, godlike, contemplates the whole and takes responsibility for it. That is what the Psalm celebrates: human dignity, power and authority bounded by the eternal God Who willed it thus and Who grounds the whole structured reality. The human person – over creation, under God, finds thus his dignity, her destiny. © Grand Valley State University �A Song of Serenity Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Professor James Cook of Western Theological Seminary preached on this psalm here some months ago and entitled the message, "The Poem That Puts Us In Our Place," a fine title for the psalm. That is precisely what we have here – a poem that puts us in our place, over creation, under God. We learn who we are and we learn what we are called to do. Identity and destiny are terribly important issues to get settled. To know who I am (and Whose I am) and what I am called to do is to find my place, to get my bearings, to gain a sense of orientation. In the psalms of orientation there are some matters of critical importance that are settled. One can get on with life because the large questions of human existence are settled. The God Who in grace has embraced us is the God Who upholds the world He has created and preserves it in its course and will finally realize His purposes of love, bringing all things to consummation. Is it important, thus, to believe and to live? Yes, without question. You will remember the opening scene of "Fiddler On The Roof." Tevye tells us that life is precarious; it is a delicate balancing act, like playing a fiddle on a peak of a sharply sloped roof. And, he asks, how do we keep our balance? He answers his own question - Tradition. And a great foundation stone of that Tradition would be Psalm 8 with its praise of God's majesty which grounds reality and gives meaning and dignity to human existence, holding out the promise of a final redemption. The story goes on to portray the three daughters who successively test the limits to greater and greater extent – finally to the breaking point. Yet, even the breaking of the traditions gives a definition of human existence because there was a settled order, a tradition against which one struggled. Three years ago I returned from the Netherlands where I had spent much time with my mentor, Professor Berkhof, who spoke of the near impossibility of communicating with the youth of the Netherlands who seemed so lost, so much adrift without any fixed and settled points on the compass of their lives. His comment was that one could not offer answers to their disorientation because they themselves did not even know the Question. And then he said something that struck me and I have shared with you. "The youth of this generation are not the prodigals; they are the children of the prodigals who left home but never returned." The prodigal had a memory of home. The prodigal knew somewhere there was a father, somewhere there was something called home. But those born and raised in the faithless wasteland of the Far Country do not even have a meaning of home. We are told of today's youth as being without orientation in our own country, as well. The reason often cited is the nuclear threat that hangs over our world. The scourge of drug trafficking is attributed to the meaningless malaise that seems to © Grand Valley State University �A Song of Serenity Richard A. Rhem Page 5   characterize the lives of so many. Our culture has in large measure lost its orientation. There are no longer those certainties that can simply be trusted. Life is without definition. How thankful we can be if we have been given the gift of trust in the good and gracious God Who created and Who preserves and Who will bring all things to consummation. That is an affirmation of faith. It cannot be proved by methods of scientific demonstration. It is gift. To have received such a gift is to cry out with the psalmist, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth! To have received such a gift is to have a place to stand, to sense a solid foundation from which one can get on with life. To have received such a gift is to have some matters settled, some issues put to rest. To have received such a gift is to be moved beyond anxiety, beyond fear. Let me underscore the blessing of such a gift: it speaks of the givenness of life, the world, the order of reality. There is no sense of peace about achieving the world or securing the world; no sense of super importance as though one is responsible for the survival of the world. As Bishop Quail heard God say in the midst of a sleepless, restless night: "You can go to sleep now, Bishop; I will stay up." What a wonderful gift it is so to trust. But, let me point to a serious error to avoid: That does not mean presumptive trust, nor irresponsibility as though we can simply "leave it all to God." He has given us dominion over the works of His hand. He has crowned us with glory and honor and called us to the responsible stewardship of nature and responsible engagement with the course of history. But with trust intact, we are free from paralyzing fear, free to plunge into life exercising our best gifts to further God's purpose in the assurance that finally all things are in His gracious hand. Finally, we must recognize that the Psalm is a song of serenity; it is the expression of calm and confident trust in the great tradition that is ours. But, tradition must never be allowed to degenerate into traditionalism. Jaroslav Pelikan has said that tradition is the living faith of the dead; but traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And if the Church has in its tradition a very great gift, it has often sinned by allowing that tradition to harden and to die. Failing to recognize that tradition is living and growing and needs always to be translated into contemporary idiom as it is brought into engagement with the present horizon, the Church has too often acted as though its faith were recorded in timeless statements that can never be interpreted anew. Then in a world like © Grand Valley State University �A Song of Serenity Richard A. Rhem Page 6   ours, with the explosion of knowledge, there is no light shed from the tradition on the new discoveries and insights of the present, and to believe becomes adherence to an anachronistic belief system, which no longer illumines human experience. We have too often offended here; we have lost the best and brightest. It is not only those who are offended intellectually. There are also those whose lives are not precisely marked by serenity, but rather by severity, whose lives are in disarray. There are those for whom there seems to be no symmetry, no harmony, no well-ordered cosmos. They, too, have a true insight. For many, there can be no easy orientation. The writer to the Hebrews knew that. Citing Psalm 8, "What is man ...," he concludes the citation with these words: Thou didst put all things in subjection beneath his feet. (2:8) But then goes on quickly to add, But in fact we do not yet see all things in subjection to man. And then he goes on, But we see Jesus… That author knew what some of you know. In this our Father's world there are still many things out of sync. There is yet much to be put in subjection before we exercise our royal rule in the created order of God. But we see Jesus - he lived, died, experienced the darkness of hell from which God raised him up, giving him a Name above every name! Therefore, even when I cannot find the light, I cling to Jesus; I live by hope; I appropriate already that which is promised but is not yet. And thus even in life's confusion I begin to hear the melody of a greater harmony and I know one day all Creation will resound with the song of serenity when all God's purposes are realized in heaven and on earth and He is everything to everyone. Reference: Walter Brueggemann. The Message of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VI Scripture Text Psalm 8:1 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Walter Brueggeman. The Message of the Psalms, 1984. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19870719 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-07-19 Title A name given to the resource A Song of Serenity Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 19, 1987 entitled "A Song of Serenity", on the occasion of Pentecost VI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 8:1. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Intention Psalms Stewardship Tradition Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec51ceb13909de604f352f43f12076e6.jpg 7c99c42cb0017076d38116d98c0708f6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS3089.T34 S86 1903 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0104 Title A name given to the resource A Summer in New York: A Love Story Told in Letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Decorative Designers (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of A Summer in New York: A Love Story Told in Letters, by Edward W. Townsend, published by Henry Holt and Company, 1903. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1903 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/34b4c698b32b782e9d03b9d6b6edbb4f.mp3 88b739fb3c2118126eec56d929ac8778 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Eastertide III Scripture Text II Corinthians 8:5 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19850428 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-04-28 Title A name given to the resource A Sure Sign of Grace Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 28, 1985 entitled "A Sure Sign of Grace", on the occasion of Eastertide III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 8:5. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/52ee3c38d495ed197141897eec888655.mp3 19ee68b9059a6fade397bf54a2573e0f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Maundy Thursday Scripture Text John 13:2, 20 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000420 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-04-20 Title A name given to the resource A Table of Inclusion Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 20, 2000 entitled "A Table of Inclusion", on the occasion of Maundy Thursday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 13:2, 20. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b6e0683efc2f3042f2b0ab3ded63e0fa.mp3 c335be7ea924a001846739a6f3e1120c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany II Scripture Text II Corinthians 12:9 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19910120 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-01-20 Title A name given to the resource A Tale of Epiphany, Pain and Grace Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 20, 1991 entitled "A Tale of Epiphany, Pain and Grace", on the occasion of Epiphany II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: II Corinthians 12:9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/89a765b4fa5daa2da2923097d60335f6.mp3 40ad615155dda5505c3292c2259d0cd2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bbab33b4cc660ed59040308921d81511.pdf 6cca075d535e0eaaf2b64bacc0e71737 PDF Text Text A Tale of Three Cities From the Advent Series: God in the Mirror of Christmas Micah 5:2-5a; Revelation 19:1-6; Matthew 2: 1-6, 16-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Advent II, December 9, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon Advent 2001 would be similar in some respects to Advent 1941, for we celebrated on Friday sixty years of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which would have been the crisis of the world at the time that Advent was celebrated in ‘41, and once again, our world is in crisis in this 2001 Advent season. It is a season in which we are particularly thoughtful about history, about the calendar of God, about where things are and whether or not there is something going on which is more than meets the eye. I remember a story told me by Bruce Thielman, who is a pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, a great pulpit historically, who had a great preacher of a former generation, Clarence McCartney. Bruce Thielman said he was rummaging around in the attic of old First Presbyterian, Pittsburgh, one day and he came across some sermons, including the sermon that McCartney preached on the 14th of December in 1941 and he said from reading the sermon there would have been not the slightest hint that the world was in crisis, which perhaps is a symbol of the oftentimes irrelevancy of the pulpit. Certainly in Advent we cannot escape contemplating the meaning of the events that have pressed in upon us because it is the theme of this season of the year when we particularly wonder about the course of human history and the engagement of God in that history. The Christian faith inherited that concern about history from the womb of Judaism from which it emerged, for the Hebrew prophets are credited