803 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/edf6ea96ce3a3b8d27b8aa8486091ae9.m4v 516fe0549183d38c91a9a8edb4954cfb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/278bfd3f3ddb49309938f0317af82d00.pdf 4a152365e58ab35fb6c00d81193c56f3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University All American Girls Professional Baseball League Veterans’ History Project Interviewee’s Name: Mary Pratt Length of Interview: (00:55:55) ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW MARY PRATT, Pitcher Women in Baseball Born: Bridgeport Connecticut 1918 Resides: Interviewed by: Frank Boring, GVSU Veterans History Project, September 27, 2009, Milwaukee, WI at the All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, June 11, 2010 Interviewer: “If we can begin with your name and where and when were you born?” My name is Mary Pratt and I was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1918. Interviewer: “Shat was your early childhood like?” My early childhood, I would say, would be up until the time that we left Connecticut and came up to Massachusetts because my dad had been working down in Groton, Connecticut on the submarines and all of a sudden the war was over, so he became a Certified Public Accountant and then came the depression, so I have been able to be a part, in my lifetime, of going through those eras. :56 In 1926, I believe, we all came back to where my dad was an only child up in Quincy, Massachusetts and there I went into junior high school. Interviewer: “Before high school, when did you first start getting involved in sports? Was it any kind of sports or was it baseball first?” Well, it was anything that the boys would let me join in and so I would go over, this was down in Connecticut, I would go over into the back yard of the boys across the way who had that familiar peach basket and they would let me shoot. It’s a thing that I will never regret and even though I’m looking for the girls to get more leadership roles, but if it wasn’t for the boys who gave me the opportunity and mother never said no as long as she knew where I was she let me go right along and it was the boys, see I grew up in an era where there were few opportunities for girls especially where I lived on the east coast of the U.S.A. 1:57 Interviewer: “What was the appeal of baseball early on, not later, but early on? What was the appeal of baseball?” 1 �Well, it was just the fact that—when I look back I often wonder, “Why did I just all of a sudden start pitching and playing with the boys?” I think I maybe just had a normal way of throwing and maybe it just came to me naturally and as a result they let me play and that continued right on until I’m getting out of college and still playing with the boys. 2:26 Interviewer: “Now you did graduate from high school?” I graduated from North Quincy High School, the class of 1936. Interviewer: “What happened after that? Where were you going after that?” After that—I always had in my mind that I wanted to go on to college and I want to become a physical educator. As I look back now, never realizing that I was going to be a teacher and I didn’t really realize what were the hardships that I was going to follow through because everything that I got in my undergraduate wasn’t going to be—it would help me a little bit, but it wasn’t going to be the thing that enabled me then to teach that whole vast area of physical education and in the end to be working in special needs. 3:14 Interviewer: “So, what university did you decide to go to?” I went to Boston University and Sargent College, which is a unit in the university and it was then over in Cambridge right next to the Harvard tennis courts. It wasn’t until the fifties that the university took Sargent and we went on to the campus on Commonwealth Avenue. I graduated from college in 1940 and was so fortunate that in 1941 I would get a position for eleven hundred dollars, twenty-seven fifty a week, but I thought I had the world with a fence around it. I had gotten a permanent job. 4:02 Interviewer: “While you were in college though, you started playing ball, is that right?” Well, I always remained active, but see I was still going through college where there was not any collegiate competition for girls, but we did have a wide and a broad program where I got introduced to lacrosse, to field hockey, to the things that I had never had in high school because in high school it was just all intramurals. 4:34 Interviewer: “Now, did you play softball in college?” Well, I played softball in college because in 1939 I got word that Walter Brown, who owned the Boston Garden, wanted to do something in the summer and there had never been much going on and all of a sudden I heard that he was going to sponsor a team and then I walked to the Boston Garden and walked out to short stop and of course I was a “lefty” and they said to me, “you know you can’t play short stop, you’re a lefty”, so I went home and there was a gentleman who had just come off the last boat from Ireland and there curling was quite similar to the way we pitched softball and I was always quite 2 �determined, so I went out in the back yard and practiced with my father and pitched in the Boston Garden in 1939, and in 1940 it was an honor to think that Walter Brown took us down to Madison Square Garden and we played in New York. 5:32 Interviewer: “What kind of a team was that? Was it a women’s team?” It was a women’s team and it really was not a league. Some places like New York we heard did have leagues between New York and Connecticut, but this was just something that Mr. Brown did. He actually made up a schedule—well, we played in a lot of different places, but we were not playing in a regular league. 5:58 Interviewer: “In college you knew you wanted to be in physical education, beyond that did you think in terms of being a teacher in a high school? What were your goals at that time?” It really wasn’t, it was just a thought that I wanted to teach physical education. I never really knew what teaching was all about and I had to learn the hard way, but I just found that through physical education I was indirectly teaching a child how to take care of themselves and I hope that I was an example for them and that I wasn’t just teaching them a lot of theory. 6:41 Interviewer: “Now, first of all you were a left hander and you were playing shortstop and then turned into a pitcher?” I was a lefty, a long arm they call it. Yes, because they told me that the extra step that I would have to take to get my body in position to throw over to first would be the step that I would lose the runner, so I took to pitching, but prior to that I had always played with the boys on the playgrounds and so I always threw overhand, so they understood what I was doing when I was pitching, but of course when I went to get into the All American it was softball style pitching. 7:28 Interviewer: “We’ll get to that. Now, The Boston Olympets?” The Olympets, the Limpets was the Boston Garden semi-pro hockey team and they had the Boston Olympets, which was us. I played for two seasons there, 1939 and 1940. They took the diamond and put it on a diagonal and they put a post down by first base and as a lefty you could quite readily hit into the stands, but that would only go for a single, but to hit it to left field was a long, long distance at the garden. 8:09 Interviewer: “You did finally graduate and got a degree, what were you thinking you were going to do next? What were your plans once you got your degree?” I got my bachelors degree. 1940, I just wanted to be sure I could get a position and at the beginning I didn’t my first year, but I had taken up officiating and that filled the void a little tiny bit and I went to one of the private schools, an academy there in Braintree and I did their after school program. In 1941 I signed on with Quincy and continued my officiating for fifty years because see, there were no opportunities for me to coach. 8:50 3 �Interviewer: “1941, December, do you remember where you were on Pearl Harbor day?” Oh that’s right, not only did thoughts come back to what is it thirty years later I go out to the Pacific and go to where I saw where the—the boat was still down there where it was sunk. Interviewer: “Do you remember Pearl Harbor Day and where you were?” I remember it and I remember people were celebrating and I say the same thing, I was so busy working and teaching school and being wrapped up in my officiating and then starting to get in with my alumni associations that it never appeared to me that I was losing out on everything, I was just constantly active, mostly in elementary and then eventually they added the junior high and eventually I left the public schools and went on to the colleges. 9:50 Interviewer: “We’re going to back up now, 1943, I think you got an invitation of some kind?” Oh, I got that nice call and Ralph Wheeler, he was the schoolboy editor for the Boston Herald and he apparently had been contacted to see if there was anyone in this area who had played a little organized ball. Dotty Green, who has now passed on, Dotty was from Natick and she had played with me in the garden and she had already got out to Chicago, so she must have mentioned my name and Ralph Wheeler asked me if I would want to go out to Chicago and here I had been making twenty-seven fifty teaching school and I was offered sixty dollars to play ball and to think that when I arrived in Chicago after getting off the nights sleeper they could have sent me to South Band, they could have sent me to Kenosha, they could have sent me to Racine and where did they send me, to Rockford and I became a Rockford Peach in July of 1943. 11:02 Interviewer: “Now the Rockford Peaches, that was one of the original teams.” One of the original teams and when they put me on the night sleeper and I got out to Chicago I met Mr. Salls at the Merchandise Mart and Mr. Salls had been Mr. Wrigley’s right hand man and he must have gotten me on another train and I landed at the 15th Avenue stadium and I had become a Rockford Peach and sixty years later Penny Marshall made a movie and it centered around the Rockford Peaches . 11:39 Interviewer: “I want you to go back to that day when you first walked on the field as a Rockford Peach. Do you remember that?” I was very humble because see, I had never really had much competition and who did I run into? All the California girls and Canadians who couldn’t understand why I had never had the opportunity to be in league competition, so when I got there in 1943 so many outstanding girls from California and then in 1944 along come the Californians who had also played a lot, so we on the east coast, I think, did well to be able to fit into 4 �that style of play and to think that I was able to play for Marty McManus who had managed the Boston Red Sox and Johnny Gottselig who was a Chicago Blackhawk hockey player. 12:37 It was the start of a wonderful experience that I just never will forget. Interviewer: “What were your first games like? Did you start pitching right away?” I was pitching—I’m short and I wasn’t that great a hitter, so I didn’t get off of outfield or first base, but as I look back on it, I don’t know how it was that I wasn’t kind of scared , but it’s just that I’ve always had enough interest in sports to know that you don’t do anything by yourself and maybe that attitude came across to some of the girls that I played with because some of the girls that I played against, pitchers, they were outstanding, they had brought so much experience into the league, but I’ve always listened and I knew some day I might coach, so I listened to those coaches and we had outstanding coaches and I learned so much from them. 13:30 Interviewer: “In 1943 they weren’t pitching overhand and you had been pitching overhand, is that correct?” Oh, when I was playing with the boys on the regular playground, that was overhand pitching, but when I played in the garden, that was softball style. Interviewer: “How was it in 1943? How were you pitching in 1943?” In 1943, when I got out to Rockford, I pitched—as I look back there were variations of “windmill” and “slingshot” and I think I was just doing the traditional “windmill” where as I noticed the Canadian girls, they used that same old “figure eight”, but I just watched because whether I knew that I was going to go into a profession that maybe had the sport. I had to wait a long time because they wouldn’t let the girls coach, but it eventually came and all that helped me as I went along and finally got some girls into ASA competition and into a world tournament. 14:44 Interviewer: “Now, I realize looking back on it you can make lots of recognition of what you accomplished, but while you were playing in 1943, did you have any idea that this was going to go on another year or two years?” No, because they signed us to contracts every year, so in 1943 as I said, I’d just got assigned to Rockford, but I was new and as I look back at it I didn’t have what you would call a good record, but I think the coaches always used to notice that I was really interested and if they wanted someone to coach down on first, I would go. In 1944 I had the opportunity to get out on time for spring training and in 1943 I didn’t. The season had been going for about three or four weeks. In 1944 I had a chance to go out to spring training where we all trained together and I found out that I was again going to be assigned to Rockford. 15:44 A few weeks into the season, Mr. Wrigley, although I never met him, but I heard of the various rules and regulations he made. We belonged to 5 �them, so if anything happened we were asked to go to another team and see, we were playing a hundred and twenty-five games, so we carried four pitchers and when I was at Rockford, all of a sudden I got word that I was being sent over to Kenosha because two of their pitchers were hurt, but little did I know that I was going to go Kenosha and play for Marty McManus, who had managed the Boston Red Sox and they played behind me and that’s why I say, “you don’t do it by yourself”, and I won twenty-one games in 1944, but I never had a good season after that. 16:31 Interviewer: “We’re jumping ahead here, so lets go back a little bit. Now, in the early days, in 1943, there was more than just playing baseball, did you go through the etiquette?” Oh, we went—when Helena Rubenstein came in and we learned how to walk properly and how to keep our hair nice. Many things weren’t popular then, but when I saw the uniform—see I had just started to teach school, and the uniform was so much like the uniform I wore when I was teaching. Four inches above the knee and just like in the movie, it was the peach color and to think that I had the opportunity when I was at Cooperstown to have Mr. Salls interview me, with some people down in New York, and to hear him say, “Mr. Wrigley gave me a hundred thousand dollars to go around the country to bring into his league girls that were ladies. I think that’s why we heard that we were going to look like ladies, dress like ladies and act like ladies. 17:42 It made a great hit with me because that’s the type of uniform that I was wearing. Now, they were four inches above the knee, but as the years went on I noticed that they got a little shorter, but it just reminded me how I had just started teaching and that I was going to be able to combine this activity, that I had never had a chance to do because see—I came through Sargent College when I then began to play lacrosse and I played against the British when they would come over here and to think that’s become such a popular sport today, but it’s just that I’ve been a part of being able to see the programs for the girls expand, but I’m still looking for our girls to get the leadership roles, which I think they so deserve. 18:33 Interviewer: “I want to go into some of the details of how you were actually recruited. Remember this is for the archives and we’re trying to get the exact details. How were you actually recruited and then was there a contract that you signed? How did you get your uniforms? Did they fit you? Walk us through that process before you actually went out to play?” As I said, we had played in the garden and Dottie Green, who was a catcher, a tall girl, Dottie apparently had already gone out there and she said something that’s when I got the call in school from Ralph Wheeler, but I had to wait until school finished because they had started in May and I don’t know when I signed the contract. I must have signed it before I left, but I’ve got it today with the sixty dollars right on it and I keep it along with the rest of my memorabilia. 19:32 As soon as school got out they assigned me to a sleeper and I went out on a night sleeper and I got out to the Merchandise Mart and Mr. Salls, who was Mr. Wrigley’s right hand man--I never met Mr. Wrigley, he was the one that met me and got me on another form of transportation and got me out to Rockford. 19:55 I know then that I must have signed the contract then because they made 6 �arrangements, they gave me my uniform. We had chaperones and she would take care of our uniforms and she would give us our paycheck each week and then when we were on the road we lived in nice hotels and they gave us two dollars and eighty-five cents, but we would go to McDonald’s, which was then Alexander’s and I could get my cheeseburger and my French fries and a coke for twenty-five cents. I could send my money home to save, so in 1947 I drove my first brand new car out in 1947 to Rockford. 20:39 They treated us just so well—the movie, some people were upset because they thought the movie was going to maybe portray things not exactly the way it was, but they spoke to Penny Marshall and she assured them. She said, “I’m not doing a documentary, I’m doing a story about something that happened sixty years ago, so I’ll take a few liberties”, which she did, but I could tell it never spoiled it because that movie continues to be shown over and over again. And to think that I was just a small part of it and because of the way they ran that league I say it and I really mean it, “there’s nothing today in 2009 that yet will equate to what Mr. Wrigley did when he got together with Branch Rickey and decided that maybe it was the time to do something”. 21:37 The boys were going off in the service and so when I went to Rockford of course, Camp Grant was right near there and they use to come over and tell us that we were making better money than they were making. As I look back, just a—I was just in the right place at the right time and to think as I go and talk to the kiddo’s about my experience and let them know it’s the friends that I made all over the country and that’s what sports is all about. 22:03 Baseball’s America, so they took to that game that we were playing. Interviewer: “Did you actually have to go through a charm school? Tell us about that, what was that like?” Yes, we went to charm school because we all trained together for the two or three weeks that we were there and every night we would have inter squad games and one night Helena Rubenstein’s ladies came in. Sometimes I smile because I think they kind of portrayed it almost the same way in the movie, but it was just a case to think that Mr. Wrigley had it in his mind that we were going to dress like ladies and look like ladies and of course that’s the thing that I—people always had the impression that if you loved sports you were masculine and that use to break my heart because I was always so fussy about making all my lady like things. The league was great and I’ve heard some California girls and some of the Canadians sometime complain that they always played in shorts, they never played in a skirt, but see, it fit into the philosophy that he had and the only thing that was difficult with the lefty’s, we had to pin our skirt over so as you went by you wouldn’t be hitting your skirt. 23:23 I will remember us walking with the books on our heads and them talking about the mascara and they played it up in the movie and I can tell people that it was true. They had the best intentions and yet the Midwest and the California girls and the Canadians, they had competed. Not us in the east, but I still think that the part that we see where one of the players thought that she wouldn’t play if she was going to have to wear that uniform and in the movie he says, “well, you’ll either play with that or you won’t play at all”. I thought it was so great that when I came home and I had girls ask me if I would coach, this was outside of school, and I asked them, “would you wear the same uniform, the type that we wore?” I said, “I don’t care if you don’t slide”, because we would get strawberries because we just had little tights, but they went 7 �along with me, and my mother and I went down and we made those uniforms. In a world tournament some of the girls from Japan happened to say to us when they saw us walking out on the field, “what, you going to a dance?” 24:31 I thought, and I still feel that way, girls must portray the image that we are young ladies and now as I see it advancing and we see how skilled the girls are, six-two, six-four, when I go over to Harvard and I see them playing BC, those girls can run like deer. Interviewer: “Now, you mentioned that in your second time around you actually did get a chance to go to spring training, but you missed out the first time. Once again we’re trying to get this for the record because none of us were there, so tell us about what happened during spring training? Give us a visual, what did you see?” It portrayed a little bit like they portrayed in the movie, but we didn’t train there, we trained in LaSalle and Peru in Indiana and what all would have been like the eight teams, we all trained there like they depicted in the movie. 