Founders Sunday at St. John's - Rector's Rambling for July 26, 2026

     

    Over 167 years ago St. John’s Church came into existence through the dream and desire of Henry Porter Baldwin to start a parish in the countryside outside Detroit.  He did so on the assumption that the city would grow to the north and not just along the river.  It may have seemed madness to those living downtown, but it was obviously prophetic as the apple orchard he purchased to raise this edifice soon found itself surrounded by housing, then commercial buildings, and now theatres and sports venues.  I am sure that Governor Baldwin, and the women and men who participated in starting this parish and participating in her ministry all these years, could not have envisioned the changes to come, just as in our own time we probably didn’t imagine the scope of the revitalization that has occurred since the announcement of the District Detroit plans  a dozen years ago.

Today we celebrate the “goodly heritage” that is the prologue to what God is now doing here in this place now.  The ministry of the church has evolved and changed, but the faith of Jesus Christ as expressed in our Anglican formulary of Common Prayer has not changed, by God’s grace.  And by that same grace, and God willing, will continue to shape and form followers of Jesus Christ for generations to come.  May God continue to bless us as we seek to share the good news that Jesus is Lord as we have on this corner of Woodward Avenue since our founding on December 27, 1858.  

(PHOTO circa 1936)

 

Summer slow down, or shift? - Rector's Rambling for July 19, 2026

 Fr. Ben DeHart of St. John’s Park Slope (Brooklyn, New York) recently posted this on Facebook.

 "Not sure if this is a city thing, but over the past few years I’ve noticed St. John's gets as many or more newcomers on Sundays during the summer than we do in the fall, winter, or spring. Someone told me today it’s because so many people move in the summer. Have you noticed the same?  Clergy definitely need seasons to slow down, recharge, and get away. But this pattern has changed how I think about summer. Instead of turning everything off, we slow things down while still offering fun, low-key ways to connect. The goal is to stay “sticky” for newcomers, and to keep enough going so that our regulars don’t face a yearly “decision” about whether to come back in the fall.

 We have seen a similar pattern here at St. John’s in Detroit.  The choir goes down to quartets, Sunday School goes on hiatus, and the organizations don’t have their regular meetings  during the summer.  But  not only does Sunday and weekday worship continue (weekdays being dependent on whether I might be at the St. Michael’s Conference or away a few days). but we continue to have guests and visitors on a regular basis.

Some of this is because we are a city parish.  Being here in the middle of the entertainment district we have visiitors to worship and the open building at other times attracts people walking but or going to events in the neighborhood.  More people are discovering they can come her to worship on Sunday and then walk over to the baseball game or a matinee show across the street at the Fox theatre.  And I meet guests who are in Detroit for business meetings or conventions and look us up on line to join us for worship while here.  And we even find tourists who wander their way into the building because the building is open.

I think Fr. DeHart is spot on when he talks about having summer ways to stay connected in addition to worship, which we have done with special events like our Outreach Sunday,  DOK new member institution, Independence Day Celebration, lunches/enhanced coffee hour, and next week’s Founders Day and Ice Cream Social.

Although many of our members are away for periods of time for the summer, we have had several people from other parishes and denominaitions in the last few weeks stop by to worship with us to experience for themselves what they have heard about St. John’s from others, or discovered through our social media sources.

Your being here to welcome the visitor and newcomer is a blessing to the parish, and I am grateful for the gracious way that so many introduce themselves to visitors and encourage their returning to be with us again.

 

St. Mike's Thank You - Rector's Rambling for July 12, 2026

     Thank you to all for the prayers and financial contributions in support of the St. Michael’s Conference for Youth, Midwest.  What a wonderful blessing this parish is to the conference, and we were remembered in the daily prayers while there.

I am writing this mid-conference to meet the publishing deadline.  For 28 years I have been on staff of this conference, in addition to the 2 years on staff of the original one out east. 

This year was particularly interesting in that after last year’s conference being at full occupancy, we made the bold move to spin off a new St. Michael’s Conference for Youth, South, which is scheduled to take place in Stanton, Tennesse July 19-25.  This meant we split the staff (a few are doing both conferences in this transition year), and the Michaelites got to choose whether to come here or the new Conference. 

The majority of those attending the  Michigan one over the last few years have been from Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina and they for the most part chose the new one.  And with last year being at the limit of 50 youth attendees (limited by the number of accommotations at the retreat center for students and staff), the split has resulted in the attendance at both conferences topping out at over 75 with more applications pending for the new conference in a week. 

The majority of students heading to the Tennesssee conference means that ours was considerably smaller, a community of 30 of us.  And although we missed friends from last year, we also were hopeful that this will be an opportunity for growth for both conferences in the coming years!  After all, we were a spin off of the conference that was in Massachusetts (now Connecticut), and the conference in Texas spun off from us nearly 20 years ago and operates at capacity at their retreat center.

So we are already praying for next year’s conference and look forward to what God may be doing next !

 

This week I will be out of the office Wednesday through Saturday because I am competing in USRowing’s Master’s National Championship regatta, which takes place this year on Ford Lake in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  My son Andrew and I are racing in singles in our age groups, and then we are racing together in the Father/Son Double race.  We will also be there supporting teammates and friends and volunteering with regatta operations too.  One good thing to come out of the covid shut-downs was my taking up the sport of my youth, and training for a couple of regattas a year: this one and one or two in the fall in Boston and Philadelphia. 

 

Independence - Rector's Rambling for July 5, 2026

     In the Anglican Tradition in the United States Independence Day is a Prayer Book Holy Day, Even though today is actually Fifth Sunday after Trinity and yesterday was the Holy Day, we are commerating it today in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our country’s founding. 

It makes perfect sense that this would be in our prayer book calendar, since our country’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, was signed by a majority who were members of what would become The Episcopal Church.  According to Gregory Elder of Redlands Daily Facts, “32 of the signers, well over half, were Episcopalians, or Anglicans, the old state Church of England.  There were 13 Congregationalists, 12 were Presbyterians.  There were two Quakers, two Unitarians, and one Roman Catholic.”

Being that Episcopalians were accustomed to praying for the King and his government in the Daily Office, it would be understandable that that would be converted into a daily prayer for the President and all others in authority, as well as a celebration of our God-given liberties, along with the responsibilities that come with that freedom.  We are blessed to have this freedom, and it is our bounden duty to glorify God and to make sure that those liberties are preserved and equality applicable to all.

This evening the St. Michael’s Conference for Youth, Midwest, begins at the Manresa Retreat Center.  This is a wonderful week of prayer, instruction, and a fun for the Michaelites (the students attending), and the staff as well.   Daily Office, Daily Mass, Compline (nighttime prayers) are part of the scheduled, three morning classes, afternoon freetime with organized activities, and evening group games.  It is a wonderful time!  This will be my 27th year on staff of the Midwest Conference, in addition to 2 years on staff of the original conference on the east coast. 

Thank you for all the financial support that St. John’s members and organizations have contributed to the Conference.  Without that support this Conference could not exist!

Could I please ask that everyone pray for us this week.  If you pray for us at 7:30 AM, 8 AM, or 5 PM you will be praying for us while we are assembled in chapel for Morning Prayer, Solemn High Mass, and Evening Prayer.   And of course we will take your prayers any other time of the day as well!

God willing we finish the Conference about noon on Saturday.