with causing the world to think historically, to think in terms of beginning and process and consummation. The prophets lived by a dream. I don’t know what it was, call it the inspiration of the Spirit of God, call it the intuition of a particularly blessed people who were living as a very small and beleaguered people through most of their existence, but in any case, the Hebrew prophets had a magnificent dream of an alternative world. You remember that dream - of a world of human wellbeing, when the lion © Grand Valley State University   �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 2   and the lamb would lie down together and they would not hurt or destroy in all God’s holy mountain, that dream of shalom. The early Jesus Jewish movement, of course, were the children of that dream, that dream which was so powerful in its provision of hope for a people who had suffered so much and so long, and there were those in the early movement, the Jesus movement, who said certainly this one, Jesus, was the designate of God. He must be the anointed one of whom the prophets spoke. The Hebrew word for anointed is messiah, of course, and so they were saying this Jesus is the messiah. That so characterized, so marked Jesus, that he became known as Jesus Christ, but Christ is simply the Greek word for anointed. Jesus, the anointed, Jesus the messiah, Jesus the Christ - what the early Church was saying was that that one the prophets foresaw, that one who would come and bring justice and righteousness and peace to the earth, that one was none other than Jesus. And so, the Christian Church came into its future expectation honestly, out of the womb of its Hebrew mother. Then, of course, there was a surprise, for that anointed one was crucified. Who could have thought it? Who could have dreamed it? And yet, the crucified one they experienced alive in their midst, and they spoke of resurrection. And certainly, then, this time of Jesus’ absence from them would be a brief interim in which the good news could be proclaimed, and then certainly, soon, he would come again. The Book of Revelation from which I read a moment ago ends with, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” and he says, “Behold, I come quickly.” So, the early Church lived in that expectation of the imminent return of the one who had come. And the Church’s celebration of Advent historically has been a celebration of that expectation of the one who came, coming again, and Advent has been particularly the season in which we have thought about the movement of history and history’s culmination and history’s end events. And here we have reinterpreted that coming again, that second coming, so to speak, for we have come to acknowledge that an imminent return after 2000 years can hardly be compelling. Certainly that early interpretation of where the world was in the timeline of God erred, although understandably so. David Hartman, the rabbi from Jerusalem, has re-interpreted the prophets’ dream, as well, so that that shalom on earth, David Hartman says, is not necessarily some future time and place, but rather, the critique of every movement of history. Every human arrangement, every historical arrangement, every age, every epic, every moment comes under the judgment of that dream of shalom, and every human arrangement is shown to be inadequate compared to the intention of God according to the dream of the prophet. But, here we are in another Advent season, making our way toward Christmas. What I’d like to do today and for the next couple of weeks is to have us think about Christmas as a mirror that reflects the nature of God. What kind of a God is reflected in the mirror of Christmas? From what we know about the event, what © Grand Valley State University �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 3   kind of a God is revealed from the Christmas mystery? Think with me this morning about A Tale of Three Cities as we reflect on world history, its course, and perhaps its culmination. Three Cities: Rome, obviously, the seat of imperial power, a city still today magnificent as evidenced by its ruins. Rome, who ruled the world as the ancient world had never been ruled before, ruled by the most powerful empire that the world had known. The Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor. Imperial Rome, on top of the world, its empire stretched far and wide, and it held peoples and tribes in subjection. It was the occupying power at the time of the birth of Jesus. Luke tells us the story of Jesus in reference to Caesar Augustus, for it was Caesar Augustus who proclaimed an edict that all the world should be taxed, and that was the way by which Luke brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. But, here in this far out province, the lives of people are implicated by the decree of an imperial ruler who lives in Rome. Roman law, Roman order - it was a great civilization. There was much to commend it. It was, perhaps, the finest human arrangement in terms of government and rule and the ordering of society. Rome, famous for its law, famous for the magnificent civilization that arose under its aegis. Rome was an empire not without its own dreams and ideals. After Julius Caesar was assassinated, there ensued a fifteen-year civil war, a civil war which was bloody, indeed, but which culminated finally with Octavian coming to Rome in 29 before Christ as the sole ruler. Before that, the Roman poet, Virgil, had written in his Fourth Eclogue a tribute to Augustus, Caesar Augustus, who was one declared, on his birth, as a savior, as a son of God. In 1890, in Asia Minor in a little village, there was an inscription found, “To Augustus as the Son of God, the Savior of the World.” Virgil had dreamed about the birth of one who would bring the world peace, and the Roman world began its new year, subsequently, on the 23th of September, which was the birth of Octavian who became Caesar Augustus. So, the Roman calendar was gathered around the birth of this one who was purported to be son of God. He was the great nephew of Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar had been elevated to deity. This one was understood as son of God, and the word savior was applied to him. And so, in 29 before Christ, there is one on the seat of authority in the Roman empire, one who is understood as son of God, Savior, a bringer of peace and wholeness to the brokenness of the world. As I say, Rome, this gigantic empire, was not without its integrity, it was not without its idealism, it was not without its dream, and yet, it was the super power of the day and it was committed, above all, to the perpetuation of its preeminence and power. And so, when it came down to it, it may have a man of peace on the throne and, incidentally, the first official act of Caesar Augustus was to close the Temple of Janus, the double-faced god of war, and he dedicated a gigantic altar to peace, the Augustan Altar of Peace. So, again, it is not as though this people was without its ideal, its hope and its dream. It is not as though the Roman hierarchy © Grand Valley State University �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 4   did not understand that which was good for humankind. But, when push came to shove, it was the Roman legions that ruled, and by military might and the power of the sword, Rome enforced the Roman peace, the Pax Romana. That’s the irony, isn’t it? This powerful, powerful human institution with high ideals enforced by the power of the legion and the sword. I suppose you’re already suspecting that I might suggest that Rome’s situation in that ancient world 2000 years ago was not so different than our situation in our world in 2001. We, too, are the world’s one great super power, and we, too, are a people of a high idealism. There’s a kind of moralistic strain, even in our foreign policy. We are a people who engage in a military action and are more concerned, really, about humanitarian aid. All of the ambiguity of our present situation, eh? A mighty power with high ideals and humane concerns and yet, of course, if we would be honest, we, too, are a people like Rome whose hands are dirty, with alliances and coalitions with regimes who are oppressive of their own people, but good for our own preservation of power and preeminence. Oh, the world is a messy place, and the human story is full of such ambiguity. Here we are, the world’s great power, so reflective of Rome in the days of its glory, struggling, I suppose, with that tension between idealism and real politic, the rough and tumble of national, international affairs. Ah, 2001 - not so different than year one. And there was Jerusalem, of course, a bit of a different situation and yet, also so reflective of the human situation. There a man named Herod who was both Jewish and Edomite, so he had Jacob and Esau in his veins – there Herod got himself into the good graces of Rome and was appointed governor in 47 before Christ and in 40 before Christ became king, King Herod the Great. And he was great. We’re told the story of Herod having melted down his own personal gold in order to buy corn to feed people in time of famine. Another time of crisis, he remitted the taxes of the people. He was a builder; people came from the ancient world to examine the glories of Jerusalem, the building projects of Herod the Great. And Jerusalem was ruled well. There was the other side of Herod, though. He was a paranoid individual, ruthless and brutal. Herod had his wife Alexandra and her mother put to death. When he came to power in 40, when he was crowned king, he had the Sanhedrin slaughtered just to remove the old guard, so to speak. Another time, 300 court officials were slaughtered at one fell swoop. He had his own eldest son murdered, and two others of his sons were murdered. Caesar August said it would be better to be Herod’s pig than his son. And after his long, long rule, knowing that he had not endeared himself to the people, he retired to Jericho, knowing he was about to die, and he had the finest of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned so that when he died, they could be put to death, because he said, “When Herod dies, no one will cry. But, when Herod dies, tears will flow.” There’s a nice fellow for you. That was Herod the Great. © Grand Valley State University �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Jerusalem. And Herod is so representative of those who are in power, who worry about keeping power, for when the magi came, inquiring about the birth of a king because they had seen his star, Matthew tells us that Herod was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem was frightened with him. You see, when you have an established order and when you are on top, you have always to worry about maintaining that order and preserving your position and your pre-eminence. So, Herod, this brutal, paranoid ruler, when he realized that the magi had gone home another way, simply had all the children two years and under slaughtered. We call it the “Slaughter of the Innocents.” A brutal act for the preservation of power and the removal of any possible threat to his authority. And, of course, Jerusalem wasn’t only marked by that kind of civil king, but also entwined in the ruling establishment of Jerusalem was the Sadducean party, the high priestly party, and we know from the story of Jesus that when this prophet made his way and made his point, and proclaimed in the center of Jerusalem that which he believed to be reflective of the will of God for this people of God, it was the collaboration of the Herodian party and the Roman government, Pontius Pilate, that Jesus was killed. So, Jerusalem was that city, too, that knew in all of its dimensions that vying for earthly power, the political games that people play, the vying for position and the preserving of preeminence - that was Jerusalem in the days of the one who was born on Christmas. I read from the Revelation to give a sense of the biblical story, the outcome of that kind of power play, for the 19th chapter of Revelation is that from which comes the Hallelujah Chorus. But, when you read the 19th chapter, you have to be shaken just a bit because there is such vengeance in that chapter, and what is being celebrated? Well, it is the devastation and the ending of Rome, called Babylon, the great harlot, the great whore. Babylon, standing for Rome, represents in the biblical perspective that whole gamut of human arrangement that is set on power, and the enforcement of rule by force and military might, economic domination, all sorts of domination systems, and in the 19th chapter of Revelation, she is overthrown and the smoke rises and there is this hallelujah celebration. And there is this great affirmation, “The Lord God Almighty reigns.” You can understand, perhaps, the vengeance, because this people has suffered. It has suffered terribly at the hands of imperial power, and so they rejoice