25:34 You really went through spring training with the idea you didn’t know just exactly who you were going to get assigned to and during the day there were all the skill drills and at night they would have inter-squad games and after the inter-squad games, that’s when we would go in and they came in from Chicago and showed us how to cross our legs and not to pile our dishes up when we went out because—that’s one thing that I will remember, that we were looked upon so highly by the fraternal organizations and there were a few girls that were a little younger and they might have possibly with the Rotary Club and the Elks, want to get there and pile their dishes, but I just thought it was so great to think that they thought of all those extra things for us to do. 26:20 To be sure that we were in and night and gave us an hour or so after the games and the chaperones were there to see that we did the right things and I was never anyone who was too sociably inclined, so I wanted to carve my scrapbooks and wanted to collect my articles, so when the games were over I would go back up into my room, and we were on the road and I made those books that are all part of my memorabilia today. 26:48 Interviewer: “Tell us about your chaperone, when you were with the Peaches.” Oh yes, one of my chaperones was Marie Timm, a schoolteacher from Milwaukee, West Allis, and she dressed just like we did. She wore the same uniform, but the next year they went more like an airline hostess and they had the white coats with the red jackets and after I went over to Kenosha I left Marie Timm, but I went and I had a new chaperone who had met Marty McManus and that’s how she got the job with Marty. It was then, when we were at Kenosha, that that opportunity came for us to go to Wrigley Field to play for the service and four of the teams went into Wrigley Field and we were the first people who played under the lights because they put all the portable lights up and every time I recount all the experience I had, I think wasn’t it unique to have a thing run so top notch and the fellows that would be at Camp Grant and it would be at the naval station when we would be going down past the U.S. naval station going down to South Bend. 28:04 To think that they kept everything so kind of high class and I think that’s the reason why, coupled with the fact that Penny Marshal is so skilled, she had been able 8 �to make that movie and it is shown time and time again and I was just a small little part of it. 28:23 Interviewer: “After the spring training you went through and all the teams were in one place, did you already know what team you were playing on?” No, after the end of spring training they announced where we were going. A little bit like they depicted it in the movie, but there was no question as to what uniforms we were going to wear. I never heard anybody say anything and I’ve got the pictures where we all assigned and the big buses all came and off we went to our towns. We trained in LaSalle/Peru, twin cities in Illinois. 29:04 Interviewer: “What was the typical season like? How many games did you play? Were they daytime?” A hundred and twenty-five games and I shouldn’t do it, but sometimes I look today and see how the boys are treated well. They can’t pitch nine innings and to think that we had our strawberries and we were playing every night, so we must have got a few aches and pains, but I think everybody will tell you that we were having so much fun and it was such a unique thing even though the California girls and the Canadians all came in with experience. 29:38 Interviewer: “Now, in the very early days what were the fans like?” Great, Olive Little from Canada loved olives and they would bring her big bottles. They were very good to us and of course the fraternal organizations always had us in for the noon luncheons they were having. Even at the end when we had our first reunion in Chicago in 1982 I think it was 1982, we had some fans even coming then, who remembered what we had done and now as we’ve grown into an organization and we’re now in Milwaukee—the last time we were in Milwaukee they must have gotten Johnson’s Wax to put up some money. They took us on side trips to Racine and to Kenosha and to think that so many of the Racine people came in to see their players. 30:33 Racine had been fortunate enough to be able to maintain their players, so when the league got up to the time where some of the teams were dropping out, Racine still had about eight of their originals, but it was a little—kind of shady because, but they had that loyalty with the Racine fans and to think that years later the fans came back and remembered us. We started with reunions every two years, now they’re every year and to think when they start to make—they were trying to see if perhaps Cooperstown would look favorably upon us, not to be inducted, but to be—and to think that when Ted Spencer saw the names of all the girls that had played here was this gym teacher that he had had in grammar school and Ted has just recently retired, so every time I go up to Cooperstown I think how Ted would say and some of the others, “you’re the one that flunked him because he didn’t have his white sneakers”. 31:40 To think that we did get recognized in 1988, didn’t get inducted and I think some women took it—I think they thought we should have, but no it’s a mans organization and by doing things in a nice positive way, which we did, and to think we now have a statue on the side lawn and the 9 �little display we had has been expanded to include the “Silver Bullets” that came along after we had finished and Boston College and all those way back when, were playing a little competitive softball. 32:17 Interviewer: “You were talking about the season then with the Peaches, but then you moved on to Kenosha. Why or how did that happen?” The Kenosha Comets, and that’s because we carried four pitchers and Helen Nichol, Fox McKanda, one of the most outstanding, and Elise Harney, a girl from Illinois, they had come up with some sore arms or something and so, we carried four pitchers and that’s when I was told to go over there. In due time Harney and Nicky they were fine and we carried on with four pitchers and one of the girls who is with me today at our second reunion in Milwaukee, Rose Foldra. Rose, who had won a scholarship--they were offering scholarships and Rose had won a scholarship, but somehow as things happen, she met the right person, she got in his truck with him and out she went and to this day, out to Carnation, Washington. 33:16 She only played the one year, but when the movie came out she wrote me a letter and wondered if by any chance I remembered her because we roomed together in Kenosha. To think the years have gone on and Rose today has come to our reunion today in Milwaukee. Interviewer: “Now, you said you roomed together, as a group then you would travel by bus? How did you get from town to town?” We went on the buses after our second year. The first two years we had our bags and if you recall the four teams were all in a ninety mile radius of Chicago, so as I tell people that when we were going through the streets of Chicago to catch the rapid transit to go to South Bend we would all be singing, “Oh we hail from Illinois it’s just across the line, we’re not too young, we’re not too old, in fact we’re in our prime, Oh we hit the ball with might, in fielding we are fast, we are the Rockford ball club and we always dress in class, so we never kick the gong and we’re always on our toes, not only in the ball park , but when we’re with our bows. Oh. We’re in bed by ten o’clock that is a dirty lie, we are the Rockford ball club a model do or die”, and we’d be clapping and I always remember the words. 34:35 It reminded me so much of my training when I was going to B.U. because I had to go four months to camp to get a lot of the outside things and it’s a wonderful life and as I look back, it’s the memories that I have and I can still remain active enough to be able to follow through on so many places that invite me to come and speak. 35:00 I stood in front of children , but I never stood in front of adults and to think of the wonderful experience I’ve had and to be able to go to all these four hundred places and be a part of Fan Fest. Interviewer: “Let’s get again to the actual routines of a typical season let’s say, with Kenosha. Before you traveled by bus?” We were going by Inter-Urban and then we went by bus, so then we would drive on the bus all night and then go into the town because most towns we went into, you stayed there for three or four games. They didn’t like us going up to Lake Geneva and that to 10 �swim because they thought we should take care of ourselves. Many a time we had workouts in the morning, especially when we were home, but it was conducted in such an outstanding way and the fact that we were invited to the elks and Kiwanis, I just thought it was— Interviewer: “I want to get into the actual—so somebody that didn’t know anything about your experience—you’re traveling by bus all night, you arrive in the city, what happens?” 36:11 At five o’clock we would report—we would have been assigned to our hotel rooms, because they all knew the rooms we were going to be in, and then we would head out at five o’clock to have a batting practice and do infield and then we would play sometimes double headers, but we most often played single games, but on Sundays we would play a double header and especially in Racine. They would play in the afternoon because they had an overhead structure like the little bit that was portrayed in the movie, but otherwise we tried to play mostly the games at seven o’clock, so you wouldn’t be in the heat of the sun. they divided the season in half and the winner of the first half played the winner of the second and when I was in Kenosha we did happen to make the playoffs, but in the first round they played a round robin and we lost out, but that’s alright because I could call back to the school department to say that I’d be back on time because we were out. 37:13 We then started the reunions. A girl that had been a bat girl, and it had always been her desire because I read things that someday she would be able to play, and it ended up that she was the one to organize our first reunion in Chicago, which we began to have every two years, but as girls passes on we have them just one year, but to think that I would go to my first one in Chicago and there I would see Audrey Wagner, now a Gynecologist and an Obstetrician. She had taken the money—she was from Bensenville in Illinois and when we would go to South Bend you could just turn your head once and you’d be through the little town, but she went on to medical school and when I saw her at our first reunion she said, “yes, if I ever come to Boston Pratty, I’ll come and see you because I fly my own airplane”, and that season, if she and her nurse didn’t get caught in a wind pocket and got killed. Audrey Wagner, one of the most outstanding ball players. 38:19 Interviewer: “What would you say are some of the highlights of your time with the original team, with Rockford?” The highlights? I think the highlight would be what I did in 1944. I did win twenty-one games and I did pitch a no hitter, but I still have to emphasize that you don’t do it by yourself, your team played behind you. I’ve always felt that way and I think that’s why when I went to Kenosha they readily accepted me, so it’s something, I can’t say it was in my bringing up, but my love of sports let me realize, even when I went to teach, I can teach a person to think, I’m not going to go out there and make the plays for you and I think it’s that I was always just so wrapped up in how you do things and if you do things the right way and if you think ahead of time and that’s what I try to get across when I go to the schools. 39:18 It’s more than just winning games and having a good record. It’s just the friendships that you’ve gained and the people that you’ve taught and now that 11 �I’m in my nineties I find that people that I had in school remember me. It’s very rewarding although I wish I would have met the right fella and married, but I ended up an old maid school teacher for forty eight years, but I taught at every level and then the last twenty we were doing a lot as what is being done today to realize children, if their not doing well academically there’s something wrong and we can’t be that authoritative teacher that just says their going to---to find out that I worked physical education, motor development, start to get that body going and it’s funny how that—you don’t become Phi Beta Kappa, but you’re not flunking everything. 40:14 I think that’s what helped me so much and I thought that last twenty years was great and today running into children who are coming from disoriented families and to think, through the avenue of physical education and where I don’t like to say it, sometimes the men are still just throwing out the ball and I don’t think that’s what physical education is. Interviewer: “I found something very interesting while I was doing some research on your particular story and that is, all through this interview you talked about how much you loved school and loved teaching, you loved school, but in 1946 your school wouldn’t release you for spring training. What happened?” 40:59 I quit and I know my mother wouldn’t care, but I remember going to my principal and he said to me, “Mary you wouldn’t drop your job”, so I said, “no, don’t you look up to Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams?” I so admired the men—just the fact that they could compete and so, I did, I asked for the time off and I believe it was 1945 and it ended up that we didn’t get into the playoffs that year and I think the superintendent called my mother and offered her the opportunity to ask me if I would want to come back. I can remember my mother saying, “I know she would never come back unless you knew that she was doing the right work”, so it was, I did go back, but in 1946 and 1947 I never gave any thought of dropping my job then because I was twenty-two or twenty-three and I thought they had deprived themselves of a lot of things to send me to college because then it was four hundred and thirty-two dollars. 42:07 A hundred and forty four three times a year and to think today forty one or forty two thousand, so they had a hard time, but they stuck with me. My mother—they never went on to college, my father became a Certified Public Accountant and all that, but it just—everything just worked out well, so I’ve stayed very involved because of the all American. I just feel that’s part of what I should do and I served two years, I’ve served two years on the board and because I got Ken Burns, he decided he was going to do a documentary and these are the things that amaze me. I’m just a little person from the east coast and the Californians and the Canadians, they seemed to have more opportunities and it just show you that if you’re doing the right thing how it ended up that Ken Burns asked us if we would take part and the other day I turned on channel sixteen at home and all of a sudden I looked and I saw this black and white film and it was Jackie Robinson. 43:16 Ken had decided he was going to do his thing by innings and the era of Jackie Robinson and the All American he was putting in the sixth inning and all of a sudden I looked because I had taped it myself every Sunday and I bought the book, but I had never seen this and here is Dotty Green and myself didn’t come out in color. I couldn’t believe it, I mean I looked so nice and we were answering the questions and I thought, “I never would have thought all of this would come, and someone will see me and “Mary I saw you on channel two”. To think 12 �he has always been doing all these different historic ones, but to think that we got included in it and then to get on with Robin Roberts, it’s really been a wonderful life. 44:07 Interviewer: “I’m really curious and there’s something here we haven’t gotten to yet. We haven’t gotten to something that I’m very curious about and that is that with your love of school and you’re playing baseball, but there was a moment in 1946 when you had to make a decision. You had to make a choice and you even went, in a sense, against the better wishes of your parents. Why? Why did you play baseball instead of just saying, “well, I guess?” 44:35 Yeah, and well, I think my father saw in me what he didn’t see in my brother. We were only thirteen months apart and my mother was fourteen when she left Kingston, Jamaica to come to the states and to eventually meet my dad and then when they married to have two children thirteen months apart. Whether she knew that I was doing the right thing— you know, playing with the boys, she never said no, but as I look back, in her quiet way and having come from a little bit of wealth down there in Kingston, Jamaica, her brother was the Gores that did all the Gores cigars and all that, but she came on here after she go tout of high school, Convent of Mercy she went to, so I think she was really overly protective of me, she always mad my clothes and all that, but it’s amazing where, unless she ever play Cricket, she was not adapted to sports, but she loved the Red Sox and at the end she would go with me and go to all the games. 45:38 I always thought basketball was my best sport, but I just took part in everything, but we never realize what our parents have done until years later because see I taught at the end when I now just recently was told there’s a hundred and fifty homeless children in Quincy and I can’t believe it. My mother was there all the time for us. 46:00 Interviewer: “Once again I want to get back to this idea of the decision you made to play baseball and actually quit school.” Because I just thought it was so—I guess in my own way I thought that I might learn something the might help me in coaching, but it seemed as though it was an opportunity I would never have thought of and if I hadn’t played at the garden and Dottie Green, who had already gotten out there and Maddy English, who’s now gone, she was from Evert and she stayed at the all American longer than I did and she eventually came back and finished up at B.U., but I have wondered that, it’s a good question when you ask it because except to play catch with my father, you know, the boys would just ask— somehow I think whether it’s because my mother, I still, I hope, acted like a lady and not a roughian and that’s what keeps me going. When I talk to the kiddo’s to let them realize what sports is all about. That it’s learning to get along with people and someone has to win and someone has to lose. 47:16 I can get all these different stories and as long as they know I take my ball cards and give them some ball cards and I’ve been to over six hundred places and just recently a girl went to take an advanced degree at Syracuse and she told me—she came to visit and saw some of my pictures and to think there is enough interest that the other day she sent me her disc “Rosy at the Bat”, so I think we touch lives in so many ways that we never think of and yet sometimes I get the feeling that there are maybe some people my age where I am now living in a senior project, but not in 13 �assisted living. I gave my four-bedroom house to my nephew. 48:02 There are still some people who would say, “that’s not something that a girl does”, and that’s why I stay with it, to think that if we can get the girls coaching because the men tend to do a little roughhouse because we are young ladies and to think that—I never met him, but that’s what Mr. Wrigley was pushing for and that’s what was my background at Sargent. Interviewer: “Now, you went on to play with Rockford again, right? 1946 to 1947?” That’s why I think that they must have noticed—not to say that I had anything, but they were then overhand pitching and it’s like little league. Those girls, when we couldn’t get softball pitchers in 1943, 1944 and 1945 they started sidearm well, eventually it became overhand and just like the boys at about forty feet and they throw in fast, but somehow those girls that could throw hard and I don’t know why it was, it was only for the summer, Rockford asked me to come back. 49:08 I don’t know, but there must have been something in my attitude, or whatnot, that they thought that I was going to be an addition to the club and I wasn’t going to get upset because some other people pitching were maybe better than I, so I coached a lot, the coaches would coach on third, on first, but I really—when I look back I think it was either something that came out of me through my home that I was taught the right things and without them battering me, that I did it and I think it came through. 49:47 When I was going to do my undergraduate work, I never forgot that I was supposed to be a young lady and act like a lady. Interviewer: “You also went to the U of M, the University of Michigan, the U of M?” No, the University of Michigan is what two of the girls—University of Michigan was one of the girls when I went to Salem State. Interviewer: “But didn’t you go to the U of M?” 50:12 No, I went—no, the University of Michigan, I’ve been out--Interviewer: “Where did you get your degree after that though?” I stayed at B.U. and then I took the B.U. Harvard extension courses and I got fifty-two B on my masters, but I was taking courses at U. Mass Boston and then I go into B.U. because Sargent had now come on to the B.U. Campus. Interviewer: “That was Mass, I’m sorry, I got the wrong M.” I got my fifty-two year—I got my associate degree, but I didn’t go beyond to get my doctorate because you had to be an administrator and that’s one thing I have regretted, I never did get out of the trenches, but I have no regrets now. 51:02 I don’t think you do anything better than working with children. Interviewer: “1995 Boston Garden Hall of Fame. Tell us about that.” Oh yeah, they not only were going to change the garden, they were doing some different things, so they started to do a Hall of Fame and they had it—I don’t know where they had it around, but the next thing I knew, I had been inducted into it, so I went in with Derek 14 �Sanderson I think, and I went in with one of the gentlemen who did maybe some of the menial work around the garden and it was great because they had me come in and we went up to those sky view seats where the company’s now all pay for the whole place, and to think that I went down on the garden floor with Sanderson, and I forget who else got honored and they got—I have a nice plaque and then as a follow up they started on the very top floor opening up some of the exhibits of girls in basketball and whatnot and as a result, school children started to come in and I volunteered to go in and take them around on the—and see all the views of the upstairs of the—particularly hockey, but then they took a tape of the closing of the Boston Garden and to think that I was there when Woody Dumont and Bobby Bauer and Milt Schmidt were going off to fight for Canada and that I was up there when I saw them go and I was there when Cunningham went his two minute mile. 52:51 I just was so wrapped up in everything and I think a lot was my father, he took me to a lot of those things, so it’s been a wonderful life. Interviewer: “Do you want some water?” No, I’m fine. Interviewer: “Let’s wrap it up with—looking back you made several comments about how this has had an effect on you, but personally, you personally, not in terms of the whole league, how has playing in this league affected you personally?” 