Community events around us - Rector's Rambling for August 26, 2018

This past week I had the opportunity to participate in several events here in our neighborhood around St. John’s Church.

On Tuesday, I was a part of the grand opening of the new Mike Ilitch School of Business building for Wayne State University.  It is located just to the north of the new arena, about four blocks away from St. John’s.

The new school building is a gift to Wayne State from the Ilitch family, and is a part of the overall development of what is called the District Detroit.  The Little Caesars Arena is the most prominent feature of the neighborhood development.  But office space has been added and companies like Google have moved into ancillary space at the arena.  Other buildings are being renovated or constructed for commerce and residential use.  More construction is slated for the coming years, including buildings in the parking lots in front of Comerica Park, including our parking lot on the side of the church.  It is exciting to be a part of the development of the neighborhood.

Yesterday, we hosted a fundraiser for Jack’s Place for Autism.  St. John’s supports Jack’s Place with some of our outreach funding, and we also host them for a Tigers Opening Day tailgate with the Tigers Fantasy Campers.  This was a new event, with three Detroit Tiger players – Matthew Boyd, Nick Castellanos, and Michael Fulmer –  scheduled to be at St. John’s to sign autographs for this charity.  Several St. John’s folks were present to welcome the Tigers and the guests, to answer questions about St. John’s, and even give tours of the sanctuary.  Kudos to vestryman Rod Gillespie for his relationship with Jack’s Place, Jim Price, and the Detroit Tigers organization.

We are always looking for ways to interact with organizations in the neighborhood, particularly those doing good for others.  As we finish construction of the new ministry center, and then the undercroft, we hope to host even more groups and make more opportunities for these organizations to expand their outreach, as well as invite them into a relationship with the Lord through the ministry we do here at St. John’s.

These are exciting times to be in downtown Detroit, and we look forward to the coming months and years as we expand our membership base and community interaction!