in the dream of that ultimate overthrow because the revelation of John is again in that biblical tradition that believes finally Almighty God will bring it out right. It is rather amazing to me, when I realize that that picture is in tension with the Christmas miracle, because that picture in Revelation is the kind of expression for that human desire for vengeance, and that human desire for God Almighty to take charge and to damn the darkness and to establish the righteous. And yet that’s not at all what I see in the Christmas miracle, because there is a third city – Bethlehem. © Grand Valley State University �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 6   Micah speaks of Bethlehem, “Least of the tribes of Judah.” Little Bethlehem, from you will come a ruler and he will be a shepherd to his people, be a man of peace. Now, you can feel it coming. This is the typical sermon cant. This is the naive preacher’s talk, because Rome will be overthrown and Jerusalem will be devastated, but the one who comes out of the poverty and the obscurity of Bethlehem will be established as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. And yet, that Christmas miracle reveals a God who comes out of the most unexpected place, and in the most unexpected way, a God who is embodied and reflected in a human face and, for God’s sake, as a child. But, do you see what I am trying to put before you? The paradox of the God reflected in the mirror of Christmas? The God reflected in the mirror of Christmas is not the God of Revelation’s almighty triumph. The God reflected in the Christmas mirror is a God of vulnerability, born as a child, become a man, crucified for God’s sake, crucified violently by the power structures, the human power structures of this world. The Christmas mirror reflects a God who is vulnerable, whose supreme revelation is in a human face and in the form of a child, because the revelation of Christmas at its heart is that human, historical arrangements will not finally prevail. They will prevail and prevail and persist and persist, but finally, they all come to nothing. And so, I talk naive preacher talk this morning, because we all know that finally, it is a power game. Finally, you can have humanitarian concerns, but the bottom line is still military might enforcing our will, preserving our position, and yet - Christmas is about a God who can be crucified, God embodied in a child. And you see, I am aware of how naive is this talk. But, remember – Rome fell. Because no matter how strong you are, no matter how many legions, no matter how many swords, there comes a point in the human story when you tire of trying to preserve a position of preeminence. There comes a time in the human story when people worry, weary of protecting themselves and projecting themselves. There comes a time when every great power finally fades, sometimes in devastating fashion. And in the meantime, people have been consumed with the power game, with the preservation of preeminence and the perpetuation of position. And so, dear friends, 2001. We have fought the totalitarianism of Fascism under Hitler’s regime and prevailed, we have outlasted the Communist experiment under the USSR and we have prevailed, and we are engaged now in a war which will not be won by military might. We know that, don’t we? And we are a people who are at the top of our game and we know no people has ever stayed there. And from that third city, Bethlehem, came one who was like a shepherd, who was a man of peace, and that really is what Christmas reveals about the nature of God. God is love. Love can be crucified. Love is vulnerable. Love is patient and kind. And love never fails. Every other strategy finally will fail. Christmas reveals the God who will prevail – because love never fails – but who is the opposite of all of our human domination systems. © Grand Valley State University �A Tale of Three Cities Richard A. Rhem Page 7   I’d like to have sent you out with a cozy little Christmas message this morning. Forgive me for that. But, there is enough for you to think about here to disrupt your whole Advent season. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Advent II Series God in the Mirror of Christmas Scripture Text Micah 5:2,3, Matthew 2:3, Revelation 19:2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20011209 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-12-09 Title A name given to the resource A Tale of Three Cities Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on December 9, 2001 entitled "A Tale of Three Cities", as part of the series "God in the Mirror of Christmas", on the occasion of Advent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Micah 5:2,3, Matthew 2:3, Revelation 19:2. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Advent Followers of Jesus Hebrew Prophets Love Nature of God Shalom https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a433f9bdde1b7008c1ed35310cadc702.jpg 8b35296ba11f625717b0d5f3de6934e4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS3501.D2152 T49 1904 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0422 Title A name given to the resource A Texas Matchmaker Description An account of the resource Binding of A Texas Matchmaker, by Andy Adams, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 1904. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1904 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/67450db648a60e2c64f7cdb5a81fa11e.pdf 6134a1e45b48a65c513371461ff0c784 PDF Text Text A Theological Conception of Reality as History Some Aspects of the Thinking of Wolfhart Pannenberg Article by Richard A. Rhem Minister of Preaching and Theological Inquiry Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Published in Reformed Review A Theological Journal of Western Theological Seminary 101 East 13th Street, Holland, Michigan Autumn, 1972 I. Pannenberg in the Context of Modern Theology In his essay entitled “Evangelical Theology in the Nineteenth Century” Karl Barth speaks with great respect of the daring with which the leading theologians of that period, which was so replete with magnificent achievements in the arts and sciences, wrestled with the challenges of the modern world. They displayed an openness to the world which ought always to characterize theology and they accounted themselves well, both as Christian men and as scholars. However, Barth points out, their strength was also their weakness in that they allowed this confrontation with contemporary culture to become their decisive and primary concern. This, he maintains, was the key problem of nineteenth-century Protestant theology. This general assumption of openness to the world led necessarily to the specific assumption that theology could defend its own cause only within the framework of a total view of man, the universe, and God; which would command universal recognition.1 One of the leading exponents of this point of view criticized by Barth was Ernst Troeltsch, although his work extended well into the first quarter of the twentieth century. Troeltsch was critical of the leading representatives of the liberal tradition also, but for precisely the opposite reason. Though he, himself, had much in common with the dominant Ritschlian school, he was nevertheless critical of the Schleiermacher-Ritschl-Herrmann line of development because, although they accepted fully the application and the results of the historicalcritical method in the investigation of Christian origins, they still maintained the © Grand Valley State University   �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 2   uniqueness of Jesus, rooting the redemption wrought by God through him in his person. For all their openness to the modern world and their conviction that theology must be restructured in the light of the modern world-view of the natural sciences, the epistemology of Kant, and the newly prestigious science of history, they nevertheless stubbornly maintained the necessity of the present experience of redemption being indissolvably related to Jesus of Nazareth. To Troeltsch this appeared to be a futile grasping after the last remains of dogmatic thinking which located absolute and definitive revelation in a particular historical phenomenon. He acknowledged that these theologians had broken with the old dogmatics of Protestant orthodoxy, but in the light of the development of historical thinking and the application of the historical method, he was convinced that they were holding an impossible position. They were resisting the pressure of consistent thinking by stopping short of admitting the relativity of each and every historical appearance. For Troeltsch the decisive fact was not the historical person of Jesus, but rather the idea which was concretized in him and from him has issued forth into history. Once launched, the idea or principle is independent of its initiator, its essence to be sought not in its initial embodiment but rather in the pluriformity of its historical configurations at any given stage in its development. In the Schleiermacher-Ritschl-Herrmann line of thought Troeltsch saw a mixing of types of theological method and consequently a failure to distinguish the person of Jesus from the principle he incarnated. He criticized the failure sharply to distinguish person and principle, personality and idea, and likewise the contention that the historical person and a personal relationship to him were essential to saving faith in God. He saw this position rooted in the later churchly Schleiermacher and being strongly advocated in his day by Ritschl and Herrmann.2 In Troeltsch’s view the very historical-critical approach to Christian origins, especially to Jesus himself, undercut any attempt to salvage from the uniformity of history a final and absolute revelation of God. This was clearly demonstrated, Troeltsch maintained, by the fact that the History of Religions school, of which he claimed to be the dogmatician, had itself sprung from the Ritschlian school, differing only in the greater consistency with which it pursued the consequences of the very methods accepted by Ritschl, himself. Thus Troeltsch was convinced that the theology of the future would have to purge away these last vestiges of the old dogmatic approach and carry through more rigorously the requirements of the historical-critical method which draws all historical phenomena, Jesus of Nazareth not excepted, into the movement of historical process, allowing for no absolute uniqueness in the midst of the relative. Paradoxical as it may appear, Karl Barth quite agreed with Troeltsch—agreed, that is, that to subject Jesus to historical-critical research behind the witness of the New Testament is to bring him down to where he is one historical person among others, one in whom there cannot possibly be found the final and definitive revelation of God. Of course, agreement with Troeltsch, that having followed the path they did, the great nineteenth-century theologians could not © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 3   consistently stop halfway, does not imply that Barth advocates with Troeltsch that their successors should draw the logical conclusion, as Troeltsch counseled. On the contrary, Barth examines the Schleiermacher-Ritschl-Herrmann Theology and discovers their fatal error, not in their failure to follow consistently the course on which they embarked, but rather in the course they chose to follow in the first place. It was not their decision to grant recognition to the use of the historical-critical method and then failure to draw the conclusions to which it led. Rather it was their understanding of religion as an innate potential of the human spirit and their failure to see that, defined in such terms, the Christian faith was not being spoken of at all. If Christianity was a phenomenon of the religious capacity of man, then it was one religion among others and could be understood only as Troeltsch maintained, by a comparative historical study. In such an instance there could be no talk of an absolute and definitive revelatory significance or meaning in history. If one started where Troeltsch started, Barth maintained, one would end where Troeltsch ended. But then, according to Barth, we have to do not with the religion of revelation, but with the revelation of religion3 and the application of the historical-critical method will discover in Jesus no more than a man among other men and in Christianity no more than a religion among other religions. The History of Religions school is only the logical outcome of a theology that speaks of the believing man rather than of the revealing God. Theology which takes itself seriously can speak only from the revelation of God who has grasped it, paying homage to no world-view, be it ancient or modern, no philosophical system or no anthropological analysis of the religious capacity of man. Theology must speak from out