53:23 When you are talking this league you’re referring to the all American? Interviewer: “Yes” It has affected me to the point that I have—you know maybe I have accepted the way they doing everything, but when I look back and I think that every bit of their interest was to do the thing right by us. To have chaperones who would be there because see, in the movie you see Tom Hanks in the locker room and I have to tell people sometimes remember—Penny Marshall told us, she said, “I’m not doing a documentary, I’m doing a story about something that happened years ago, so I’ll take a few liberties”, so when I go I can tell people that Tom played a great part and I said we were told that he did it for that reason because he was playing Jimmy Fox and the drinking took both of them, but to think that I was part of that and combined with my background that I had at home and the background of the wonderful teachers that I had when I look back at it now. 54:31 To think of the background that I’ve got and to think that the highlight would be baseball and that baseball is America and now I get asked—I’m going back to Bosox on Friday when I go because two women’s groups that have been playing baseball are being honored and I’m to go and sit at the table with them. 54:55 I just feel like I have something to offer and they can see that I’ve taken care of myself and I I’ve made it to ninety and I’m on my way to ninety one and to think that I can still go and talk in such a way that people think I’m sincere. I answer the things that I get because I’m still getting—I do this Out and About Project and they send me the blank of where they have been and I send them back another blank, so I know that—besides some people who never send them, we are Out and About and that’s how we’re preserving the legacy of the all American. Interviewer: “Thank you so much.” 15 �Hope you got enough, so you can piece it together right because you ask nice questions. Interviewer: “Thank you.” 16 � 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 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a> 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 Sports for women World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Oral history Baseball players--Minnesota Baseball players--Indiana Baseball players--Wisconsin Baseball players--Michigan Baseball players--Illinois Baseball for women--United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-58 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-10-02 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. 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 RHC-58_MPratt Title A name given to the resource Pratt, Mary (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pratt, Mary Description An account of the resource Mary Pratt was born in 1918 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Throughout her early childhood and on through college she played baseball. Before joining the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Pratt played hockey for two seasons with the Boston Olympets from 1939 to 1940. She got her start professionally in baseball with the Rockford Peaches in 1943. In 1944, she played for the Rockford Peaches and the Kenosha Comets and then in 1945 played just for the Kenosha Comets. From 1946 to 1947 she played for the Rockford Peaches. Throughout her professional career she played as a pitcher and saw how the rules in softball changed how the game was played. The highlights in her professional career were from her 1944 season when she won 21 games and pitched a no-hitter. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Baseball for women--United States Baseball Sports for women World War, 1939-1945 Baseball players--Illinois Baseball players--Wisconsin Women Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-09-25 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 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/c0d7050754a23440d330dc4fa9d9b39a.jpg 1eb3510d3ed6af88c9c92f814ae01891 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 PrattPhillip Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Pratt, Phillip Description An account of the resource Phillip Pratt, Mathematics Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives 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/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/03dfdf48a353518df10d65e6dbb1be53.pdf 0c367225dc61e54ff013f768518c76a2 PDF Text Text Spring Prayer Offered at a Sunday Potluck Gathering Richard A. Rhem May 4, 2008 Prepared text of the prayer Let us be consciously in the Presence of that Holy Mystery in which we live and move and have our being. Source, Guide, and Goal of all that is, Spirit enlivening the whole of the cosmic drama in a gracious embrace, we pause in these moments, conscious that our lives are gift, recognizing we are not the authors of the amazing reality into which our lives are woven, a tapestry of light and shadow, of moving tenderness and unspeakable brutality. In these uneven days of May– storm and sun, chill and balmy breeze – spring’s beauty will not be denied; The delicate dogwood of cascading whiteness; Fruit trees a burst of blossom; The brilliant splash of yellow from sundrenched forsythia; Dancing daffodils unfazed by evening chill or morning frost; The budding green of trees, so lately but a network of black, bony branches reaching heavenward, pleading to be clothed. We live with wonder before it all. We think to ourselves – What a wonderful world! Gratitude fills our being as we contemplate it all – The mystery of life The adventure of being, The challenge of engaging in the creative process, The joy of discovery, the thrill of awareness – and a sense of a Presence, present to us in the presence of another with human face; Gratitude and joy well up within us. © Grand Valley State University   �Spring Picnic Prayer Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Wonder, Mystery, all about us if we have eyes to see, ears to hear; if for a moment we pause, fully conscious, fully aware, attentive to the Reality into which our lives are woven, a marvel we can never fully take in. Yet, now and then, O God, we get a glimpse of the grandeur of it all and know ourselves to be a living part of the Whole, bringing to the emerging wonder a consciousness – self-consciousness, consciousness of the other, the dawning of communion, the foundation of community. And still the mystery deepens; in the consciousness of ourselves and of the other, we find ourselves in the presence of Mystery – indeed, in Your Presence, O God, Mystery of Being, mystery of our being, of our being together. Eternal God, gathered as we are today, we experience such a kaleidoscope of emotions: the joy of being with friends with whom we have gathered on the first day of the week for so many years; the joy of experiencing for these moments community as we have known it in days gone by; and then, to be honest, a certain sadness because we become acutely aware that, gathered as we are, we yet sense we are misplaced persons. As lovely as is this space, It is not the sacred space we grew to love over all those years, replete with cross and font and pulpit, adorned with banner and hangings, telling us the time on the calendar of sacred time. Nonetheless, we are gathered and where your people gather, there you are in the midst of them and we know your Presence in the presence of one another. Deep Source of our lives and mystery of our being, gathered as we are, heal our hurt, assuage our grief, and fill us with grace – grace to bless and affirm and wish well that community of which we were once a part; a community to which some here still belong, a community of some with whom we gathered over long years, a community growing with many whose names and faces © Grand Valley State University �Spring Picnic Prayer Richard A. Rhem Page 3   are unfamiliar to us – Continue to make Christ Community a place of integrity, freedom, courage and spiritual adventure. Bless those who lead in their respective roles; make them instruments of your peace and prosper them in their ongoing journey. And for ourselves we pray – grateful for the richness of experience of the community we have shared, we celebrate all we have known together; we celebrate your abundant Grace that together we have tasted – And now, Liberating God, free us from all negativity, any remaining remnant of anger, all holding on to what is no more – Grace us, O good and gracious God – With fresh experience, hope reborn and love abounding. We know afresh, we believe anew – All will be well All will be well All manner of things will be well – O Lord, hear our prayer In the name of the One who taught us to pray…. © 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. Event Sunday Social Gathering Location The location of the interview Grand Haven Community Center 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-1-20080504 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 4, 2008 entitled "Prayer", on the occasion of Sunday Social Gathering, at Grand Haven Community Center. Tags: Gratitude, Community. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-05-04 Community Gratitude https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d01afb9dd2e886e46bdf448722b02c67.mp3 c589ca08d4520978fd2e8804258fec85 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 Maunday Thursday Series The Sign of the Cross: The Way of Jesus Scripture Text Mark 14: 36 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-0-19910328 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-03-28 Title A name given to the resource Prayer and the Will of God 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 March 28, 1991 entitled "Prayer and the Will of God", as part of the series "The Sign of the Cross: The Way of Jesus", on the occasion of Maunday Thursday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Mark 14: 36. 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/736a6533c00361ce113eb79cc9f386d1.pdf 0387fd2d306a37f0db0970a985d4f980 PDF Text Text Prayer at Fountain Street Church Richard A. Rhem Fountain Street Church Grand Rapids, Michigan November 25, 2001 Transcription of the prepared text Eternal God, Creator of all that is, enlivening Spirit whose breath gives life. In the beginning, O God, your spirit/wind brooded over the soupy chaos of emerging cosmos, bringing forth order, beauty, and rhythmic regularity in a rich diversity of infinite possibility. It is with awe that we contemplate heavens set with a myriad of starry diamonds in the inky blackness. It is with delight that we trace the breaking dawn, bask in the radiant warmth of the sun at its zenith, watch with wonder its final moments firing all with golden glow before it slips below the far horizon. Summer and winter, springtime and harvest – All beautiful the march of days as seasons come and go. The hand that shaped the rose has wrought the crystal of the snow. Wonder, mystery, all about us if we have eyes to see, ears to hear, if for a moment we pause, fully conscious, fully aware, attentive to the reality into which our lives are woven, a tapestry we can never fully take in. Yet now and then, O God, we get a glimpse of the grandeur of it all and know ourselves to be a living part of it all, bringing to the emerging wonder a consciousness – © Grand Valley State University   �Title… Richard A. Rhem Page 2   self-consciousness, consciousness of the other, the dawning of communion, the foundation of community. Ah, dear God, the mystery deepens; before the consciousness of ourselves, of the other, we find ourselves in the presence of the mystery – indeed, in your presence, O God, mystery of being, mystery of our being, of our being together. We cannot take it in. We cannot fully fathom the cosmic depths or the depths of our own being; yet, in moments of awareness we realize we have been gifted with life, gifted with insight into the larger reality in which we share, gifted with a sense of being known and of knowing, knowing who we are knowing the other, knowing we are not alone but belong together. In the stillness of this magnificent space we contemplate the wonder of it all. © 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-1-20011125 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer at Fountain Street Church 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 25, 2001 entitled "Prayer at Fountain Street Church". Tags: Prayer, Wonder, Cosmos. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-11-25 Cosmos Prayer Wonder https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8de395c3a617aff307f3913e4306db0b.pdf ff2a068e0345a80b451b19e0050a84b0 PDF Text Text Prayer Fred Meijer Memorial Service Richard A. Rhem Sunshine Community Church Grand Rapids, Michigan November 30, 2011 Let us be in the spirit of prayer in the presence of the Creative Source of all being, in whom we live and move and have our being – that sacred mystery hidden in a cloud of unknowing. We are gathered here to celebrate the life of one whose presence was larger than life, one who, it seemed, would always be there. We are still reeling from the shock, the abrupt wrenching away of one so deeply loved – husband, father, grandfather, titan of business, inspiring leader of the broader community. We know that death awaits us all, that, from the moment we emit our borning cry, there is for all of us a final farewell. Yet, especially when the leave-taking is sudden, it seems too soon, even after nearly 92 years. Though spared the agonizing pain and suffering of a slow, deteriorating death, there has been no time for proper goodbyes, no time to say things so often felt but left unsaid, no time for mutual blessing and holding and hoping. And thus, the grieving comes so sharply, cuts so deeply, because there has been no time for easing into the inevitable, to adjust to the loss. Thus, we feel bereft of one who it seemed would always be there. Loss is proportionate to love. Pain is measured by what the one removed meant to us – and this one meant so much. There is no denying the loss. Yet, O God, there is no denying the wonder as well – wonder at the beauty of love, at the amazing grace, simplicity, humility and authenticity © Grand Valley State University   �Fred Meijer Memorial Prayer Richard A. Rhem with which this one, now absent from us, lived before us, with us. In the spirit of prayer, we remember this one whose life we celebrate – remembering the way he was in the fullness of human being; the brilliance of that mind that never rested, yet was ever at rest; a sensitivity that shined through those eyes dancing with delight as he looked into our eyes and put us at ease; a brilliance used never to intimidate or embarrass or humiliate, but to lay bare the truth that sets us free, to free us from superstition that holds the soul bound, from a lack of nerve, a failure of courage, to follow where justice and fairness lead, furthering the possibilities for a humane world, for civility and dignity, for compassion and peace… We remember and we marvel; he was so tender in his sensitivity and care, yet so strong… Living out of his own center in freedom, submitting to no external authority, living with a marvelous detachment that enabled him to live beyond the siren call of recognition or adulation or fame purchased at the cost of one’s soul – yielding never to compromise or expediency in the struggle for justice and defense of principle. In the silence we remember the way he was, the way he changed our lives. We remember and we are grateful, grateful that the luminosity of his being irradiated our own; grateful for this gift we have shared, this human encounter which has been divine. For Fred Meijer in whose life and love we have beheld You and been brushed by Your grace. what can we say but “Wow!” Thanks be to You, Oh, God. Amen. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University Page 2   � 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. Event Fred Meijer Memorial Service Location The location of the interview Sunshine Community Church, Grand Rapids 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-1-20111130 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer at Memorial of Fred Meijer 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 30, 2011 entitled "Prayer at Memorial of Fred Meijer", on the occasion of Fred Meijer Memorial Service, at Sunshine Community Church, Grand Rapids. Tags: Community, Love . Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-11-30 Community Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7c2689ab3ee735b032e9b5d7140f983e.pdf 11512cc243754e285468d0c9c1b09a70 PDF Text Text Prayer At The Celebration of The Life of Margaret Ruth Olezczuk Richard A. Rhem The Lee Chapel, Sytsema Funeral Home Norton Shores, Michigan September 15, 2014 Transcription of the written prayer For these few moments, O God, Sacred Mystery of our lives, Creative Source, Eternal Presence, and our Final Home, grace us with awareness that we are held in the embrace of Love as family and friends and the one we have loved and lost awhile. God of our lives, beyond the changing seasons, constant through the passages that mark our days, for these moments, still our minds, quiet our hearts, be present to us as we, in Your presence, remember this one who filled so large a role in our lives. Her physical beauty was the outward embodiment of the beauty of the soul, the instrument of a human spirit that transformed every situation into which she entered, creating joy, good humor, well being. She had that about her that made us confident that all would be well – not through what she did, but simply because her presence was a sweet aroma of grace and goodness that changed everything for the better. O God, our hearts are full. Images tumble through our minds. We see her yet, always a lady, stunning, stylish, classy, able always simply to be herself – unaffected, genuine, authentic, deep. © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer in Celebration of the Life of Margaret Olezczuk Richard A. Rhem For this crown jewel of Your creative art, we give You thanks. O God, there is no denying our loss. Where love looms large, loss is large as well. Where bonds of love are tight, when broken, grief and loss are painful. All of that we own, we acknowledge without denial. Yet we are overwhelmed by the beauty, the wonder of this life that has touched us so deeply – the amazing grace with which she lived and the deep trust with which she breathed her last. And in such a time as this, in such a place as this, Gracious God, we are grateful above all that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled, swallowed up in death, but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord, and to die is to die unto the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Receive our thanksgiving, O God. Grant the comfort of Your Spirit. Renew our hope and lead us on in the confidence that nothing can ever separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. © Grand Valley State University Page 2   � 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. Event Funeral Service at Sytsema Funeral Home Location The location of the interview Lee Chapel, Norton Shores, 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 RA-1-20140915 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-09-15 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer at the Celebration of the Life of Margaret Ruth Oleszczuk 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 15, 2014 entitled "Prayer at the Celebration of the Life of Margaret Ruth Oleszczuk", on the occasion of Funeral Service at Sytsema Funeral Home, at Lee Chapel, Norton Shores, MI. Tags: Funeral, Prayer, Grace, Trust. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Funeral Grace Prayer Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d8d378463cc4c0ce288ffe8f832390d.pdf f8f317ece3f74f24f2b9aa5b238b108d PDF Text Text Prayer Celebrating the Life of Norman Campbell Richard A. Rhem First Congregational Church Muskegon, Michigan January 24, 2014 Oh God, we would be still and know that You are God, Source of all being, Mysterious Mover of the ongoing cosmic drama, creatively breathing fresh surprises into the tapestry of our history, graciously present to us in those moments of awareness when we come to ourselves, when for at least a brief time light dawns upon us and we are saturated with wonder – at the sight of setting sun or starry sky, or our Great Lake blanketed with snow on towering bergs of ice. Then in silence and solitude we know what is beyond knowing. Then a serenity sweeps over our souls and we know all is gift. For we did not create ourselves or our world – not the brilliant winter sun or blinding blizzard, not the air we breathe, not the winter landscape wrapped in glistening ermine. Then we know we are part of something so much larger than the narrow parameters of our daily experience and limited understanding. Before the wonder of it all, we sense we are embraced, caught up in something the dimensions of which we cannot begin to take in – that Mystery that has addressed us, eliciting from us in turn the response of address, when from our depths we utter, “O God.” Then, knowing beyond knowing, we know we have been found by our Source and in turn have found our Resting Place. © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer in Memory of Norman Campbell Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Source and Resting Place, present to us in mysterious and gracious Presence. It is enough. Only gratitude then fills our being and thus we pray, “Thanks be to You, O God.” Gathered here as we are in the posture of worship in Your Presence, we have come to celebrate the life of this good man, Norman Campbell. We remember the way he was and we know why we are grieving so deeply. He leaves such a crater in our hearts for he filled us so tenderly with his mere presence – gentle, kind, gracious, humble, unassuming, generous – the adjectives surface so spontaneously. This one we have loved and lost awhile was a very special human being and he graced our lives so richly. A lover, a care giver, an irreplaceable presence. Beyond the circle of family and friends, a brilliant engineer, a keen industrialist and business man – one who created of his workers a family. Yet in this gentle giant a fire burned – for Tigers, and Blue was a sacred color in the liturgy of his life. And, O God, he walked always in Your Light, a man of deep trust, of inquiring mind, one who rested deeply in Your grace. Those of us beyond family saw all of this but knew as well that his family was where his heart dwelt, where his love was poured, where he found his deepest joy. We celebrate this one, dearly loved and deeply respected. We remember and we give You thanks, O good and gracious God, for the gift we shared– family, dear friends, larger community – the gift we shared of his presence in our midst. Loss is proportionate to love; pain is measured by what the one removed meant to us – and this one meant so much. Yet, amazingly, O God, © Grand Valley State University �Prayer in Memory of Norman Campbell Richard A. Rhem these are bitter-sweet moments. There is no denying the loss, but there is no denying the wonder as well – the wonder at the beauty of love, the meaning of life, the sacredness of human bonding. Things come into focus; we gain perspective. We know in tangible experience what we thought we knew before, but realize we didn’t know as deeply – that what matters finally is the love we’ve known, the love we’ve given, the love we’ve received. Our hearts swell, eyes moisten as we contemplate it all – the gift we’ve known in this one who loved so deeply, so broadly, so naturally… Knowing he was resting on everlasting arms in the embrace of Grace, he saw his end, and in confidence he chose to enter Your presence, O God, resting in his final labored breathing in the abyss of Your love. And in such a time as this, in such a place as this, Gracious God, we are grateful above all that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled, swallowed up in death, but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord, and to die is to die unto the Lord, so then whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Sacred Mystery of all being, of our being, consciously aware of our lives in Your light, we worship. We know that all will be well, all will be well. All manner of things will be well. Amen. © Grand Valley State University Page 3   � 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. Event Funeral Service for Norman Campbell Location The location of the interview First Congregational Church Muskegon, 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 RA-1-20140124 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-01-24 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer Celebrating the Life of Norman Campbell 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 24, 2014 entitled "Prayer Celebrating the Life of Norman Campbell", on the occasion of Funeral Service for Norman Campbell, at First Congregational Church Muskegon, Michigan. Tags: Prayer, Funeral, Presence of God, Worship, Grace. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Funeral Grace Prayer Presence of God Worship https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6696cb990308efd8cb6c04211602160.mp3 34f6ca74cdce81ee97caac77027df6e1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2a82130876e534059c54b762d513b913.pdf f670a6e8fe9a3fa222dcffc6eb4cde82 PDF Text Text Prayer Changes People Pentecost V Text: Jeremiah 29:11-14; Psalm 131:1-2; Matthew 6:8-9 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 9, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon Some months ago I received a letter from one of our members, a good friend with whom I was going to have lunch, and as a prelude to the lunch, he gave me a series of questions that he thought would be good for discussion. He indicated that he had heard, from me and others who had come this way, the ultra-liberal view of things and he wondered about the old, traditional answers to some of the old, traditional questions, such as Creation and Adam and Eve and the Virgin Birth and Resurrection, Salvation through Christ alone. Then he had a whole paragraph on prayer in which he indicated that he had a Christian surgeon friend who said that in all of his many, many years and many, many procedures he had never known any effect of prayer in the changing of the result. He gave a whole paragraph to prayer and so, while I didn't think I wanted to get back to Adam and Eve or even the Virgin Birth, I thought probably those old questions about prayer continue to come, to rise within us in the variety of our human experience. What does prayer mean? Does prayer change anything? Does it affect reality? Prayer, now, not in its whole spectrum. There is prayer as praise. Prayer as adoration, prayer as confession, prayer as thanksgiving. That's all given. But, prayer as intercession, prayer as petition, prayer that asks God, as it were, to do something. That kind of prayer has always been the source of deep questions within our Christian experience, and so I thought this morning it might be well for us to spend a little time and reflect on prayer because certainly prayer is the very heart and center of the religious life or spiritual life. To be religious or to be spiritual is to pray, and yet, as our understanding of our faith and our experience moves and changes, how do we understand this exercise of prayer, this communion with God, this conversation with God? And does prayer affect or change reality? Those questions are certainly not new and I recognize and I want to say in the beginning that to give a sermon on the subject of prayer requires of one to be very careful and very sensitive. There are devotional habits that we have all developed over the years and it is never my intention to talk anyone out of that which is © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer Changes People Richard A. Rhem Page 2   satisfying and that which works for them in their spiritual pilgrimage and in their Christian life. My correspondent was taking a step back and looking at prayer somewhat objectively, wondering about it from a step removed from real existential engagement, and a sermon necessarily has to do that, too, and all of us can do that on occasion. But, to preach a sermon on prayer is a very risky thing because, in a congregation gathered like this, the whole spectrum of human experience is present, and while there are plenty of you who can take that step back and think with me about it this morning, there are no doubt others of you here in an existential point in your life where you are praying for your life, and I have often found that while many times with many people a conversation about prayer is possible, for others, it creates a great defensiveness and we become very protective and can be easily wounded as one discusses this kind of thing. In the crucible, we tend to react emotionally, not rationally, and in a setting like this this morning I am aware that there may be those of you who are deeply engaged in some existential moment where the wrestling and prayer is where you are, and I hope that you can, nonetheless, for just a few moments, think about this wonderful gift, this wonderful reality that we call prayer. I had set down this topic some weeks ago and was intending fully to treat it as one has to treat it, from a step removed, looking at it as a phenomenon of the spiritual life, and two weeks ago, my sister Lois underwent surgery. The diagnosis was melanoma cancer in all the vital organs and in the brain, and the doctor gave the diagnosis to her in the presence of her family and she is now home under Hospice care, for he said it could be a week or it could be a month, those things are not predictable. And last week a niece of mine – who happens to be the oldest grandchild of my parents, who when she was a little tyke I took care of one whole summer because her mother, my sister, couldn't pick her up, being pregnant once again, another one with whom I am very closely bonded – had a stroke, followed by seizures which have continued through the week, as late as this past Friday. And so, I found myself praying, and a preacher is always thinking about the next sermon, and so for the last two weeks I have been very much aware of what I intuitively sense, of what I emotionally feel, and of what I intellectually understand. I've been preaching this sermon for two weeks in quite another fashion than I intended to when I put down the subject and committed myself to preach on prayer today, and it's been really a good exercise for me because I have been so existentially engaged in the practice of prayer while also reflecting on the praying and on my own engagement in this exercise, and what I have come to see is that my understanding of prayer is really part and parcel of my understanding of God. And my understanding of God, it is no secret to you who have been with me for a while, the image of God has been transformed over the last few years from the classic theism with which I was nurtured and educated and which for most of my ministry I preached, transformed from that classic theism to an understanding of God as part of the reality of our life. The old classic theistic conception of God is that of the supernatural being outside of our reality who dips into our reality now and again to effect this or that, that idea of God as © Grand Valley State University �Prayer Changes People Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Almighty, the sovereign of history, the ruler of the world, the one who shifts the gears of the universe, the one who determines all that happens, that one, in a word, who is in control -that's the God with which most of us have grown up. But, also I think that image of God or the understanding of God has become more difficult for us. As we have come to more and more of an understanding of our world, of our human existence, of reality as such, I think that that old image of God as Almighty, in control, has really created our problems with prayer, because I do believe in all honesty that prayer has been a question and oftentimes an anguishing problem for devout persons. For example, I pray for my child and she is healed. You pray for your child and she dies. Or, droughts and floods and hurricanes and all of those natural disasters that we call in the insurance lingo the "acts of God," a God who is all-powerful and is in control, but does not rule out cancer in a child, or in our own lifetimes that most chilling realization that God's chosen people, the Jews, could be murdered en masse, six million, as occurred in the Holocaust. What does one do with God in control in face of human tragedy and suffering? Well, of course, I know the traditional answers - "God makes no mistakes," we say, feeling we have to say something in the face of tragedy, saying something like that which can really only wound the one who has experienced great loss. Or, "It is the inscrutable will of God and it will be made clear one day." Well, you can't argue with that and it has worked for many people, but in all honesty, it doesn't work for me anymore and I suspect there are many of you who say the same. If God can heal, why is it only one here and there? If God can send the rain or spare it, if God can send the wind or hold it back, then why should life be laced with such ongoing suffering and tragedy, if God is really in control? That is, if God really controls, pulls the levers, the strings, and determines all that happens? In the face of my own existential concern for those I dearly love, I had an opportunity to test the different image of God, not a God in control, but a God a part of the very reality of which we are all a part. If you want an attempt to label it, it is a conception that can be referred to as pan-entheism. Pan is the Greek word for "all," and the preposition en is "in," and theos, of course, is the Greek word for God. Pan-entheism tries to say God in everything and everything in God. God more than everything, but nothing apart from God, nothing exists apart from the presence of God. All of reality shot through with God. God present to all and all embraced in God, so that God is not one who needs to be called into the process. God is not one being, be God supernatural and super-human, human writ large. God is not just another being, a spiritual factor that here and there reflects the course of nature and interrupts the process, but rather, God as the enlivening center of all that is, the creative Spirit that moves it all. God present to all, in all and all in God so that prayer becomes coming to be at one with that mystery that is one with us. © Grand Valley State University �Prayer Changes People Richard A. Rhem Page 4   How, then, does one pray? Did I, do I pray for God to heal my sister's cancer? No, I don't. What, then, do I pray for? I pray for awareness. I pray for an awareness of the presence of the life-giving, loving God in all things that binds us all together. I pray for a sense of the enlivening, life-enhancing, loving, sacred and holy One, bringing me and those I love into sync with that which is God, the deepest and most profound Mystery of all reality. Because when I can come to recognize my part as a part of the whole, when I come to sense that I am laced into this whole amazing and wonderful miracle we call life and reality, when I come to the awareness that God is in me and with me and in and with those I love, then, in that awareness, there comes a certain peace, aware of the totality of things, of life's beauty and its terror, of a flower in a crannied wall and a child with cancer, and knowing that all of it is a part of this reality into which our lives are woven, a reality that is shot through with the holy, a reality to which God is present at all times, in all things, a presence whose awareness can give peace. And so, then I can go to be with my sister, I can go to be with my niece, I can be present to them in solidarity with them in this crisis of their physical being, but present to embody a love and a care and a concern which is the expression of that mystery of love that is God. In our Christian tradition, the word became flesh. In a human face we saw God and not that God was in one human face, period, but that God has become human, God has come into expression in the human. God is expressed in you and in me. We are God-persons to one another, and the presence of God to one another, and the embodiment of compassion and love and the deep bonding of human relationship, and that's beautiful, and that's powerful. No matter what the existential circumstance, to be able to break through to that sense of the presence of a God who is the mystery of life and love - that's powerful. There are a lot of studies being done, currently one underway at Harvard, a huge study on the connection of prayer and healing, and the evidence has come in that there is a therapeutic effect in worship, devotion, a life of prayer. But, I don't want to put it on that basis. I don't want to sell you on prayer; I don't want to sell you on worship, because it's good for you. Whatever happens that is good is a byproduct of the wonder of the experience of God, of being at one with the whole scheme of things which is the scheme of things whose font is God, God that inexhaustible, infinite source and ground of all that is, to be aware that I am embraced, that I am a part of and bound to those I love with a kind of community that is deeper than words can describe. To come to that is to come to amazement, to come to peace, and to know that all, all will be well. Of course, it will, because all together we are in the embrace of that mysterious love coming to expression in a process that is full of beauty and full of terror, but which embraced and experienced in the humanity of the other, in the bonds of love, in the mystery of compassion, enables one to say, "All is well. All is well." Prayer changes people, and I said "Prayer Changes People" because when I wrote that down some weeks ago, it was over against "Prayer Changes Things." But, this © Grand Valley State University �Prayer Changes People Richard A. Rhem Page 5   is the irony -when once I break through to that sense of being secured and that loving mystery I call God, and I am changed. Reality just may change, as well. I looked at my sister on Thursday and two weeks ago she was so terribly sick. Through competent medical care and the loving ministry of the Hospice people getting her taken care of, the morphine patch to relax and to cut the pain, to look at her and see her smile, to know her peace, I could say to her, "You know, you just might be peaceful enough to reverse that whole cancerous process." And it could happen. I don't know how it happens. I don't know what happens when we pray, when we pray in our words and our body language and our presence in the yearning depths of our hearts, I don't know what happens. Who knows what that positive yearning affects since we are all interlaced into a continuous reality, since we are all part of that web of being, who knows what my love and concern and compassion may affect beyond me? Jeremiah was a theist, I think. He wouldn't like my transformed image of God, for the God of Israel was sovereign of history who set the boundaries and determined the destiny of nations, but Jeremiah was simply imagining God in his way. The important thing is not that image; the important thing is that Jeremiah had a basic, fundamental trust in God. In the midst of the darkness of the Exile, he trusted in God, he believed in God, he trusted in light, in love, and the purposes that are endemic to the whole scheme of things. And so, he said, "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." I'll tell you what –I lived my life for several years on that text. You see, the biblical images that are so beautiful and powerful are poetry. They are the poetry of the soul -God's eye is on the sparrow, the very hairs of your head are numbered, your name is engraven in the palm of God's hand. Images, images that point to something profound and deep that you can trust, and if you can trust, you can resign yourself in peace and life becomes a prayer and your presence to one who is suffering is a prayer, and your presence to those who celebrate a child is a prayer. Prayer which arises out of that fundamental trust - that changes people. So, then, pray without ceasing. © 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 V Scripture Text Jeremiah 29:11-14, Psalm 131:1-2, Matthew 6:8-9 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-0-20000709 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-07-09 Title A name given to the resource Prayer Changes People 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 9, 2000 entitled "Prayer Changes People", on the occasion of Pentecost V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 29:11-14, Psalm 131:1-2, Matthew 6:8-9. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Awareness Divine Presence Panentheism Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ef491e75f01ba4ce45bbeba2f9573143.pdf a2947b7c28743d5bf25ec22b27af7261 PDF Text Text Prayer On a Tour Group Sunday Richard A. Rhem September 19, 1993 Prepared text of prayer Let us be in the spirit of prayer, aware that we have been gifted with life not of our creation, that we live at the far end of a creative process spanning billions of years, an extension of time beyond our capacity to comprehend, evolving in a cosmic expanse of space beyond our ability to imagine. We have seen rugged mountain peaks thrust heaven-ward by volcanic explosion, issuing in a fiery river that, after aeons of time, became rivers of ice crushing all in their path. All of this wonder would be beyond belief except our eyes have seen the narrative written in rock and ice and lake and rivers and undulating oceans stretching beyond where the eye can see. In the familiar words of the song brought to such beautiful expression by Louis Armstrong – What a wonderful world! And yet, when we have stood in awe, amazed at our earthly home, wondered at its wonders, we have only begun to scratch the surface of the miracle, wonder, glory and joy of life. For we have not even begun to contemplate the beauty of the human – the likes of us who have emerged in this creative process billions of years in the making. Here we are, conscious, aware – reflecting on it all... We have become the awareness of the cosmos, © Grand Valley State University   �Tour Group Prayer Richard A. Rhem the voice of that awareness, creating poems that paint pictures with words, writing music that lifts our spirits in worship and sets our feet to dancing, celebrating the wonder of it all. And still we have only begun to touch the depths of our human experience, for we have not yet spoken of human relationship, the human kaleidoscope of faces, of languages, of body form and skin tone – all this diversity but the manifestation of the oneness that unites us in our common humanity. We have experienced the beautiful reality of that oneness in the diversity of those who have cared for us so well – cleaning rooms, waiting tables, creating the ambience of grace and pleasure of comfort. The external differences fade before the sparkle in the eye, the smile, the appreciation of being well served and serving well. And still there is more – for we have experienced again the joy of communion – knowing afresh the wonderful process of the knitting of human bonds forming a new family where there is appreciation, mutual care, affection, laughter and a new circle of love. These days have been too full, fully to take in. We will relive them and their beauty, and wonder will continue to wash over us. How blessed we are! How grateful! And now we enter these final days – still much to see, to do. And yet home begins to beckon – those we love, waiting for us, and the routines of the ordinary days that fill our lives with order and meaning. For home and deep human relationships that await us there, we are thankful as well. Surely goodness and mercy have followed us all these days and we dwell consciously © Grand Valley State University Page 2   �Tour Group Prayer Richard A. Rhem in Your presence, Holy Mystery, from whom all emerges and to whom all returns, a mystery for us come to expression in the Word become human – Jesus, who taught us to pray. © Grand Valley State University Page 3   � 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. Event Group Tour in Greece 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-1-19930919 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-09-19 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer during Group Tour in Nauplia, Greece 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 19, 1993 entitled "Prayer during Group Tour in Nauplia, Greece", on the occasion of Group Tour in Greece. Tags: Prayer, Wonder, Emergence, Awareness, Community. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Awareness Community Emergence Prayer Wonder https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b9f21ef2290e7257c9e672479f6a389c.pdf 35fb114eecee4d3cc5a28cc4589a976e PDF Text Text Prayer offered by Richard A. Rhem At the Celebration of the Life of Nancy Kay Edelmayer November 9, 2011 -––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– God of Love, God of Life, we have gathered in this place, in this hour, still reeling from the shock, the abrupt, wrenching away of someone so loved, someone so very much an anchor of loving support, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend, whose vital presence was such a strong center of the family circle and the extended community. We know that death awaits us all, that from the moment we emit our borning cry there is for all of us a final farewell. Yet, especially when the leave-taking is sudden, it seems too soon. Though spared the agonizing pain and suffering of a slow, deteriorating death, there has been no time for proper goodbyes, no time to say things so often felt but left unsaid, no time for mutual blessing and holding and hoping. And thus, the grieving comes so sharply, cuts so deeply, because there has been no time for easing into the inevitable, to adjust to the loss. Thus, we feel bereft of one whom it seemed would always be there, an anchor, a rock, a steadying presence. We remember in these moments the way she was. Images tumble through our mind: She was a natural leader, strong, knowing her own mind, decisive, yet open, marked by good humor. She was without pretence; there was an authenticity about her; she never put on airs. Her honesty was refreshing if sometimes devastating; she had little patience for the games people play © Grand Valley State University �Prayer Offered to Celebrate the Life of Nancy Kay Edelmayer Page 2 when they are being less than honest. But somehow her strength, her presence larger than life, was wrapped in warmth, in compassion, empathy and good humor. She was kind and generous. She had a big heart and she loved deeply. No wonder then, O God, her death leaves such a crater, such emptiness. And no wonder we are gathered to celebrate her good life, to remember and give thanks for the gift we have shared. And on this, the eve of her 80th birthday, we remember the words of the Psalmist, “three score years and ten or by reason of strength, four score years “… Four score years she lived, lived well and fully, and then made her own 911 call. For her good death, we give you thanks, O God. Where love looms large loss is large as well. Where bonds of love are tight, when broken, grief and loss are painful. All of that we own, we acknowledge without denial . . . Yet we sense as well the beauty of this life lived well with love and grace, ending in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, confident that new vistas of wonder await, confident that all will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well. Amazed by grace, now home, we rejoice for her, with her, and we worship you, O good and gracious God, through Jesus Christ our Lord who taught us all to pray saying, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. © 2012 Richard A. Rhem � 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. Event Nancy Edelmayer Funeral 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-1-20111109 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer for Life 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 9, 2011 entitled "Prayer for Life ", on the occasion of Nancy Edelmayer Funeral. Tags: Trust. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-11-09 Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99fe4cd4ee325ff8439f8fb299e0b07f.pdf e8af5f13f037c4b9de27520d11aade2c PDF Text Text Prayer for the World, 1997 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan June 1997 Transcription of prepared text   Living  God,   fountain  of  creative  energy,   mystery  beyond  fathoming,   we  pray,  we  speak,  we  address  you   hidden  in  a  cloud  of  unknowing.     We  address  you,  God  of  our  lives,     for  we  have  been  addressed  –   encountered,  touched,  moved  by  grace.   We  contemplate  our  world   and  we  stand  in  awe.   Wonder  overwhelms  us.     Are  you  the  cosmic  poet,   the  composer  of  this  cosmic  symphony,   the  grand  initiator  of  all  that  is,   the  ultimate  strange  attractor   that  beckons  all  life  and  existence  toward  the  Heavenly  City?     O  God,  we  worship.   We  bring  our  prayer  of  thanksgiving.   We,  your  children,  offspring  of  stardust,   gaze  with  awe  at  the  wonder  of  it  all  –   you  who  transforms  chaos  into  cosmos,   disorder  into  order,   dissonance  and  noise  into  the  language  of  a  poem  –   you  are  our  life;   in  you  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.     Conscious,  aware,  observers  of  a  cosmic  drama  –   we  sense  we  have  been  addressed.   We  have  been  touched  by  a  very  great  grace.   © Grand Valley State University   �Title… Richard A. Rhem We  praise  you.   We  give  you  thanks,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     O  God,  we  bring  before  you  our  world,   the  world  that  is  a  minor  planet     on  the  edge  of  a  middling  galaxy  –   yet  a  world,  according  to  the  evangelist,  you  love.   Stretch  our  minds  and  expand  our  hearts  to  take  in  the  world  –   to  love  it,  to  care  for  it,     with  sensitivity.     We  are  so  aware  today,   for  the  world’s  anguish  is  vividly  portrayed  for  us.   Yet,  we  see  too  its  beauty,  its  potential.     O  God,  there  is  so  much  human  suffering,   so  much  tragedy.   Yet  there  is  so  much  possibility   for  the  flourishing  of  a  humane  community.   Ours  is  a  world  of  unspeakable  brutality,   of  beautiful  tenderness.     We  hold  our  world  before  you.   Make  us  instruments  of  your  peace,   agents  of  reconciliation,   creators  of  community,   healers  of  the  world’s  ills.     Hear  these  our  intercessions,   through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     © Grand Valley State University Page 2   � 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. 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 RA-1-19970601 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-06-01 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer for the World 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on June 1, 1997 entitled "Prayer for the World", at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Tags: Prayer, World. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Prayer World https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bf2e9c7eddd36f3a759466abeeda2042.pdf d29f5472217d8a7f163a63900ed15773 PDF Text Text Prayer Offered at the Celebration of Dorothy Boelen’s Life Richard A. Rhem St. John’s Episcopal Church Grand Haven, Michigan August 1, 2013 In the spirit of quiet anticipation, we come consciously into your Presence, Sacred Mystery of Being, in Whom we live and move and have our being. We would be still and know that you are God, our Sustainer through this earthly pilgrimage and our eternal home. Hidden from us in a cloud of unknowing, yet so very present to us in life’s Grace moments, moments when Love becomes tangible because embodied in another, in a face, a smile, a touch. This one whose life we celebrate today was such an instrument of your Love, a channel of your Grace. What a gift we have shared! Loss is proportionate to love; pain is measured by what the one removed meant to us – and this one, our Dorothy, meant so much. There is no denying the loss. Yet, O God, there is no denying the wonder as well, wonder at the beauty of love she embodied, wonder at grace amazing, simplicity, humility, authenticity, indeed, an altogether lovely humanity. We remember the way she was. We remember and we give thanks that our lives were enriched living in the circle of light that shone through her. Good and Gracious God, we have gathered in worship to remember and to give thanks – to remember a wife, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. We acknowledge our sadness as over the last years and months we witnessed that brilliant mind closed even as her eyesight dimmed. The strong and gracious presence was reduced to quiet desperation. We were heartbroken that we lost her long before she breathed her last. © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer in Memory of Dorothy Boelens Richard A. Rhem Gord’s loving care, family’s deep concern and love surrounded her. But that vibrant one we loved and admired was only a shadow of herself. Yet, amazingly, O God, these are bittersweet moments. There is no denying the loss but there is no denying the wonder as well – the wonder at the beauty of love, the meaning of life, the sacredness of human bonding. Things come into focus; we gain perspective, We know in tangible experience what we thought we knew before, but realize we didn’t know as deeply – That what really matters finally is the love we’ve known – love given, love received. Our hearts swell, eyes moisten as we contemplate it all – the gift we’ve known in this one who loved so deeply, so broadly. And in such a time as this, in such a place as this, Gracious God, we are grateful above all that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled, swallowed up in death, but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord, and to die is to die unto the Lord, so then whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Sacred Mystery of our lives, You are there to hear our borning cry, You are there when we are old. And when we shut our weary eyes you are there with just one more surprise. With such full faith we bid our loved one farewell, trusting in full assurance that All will be well, All will be well, All manner of things will be well. O God, our hearts are full, quite overwhelmed. We commend our loved one, full of love, into the abyss of Your Love, in the name of the Good Shepherd whose love she embodied, Jesus Christ our Lord. © Grand Valley State University Page 2   � 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. Event Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens 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 RA-1-20130801 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-08-01 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer in Celebration of the Life of Dorothy Boelens 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 1, 2013 entitled "Prayer in Celebration of the Life of Dorothy Boelens", on the occasion of Funeral Service for Dorothy Kruizenga Boelens, at St. John's Episcopal Chruch, Grand Haven, Michigan. Tags: Prayer, Mystery, Death, Profile in Love, Family. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Death Family Mystery Prayer Profile in Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f3af856cca191e82568101d78c5fd644.pdf 7bd84097904914930803c85b7479417b PDF Text Text Prayer Offered By Richard A. Rhem At the Memorial Service for Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga Freedom Village, Holland, Michigan May 25, 2013 Oh God, beyond our fathoming, eternal, infinite – terms we use to describe what is indescribable – we bow in these moments conscious that we are in the presence of Mystery, a Mystery that embraces us and will always defy our lust to define, to reduce to manageable terms, yet a Mystery not all mysterious for, eternal though You be, You have taken time for us. In the beginning You stepped out of eternity’s depths and called a world into being. In the fullness of time You spoke once more and the Word that wrought our time became flesh in our midst; a human face gave shape to the glory of Your being and revealed You full of grace, mediated to us through the Presence of Your Spirit. Thus, on the morrow, the Lord’s Day, Trinity Sunday, we shall worship You, Father/Son/Holy Spirit, in whom we live and move and have our being. When we have done our best to grasp you, image you, only one thing matters – Eternal Love that came to expression in the face of Jesus. God is Love. All of our theology and philosophy, our reasoning and our wondering, comes down to that: God is Love. Thus Margaret knew you, trusted you, committed her life to you in her love of family, her community, whomever crossed her path in need. We remember and we give thanks. © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Images tumble through our minds of the way she was, larger than life. Perhaps her fondest dream, her greatest gift, was the Art Museum for which ground was broken yesterday. How ironic, O God of Mystery, that this Memorial Day Weekend should see the realization of her dream and the celebration of her life in death. Yet so it is and, not denying the grief, still there is something rather beautiful – in her death her crowning achievement realized. We remember and give thanks for this one who touched so many with grace, whose heart was large enough to embrace a broad and diverse community, whose wisdom aided so many onto the paths of well-being. We remember and we give thanks for this remarkable woman, this Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga, strong of mind and will, strong of conviction and of faith, yet generous, full of life, good humor, loving to delight, one whose strong presence made a difference. And in such a time as this, in such a place as this, Gracious God, we are grateful above all that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled, swallowed up in death, but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord, and to die is to die unto the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Receive our thanksgiving, O God. Grant the comfort of Your Spirit, renew our hope and lead us on in the confidence that nothing can ever separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus our Lord, 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 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. Event Memorial Service Location The location of the interview Freedom Village, Holland, 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 RA-1-20130525 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-05-02 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer in Memory of Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 2, 2013 entitled "Prayer in Memory of Margaret Feldmann Kruizenga", on the occasion of Memorial Service, at Freedom Village, Holland, Michigan. Tags: God is Love. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf God is Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5e4b9a3c9f9cf7db64908f84628d475c.pdf c58623d39df5b002398e7271da0aaef3 PDF Text Text Prayer Following the Meditation for Marvin Bottema Richard A. Rhem Spring Lake, Michiga March 2, 2013 Eternal God, Source, Guide and Goal of all that is, from You we receive life as a gift and to You our life returns. In the Psalmist’s poetic expression, You send forth your breath, your Spirit, and they are created. You take away their breath, they die. We find our comfort in life and in death that we are not our own but belong to you, a faithful God, Whose steadfast love embraces us on this fascinating and fragile human pilgrimage. And thus we find it most natural at such a time as this, in such a place as this, to lift up our hearts in worship, to bow in Your presence before the mystery of life and the reality of death. We worship, for we are aware of the wonder of creation, its beauty and its terror, its loveliness and its pain. We turn to You, O God, giver of life and Ground of all being. We rest in You, we trust where we do not know. In You we hope and to You we commend those we’ve loved and lost awhile. Finally home, our beloved father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, friend, your faithful servant, Marvin Bottema. Finally home in a grand reunion– his beautiful Thelma, Gerrit and Johanna, Neil and Alice, and the others who have been part of this remarkable family, a family rooted in a wonderful community of village and church where ties of love, mutual care and strong tradition created the good life – the good life we have all received as a gift of Your Grace, O God, a gift we treasure, a gift we pray we pass on as it has been entrusted to us. We give thanks for the privilege of living in the aroma of your Grace as it was manifested in his life. © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer for Marvin Bottema Richard A. Rhem The kitchen was the sanctuary – gathered around the kitchen table, the liturgy varied according to who came through the door. And no matter who showed up one could find their picture plastered on the refrigerator. There was always coffee and chocolate chip cookies – unless John had been there earlier. Precious times. Our loved one, now parted from us, was not, as it were, the chairman. On any given day on any given topic, anyone might take the lead. Nonetheless, his was the presence that mattered, the presence that bound all together in the bundle of life and love. We celebrate this life, this one who kept us together when his beloved Thelma entered your light eternal, O God. Summer holidays in the yard, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, crunched into the family room. And miss him though we will, grieve his absence, still we know it was time. He was tired, he was ready, he faced his end with equanimity, receiving the benediction in full assurance. O God, there is no denying our loss. Where love looms large, loss is large as well. Where bonds of love are tight, when broken, grief and loss are painful. All of that we own, we acknowledge, without denial. And in such a time as this, in such a place as this, Gracious God, we are grateful above all that the end is not broken health and dreams unfulfilled, swallowed up in death, but rather the confidence that to live is to live unto the Lord, and to die is to die unto the Lord, so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Receive our thanksgiving, O God. Grant the comfort of Your Spirit, renew our hope and lead us on in the confidence that nothing can ever separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who taught us to pray, saying, © Grand Valley State University Page 2   �Prayer for Marvin Bottema Richard A. Rhem Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. © Grand Valley State University Page 3   � 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. Event Funeral Service Location The location of the interview Spring Lake, 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 RA-1-20130302 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-03-02 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer in Memory of Marvin Bottema 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 2, 2013 entitled "Prayer in Memory of Marvin Bottema", on the occasion of Funeral Service, at Spring Lake, Michigan. Tags: Prayer, Funeral, Community of Faith. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Community of Faith Funeral Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9815a2583025f5a5234facc5e25a4b53.pdf 498c52994ff5563f38f320d0141244f7 PDF Text Text Prayer of Gratitude for Community, 2003 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 5, 2003 Transcription of the prepared text Let  us  pray…   Consciously  now  in  community   we  become  quiet.   Finally,  the  Sacred  Presence  within  us  and  among  us   is  sensed  best  in  silence.   Our  words  are  stammering  utterances,   seeking  to  express  the  inexpressible.   Only  when  we  finally  have  no  words     are  we  rendering  reverence  and  recognition   to  that  Mystery  of  Being   which  is  the  font  and  creative  source  of  all  that  is.     In  silence,  then,  let  us  be  mindful,   aware  and  awash  with  wonder   before  the  miracle,  the  grace,  the  gift  of  life.   