of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Thus Barth completely repudiated the counsel of Troeltsch and pursued the dogmatic method, reducing historical-critical research to a secondary, helpingrole in the explication of the biblical witness to Jesus Christ. One of the young theologians in the 1920’s who joined with Barth in his revolt from the theology of the nineteenth century was Rudolf Bultmann. He too recognized the poverty of Liberalism and its failure to give centrality to the decisive redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ. He criticized Liberalism for reducing Christianity to a system of timeless and eternal truths and the History of Religions school for reducing Christ to a cultic symbol.4 However, what for Barth was a secondary matter became for him the central concern, namely the hermeneutical problem. Granting that Christian theology must start from the Word of God, Bultmann could never emphasize too strongly that revelation must be understandable to man. This man he found most adequately defined by the analysis of existentialist philosophy as set forth by the early Heidegger. While he, himself, was unexcelled in the application of the historical-critical method, Bultmann denied that the results of such research were of any consequence for faith, faith which was not belief in factual information about Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection but rather obedience to the kerygmatic Word in the present moment calling men to a new self-understanding. Bultmann the historian and © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Bultman the theologian never met; for apart from the fact that Jesus appeared faith has no relation to history. Great differences separate Troeltsch, Barth, and Bultman from one another. Troeltsch sees no alternative to pursuing the historical method in the analysis of the phenomenon of religion. Barth rejects the idea that the Christian faith is first of all a religion and he pursues the dogmatic method, judging all religion by the norm and criterion of Jesus Christ. Bultmann interprets the Christian faith within the possibilities afforded by an Existentialist analysis of man. Interestingly enough, however, there is one point on which they all seem in agreement; that is the understanding of the nature of history and the principles of historiography. For Troeltsch, history and the methods by which it is investigated rule out in advance any final and definitive revelation of God in history. The early Barth agreed and moved revelation to the frontier of time and eternity. Later he brought revelation back into history, defining history from the perspective of Jesus Christ but at the same time he continued to recognize the validity of historical science as defined by Troeltsch maintaining that it had no competency to deal with God’s revelatory action in history. Bultmann as a practicing historian followed the historical-critical method as defined by Troeltsch and, because he saw history as the realm of the relative and transient, he removed revelation from the sphere of history to the realm of human existence. All three agreed that history and historical science are what the great historians of the nineteenth century said they are and all three agreed that, that being the case, there was no trace of God’s revelatory action discoverable in history by the historian. In the last decade this whole conception of history and accompanying historiography has been called into question by the German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg. German theology has often been characterized by drastic swings of the pendulum and, as Pannenberg’s early writings appeared, it seemed that once again the pendulum was swinging from the theology of the word which has dominated the twentieth century in its various forms to a theology of history. As Pannenberg has continued to address himself to the problems of revelation, history, and theological method, however, it is evident that we have to do here with more than simply a reaction to the one-sided emphasis of dialectical theology, a reaction in its turn as one-sided on the other side of the issue. Much rather, Pannenberg has sought to do justice to the valid insights of those who have preceded him. Specifically, he acknowledges the valid insight of Troeltsch that Christianity cannot be arbitrarily isolated from the rest of man’s religious experience, but much rather can be understood only in relationship to the whole of the history of religions. However, with Barth and Bultmann, over against Troeltsch, he speaks of the priority of revelation in terms of which the respective religious experience of man is to be judged, rather than seeing religious experience as the expression of an innate potentiality within man. With Troeltsch, over against Barth and Bultmann, Pannenberg sees the necessity of relating the Christian faith to the whole of reality. But over against Troeltsch, © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 5   he does not interpret Christianity in subjection to the prevailing worldview of modern man, but rather interprets the whole of reality theologically, submitting his argumentation before the bar of human judgement, being convinced that a Christian interpretation of the whole of reality is more rational than any other. With Troeltsch and against Barth and Bultman, Pannenberg insists that the claim of a revelation in history must be historically perceptible by means of historicalcritical research. The central revelatory event, the resurrection, serves as the model for his understanding of the relation of historical reason and revelation. But against Troeltsch, he affirms the historical verifiability of such revelatory action. In short, Pannenberg pursues the historical method as advocated by Troeltsch but, rather than ending with the loss of a final and definite revelation of God in history, he proclaims with Barth and Bultmann the finality of Jesus Christ in the definitive self-revelation of God. How is this possible? The answer lies in the fact that precisely where Troeltsch, Barth, and Bultmann were one, Pannenberg parts from all three; that is at the point of the understanding of the nature of history and the principles by which the past is known. Troeltsch gave definitive statement to the understanding of nineteenth century historiography. Barth and Bultmann recognized that in those terms the final revelation of God could not be posited within history and, rather than subjecting the understanding of history to a thorough critique, they removed revelation from the competency of the historical-critical method (Barth) and from the arena of history itself (Bultmann). By a critique of Troeltsch’s understanding of history and the principles of historiography Pannenberg attempts to do justice to Troeltsch’s demand to pursue the historical method while leaving room for a definitive revelation of God in history which Barth and Bultmann in their respective manners recognized as essential to the Christian tradition. Thus, in a sense, by tracing the understanding of revelation, history, and theological method in these four thinkers, we come full circle but, through Pannenberg’s critique of Troeltsch, the whole perspective is turned around and, rather than understanding Jesus in terms of the modern worldview of reality, reality is understood from the perspective of Jesus, the end of history, who has appeared proleptically in the midst of history. II. The Universality of Systemic Theology The theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg is characterized by a tension which, in his view, is given with the task of systematic theology itself.5 Systematic theology always resides in a tension between the two poles of the subject matter with which it has to do. On the one hand, there is the Christian tradition itself for which it is responsible, specifically, the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as witnessed to in the Scriptures. On the other hand, Systematic theology must be concerned with all truth in general as represented in its various facets by all nontheological disciplines. Systematic theology cannot, as is the case in other © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 6   disciplines, devote itself exclusively to the investigation of its special subject matter, for inherent in its task is a universality which impels it to take up the question of truth per se. This universality follows inevitably from the fact that theology purports to speak of God. “One uses the word God meaningfully only when one intends thereby the Power determining everything that is.”6 To speak thus of God as the author of all reality brings with it the intellectual obligation to relate all truth to the God of the Bible and then to understand it anew from him. Pannenberg acknowledges that the theological task thus conceived may appear presumptuous. Yet, to the extent that the theologian is conscious of what he is doing when he speaks of God, he has no alternative. Pannenberg acknowledges further that the task can never be consummated once for all. But if this responsibility appears as an almost unbearable burden, it likewise constitutes the peculiar dignity of theology, especially in an intellectual situation which is characterized by fragmentation as a result of the present high degree of specialization, for it falls to theology to seek truth in its unity. Such a conception of the task of systematic theology is by no means generally accepted. Particularly in the last hundred years theology has been conceived rather as an independent science alongside of the other sciences with its own special subject matter, the revelation of God in Jesus Christ witnessed to in the Scriptures. Pannenberg counters, however, that the revelation of God is only really conceived of as the revelation of God when it is understood in relation to all truth and knowledge and when all truth is integrated into it. Only thus is it possible to speak of the biblical revelation as the revelation of the God who is the creator and perfecter of all things. Since Harnack’s famous characterization of the apologist’s assimilation of the Greek philosophical quest for the true structure of the divine into the Christian tradition as the “hellenization” of the gospel, that endeavor has been generally judged in a negative light. Pannenberg, however, rejects that negative judgement. While he grants that the apologists were not, in fact, successful in carrying through the assimilation in all respects, he disputes the idea that their efforts resulted in a complete capitulation to the philosophical quest. But apart from the degree to which the early church fathers were successful or unsuccessful in what they undertook to do, the real issue, as far as Pannenberg is concerned, is the fact that they undertook the task of offering the Christian gospel as the answer to the Greek philosophical quest. This undertaking is generally recognized as having been inevitable in that the Hellenistic world into which the gospel came was dominated by the Greek philosophical conception of God. Thus, in spite of the disastrous mingling of the Christian message with Greek metaphysics, there was no alternative. But such a view, Pannenberg insists, misses the primary point, which is that the Christian message itself necessitated the encounter with the Greek philosophical quest. He contends: © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 7   The discussion with the philosophical question of the true form of the Divine was, indeed, occasioned by the encounter with the Hellenistic Thought-world, but it was also inwardly rooted in the biblical witness of God as the universal God, responsible not only for Israel, but for all people. In the claim of the God of Israel to be the God, alone having jurisdiction over all men, it was, therefore, theologically rooted that the Christian faith had to enter into the philosophical question of the true nature of God and until today must give an answer to it.7 The ancient church fathers as well as the authors of the great scholastic summas understood the universality of theology, the responsibility that rests upon him who would speak of God. That modern theology has not so conceived of its task can be traced to Albrecht Ritschl’s attempt to carve out for theology its own sphere, the sphere of religious experience, rejecting all metaphysical elements of the Christian tradition in the face of the critique rendered by Positivism. Liberal Protestantism passed this heritage along to Dialectical Theology which had reacted so strongly against it. Pannenberg observes that Barth’s struggle against every vestige of natural theology is really in many respects an extension and radicalization of Ritschl’s idea of an independent theology with its own special theme.8 If we would discover where theology lost its universality, however, we must go back much further. Evangelical theology has never had a universal character since it inherited the Scripture-positivism which has been its hallmark from the doctrine of Scripture formulated in the late Middle Ages in, for example, the School of Occam. It has been axiomatic in the Protestant tradition that the theological task consists in the exegesis of Scripture. Thus to find the root of the loss of universality we must go back into Scholasticism, specifically to the thirteenth century and Thomas’ careful demarcation of two spheres of knowledge, natural and supernatural. Pannenberg recognizes the exigencies under which this bifurcation took place. Aristotelian philosophy prevailed, being generally acknowledged as the embodiment of all “natural” thought. If one would hold to the truth of the Christian tradition, one could do so only by setting it alongside the summation of “natural” truth as unfolded in Aristotelianism. Aristotelian philosophy represented that truth which could be discovered by man’s natural faculties; the Christian faith represented that truth which could only be bestowed by revelation. Neither Aristotelian philosophy nor the Christian tradition was intended for this kind of reciprocal supplementation, according to Pannenberg, but he asserts: It would seem much rather to have been the expression of a compromise of theology with the intellectual power of Aristotelianism. In this compromise lie the historical roots of the last of the universality of theology.9 © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 8   For Thomas, who was responsible for the consummate expression of the naturalsupernatural division of the spheres of knowledge, the two spheres were carefully coordinated into a systematic whole. In the course of time, however, the structure fell apart rendering the sphere of natural knowledge independent of any reference to the truth of revelation, the consequence of which was increasingly to render “supernatural” knowledge superfluous for a knowledge of the world and to make of theology a positivistic science of Scripture. Such a state of affairs hardly accords with Paul’s struggle to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (II Cor. 10:5) and, with the unparalleled explosion of knowledge in the modern period in the wake of the development of the scientific method, the division of spheres of knowledge formulated by Thomas has resulted in an almost unbridgeable gulf. The task of understanding the whole of reality in its unity from the perspective of its author, the God of creation, is formidable indeed, and yet unless it is undertaken, the universality of theology will never be realized and theology, as an independent science with its own special theme, the exegesis of Scripture, will fade increasingly into the background of man’s pursuit of truth. Concentration of its own special theme has about it a pious sound and it makes for a comfortable co-existence of theology with the other sciences. It can only signify, however, the utter failure of theology to carry out its peculiar intellectual responsibility which is to take in claim all truth as witness to the one true God as the author of reality and, in turn, to understand all truth anew from him. Where does one begin? How can such an overwhelming task be undertaken? It is Pannenberg’s conviction that the conception of theology as an independent science alongside others with its own special subject matter must be rejected and that its universal character must be recognized by its addressing itself to the second pole of its dual concern, namely, to the questions which concern man in his experience of reality in the present cultural situation. Only by seeking the truth per se can theology do justice to its special subject matter, the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as witnessed to in the Scriptures; for in that it purports to speak of God, it purports to speak of the Power determining all reality. Implicit in the responsibility of speaking of the Power determining all reality is the necessity of thoroughly grasping how modern man experiences reality, for only by speaking of the Power determining reality as it is presently experienced can theology speak convincingly. It is, therefore, incumbent upon theology to speak of God in terms of the present experience of reality. Thus the most general question which theology must answer is how one can speak of God in the present cultural situation. Only by determining this can theology once again undertake to exercise its universal function. III. Revelation As History Pannenberg’s unique contribution to contemporary theological discussion has had to do primarily not with the content of revelation so much as the mode of its occurrence. Stated theologically the question has been, How does God manifest himself to man? Stated anthropologically it is the question of how man perceives © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page 9   that self-revelation. The theological question has issued in the debate as to whether God reveals himself directly or immediately through his word, that is, through an act of speaking the content of which is God himself, whether he himself speaks, or another speaks in his name; or whether God reveals himself indirectly or mediately through his activity, his activity being conceived not in terms of a series of special acts next to other events explainable as “natural” as opposed to “supernatural” but rather his continuous dynamic relationship to the whole of reality as its Creator, transcendent Ground, and Destiny. In oversimplified terms, it is a question of whether God “speaks” to man directly, thus making known his essence to man, or whether God’s essence can be known only indirectly from what he does. Obviously, when stated thus “word” and “act” are placed in a falsely antithetical relationship and a biblical theology will rather understand them in a positive relationship with the priority given to word or act depending on the point of view of the biblical writer. Nonetheless, setting the question up in terms of the two poles, word and act, is helpful in identifying the problem. If we approach the problem from the anthropological side, that is, if we ask how the revelation of God is perceived by man, then we are asking whether God in his self-manifestation can be known by man through the exercise of his rational faculties or whether God can be known only through the means of some suprarational faculty however that may be understood. Essentially this is a question of whether God in his self-manifestation can be perceived by reason or whether he can only be perceived by faith. It should be underlined here that this is not a question of whether man by his own rational faculties can discover God or whether God must make himself known to man. If the question we are asking is misunderstood in this way—a not uncommon misunderstanding—the real issue will be missed. The point rather is: Granted that God can be known by man only through his self-disclosure, is that self-disclosure rationally perceptible or only supra-rationally perceptible. Again, it is not a question of whether the content of God's revelation is rational or supra-rational. It is possible to hold, as does Karl Barth, that the self-revelation of God is highly rational and yet deny that man through the exercise of his rational faculties can discover that revelation apart from an illuminating act of the Holy Spirit which can be described only as a miracle. For Barth, to be more accurate, revelation is never “there” to be perceived, but rather it “occurs” in the illuminating act of the Holy Spirit, although once it is given it is rationally comprehensible. From this it should be evident that of the two questions, or rather the two aspects of the one question concerning the revelation of God, the most basic question is not whether God reveals himself through word or event but whether man as a rational creature is able through the exercise of his rational faculties to comprehend the revelation of God. Whether that revelation takes the form of spoken word or historical event is to be determined subsequently. The primary © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page10   division of opinion will occur on the anthropological or epistemological question as to whether man as man can perceive the revelation of God. This point is illustrated by the fact that, for example, Bultmann and Cullmann represent two radically different positions in regard to the question of where God reveals himself, in word or event. However, in spite of their differences on the mode of revelation, they both agree in their own way that man comes into the possession of knowledge of God through an illuminating act of the Holy Spirit and not through the exercise of his reason over against the “proclaimed word” (Bultmann) or the “acts of God” (Cullmann). On this question Kerygmatic Theology and Heilsgeschichtliche Theology are in agreement. With regard to the first question as to how God reveals himself, whether through word or event or in combination of the two, we have an inter-theological debate. With regard to the second question, as to how man perceives the revelation of God, we are dealing with a matter that has wide-ranging implications for the whole sphere of human knowledge, depending on how we answer the question. If we answer it as do Barth, Bultmann, or Cullmann, to name only three representative figures, holding that man as man, by the exercise of his rational faculties can never achieve a knowledge of God apart from a supplementary illuminating act of the Holy Spirit, then, to employ Kantian terms, we remove theology as an independent science, into the realm of practical reason; or, in Ritschl's terms, we make theological statements as value-judgments; or, in Existentialist terms, we make theological truth equivalent to the truth of expression of the existing individual. If, on the contrary, we hold that although man by his own creative reason could never discover the knowledge of God, yet, given the fact that God has revealed himself and that man as man can achieve the knowledge of God so revealed, then we place theology squarely in the center of human knowledge wherein it will be obliged to demonstrate the revelation of God before the court of human judgment in terms of the generally accepted canons of rationality. For if the theologian is convinced that God is and that he has disclosed himself, and, further, that that revelation is available to rational reflection, he will not be content simply to affirm his conviction, nor will he be able to appeal to some sort of esoteric experience wherein his knowledge was ascertained, but he will find it incumbent upon himself to support the truth of his knowledge of God through rational argumentation. The case as stated here is intentionally stated in the sharpest possible contrasts in order most clearly to isolate the central problem we wish to discuss in our critique. It is our conviction that only in such a posing of the problem does the real significance and urgent importance of Pannenberg’s theology become evident. We have sketched in brief outline the crisis which developed in evangelical theology with the loss of the authority of Scripture. We have seen that that authority was undermined through the rise of historical thinking although, paradoxically, historical thinking itself and consequent secularism are in part fruits of the Christian tradition. Protestant theology over the last century and a half can best be understood as an attempt to come to terms with historical © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page11   thinking, but to the present no satisfactory solution has been found. We concentrated particularly on the attempt of Dialectical Theology as formulated respectively by Barth and Bultmann to disengage the revelation of God from the sphere of history thus removing theology from the lordship of historical thinking. More and more, however, it has become clear that the creation of a special sphere of theological truth inaccessible to the judgment of reason is selfdefeating, leaving theology in the position of affirming an existential truth (Bultmann) or a revelational truth (Barth) neither of which can claim generally binding power. Theological truth is reduced to private truth. We have attempted in our exposition of Barth and Bultmann not only to understand what they were saying, but why they were saying it. If we come to conclusions differing from theirs this is not because we have seen the problem more clearly than they saw it, but rather because we view it in a changed climate of opinion, changed at least in part through the genius of their labors. We are convinced that it is possible today in a climate of opinion radically different than that which prevailed in the opening decades of our century, to affirm the universality of theology. We are further convinced that in the systematic