Gratitude  rises  in  our  being  –   gratitude  for  belonging  to  a  community  like  this,   a  community  engaged  in  tangible  care  –   making  a  difference  in  a  child’s  life  by  spending  an  hour   of  attention,  affirmation  and  affection    –giving  Kids  Hope;   creating  a  center  for  people     where  groceries  and  clothing  and  shelter  are  freely  offered;   providing  a  place  of  loving  care  for  those   whose  caregivers  need  some  respite  from  the  strain  of  constant  caring.     How  good  it  is  to  be  together  –   a  community  in  which  we  have  learned  not  only  to  care   and  concretely  engage  in  compassionate  ministry,   but  where  we  have  learned  the  joy  of  human  community  –   the  fun  of  a  party,   the  communion  of  a  group  of  women  gathered  around  a  quilt  in  the  making,   © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer of Gratitude for Community, 2003 Richard A. Rhem Page 2   balloons  in  worship   children  delighting  and  gray-­‐haired  saints   having  so  much  fun  they  almost  feel  guilty,   because  it  was  not  always  thus.     A  community  free  of  tribal  instinct  and  judgmental  spirit,   a  community  in  which  we  are  intentionally  set  free   from  all  that  still  marks  so  much  religious  observance  –   fear  and  guilt  and  heavy  obligation.     Holy  Presence,  accessed  most  profoundly  in  wordless  wonder,   our  words  are  but  triggers  to  awaken  our  imagination,  our  awareness  –   in  silence,  grant  an  epiphany  of  Grace  amazing  and  overflowing   that  has  brought  us  together  in  this  gathering,     this  community.     We  gather  with  such  a  diversity  of  desires,  hopes,  fears,  longings.   Each  of  us  has  those  matters  that  touch  us  must  deeply  –   hear  the  sighs  and  celebrations  of  our  hearts.     We  image  the  one  in  whom  we  have  glimpsed  the  Eternal  Mystery   and  we  come  seeking  there  our  soul’s  rest,   refreshment  in  our  weariness.     O  Lord,  hear  our  prayers.     © 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. Event Pentecost XVII 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 RA-1-20031005 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer of Gratitude for Community 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 5, 2003 entitled "Prayer of Gratitude for Community", on the occasion of Pentecost XVII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Tags: Prayer, Community of Grace. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-10-05 Community of Grace Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6eb5abe129d62d8527e5d4f383c0d8df.pdf bf86846b9e73ce9138ebc6dda9b02ca0 PDF Text Text Prayer on Baccalaureate Sunday Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan June 4, 2000 Transcription of the prepared text Hear  us  now,  O  Lord,   as  we  place  our  lives  before  You  –   individually,    as  a  community.   We  come  here  each  of  us  with  special  concerns  of  the  heart.   In  silence,  hear  our  heart  beat,     our  heart’s  cry.     Today  we  recognize  those  who  have  completed    a  state  of  education,  of  preparation  for  life.   Bless  them,  each  one.   We  celebrate  their  gifts,  their  achievements,  their  future.   Give  them  joy  and  delight  in  what  has  been  accomplished.   Give  them  vision     and  call  them  to  commitment   to  significant  endeavor.     For  these  beautiful  young  people  we  pray  –   what  a  gift  they  are.   What  potential  they  represent.   Let  them  sense  the  truth  of  Jesus’  word,   That it is in losing their lives that  they  will  find  life,   in  serving  that  they  will  be  fulfilled.     Creator  Spirit,   brood  over  this  community  of  faith,     this  Christ  Community.   Keep  us  steady;  keep  us  strong;   keep  our  spirits  open,   our  hearts  tender,  our  whole  being  full  of  grace.     © Grand Valley State University   �Prayer on Baccalaureate Sunday Richard A. Rhem Sometimes  we  wonder;   sometimes  we  waver;   sometimes  we  want  to  run,  to  be  done  with  it  all.   But  where  would  that  leave  us?   Where  would  we  run?   To  whom  would  we  turn?     So,  good  and  gracious  God,  gather  us  in,   hold  us  close,  steel  our  purpose.   Give  us  joy  in  the  journey     and  undying  trust  in  your  purpose  for  us.     Hear  this  our  prayer,   through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.   Amen.   © Grand Valley State University Page 2   � 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. Event Baccalaureate Sunday 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 RA-1-20000604 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-06-04 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Prayer on Baccalaureate Sunday 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 Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on June 4, 2000 entitled "Prayer on Baccalaureate Sunday", on the occasion of Baccalaureate Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Tags: Prayer, Baccalaureate Sunday. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Baccalaureate Sunday Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/309db20aabb6bda9ec2220be38ba38dc.mp3 ed6c5d0e1a7cf60432dce3f18f8f7d2d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/26d4de16cf31e6bb1ee11ee50c2e5f36.pdf c35dd0d62fbf3d8fb839e3e65e2b761e PDF Text Text Prayer With Eyes Wide Open From the series: Spritiual Life – Religion Re-Imagined Text: Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 28, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon The Reading From the Present comes from Thomas Moore’s recent book, The Soul’s Religion. It is actually a quote that he gives us from a poet, Wallace Stevens. I liked it because I thought it had something to say about the breadth of experience of the spiritual life about which we have been thinking together. Wallace Stevens writes this in his Journal, 1902: Last night I spent an hour in the dark transept of St. Patrick’s Cathedral where I go now and then in my more lonely moods. An old argument with me is that the true religious force in the world is not the Church, but the world itself. The mysterious callings of nature and our responses. What incessant murmurs fill that ever laboring, tireless church. But, today in my walk, I thought that, after all, there’s no conflict of format, but rather a contrast. In the cathedral I felt one presence, on the highway I felt another. Two different deities present themselves, and though I have only a cloudy vision of either, yet I now feel the distinction between them. The priest in me worships one God at one shrine; the poet another God at another shrine. The priest worshiped mercy and love, the poet beauty and might. In the shadows of the church, I could hear the prayers of men and women. In the shadows of the trees, nothing mingled with divinity. As I sat dreaming with the congregation, I felt how the glittering altar works on my senses, stimulating and consoling them, and as I went tramping through the fields and woods, I beheld every leaf and blade of grass revealing or rather betokening the invisible. Sometimes the things that we talk about here together stimulate other thoughts, and we have been talking about religion and spirituality these weeks—how religion is the structure through which our spiritual lives express themselves, whether for good or for ill. Someone gave me a quote from the AA community. It goes like this: “Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there.” As is often true, AA has a lot of wisdom. But our religious life does, in many ways, determine the nature or the degree to which our © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 2   spiritual life is really in tune and in touch with where we are and where we are living. This morning we consider “Praying With Eyes Wide Open.” Prayer is certainly the center of our religious experience. Prayer is the heart and center of our spiritual life. To pray is to be human, to be religious, to be spiritual. Without prayer, there is a barrenness that certainly bespeaks a sickness of soul. Prayer comes in many forms and takes many shapes, probably as many as there are those of us who pray. Following the cue of Thomas Moore, who did some autobiographical writing in his book, I have shared with you some of my own autobiographical experience, and when I think about prayer, I think of my own story. I have had such a difficult time with prayer. I have been a terrible model of prayer. I have never successfully had a devotional life, and I confess that before you, my people. That is not the fault of my childhood, because my childhood was saturated in prayer. Three meals a day began and concluded with prayer. The day did not end without the offering of a prayer. In my youth, I was involved in all kinds of prayer groups. If I had been young these days, I would have been one of those kids gathered around the flagpole on the schoolyard. Because of my ambiguous feelings about that whole thing, I realize that I must keep in check any criticism. If someone like me could fall as far as I have from that, then there is hope for those gathering, too. In my college years there was more prayer and prayer groups. In seminary I worked with a pastor who was marked by his prayer life and everyone knew it. If you mentioned his name, everyone knew he was a man of prayer. Under his tutelage, I developed my own devotional style in the morning. It centered around a little loose-leaf notebook, page after page of names and causes and concerns, and every morning, I mean every morning, I rose early and on my knees paged through that book. I continued that practice when I came here in 1960 for a little while. But eventually it faded. I suppose it faded because I hated every minute of it. It was not me. For me, it was not natural. It was not the air I breathed. I am not sure if it has something to do with my being lazy, and it may. It may have something to do with my lack of discipline. I confess that, too. Or it may be that even way back then there was an intellectual problem that I had with prayer that I was unwilling to admit to, which perhaps short-circuited any vital prayer experience. I’m not sure. For a sermon on prayer in the midst of this congregation it would be smart of me if I would let my colleague Peter preach. But on occasion over the years, I have helped someone when I have spoken about prayer and my own difficulties. It seemed to give them some hope, having a lousy prayer life themselves. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Still, I pray, for prayer is the heart and soul of religious experience. My life is a dialogue. I am talking to myself all the time, and praying may be talking to oneself in the presence of that greater reality into which our lives are woven. It may be consciousness and awareness in the face of the web of meaning, the tapestry of reality of which we are a part. Certainly I pray, as I think we must all pray. Perhaps it was why I responded positively to Thomas Moore’s book, for he has a chapter entitled “The Instinct for Prayer” in which he speaks about an impulse to pray. And I know that. Don’t you? To be human is to have an instinct to pray, to bring to expression that which is in our depths. There are those situations in life when we have the impulse to pray, when there is that spontaneous eruption from within. And so, prayer really is the heart and center of religious experience, the dialogue and conversation that goes on within us. I speak about prayer with eyes wide open, because increasingly that is my experience. As I said a couple of weeks ago about the transformations through which I have gone in my spiritual journey, I have moved from a supernatural theism to a religious naturalism, where God is not “out there” somewhere, waiting upon my prayers in order to manipulate the human situation. God is not beyond the reality of which we are a part, running things and waiting to be influenced by the volleys of prayers from earth’s children. I don’t believe that. I don’t think one can think intelligently about that and carry on the practice with any vitality. There are recent studies about the effectiveness of prayer for people with illness, but I’m not too impressed with that, either. What do those kinds of studies finally prove? If we need to prove that prayer works, are we really afraid that God doesn’t exist and that there is nothing to it? I suppose there is some value in that sort of study, but I would rather not go there. I would rather pray with eyes wide open, recognizing that the whole of reality is of a piece, and that it is shot through with God; that the whole of reality is a seamless robe pregnant with divinity; that my life and your life is a part of a totality laced with creativity, and to the extent that we come to an awareness and an appreciation of the reality of which we are a part, our prayer will flow. I think Thomas Moore is right. There is an instinct for prayer and we ought to go along with it without too much intellectual machination, trying to figure it out. The Psalmist, for example, wrote a beautiful ejaculatory expression: “Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my cry. Hear my voice.” The Psalmist made a plea for forgiveness, resting in the graciousness of God. “Lord, if you should mark iniquities, who could stand, but with you there is forgiveness.” I have been there, haven’t you? When we have failed, when we come face to face with our flaws, and then experience the grace of forgiveness through that spontaneous eruption, we say, “O Lord, out of the depths I cry to thee.” © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Or perhaps in its original form prayer was that kind of ejaculatory expression in the face of our helplessness. For in the face of the mystery of life we often feel helpless, knowing there is more of our existence beyond our control than that little piece over which we have control. And so, perhaps out of fear, or out of wonder, or in the face of great joy, we pray. We cry to the Lord. Out of our depths there erupts the expression of those deep emotions that are so much a part of who we are. Prayer can be that kind of spontaneous expression. And then there is the prayer of awareness. I think of that passage of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus has the whole village at the doorstep of Peter’s mother-inlaw’s home. Jesus had healed her and now the word is out that he is there, and so they bring everybody to the doorstep. Through the evening he reaches out, giving of himself in his healing ministry. The next morning, Mark tells us, a long while before dawn he arose and found a solitary place and he prayed. I suppose that is how one lives with intentionality. I suppose that is how one keeps from getting swept away with inordinate success or bitter disappointment, by having that encounter, that moment of awareness, that attention in the presence of God. If I had been Jesus and had a successful evening such as that, I would have gotten up before breakfast and put posters on every telephone pole about the time of the next healing service. But Jesus prayed. And when they came after him and said, “Hey, we have something good going, Lord,” he said, “Let’s get out of here.” He had found his center in the presence of God. There is that prayer of awareness and attention, that self-consciousness in the presence of the other that enables us to keep our balance. And there is the love and care expressed in prayer. We express our love and care by saying to one another, “I’ll pray for you.” I don’t know how many of us actually do it, but we all tend to say it, and when someone we love, or when we ourselves come into crisis, again it is simply natural and instinctive to pray. About three or four weeks ago, one of my closest friends, a colleague in ministry for over forty years and a person known to this congregation, Bud Ridder, experienced a stroke. When I got the news, it impacted me greatly because I realized how meaningful that relationship is to me. I said to him, “I came to see again how much I love you.” Although he came out of the stroke rather well, the doctors discovered an aneurysm and announced the necessity of serious surgery. Last Tuesday at lunch at Duba’s, because Bud is a member of the table, we discussed his forthcoming surgery. We raised our glass to him with eyes wide open and expressed our love and care and how we would carry him in our hearts and in our minds. We actually talked at the table about prayer. “We will pray for you,” we said, meaning we care for you, we love you, we yearn for all of the recuperative, health-giving, life-giving powers within you to be released in the presence of our love and care. When I called Friday afternoon, knowing that he had gone into surgery at seven o’clock in the morning, he wasn’t back into recovery. Nor at five. Nor at nine. The © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Prayer With Eyes Wide Open Richard A. Rhem Page 5   one word I did get was critical, and I couldn’t get through to the family because of some phone problem, but I left a message on a voice machine. Saturday morning I got the call. He’d been in surgery twice and the surgeon had been with him for sixteen hours. Bud was hanging on by his fingernails. I had a wedding to do south of Grand Rapids, so I intended to do the wedding and on my way back stop at the hospital. But there was another call. The signs were going down. I went directly to the hospital to be there with the family. And I saw him. If you’ve ever seen one who has come through that kind of trauma, you know. I had to do my wedding, but when I came back to the hospital the bed was removed. I found he was in surgery again, a third time. And so, I sat with his wife, Lenora. I just sat with her. Her pastor came and I sat through that and we had prayer with eyes closed and hands held. I remained because I was determined to stay until the surgeon came back, and when he came back, the news was somewhat good. They thought they had things stabilized. But, he said, “The trauma the body has experienced is extreme. He is critically ill.” And he left. There I was with Lenora. How do you leave? I left with eyes wide open. I told her I would be preaching today about prayer and the only way I knew to pray for Bud and for her was face to face and to say, “I hold you in my heart,” because I believe that with all of the marvelous technology and the tremendous dedication of medical people, there is a process underway. I stand by that process and wait and hope, believing that my presence and my love and my care are the only prayer that can make a difference. I don’t say these things because I know them. I only share with you my experience, and I know that I have never had a successful devotional life in decades. But I pray all the time, with eyes wide open, feeling myself part of the web of life and meaning and community that is you. For me, that is enough. Moore, Thomas. The Soul’s Religion. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2002. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and 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 X Series Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined Scripture Text Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39, Thomas Moore, The Souls Religion 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-0-20020728 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-07-28 Title A name given to the resource Prayer With Eyes Wide Open 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 28, 2002 entitled "Prayer With Eyes Wide Open", as part of the series "Spiritual Life - Religion Re-imagined", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 130, Mark 1:29-39, Thomas Moore, The Souls Religion. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Awareness Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a12d0f0983e647ce859872b95db5ac4e.mp3 9ff17354f9ae5fb33d7c5081c58c5f93 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 XVIII Scripture Text Psalm 88:13-14 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-0-19860921 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-09-21 Title A name given to the resource Praying to an Absent God 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 September 21, 1986 entitled "Praying to an Absent God", on the occasion of Pentecost XVIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 88:13-14. 