theology of Pannenberg we have the most adequate and most comprehensive attempt yet made to integrate the true insights of post-Enlightenment or modern thought into a theological understanding of reality. In the theology of Pannenberg we have the revolutionary truth of historical thinking, which is the hallmark of modern thought, incorporated into a conception of the Christian tradition which at the same time maintains the essence of the latter. We have seen both in our introductory discussion of the rise of historical thinking and in our exposition of Pannenberg’s theology that western thought shows widespread agreement on the fact that the whole of reality must be conceived as history, as dynamic process in contrast to the cosmological thinking of Greek philosophy which conceived Being as static. It was the greatness of Ernst Troeltsch that he recognized the fundamental revolution in human thinking which historical thinking occasioned. He was convinced that historical thinking was incommensurable with the Christian theological tradition because that tradition was formulated in terms of Greek metaphysical conceptually which had been undercut by post-Enlightenment thought. He was so certain that historical thinking was irreversible that he felt compelled to re-formulate the Christian faith in accommodation to it. In so doing he gave up the idea of a final, definitive revelation of God in the course of history, specifically in the history of Jesus. Troeltsch’s conception of the nature of history and his formulation of historiographical principles was so much the consummate expression of the prevaling intellectual climate that for a considerable period they were viewed as axiomatic. This was the climate of opinion when the young theologians who were to be grouped together as constituting the dialectical movement came on the scene. They were not prepared to challenge Troeltsch’s conception of the nature of history nor his formulation of the principle of the historical-critical method. Of one thing, however, they were certain: in such a view of history and © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page12   historiography there was no room for the definitive revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore, being convinced that they must speak of God in his deity, his sovereignty, and his freedom in his revelation, they removed that revelation from the history whose nature Troeltsch described and from the access of the historical-critical method whose principles Troeltsch formulated. We noted above the self-defeating consequence of the removal of revelation from history. Theology pursued as an independent science becomes a matter of private truth. The widespread questioning, particularly of the position of Bultmann by his own eminent students, is an indication of the dissatisfaction felt with his handling of the problem of revelation and history, and, while Barth has indeed moved the occurrence of revelation back into the sphere of history, his existence, the subjectivity of truth, the openness and contingency of the historical process, reality itself as historical process—into a theological conception of history which finds in Jesus the definitive revelation of God, that we have contended that Pannenberg’s theology is the most adequate formulation of the truth of historical thinking and the Christian tradition yet attempted. His theological conception of history is not simply a rejection of and reaction against the prevailing dialectical theology as that theology had been over against the nineteenth century Protestant Liberalism and the historicism of Troeltsch. While Pannenberg rejects the authoritarianism and revelational positivism of dialectical theology, he nevertheless is concerned to preserve the essence of what that theology was saying, namely, that God in his sovereign freedom has disclosed himself in Jesus Christ. He recognizes the justification of dialectical theology’s reaction against Troeltsch’s historicism and he too is critical of Troeltsch. However he is equally aware that Troeltsch had a grasp of something which theology simply cannot bypass, the recognition of the revolutionary nature of historical thinking whose truth must be incorporated into the Christian tradition. In Pannenberg’s theological conception of history there is a meeting of the best insights of Troeltsch with the best insights of the theology of the Word, and the result is a significant advance, a breakthrough in theological understanding. IV. Dogmatic Theses Drawn From Pannenberg’s Thinking Thesis I: Utilizing the best insights of twentieth century historical science, Pannenberg has presented a valid critique of both Troeltsch’s understanding of the nature of history and his formulation of the principles of historiography thus creating the possibility of a theological conception of history and asserting once again theology’s universal function. It is characteristic of Pannenberg’s theology that he speaks of God in relation to the whole of reality. In so doing he seeks to integrate the best insights of the respective disciplines into a theonomous conception of reality. It is equally characteristic of his procedure, however, that he claims no privileged perspective as a Christian theologian when discussing, for instance, the anthropological structure of human existence or the nature of history. When discussing historical- © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page13   critical thinking he does not begin with some theological requirement to be forced on the historian, but rather listens to how the historians themselves understand their subject. How do they understand the nature of history? How do they conceive of the task of the historian? How do they justify the historiographical principles with which they carry out their investigation? His own critique of the science of history is then an immanent critique. Given an understanding of history as advocated by Collingwood, for example, principles of historiography as formulated under the impact of positivism must be modified. This is but one illustration of his method throughout. Only after he has determined what the leading thinkers in the various disciplines themselves have to say about the nature of their subject and their methodological principles does Pannenberg begin his theological reflection on that subject matter. He claims that if he is seriously to speak of God, which as a theologian he must do, then he cannot allow the historian’s truth to stand in isolation as simply the truth about history. Rather, if God is God then the historian’s truth which he has discovered by means of investigation and reflection must be relatable to the one unifying ground of truth, namely, God. What he does argue in this dialogue with the various disciplines of science is that, given their own self-understanding, the reality with which they have to do is more adequately explained on the presupposition of God than without him. To use history again as an example, Pannenberg cites several leading historians of the past and present to the effect that concrete historical research of a limited historical period always presupposes a wider context which ultimately presupposes some sort of universal-historical conception. But, he argues, such a conception of the total course of events is unavailable, as the historians too are vividly aware. Any universal-historical scheme which denies the contingency of events and the openness of the future contradicts our understanding of history. This was the fatal weakness of Hegel’s scheme, and since Hegel historians have eschewed every all-encompassing system. However, Pannnberg points out, the contemporary historian is in a dilemma: on the basis of his understanding of his work, universal history must be thought, but on the basis of his understanding of the nature of history such a conception cannot be thought. In other words, by means of this immanent critique of historical science Pannenberg points to an inner contradiction. Then, taking a cue from Collingwood, he asks what are the prerequisites for a model of history if its unity as well as its contingency must both find place? He concludes that such a conception is possible only if we conceive of a ground of history which is both the source of the contingency of its events as well the basis of its unity. Can such a ground be found within history itself? Pannenberg attempts to discover such, but concludes that there is no possible ground within history which can meet the requirements of the model. Therefore, he concludes, on the basis of the requirements of historical research and the nature of history, both as understood by the historian, a transcendent ground which bears the whole of reality as history must be presupposed. But, the objection may be raised, did not Hegel presuppose just such a ground, the Absolute, and did not his system fall in ruins before the recognition of the © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page14   openness of the future? Quite true, Pannenberg responds, and the objection to Hegel was completely justified. However, in rejecting Hegel’s grounding of the historical process on a transcendent Power, subsequent philosophy of history lost the only possibility of establishing the unity of history required for historical science. Hegel was not wrong in establishing history on a transcendent ground, but only in his conception of that Absolute coming to self-realization in his own philosophy. What is required is a transcendent ground, which not only establishes the unity of history but also is its future, its End. But how can such a Power be conceived, for the End has not yet arrived? We are back at the same point apparently. Now, however, Pannenberg offers a model which meets the requirements: the proleptic appearance of the End of history in the midst of history. If the End has already appeared, albeit provisionally, then the whole of history can be anticipated. Yet if the End has appeared proleptically, then obviously the process of history is still under way and the future is still open. Where did Pannenberg come up with such a model? Not out of the blue, of course. It is a model suggested by the eschatological character of the Christ-event. The model itself proves nothing. It can only be verified by determining if it explains the facts and, indeed, it must be subjected to a double test: is it an adequate explanation of the Christ-event and is it an adequate explanation of reality as history. In the case of the first test we are in the area of biblical theology; in the case of the second we are still dealing with history as the historian understands it. We limit ourselves here only to the latter case. The question is: does the model of history as process moving toward a still outstanding End within which, however, the End has already provisionally occurred meet the requirements of the historian’s conception both of his work and his subject matter? It would seem to meet these requirements. The next step would be to pursue concrete historical investigation in the framework of this model. Only then can it be determined if the model is, in fact, a true conception of reality as history. Here there are two criteria: positively, the model will be verified if it is able to effect the most adequate explanation of the data encountered in historical research; negatively, the model will be confirmed if known data remains unexplainable without the model. This verification process will be carried out by the historian using the best scientific techniques at his disposal. The phenomena presented to him are not perceived with any sort of “eye of faith,” nor must he operate with some sort of supernatural conception of God. In short, no special pleading is involved in his phenomenological research. Is this model the only possible model? Not necessarily. At least that cannot be presupposed. Anyone is free to propose a model as long as it fits the requirements of historical science’s own self-understanding. Should such a “competitive” model be presupposed, then it in turn must be judged on the basis of the criteria cited above. The conception of models can be various but they must all be subjected to the criterion of truth, that is, they must be tested as to their adequacy in © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page15   explaining available data and the impossibility of explaining data without them. In such a process of testing the model which corresponds to reality as presently comprehended will emerge. Only through such a procedure is it still possible to speak of truth. Further, should the model constructed in the light of the eschatological understanding of the Christ-event prove true, it would, at the same time, be a verification of the Christian conception of reality. The point we must make here is that Pannenberg has proposed a theological conception of reality not because, being