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/b8a909cba54403e49ab4d428189c33ea.pdf cd619248d14037223dca58b02bbc86d4 PDF Text Text Praying To An Absent God Article by Richard A. Rhem Minister of Preaching and Theological Inquiry Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Published in The Church Herald The Magazine of the Reformed Church in America January 1987, pp. 9-11 It is painful to pray to an absent God; most of us have felt that pain at some time in our lives. One feels alone, cut off; no answer comes and no light penetrates the thick darkness; it is the winter of the soul and one fears the killing snows will never pass. The Psalms are replete with expressions of lament and plea, of complaint and pathetic cry. They are expressions of deep human feeling and experience, the anguish of the soul and longing of the heart. Jesus found articulation of the desolation and horror, of the aloneness, the forsakenness that he experienced in crucifixion by reciting a Psalm. His piercing cry of excruciating pain, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” comes from Psalm 22. It has been understood as the expression of ultimate aloneness and dereliction, and it is that. Yet, those chilling words are not the whole Psalm. To be sure, there are few more poignant expressions of pain anywhere than Psalm 22. However, some biblical expositors suggest that what has come to us as a word from the cross was part of a recitation of the Psalm by Jesus. In the depths of anguish, he reached for the Psalmist’s expression by which to give utterance to what he was experiencing, but he most likely recited the Psalm to its end and it ends in an expression of trust. Light has broken through, the darkness is scattered, praise returns to the Psalmist’s heart. Thus, the recitation was perhaps the consummate act of trust by Jesus. That is the way it is in the rich and varied outpouring of spiritual life that we find in the Psalms. Lament, plea, complaint, even angry challenge to God are common, but before the Psalm is concluded, some resolution has been experienced, a sense of being heard and helped is declared and praise ensues. That is the way it is in all cases save one; Psalm 88 is a cry in the darkness and the Psalm ends with thick darkness still enveloping the Psalmist’s soul. There is no lightening of the burden, no assuaging of the pain, no sense of being heard, no © Grand Valley State University   �Praying To An Absent God Richard A. Rhem Page 2   promise of healing. Psalm 88 is a bitter cry to an absent God and the soul finds no relief. O Lord, my God, by day I call for help, by night I cry aloud in Thy presence. But no help is found; I ... have become like a man beyond help, like a man who lies dead... Still the Psalmist persists; I have called upon thee, 0 Lord, every day and spread out my hands in prayer to thee. … But, Lord, I cry to thee, my prayer comes before thee in the morning. Why hast thou cast me off, 0 Lord, why dost thou hide thy face from me? The Psalm ends with these pathetic words; Thou hast taken lover and friend far from me, and parted me from my companions. The mystery of suffering prevails; no shaft of light breaks the grip of darkness. Thunderous silence is heaven’s mute reply; prayer is raised to no avail, for God is absent. Leaf through the Psalter; see if Psalm 88 is not unique in that no final resolution is found, no word of hope offered, no sense of grace expressed. It stands alone; still it has found a place in Israel’s hymnbook. It is not familiar; it would not be on anyone’s “best-loved” list. Yet, within the rich variety of spiritual expression in the Psalms, its voice is heard. Then perhaps we should “hear” it. There is a temptation to limit our devotional reading to a few selected favorites. And there are so many inspiring, uplifting passages of Scripture, why pause to consider this painful cry? One would seldom find this text listed for Sunday morning’s message; its positive possibilities are severely limited. Who wants to come to church to hear of the agony of praying to an absent God? Perhaps we should simply cut this Psalm out of the collection; in fact, by our selective usage, that is precisely what we have done. Why stop to consider Psalm 88, then? Because life is like that even though it is threatening to our traditional piety to admit it, even though the fact is rarely mentioned in church. But life for many is like that; for some all the time, and for all, some of the time. The experience of praying to an absent God is a not uncommon experience even though we do not speak much of it. Honesty demands that we acknowledge that © Grand Valley State University �Praying To An Absent God Richard A. Rhem Page 3   even for the child of God there are periods of pain that know no relief, times of deep darkness when no ray of light brings comfort. In The Message of the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann speaks of Psalm 88 as leaving us “lingering in the unresolve, dangling in the depth of the pit without any explicit sign of rescue.” He goes on to assert, That is an important statement to have in the repertoire, precisely because life is like that. Faith does not always resolve life. There is not for every personal crisis of disorientation a way out, if only we can press the right button. Too much pastoral action is inclined and tempted to resolve things, no matter how the situation really is. Faith is treated like the great answer book. (p. 78) Sometimes when the way is hard and bitter and God seems deaf to our urgent appeal, we are made to feel that the problem must be with us - our sin and guilt, our feeble faith or faint devotion. It must be me; no aspersion must be cast on God. Clichés trip lightly over the tongues of the untroubled, assured in their safe tranquility that if there is a communication blackout, the problem lies not on the side of deity. Thereby we often add to the sufferer’s burden of alienation a load of guilt, undercutting perhaps the last vestige of self-confidence and self-worth. Not so Psalm 88 and that is why it is so important that it has found place in the Psalter. Brueggemann writes, Psalm 88 is adamant in its insistence, and it is harsh on Yahweh’s unresponsiveness. The truth of this Psalm is that Israel lives in a world where there is no answer. We are not offered any speculative answer... The Psalm is not interested in any theological reason Yahweh may have. The Psalm is from Israel’s side. It engages in no speculation. It asks no theological question. It simply reports on how it is to be a partner of Yahweh in Yahweh’s inexplicable absence. (p. 78F) We have not done well with inexplicable absence, with unanswered questions, with a silent God. To that extent we have not always been honest with human experience or honest with God and we have not joined in solidarity with the pain of the wounded ones. We are nervous before the mystery of suffering. We want to be in control, to manage the situation, to bring a cure; but sometimes we can only be present to the pain and wait in silence. In his meditation, Out of Solitude, Henri Nouwen writes of the ministry of Jesus. He points out, © Grand Valley State University �Praying To An Absent God Richard A. Rhem Page 4   What we see, and like to see, is cure and change. But what we do not see and do not want to see is care, the participation in the pain, the solidarity in suffering, the sharing in the experience of brokenness. And still, cure without care is as dehumanizing as a gift given with a cold heart. (p. 31F) The persons who mean the most to us, Nouwen contends, are the ones who can be silent with us in moments of despair, who will stay with us in an hour of grief, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness. (p. 34) That, insists Nouwen, is the person who cares. But our tendency is to run from painful realities, to try to change them. We are more comfortable as rulers, controllers, manipulators, but sometimes the human circumstance will not yield to the “quick fix.” Such “cure” without care is violent and insensitive; it leaves the suffering one even more alone in her pain. Nouwen condemns the preachers who reduce mysteries to problems and offer Band-Aid-type solutions. It is only out of compassionate solidarity with the one suffering that healing comes forth. Those who do not run away from our pains but touch them with compassion bring healing and new strength. The paradox indeed is that the beginning of healing is in the solidarity with the pain. (Reaching Out, p. 43) When there are no answers, when pain will not be alleviated, it just may be that the only comfort would be the comfort of such a word as Psalm 88 that acknowledges the pain that knows no healing. According to Brueggemann, ... The speaker is shunned and in darkness. The last word in the Psalm is darkness. The last word is darkness. The last theological word is darkness. Nothing works. Nothing is changed. Nothing is resolved. All things deny life. And worst of all is the “shunning.” (p. 80) Brueggemann raises the obvious question, “So, what is one to do about it?” The answer he gives is, “Wait.” That, he says, is what Israel has been doing for a long time. Wait or speak it again; keep on crying out. One has two options: either to wait in silence, or to speak it again. What one may not do is to rush to an easier Psalm, or to give up on Yahweh. (p. 80) Why does this Psalm appear in the Bible? As stated above, life is like that and the Bible addresses life - all of life, not just the pleasant parts. But beyond that, this is not a psalm of mute depression. It is still speech, speech addressed to God. © Grand Valley State University �Praying To An Absent God Richard A. Rhem Page 5   In the bottom of the Pit, Israel still knows it has to do with Yahweh. (p. 80) Sometimes God’s presence is most poignant precisely in the absence. Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why are you absent?” and paradoxically, that is the time and place of God’s nearness, of the ultimate expression of his love. When there is no answer, when one wearies of speech, then it is that one can only wait; but that word found frequently in the Psalms is not simply passive resignation, but rather “hoping intensely.” Sometimes one can only hope intensely in the darkness, conscious of a presence in the absence. Psalm 88 is not scripture’s only word, nor is it the last word. But in some situations of human suffering it may be the only word that can evoke any resonance in the anguished soul. We must have enough trust in the good and gracious God to let that word come to expression, to stay with it and let it be the present word of the God who is currently known only as absence. To wait in such a time of not-knowing and non-healing is the most helpful support that the sufferer can receive and the most caring ministry another can offer. Within history there is not always resolution; beyond history there is resurrection. Thanks be to God! References: Walter Brueggemann. The Message of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984. Henri Nouwen. Out of Solitude. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1974. Henri Nouwen. Reaching Out. Garden City: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1975. © 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. References Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, 1984, Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude, 1974, Reaching Out, 1975 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-4-19870116 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-01-16 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Praying to an Absent God Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Church School Herald Journal 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 January 16, 1987 entitled "Praying to an Absent God", it appeared in The Church Herald, pp. 9-11. Tags: Suffering, Prayer, Trust. Scripture references: Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, 1984, Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude, 1974, Reaching Out, 1975. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Prayer Suffering Trust https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/61e6446eb2ee672041c2ab0a7bc95d50.pdf c8d723ce34bba72496b21fc3723af4fc PDF Text Text   Preaching by Fred B. Craddock (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985) Book Review by Richard A. Rhem Minister of Preaching and Theological Inquiry Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Publication of Review Unknown Reading this volume, one knows immediately that the writer is an excellent communicator who has a thorough knowledge and expansive experience of that about which he writes. Fred B. Craddock is Professor of Preaching and New Testament at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. This happy combination of expertise becomes evident as he demonstrates a serious commitment to biblical preaching. The book is highly readable, written in clear and vivid style, well organized and amply illustrated with biblical examples of the points under discussion as well as with life situations with which the preacher is familiar. Craddock's purpose is to present a textbook in preaching. He aims this work at both the seminary classroom where the craft of preaching is being learned and at the practicing preacher who needs a refresher course as an aid to reflect on the preaching task in which he/she is engaged. He successfully hits both targets. The book is divided into three parts: Preaching: I. An Overview, II. Having Something to Say, and III. Shaping the Message Into a Sermon. In the first part, Craddock states his assumptions, his understanding of the task, his theology of preaching. One senses the seriousness with which he conceives preaching in the Church. Although one finds awareness of the traditional classification of sermons, Craddock takes a fresh and refreshing approach. The traditional categories of exegetical, textual, expository, thematic and topical have had value in homiletical pedagogy, but in these pages such tags will receive only minimal attention. However, maximum attention will be devoted to the persistent and repeated questions, Does the sermon say and do what the biblical text says and does? (p. 28) © Grand Valley State University   �Fred B. Craddock, Preaching, Book Review by Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Part II, “Having Something to Say,” is the heart of the book with an especially fine discussion of the hermeneutical process by which the gap between the ancient text and the contemporary situation is bridged. The author places great stress on the necessity of knowing both the listener and the text because preaching is the interpretation of the biblical word to persons in a concrete context. This is a strong section which every practicing preacher ought to return to regularly as a check on performance. The third section deals with the shaping of the message, now that one has discovered the message of the text. This is a practical guide, helpful in determining how to put together and present the message won through serious wrestling with the text. Craddock stresses the “orality” of the event of preaching. He points out that much of the educational process today is silent. From grade school through college, students listen to instructors, read, write, take notes, write term papers, sit for exams, and graduate. Many students with excellent records enter seminary with sixteen years of silent education, now preparing for a vocation that will demand oral presentations every week for the remainder of their lives. (p. 21) Craddock asserts that the goal is to preach, and writing is a servant, nothing more, nothing less, of that goal. (p. 190) Again, he maintains, In textuality there is more often an overload of information while orality tends to adjust quantity to the brevity and fragility of the communicative moment. (p. 190) Craddock believes strongly in preaching as a God-ordained task but reminds the preacher of its “provisional nature.” The minister never says, “This is the way God will work through preaching,” but rather he or she says, “This is the way I work because of my understanding of the way God works.” (p. 65) A final word from Craddock is worth the price of the book: When preparing sermons, if preachers would write “So what?” at the top of the page, many little promotional talks or clever word games on “Salt Shakers and Light Bulbs” would quietly slip off the desk and hide in the wastebasket. (p. 49) © Grand Valley State University �Fred B. Craddock, Preaching, Book Review by Richard A. Rhem Page 3   This is an excellent work to be read, digested and returned to often by the one whose task it is regularly to preach. © 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-4-19850101 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-01-01 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Preaching Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought 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 Book Review created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 1, 1985 entitled "Preaching", on the book Preaching, written by Fred B. Craddock, it appeared in Perspectives, Dec. 1986, p. 15. Tags: Preaching, Scripture, Meaning. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Meaning Preaching Scripture https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c1f6246e5641efc935677d34dc98c262.pdf b36fcca1b2b21c674c86307eb53569c9 PDF Text Text Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Article by Richard A. Rhem Minister of Preaching and Theological Inquiry Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Published in Perspectives A Journal of Reformed Thought May 1986, pp. 9-11 Karl Barth is the Twentieth Century's towering theological figure. His name calls to mind the massive Church Dogmatics, theological movements from the early dialectical theology to the later theology of the Word. We think of the great European universities, Gottingen, Bonn and Basle, where he taught. Yet, Karl Barth was at heart a preacher of the Word and the great theological renewal of which he was the primary catalyst and which reversed the tide of Nineteenth Century Liberalism had its roots in the local parish, in the pulpit, in the demanding task of preaching. Not while he was a Professor of Theology but while he was a village pastor in Safenwil in his native Switzerland did he ignite the fire that would sweep the continent and dominate the theological discussion of the West for decades to come. Indeed, when he had become a professor and published his first volume of dogmatics under the title Christian Dogmatics, he changed the title and began anew under the title Church Dogmatics, a significant sign of his recognition that theological reflection arises out of the Church and must be in the service of the proclamation of the Church. An early collection of addresses, The Word of God and the Word of Man, gives eloquent testimony to the fact that it was the setting of worship of the local congregation and the desperate need of the preacher for a word to speak that sent Karl Barth to Paul's letter to the Romans to wrestle anew with the Christian message. In 1922 Barth was invited to address a ministers’ meeting to give an introduction into an understanding of his theology. He was embarrassed to hear of his theology being spoken of so seriously. He said, ... I must frankly confess to you that what I might conceivably call "my theology" becomes, when I look at it closely, a single point, and that not, as one might demand, as the least qualification of a true theology, a © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 2 standpoint, but rather a mathematical point upon which one cannot stand - a viewpoint merely.”1 Barth claimed to have not yet even gotten to theology proper even though his commentary on Romans had sent shock waves through the theological world. He denied that he or his friends had any desire or intention of starting a new school of theology. Yet if a new movement was in formation, Barth insisted, ... that it did not come into being as a result of any desire of ours to form a school or to devise a system; it arose simply out of what we felt to be the "need and promises of Christian Preaching... " 2 Then Barth shared his own spiritual pilgrimage as a pastor. He had received the finest of European University training in theology. Yet he writes, ... Once in the ministry, I found myself growing away from these theological habits of thought and being forced back at every point more and more upon the specific minister's problem, the sermon. I sought to find my way between the problem of human life, on the one hand, and the content of the Bible on the other. As a minister I wanted to speak to the people in the infinite contradiction of their life, but to speak the no less infinite message of the Bible, which was as much of a riddle as life. Continuing in this autobiographical vein, Barth said, ... But it simply came about that the familiar situation of the minister on Saturday at his desk and on Sunday in his pulpit crystallized in my case into a marginal note to all theology, which finally assumed the voluminous form of a complete commentary upon the Epistle to the Romans. 4 The reception of that volume amazed him. As an obscure village pastor it was difficult to get the work published at all. A small firm in Bern risked the venture, publishing 1,000 copies of Der Romerbrief in 1919. So, contrary to the current climate of opinion, it was received with dismay in his own country, but the shattering experience of the World War in Germany caused its strange message to find resonance. In retrospect, Barth wrote of the stir he caused, As I look back upon my course, I seem to myself as one who, ascending the dark staircase of a church tower and trying to steady himself, reached for the bannister, but got hold of the bell rope instead. To his horror, he had then to listen to what the great bell had sounded over him and not over him alone. 5 But that was looking back. As he spoke to the pastor's conference in 1922, he was still in the early phase of his theological development in which ten years of pastoral ministry had engaged him. Barth declared that the critical situation created by the necessity of having to preach became to him an explanation of the character of all theology. He raises the question as to whether it would not be for © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 3 theology's good if it attempted to be nothing more than this knowledge of the quest and questioning of the Christian preacher, full of need and full of promise. ... Must not everything else result from this knowledge? 6 Stating simply where he was coming from, Barth said, ... I do not really come to you armed with a new and astonishing theology, but I want to make my place among you with a theology ... which consists simply in an understanding of and sympathy for the situation which every minister faces. ... If then I have not only a viewpoint, but something also of a standpoint, it is simply the familiar standpoint of the man in the pulpit. Before him lies the Bible, full of mystery; and before him are seated his more or less numerous hearers, also full of mystery....What now? asks the minister. If I could succeed in bringing acutely to your minds the whole content of that, "What now?," I should have won you not only to my standpoint, which indeed you occupy already, but also to my viewpoint, no matter what you might think of my theology. 7 The whole gigantic enterprise of Barth's long and fruitful career was the outworking of the standpoint of the pulpit. It is in the act of preaching that the Word of God encounters people where they live, where the Word engages the world. If the engagement is to prove fruitful, then the preacher must know both the Word and the world. In Barth's colorful expression, the preacher must preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Only then will the sermon "speak." Only then will the deeper longing of the people be met and the unspoken question of their lives be addressed. THE PRESENT HORIZON TO WHICH THE WORD IS SPOKEN It is in the congregation that the two constants of theological formulation come together: the message and the present horizon which is represented in the lives of the people. That present horizon must be understood by the preacher. It provides the approach, the access to the questions of the people. Barth speaks of the strange situation of Sunday morning. The strange building with its strange appointments, its ancient traditions, singing, praying to God! And then - "here is daring" he says, the preaching. Pervading the whole strange Sunday morning episode is a sense of expectancy because everything seems to point to the conviction that God is present. Yet the people come with expectancy not only, but also with the haunting question, "Is it true?" ... And so they reach, not knowing what they do, toward the unprecedented possibility of praying, of reading the Bible, of speaking, hearing, and singing of God. So they come to us, entering into the whole grotesque situation of Sunday morning which is only the expression of this possibility raised to a high power. 8 "Is it true?" That is the question beneath the surface that animates the people as they come to church. They may or may not be consciously cognizant of their © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 4 question and certainly they will not let on the seriousness of their quest even if they recognize it. People naturally do not shout it out, and least of all into the ears of us ministers. But let us not be deceived by their silence. Blood and tears, deepest despairs and highest hope, a passionate longing to lay hold of that which, or rather of him who overcomes the world because he is its Creator and Redeemer, its beginning and ending and Lord, a passionate longing to have the word spoken, the word which promises grace in judgment, life in death, and the beyond in the here and now, God's word... They expect us to understand them better than they understand themselves, and to take them more seriously than they take themselves. 9 It is with that profound sense of the longing of the people, of the deep question of their life that the preacher must approach the pulpit. The serious meaning of the situation in our churches is that the people want to hear the word, that is, the answer to the question by which, whether they know it or not, they are actually animated, Is it true? The situation on Sunday morning is related in the most literal sense to the end of history; it is eschatological, even from the viewpoint of the people, quite apart from the Bible. That is to say, when this situation arises, history, further history, is done with, and the ultimate desire of man, the desire for an ultimate event, now becomes authoritative. 10 Then Barth continues with words that must burn in the consciousness of every person on whom the call to preach is laid: ... If we do not understand this ultimate desire, if we do not take the people seriously (I repeat it, more seriously than they take themselves!) at the point of their life perplexity, we need not wonder if a majority of them, without becoming enemies of the Church, gradually learn to leave the Church to itself and us to the kind-hearted and timid. 11 Thus Karl Barth well understood that sensitivity to people, to their concrete existence lived out in the real world provides the present horizon which must be addressed - addressed not with a word of speculative philosophy or human cleverness of whatever sort but addressed by the Word of God. THE WORD Before the preacher on Sunday morning is the open Bible, the second pole, the other side of the equation. If it is imperative that the preacher have a great sensitivity to his people, it is equally necessary to grasp the message of the Word of God in order that that message may be translated into the idiom of the contemporary world. The Word of God must sound forth again. The preacher's task is to communicate the Everlasting Gospel so that the message comes through. That message is in the Bible but the message will be released only when that which occurred in concrete history and thus received a concrete shape and © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 5 sound is translated into the shape and sound that will "say" the same thing in a new historical situation. Barth had a profound confidence in the Word of God. The movement that he effected has been labeled the theology of the Word. With the open Bible before him, the preacher becomes the servant of the Word. We can never abandon the Bible ... because it has a somewhat uncanny way of bringing into the church situation its own new and tense and mighty (mightier!) expectancy. If the congregation brings to the Church the great question of human life and seeks an answer for it, the Bible contrariwise brings an answer, and seeks the question corresponding to this answer: it seeks questioning people who are eager to find and able to understand that its seeking of them is the very answer to their question. The thoughts of the Bible touch just those points where the negative factors in life preponderate, casting doubt over life's possibilities - the very points, that is, where on the human side we have the question arising, Is it true? ... where that last perplexed craving has seized him and leads him, let us say, to church. 12 And what happens when the perplexed person full of longing makes his way to church and is encountered by the Word? Barth answers: The Bible responds without ado to the man who has awakened to a consciousness of his condition and to whom certainty has everywhere begun to waver; and its way of answering him is to ask with him, in its own way - think of the forty-second Psalm, think of Job - Is it true? Is it true that there is in all things a meaning, a goal, and a God?13 The Bible takes the question of our life which drives us to church and gives it depth; shows us that the question beneath all the questions of our life is a question about God. And further Barth declares, ... as the Bible takes these questions, translating them into the inescapable question about God, one simply cannot ask or hear the "question" without hearing the answer. The person who says that the Bible leads us to where finally we hear only a great NO or see a great void, proves only that he has not yet been led thither. This NO is really YES. This judgment is grace. This condemnation is forgiveness. This death is life. This hell is heaven. This fearful God is a loving Father Who takes the prodigal in his arms. The crucified is the one risen from the dead. And the explanation of the cross as such is eternal life ... The question is the answer.14 When the question of our life is understood to be the question of God, then the question has become the answer; then the reality of a great grace fills the yearning void and stills the restless fear. But we are not yet finished. Every Christian sermon finds rootage in the Bible, the Bible that has the uncanny power, as Barth says, to bring the answer to the question which animates the human quest. But something critical must happen © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 6 in the process by which the words of the text become the Word which is heard in the words of proclamation. THE WORD PROCLAIMED IN THE SERMON The Word of God - what is it? Essentially it is the message of His redemptive grace through which He effects His purposes of salvation. Where do we find it? We find it in the Bible. The Bible is not God's Word in some static sense whereby we can say between these leather covers we have God’s Word. God's Word is always active, living, dynamic because it is God speaking. But the Bible is God's Word in the sense that for us, God speaks through and by means of this word written. The written words of the Bible are the reverberations of the Word of God which is the message of God's redemptive grace; or could I use the word "residue?" - the written words of Scripture are the residue of the "happening Word," and the connection between the Word and the words is the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God that illumined the Prophet's mind and heart. The Truth exploded in the person of the Prophet - who spoke the Truth to God's people and wrote the message so that the message could be communicated further. That Word, which "happened" to the Prophet and was then put into words, now becomes the occasion for the Word to happen again. Every message from a Christian pulpit is tied to a written word. Every message is an attempt to set free the Word that is in the words. At times we read the Bible and, closing it, realize that we know nothing of what we have read. But at other times we read a verse or chapter and feel its truth penetrate to our soul. What is the difference? Same book. Perhaps the same words. But when the Word happens, the words become the vehicle of the Spirit Who looses its meaning on us; the Word happens again. Sermons are that way. In fact, Karl Barth distinguished the Word written and the Word proclaimed as two forms of the Word. Again, sometimes the message strikes no fire, sets no cord of the heart vibrating. Sometimes in a message the Word happens. Having distinguished two forms of the Word, Barth added a third - the Word made flesh - Jesus, the Word incarnate. We read in the opening verses of Isaiah 61 how the prophet connects the agency of the Spirit with "the word of proclamation. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the humble, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those in prison; ... The passage goes on; it is a message of grace and redemption - a beautiful, hopeful message; it is God's Word proclaimed in words by the prophet anointed by the Spirit - that is, authorized and authenticated by the Spirit - by God. © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 7 The words are familiar because they are the words Jesus selected to use as his text when he returned to his home synagogue in Nazareth. (See Luke 4:18-19). That was a tremendous claim that Jesus made and the hometown folks did not receive it kindly. They drove him out of town. Jesus was claiming the Spirit of God as His authentication and authorization and he was saying - in me today in your presence the salvation of God is present. Jesus used the words of the Bible to point to himself as the incarnation of the Word of God - the one Truth, the message of redemption and freedom. The Word of God is the message of a redeeming grace and a saving purpose. It finds expression through the power of the Spirit of God: –when the Spirit created Jesus ("conceived by the Holy Spirit"); –when the Spirit enlivens the written words of the Bible so that the Word happens; –when the words of Scripture find expression in the proclaimed word of the sermon and the Spirit drives home the Word behind the sermon and the written word from which it arises. Such is the Word of God. Behind the word preached, behind the word written, behind the word made flesh, is God, the God of grace and salvation. That powerful conception of the Living Word of God we owe to Barth and that dynamic and promising view of preaching we owe to him, as well. It was the task of preaching that drove Karl Barth to the Bible and it was out of that encounter that the theological renewal of our century arose. It was in the service of the Church that proclaims Jesus Christ that Karl Barth labored fruitfully throughout his life. His great legacy to the Church is the recognition that all theological reflection must arise from and be directed to need and promise of preaching. To the end of his life he preached. He was a regular preacher at the Basle jail. Asked why he went there when he could command the great pulpits of the world, he replied that if he preached in a cathedral people would come to hear Karl Barth; at the Basle jail they came to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. On New Year's Eve, 1962, he preached at the jail on the text, "My grace is enough." In beautiful simplicity he declared: My grace - that is myself: I for you, I as your Saviour in your place - I who set you free from sin, guilt, misery and death, all of which I have taken on myself and so away from you - I who show you the father and open up the path to him - I who let you hear the great Yes which he has spoken to you too, to you personally, from all eternity ... That is my grace. And this grace of mine is enough. It is what you really and truly need, and what you, moreover, may and must have. You can hold on to it, you can live by it. You can also die with it. It is enough for you just now, it will also be enough for you to all eternity. © Grand Valley State University �Karl Barth: Preaching and Theological Renewal Richard A. Rhem Page 8 ... But say it to him! He hears it and is glad to hear it from you. He expects nothing more from you and from me than that we should say it to him as "the echo of what he says to us: "Yes, your grace is enough." Amen.15 ENDNOTES 1 Karl Barth, The Word of God and the Word of Man. (New York: Harper and Row, Harper Torchbook Edition, 1957), p. 97F. 2 Ibid., p. 100. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid., p. 101 5 Karl Barth, Forward to Die Lehre vom Worte Gottes: Prolegomena zur Christlicken Dogmatik. (Munohen, Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1927). p. IX. 6 Karl Barth, The Word of God and the Word of Man., p. 102. 7 Ibid., p. 103F. 8 Ibid., p. 108. 9 Ibid., p. 108F. 10 Ibid., p. 110. 11 Ibid., p. 110F. 12 Ibid., p. 116. 13 Ibid., p. 117. 14 Ibid., p. 120. 15 Karl Barth, Call For God. "New York: Harper and Row, 1967), p. 83F. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Barth, Karl, The Word of God and the Word of Man. New York: Harper and Row, 1957. Barth, Karl, Forward to Die Lejhr vom Worte Gottes: Prolegomena zur Christlicken Dogmatik. Mundien, Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1927. Barth, Karl, Call For God. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. © 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. References Karl Barth. The Word of God and the Word of Man, 1957, Call For God, 1967, Forward to Die Lehr vom Worte Gottes: Prolegomena zur Christlicken Dogmatik, 1927. 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-4-19860501 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-05-01 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource Preaching and Theological Renewal Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought 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 Book Review created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 1, 1986 entitled "Preaching and Theological Renewal", on the book Preaching and Theological Renewal, written by Karl Barth, it appeared in Perspectives, May, 1986, pp. 9-11. Tags: Preaching, Word of God, Theology, Meaning, Church, Grace. Scripture references: Karl Barth. The Word of God and the Word of Man, 1957, Call For God, 1967, Forward to Die Lehr vom Worte Gottes: Prolegomena zur Christlicken Dogmatik, 1927.. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Church Grace Meaning Preaching Theology Word of God https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ce59ad549851d4551edf91d85f27fa4a.jpg 6dc99fb78e017711652eee9bfc8623f2 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. PS3505.H793 P74 1913 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_Bindings0359 Title A name given to the resource Precious Waters Description An account of the resource Binding of Precious Waters, by A.M. Chisholm, published by Doubleday, Page and Company, 1913. 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 1913 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/6d13c1e0a0fa82053e7959cf42c257b0.pdf e48f6b44f4586e6153ea2fdfb7ef6c4b PDF Text Text Congregation B'nai Israel MUS KEGO N, MICHIGAN ~r-dri:rd,,m "'""/ 3eJu?nonia/!::#inney, SUNDAY, NOYE..' rlt:A 3:00 P. M. 21, 194B �,. 3¼"e l'li;/1,y en lfterlf(/epjtrol rj lft,jf Ht/"am ,~ a nf n 1,/urkon (L rj (/u, r·ore,, {/ lite q}nfc/e11 ,itoof. 1wu- <'n/ue/uoa(ion ly 'ij,,n7n'(/alio11 ,J6'11ai..i1•ael ,. ~- ��"Cite Stor11 of Our Jo/den Boo!< .\ famous Mlisl is no,, engaged in preparing for om Congregat ion , a large ,dlracli\C hook . lo be kno,,n ns the COLDE. ' BOOK OF CO'\!CREGATIO:'\ B"\' I I ' RA.EL OF "-JU KEGO '. '-IICI IIGA "-; , In thi, hook. ,,ill be recorded the HI 'TORY or the 8''\: ,\I L'RAf: l. C'O, !- C~RECATIOI\.. the members of the huilding committee: the conlrihulor, lo ll"" ilH· Synagogue huilding: the Ynrzheil dales of our beloved: the Anniversar) dales of our membership: the Birthdavs or our children: the names or our onfirmant, and Bnr ;\litz,ahs: the names of the men and women \\ho . ened the communil) l'nithfull, Hild lo)all) . and other imporlanl mailer of interest. The Rook is designed to he .\ ' E\'F.:R EXP \'\'Dl'\C HI 'TORY OF JE\\'ISH LIFE in :'-luskei:1011 ,111d ils, i( inilic,. It is interesting ho,, the idea of the hook ramc about: fter our new vna - ~oguc building was constructed. the Board of Diredors decided thnl they would deviate from the age old custom of marring the beauty of the Temple nnd the ob j eels therein . h) either commemorating contributors "ho passed a\\ a). or honoring l;i,rge donors slill ali,c. h, perpetuating their names and gifts through plaques and inscriptions on the walls or an) other part of the building. As a l B TITUTE. the Board thoughtfully recommended that all those '"ho earned the affection of the community through gifts and deeds. and deserved lo be remembered . be inscribed instead. in a special book to be named as the GOLDE Le BOOK. Through this BOOK not only will the beauty of the Temple pre erved. hut EVERY O'\'E "ill hc1, e a chance to BE l.'\ISCRIBED and remembered. he his gift large or small. The rerommendation of the Board was un ~tnimously adopted. hence~a GOLDE. - BOOK. Becau,e of the nature of this book and the spirit it ,ymboli:tes. it might well l,e rnlled the l)emocralic Book of Congregation R'nai Israel. for ii trulv represents the ideal Jewi~h "ay-the democratic liberal way. This is the wa\ of the Je"' s of ::ireater Muskegon . Tlte COU)I-: BOOK is op1•11 lo mernliC'rs as Wt>II as (!ll<'sls. ;\,IAKf-= ;\ GIFT TO THE TE:'-IPI.E A . D YOL,'R '\'Ai'IE \\' ILL BE I"-; CRIBED. ! �CONGREGATION 13'NAJ ISRAEL MUSKEGON. MICHIGAN Y'erlr'calio 11,, rr/nd ~ C,,,jn, onia I !!J{/}1/neJt Sunday, November 21, 194 OccmENTAL HoTEL 3:00 P.M. THE NATJO!\JAL A THEM INVOCATIO Assembly Rabbi Samu.el Umen l DINNER . GREETINGS AND WELCOME . Sc1mue/ G. Klay{ ENTERTAINMENT MESSAGE 1-/o,-tense Berma.n PRESE TATION OF TESTlMONIAL TO LEO S. ROSEN Paul M. Wiener REMARKS Rabbi Samuel Ume11 VOCAL SELECTION RESPONSE . Leo S. Rosen HATIKVAH Assembly BE EDICTIO r Rabbi Samuel Um.en PAUL M. WIENER SAMUEL G. KU\YF CHAIRMAN TOASTMASTER �60111111ittees COCKTAILS ,\ , ' I) I)] l 'ER I fARRY S . Hrn:--1A.--..-Chai rman Frc-d Ste-in Fran(is Fine- RECEPTI01 ' CQ\.f\llTfEE :'-IR. \NO i\lRs. 11. ,\ . ILHRMA •-Chairman \Ir. and \lrs . i\Jilton Steindler ;\Ir. and i\fr.. . Joe trifling ~lr. and \Jrs. Ted 'eumer ~lr. and '-lrs . Herman Grossman ]\ Ir. and l\lrs . Jerome- Fish e r PROC,RAi\l A ' I) PL 1BLICID' COi\lJ\.lln-EE RABBI SA~I U LL L'Mr:N TICKET AND L 'Vil \TIO'\ CO'\f/\IITfEE F Rrn Ronori -Chairman f: \.'TERTAI , '\IE, 'T CO:'-I\IITTEE i\lus. J. K. K., u, \1 ,\1' DECORATlO'\' COl\10-IITTEE J\.1Rs. i\ frs. Leo Rosen HARR, F1sllLR-Chairman \!rs .• amuc-1 Lipman � 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 Temple B'nai Israel Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Temple B'nai Israel (Muskegon, Mich.) Description An account of the resource Collection of photographs, scrapbooks, programs, minutes, and other records of the Temple B'nai Israel in Muskegon, Michigan. The collection was created as part of the L'dor V'dor project directed by Dr. Marilyn Preston, and was supported by grants from the Kutsche Office of Local History and Michigan Humanities Council. Original materials were digitized by the University Libraries and returned to the synagogue. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital objects were contributed by Temple B'nai Israel as part of the L'dor V'dor project. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Jews--United States Muskegon (Mich.) Scrapbooks Synagogues Women--Societies and clubs Minutes (Records) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Preston, Marilyn Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Relation A related resource L'dor V'dor (project) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-08 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Text Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Circa 1920s-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-08_Dedication_&_Testimonial_1948 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource B'nai Israel Temple Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1948-11-21 Title A name given to the resource Predication and Testimonial Dinner Description An account of the resource Program telling story of the Golden Book, where the history of the congregation will be detailed, the dinner proceedings, and the different committees involved Subject The topic of the resource Jews--United States Muskegon (Mich.) Synagogue dedication services Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file contributed by the B'nai Israel Temple as part of the L'dor V'dor project. Relation A related resource L'dor V'dor (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</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