a theologian, he automatically begins at this point. Whether he does or not is not the point. We may even grant that the model he constructs is suggested by his own orientation in the Christian tradition. This still does not detract from the general validity of his procedure. His theological perspective imposed on the historian neither his historiographical principles nor his conception of the nature of history. He allowed the historian himself to dictate the terms. Given those terms, he argued that those terms require some such model as he proposed. Still he makes no extrinsic demand on the historian. He simply asks him to test the model, working as a historian. Whether this model meets the criteria of truth or not is not in any sense dependent on a position of faith or theological position. The results are submitted to the bar of generally valid canons of rationality. But, someone objects, does this not subject the truth of the Christian faith to the judgment of human rationality? The answer is yes. There can be no sidestepping that test. There is no sheltered cove within which the Christian tradition can practice its faith. Either it is true and commends itself as such to human rationality or it must give up its claim to truth and be content to exercise itself as a private affair. This is not to say that man comprehends the depths of the mystery of the Deity or the secrets of the whole of reality. It does mean to affirm, however, that if God has revealed himself to man in the midst of history, then that revelation must be comprehensible to man. If God only makes himself known “vertically from above,” by miracle, through some supernatural illumination of the Holy Spirit, by means of some esoteric gnosis, why bother about a revelation in history. If revelation is punctilear, why the horizontal line or point on the plane of history? If revelation occurs only here and now, then why does it need a “dass” in history? As an anchor to guard it from myth? But why not myth? Because the Christian faith claims to be historical, not mythical? But why be concerned about the Christian faith unless it is true? And if it is true then revelation has occurred in history, so why all the strenuous efforts to deny that it is “there?” Bultmann admitted that he must come to terms with modern thought and so when he operates with a conception of history as defined by the positivist and then goes on to carve out a place for the Christian faith in the realm of existence we must admit that he is at least consistent. But what shall we say of Barth? He faults Bultmann for allowing modern thought to dominate. Barth rejects the idea. But what has he done? The very same thing! Barth’s whole amazing theological © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page16   endeavor can well be understood as an affirmation of the truth of the Christian faith in the face of positivistic thinking in which there was no room for it. But the paradox of the matter is that the very Achilles’ heel of his whole position is his contradictory statements about the historicity of revelation and the inaccessibility of that revelation to historical-critical research. The charge of revelational positivism is not unjustified. Is it not that he who denied the sovereignty of modern thought constructed his own theology as if positivistic historiography were indeed sovereign? Not exactly. Barth’s theology shatters all positivistic historiography as far as the whole of reality is concerned. But he left it intact as far as the historical process is concerned. He allowed Troeltsch the final word as far as historical science was concerned, thus conceiving the historical process as a self-contained entity set over against God. Historical science is competent to deal with the one-dimensional reality of history but theology speaks of the One who encounters the man who lives in that one-dimensional reality, and consequently historical science is not competent to deal with the intercourse of man and God. Pannenberg’s superiority must be recognized in two directions. Over against Troeltsch he says that the historical-critical method, to be sure, has an anthropocentric element inherent within it, but to that anthropocentric methodological element you have wedded an anthropocentric worldview, which not only is not intrinsic to the method but even hinders its effectiveness. Your anthropocentric worldview precludes any consideration of a transcendent reality and consequently contradicts the very requirements of historical research itself. Furthermore your conception of the principle of analogy which is a valuable tool for gaining knowledge is posited on the postulate of the universal similarity of all historical phenomena, thus again denying the insight of history itself that events are contingent and that history is the place of the arrival of the new, the unique, the unforeseen. The principle of analogy is not wrong but the application is. Rather than using it to determine the similarities of the respective phenomena, use it to delineate their differences, their uniqueness. Furthermore your principle of development denies the contingency of events and the genuine openness of the future. Your model of history as a self-contained, unfolding entity beyond which hovers the absolute, known only relatively within the course of development is an inadequate model in the light of historical science itself. At this point Pannenberg addresses Barth and argues that it is not Barth’s conception of history as encounter that is wrong but only his submission to positivistic historiography as being the legitimate conception of historical science. By his divorce of historical science from revelational history, Barth has introduced an unendurable contradiction into his theological enterprise. Such a contradiction has been responsible for the feeling as expressed by James Barr: “Though I still feel that it is Barth’s God whom I seek to worship, the intellectual framework of Barth’s theology has in my consciousness to a very great extent © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page17   collapsed in ruins.”10 Barth, Pannenberg would affirm, has begun to speak as a Christian before he has justified his speaking as a theologian, in fact, without recognizing the legitimacy of such a procedure, or even denying its possibility. Barth, in one sense, can be recognized as nothing if not bold. It is a question however if he was bold enough. In a world, a cultural situation, that is largely determined in its intellectual milieu by atheistic thinking, can the theologian speak seriously of God unless he has at least created the “room” for such talk by an immanent critique of atheistic thought itself? If the existence of God cannot be demonstrated, at least the acids of atheistic thought can be neutralized and a theological conception of reality can be demonstrated to be rationally as justifiable as an atheistic conception. Indeed, in Pannenberg’s thought we would even claim that the theological conception is shown to be more rational. However that may be, to think the matter through to its limits so that one is placed before the alternatives is no little gain. Human rationality reaches its limits but that is true not only for theological thought, but for atheistic as well. A rational choice is not necessarily a choice in which every piece of data is explained, every mystery disclosed. It is rather a choice in the face of all possible evidence. It is a choice made in the light of the widest possible understanding of reality. In this respect it can be maintained that the commitment of oneself to the God revealed in Jesus Christ is grounded upon a rational decision—a decision made in the light of all possible evidence. In this way theology stands in the middle of the sciences seeking to unify all truth through its relation to the God who is source, ground, and goal of truth. The universal function of theology is once again asserted and the world of fragmentary experience, specialized knowledge unrelated to the whole of reality, is brought into relation to him who is the Truth. The theologian claims no quarter. He demands no “eye of faith,” no special inspiration. He proposes his model, a model constructed out of the requirements of the respective sciences themselves. He then submits his model to impartial testing by the phenomena dealt with in the individual sciences. He brings the results before the bar of rational judgment. Should a competing and contradictory model prove more adequate, he has no recourse. But should his model pass the test, then he has demonstrated that a theological conception of reality is in fact rationally defensible. Is the risk too great? No, not if, when he speaks of God, he is speaking of the Creator of the whole of reality who will bring all things to consummation. Then the model will be verified. And if it is not? Then he must cease to be a theologian, for then there will be no theology. Is not the task too arduous? Certainly it is arduous, but have not the most profound thought and the most profound thinkers arisen out of the Christian tradition over the course of the centuries? The magnitude of the challenge is no deterrent. Much rather, if in the modern period the church has alienated the best minds, it is not because she demanded too much but too little. A call to serious © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page18   intellectual pursuit of truth will not offend but the lack of it certainly will— and has. Thesis II. Dogmatic theology must rethink the entire theological spectrum of truth from the perspective of historical thinking. Harnack’s criticism of the Hellenization of the gospel has a validity which can hardly be denied. Rather than judging this “translation” negatively as he did, we can understand today that the Greek metaphysical conceptuality was the most effective means at hand for expressing the central truth of the Christ-event, “God with us.” In the history of the transmission of traditions this was a necessary and effective new stage. It entailed nonetheless grave difficulties because an event actualized in a tradition that for centuries had been nurtured on the idea of the dynamic relationship of God and man in the historical process which was moving toward consummation had to be translated into meaningful terms for a culture that had been fully indoctrinated with the metaphysical categories of Plato and Aristotle and their successors. In such a setting, that which formed the culminating point of God’s self-disclosure in Jesus—his resurrection from the dead— there was formed an untranslatable conception which could only be announced, proclaimed, but scarcely comprehended. In such an environment the emphasis soon shifted to the coming of the Son of God, the idea of Incarnation. Such a conception did allow the message of God’s presence with man in Jesus to be expressed, but as the Christological controversy vividly demonstrates, it brought in its wake insoluble problems which plague us to the present.11 The church lived for centuries undisturbed by the irreconcilable contradictions of Chalcedon because Christian theology has been conceptualized by means of Greek metaphysical categories and thus the central idea of Incarnation communicated the Christian message. The crisis of theology today is not in the first instance a crisis of Christian belief but a crisis of Christian theological formulation which could not help but collapse when the Greek metaphysics in terms of which it was framed was undermined. This occurred through the rise of modern thought becoming particularly damaging to traditional theology through the rise of historical thinking which undercut the unquestioned authority of Scripture. The reaction of Christian theology to the crisis created by modern thought has often been defensive, evidencing an underlying insecurity. At other times it has sought so desperately to accommodate itself to modern thinking that it has given up its own central affirmation of God’s presence in Jesus, thus robbing the world of its one source of hope in the God of the future. These two extreme reactions can be found again and again over the past two centuries. On the one hand there has been a jealous guarding of traditional conceptuality: incarnation—true God—true man; three in one—coequal and co-eternal; inspired, infallible Scripture, etc., under the mistaken notion that God and his truth were cradled in the respective stammering human attempts to express it. On the other hand, there was an uncritical acceptance of modern thought, positivistically orientated, which from © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page19   the beginning practically shut out the possibility of a transcendent reality, let alone a God present in the causal nexus that defined reality. Where lies a solution? Is it not significant that western thinking, believing itself now to be free from the archaic metaphysical bondage of theology, has discovered reality as history? And furthermore it has been shown, for example, by Lowith that the conception of reality as history moving toward an End “is rooted in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Is it not possible that we are in a position today to rethink such basic conceptions as the Trinity, the natures of Christ, and the Consummation and come to more fruitful results than has perhaps been the case in the long tradition of Christian thinking ? Thesis III. All Christological statements must be made from the perspective of the resurrection. Barth begins with the given of the Incarnation, Jesus, truly God and truly man. The question, how do you know this?, is simply out of place. If we know it we need not ask, and if we do not know it, it is futile to ask. The life of Jesus plays itself out between the twin miracles of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, both wholly the work of God, neither accessible to human judgment, examination or confirmation. From this everything follows. Prior to this there can be no discussion. Bultmann starts with the kerygma. In response to the proclamation you either say “yes” or “no” but you may not ask “Why should I?” or “Is it true?” Either question is already proof that revelation has not occurred. Even the Post-Bultmannians who feel uneasy with this approach are looking everywhere for a basis for the kerygma except in the one place that Bultmann and almost all New Testament scholars agree it is located, namely, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Ebeling and Fuchs are retreading the paths of Herrmann, Bornkamm speaks of Jesus’ authority, Kasemann of his message, but none of them seriously considers the one place in which every kerygmatic utterance is rooted. It is here that Pannenberg makes a most significant contribution. He has dared to assert once again that you cannot ground New Testament Christology anywhere but where the New Testament itself grounds it. In so doing he has made progress possible in several areas where thought had reached an impasse. Perhaps the most crucial area is that of the natures of Christ. The long and bitter Christological struggles need not be recounted here. It is sufficient to say that Chalcedonian Christology is not a solution but represents an impasse, a compromise between conceptions which are logically irreconciliable. We understand the problem and we comprehend the intention, but what person would ever suggest that Chalcedon represents an intelligible and satisfying conclusion? © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page20   We would suggest that perhaps the problem lies in the inability of Greek conceptuality to express a phenomenon which was essentially historical. In the intellectual milieu of the Greek world the appearance of the Servant of God, the Messiah, was proclaimed in conceptuality which culminated in incarnational Christology and with incarnational Christology the whole problem of the divine and human presented itself but with no possibility of solution. We would ask, in terms of the Old Testament, in terms of the Messianic expectation, why must Jesus be God? In fact, is the Messiah as God really true to the Old Testament tradition? Chalcedonian Christology has such a long and impressive tradition that we often never question what biblical imperative there is for the divinity of the Messiah. The answer, of course, is not to reject Chalcedon, as does Bultmann because he is so determined by positivistic thinking that he cannot conceive of Jesus as anything more than a man, let alone his resurrection. If we must choose between Barth or Bultmann, we must choose Barth, for between the signs of the Virgin Birth and Resurrection God is present in history, but Barth can assert this only as an assertion and is utterly unable to say more about how we can understand incarnation. It is the incarnation as a starting point that is wrong. To start there is to be cut off immediately from all rational reflection. Revelational positivism is inevitable. Incarnation is a valid idea if it is recognized to be a step in the interpretive tradition leading from Jesus, an interpretation of an historical phenomenon that occurred in a Jewish apocalyptic setting rooted in the Old Testament tradition. Pannenberg has argued powerfully that Jesus must be understood in his own context and that in that context the resurrection “spoke.” One of his great contributions is his calling in question of the fact, meaning bifurcation. The fact in its historical context bears its own meaning. In the tradition expecting the final intervention of God at the End raising the dead, the resurrection of one who had been dead and buried meant the End had arrived. He has also quite rightly seen that resurrection did not carry that meaning in another context. Consequently translation was necessary. This brings us to the one point where we feel Pannenberg has not completely followed through on his own insights. He has recognized that an End-expectation and coming judgment are necessary presuppositions for a meaningful belief in resurrection and that consequently Paul stressed these matters to the Gentiles. He has further discussed how in our day resurrection can be meaningful as a more adequate conception of the immortality of the soul. The one thing he has been unable to do is to show how resurrection was translated meaningfully in the first century. The fact is that it was not. Is not Paul’s Athenian experience evidence of an indissolvable offense that adhered to the Christian message as heard by the Greek? Resurrection was the key and resurrection was untranslatable into the conceptuality of Greek metaphysics. © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page21   Is not this the reason that the focus shifted from resurrection to incarnation in terms of which God’s intervention into human history was powerfully expressed? God’s intervention, yes, but then the Messiah must have been God. Is not this why Jesus must be God? Thinking which utilizes Greek metaphysical conceptuality can only conceive of God’s presence in history in terms of incarnation. However, such was not the case with Hebrew thought. God would bring future deliverance through his Servant—David’s Son! God did not have to “enter” history for the Israelites. History was his domain—no self-contained, independent entity set over against him. In his holiness he ever dwelt in the midst of his people. Why the modern crisis of theology? Is it not rather the crisis of metaphysics? And why the crisis of metaphysics? Is it not occasioned by the rise of historical thinking? What is the answer then? It must be obvious. We ought to recognize incarnational Christology as no longer a meaningful interpretation of the historical self-disclosure of God in his servant Jesus, the Messiah. Paradoxically Greek metaphysical thinking in terms of which the Christian tradition has formulated its faith has fallen into disrepute making it possible once again to understand Jesus and his resurrection historically, as was the case for Peter and Paul. But this raises another question regarding Pannenberg. He has thought through the matter of natural law and has sought to show that the resurrection is not really a “break” in nature. Here we are uneasy. That in its context it had meaning we grant. But was it not also a “break” in historical continuity even for a Paul? To be sure, all historical phenomena are unique and history is the place of the new, it is irruptive. But still the resurrection cannot be leveled down to being an event next to others. Now if, as the apocalyptic tradition expected, with the resurrection of Jesus the End of history was in fact arrived at, then the historical process would have unfolded with no “break” in its continuity. Or if, as Bultmann holds, there was no resurrection, then the historical process still continues with no “break.” But if it happened, as Pannenberg claims it happened—and we think he is right—namely, that what Paul thought was the beginning of a fast-approaching End, was really—as we know 2000 years later— an isolated, proleptic occurrence of a still future End, then there has occurred in the midst of the historical continuum a radical, indissolvable “break,” an act of God which is unique, in a sense “more unique” than the uniqueness of historical phenomena in general. Pannenberg has acknowledged the problem of identifying the resurrection of one man with the expectation of the resurrection of all men. That is just the point. The expectation of the resurrection of all men was indeed the presupposition for finding meaning in Jesus’ resurrection. But, the resurrection of Jesus nevertheless shattered apocalyptic preconceptions also. It was to Jew and Greek alike an unforeseen, unforseeable self-disclosure of the God who remains free and sovereign even in his historical self-revelation. © Grand Valley State University �Theological Conception of Reality as History Richard A. Rhem Page22   Why has Barth been able to speak so powerfully the truth of the Christian faith to his generation? Because he said what the gospel wants to say: “God with us.” Why does such a powerful witness engender such sharp reaction? Is it not because while saying what the gospel wants to say, he has utilized a metaphysical conceptuality which no longer commands respect? We come back to our question why Jesus must be God. If God anointed his Servant, the Messiah, to proclaim his Kingdom and announce the new age and then raised him from the dead as a confirmation of that message and of his Servant, what does it add to the matter if Jesus were divine? If Jesus were God then resurrection is not quite so amazing. But if Jesus is my brother because a man like me and if God raised him from the dead, then something truly amazing has occurred. The New Age has dawned in the midst of the Old. Then while still struggling in the old aeon, I have a real basis for Hope. Then I live in anticipation. That is, I live by faith. If this is the case then I can understand the Apostle who wrote: On the human level he was born of David’s stock, but on the level of the Spirit—The Holy Spirit—he was declared Son of God by a mighty act in that he rose from the dead. . . Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. l: 3b-4, NEB). 1Karl Barth, The Humanity of God, Richmond, 1960, p. 19. 2Ernst Troeltsch, Die Bedeutung der Gescbichtlichkeit fesu fur dem Glauben, Tubingen,1911, p. 11. 3Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, I.2 Edinburgh, 1960, p. 284. 4Rudolph Bultmann, Kerygma and Myth, London, 1953, pp. 13ff. 5“Die Krise des Schriftprinzips,” Grundfragen Systematischer Theologie, Gottingen, 1967, p. 11. 6Ibid. 7“Die Aufnahme des philosophisches Gottesbegriffs,” Grundfragen .... pp. 308f. 8Ibid., 9”Die p. 297. Krise des Schriftprinzips,” Grundfragen …, p. 20. 10James Baar, Old and New in Interpretation, SCM, 1966, p. 12. 11Cf. H. Berkhof, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Richmond, 1964, for his daring challenge to traditional Trinitarian conceptuality. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RA-4-19721001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-10-01 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource A Theological Conception of Reality as History - Some Aspects of the Thinking of Wolfhart Pannenberg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Reformed Review; a journal of the seminaries of the Reformed Church in America Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Description An account of the resource Article created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 1, 1972 entitled "A Theological Conception of Reality as History - Some Aspects of the Thinking of Wolfhart Pannenberg", it appeared in Reformed Review, pp. 178-188. Tags: History of Theology, Historical Thinking, Truth, Eschatology, Revelation. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Eschatology Historical Thinking History of Theology Revelation Truth https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2fd769c561cabb5c79c3c770d2b2f3a5.pdf 4ed5216c47307f337e1319cd45bb04d7 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Program-115 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Red Barn Theatre Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965-07-26 Title A name given to the resource A Thousand Clowns playbill Description An account of the resource Playbill for Red Barn Theater's production of A Thousand Clowns. On the back is an announcement for the following production of A Shot in the Dark. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Community theater Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Donated to the Saugatuck Douglas History Center by Jeanne Hellgren. Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History for the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives