Piety Hill Musings

The ramblings of the Rector of St. John's Church in the city of Detroit. Piety Hill refers to the old name for our neighborhood. The neighborhood has changed a great deal in the over 165 years we have been on this corner (but not our traditional biblical theology) and it is now known for the neighboring theatres, the professional baseball and football stadiums and new hockey/basketball arena.

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Location: Detroit, Michigan, United States

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Yesterday's and Today's baseball excitement.

Yesterday, William's instructional league team, the Orioles, blasted their opponent by a final score of 22-3. The mercy rule was in effect for innings 2 thru 6. They scored 2 in the first inning, the maximum four in the rest of the innings. The Orioles allowed the other team to get one run in the 2, 4, and 6 innings. WILLIAM discovered something on Monday when I had the at the park for batting practice. He actually hits better RIGHT Handed! He, like his brothers all hit lefty! But William's third at bat in the game he hit from the right side and ripped it into the outfield for a double!

Today, Andrew was "called up" to Triple A to play on the Cardinals as a sub for a boy who was sick. Andrew took advantage of the opportunity by getting two hits, an RBI, and scoring 2 runs. A good day! The Cardinals were down 8 - 0 after three innings and came back to win, beating the first place diamondbacks 10-9!

Finally, I have some baseball news for me. For my birthday yesterday Jennifer and the boys got me Fantasy Batting Practice at Comerica Park in September, where I get to hit off of Tiger alumni great Dave Rozema among other things! I look forward to it!

My Office Computer is on the fritz....

Arggh!

The screen on my laptop has given up the ghost, and it is in the shop being looked at. It is a 2003, ancient by laptop standards but I like it otherwise and it does what I want it to do! The CPU is working, so I am able to plug it in and use it with a monitor. But right now it is at the shop. The monthly newsletter, the EAGLE, will be delayed since all the stuff is on it. Thankfully, office manager Paul McDonald is a whiz with computers and saved all my documents on an external hard-drive so I do have access to them at the office....but not the program that I use to actually publish it OR the articles emailed to me!

Also, I have some good photos to share from flower planting, etc., and those will have to wait as well!

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day 2007



Sunday, May 27, 2007

A friend featured in the Wall Street Journal

This article is interesting to me because the Dean of UofD Mercy Law School is a friend and neighbor. Mark Gordon's son's and my boys have played soccer, baseball and karate together the last 5 years. His two sons, Chris and Charlie, play on Sam and Andrew's team right now. Mark is a New Yorker, something wonderfully familiar to me when I talk with him (being originally from Brooklyn, New York. He and his wife Ann are wonderful people, and very interesting to talk to. I am glad he was featured in this flattering article!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117988156447211549.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

---------------

Law students starting summer jobs at the New York office of a prominent national law firm come largely from the usual places: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, New York University and some local schools. Then there's Keith Marlowe of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Last fall, Mr. Marlowe applied for summer work at 110 U.S. firms and got no offers. But the Calgary, Alberta, native had an ace in the hole: private interviews, arranged by his law school, with some of the country's biggest firms, including Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, which offered the 25-year-old a job paying about $3,000 a week.

In the stratified world of law, educational pedigree largely dictates where students will get a look. Firms want to signal to clients and colleagues that they only hire the best. As firms have grown and competition for junior lawyers has intensified, some firms have dipped below the Ivies and their equivalents. Nonetheless, a student from a school like Detroit Mercy -- firmly in the cellar of U.S. News & World Report's rankings of 184 accredited law schools -- hasn't stood a chance at the fancy firms.

[Photo]
The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law

But thanks to some masterful marketing by Detroit Mercy's dean, Mark C. Gordon, top students at the school are now gaining entree to the big leagues. In the last two years, a half-dozen students have been hired for summer or full-time jobs at firms like Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw LLP. Firms such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP now include Detroit Mercy in their select on-campus interview circuit.

A first-time dean and Harvard Law grad, Mr. Gordon got his school on the radar of the top-tier firms by enlisting a stable of big-time private-practice lawyers to join an advisory board that's now some 60 members strong. His pitch: Help Detroit Mercy improve its third-year curriculum by creating a required set of courses that simulate real-life practice.

Attorneys quickly suited up for the cause. When they arrived in Detroit for twice-a-year meetings, starting in 2005, Mr. Gordon made sure they not only helped remake the school's coursework but also inspected his top second-year students during private interviews, as well as others who were trotted out to give presentations on everything from trial advocacy to interpreting statutes. After last month's meeting, about 40 first-year students, handpicked by professors, were allowed to mingle with the board.

The idea of focusing the curriculum on practice resonated with the lawyers. In fact, many have long complained that law school devotes too much attention to theory and leaves students unprepared to practice, even as the market demands that firms pay new hires high salaries from day one. Many students are also no fans of the third year of school, feeling it's a repeat of the same kind of work analyzing cases that they did in the first two years.

Students "arrive and they don't know where they fit in, how to draft an escrow, a merger agreement," says Jonathan J. Lerner, a corporate partner at Skadden Arps who is on the Detroit Mercy board.

While some schools, like Columbia Law School, have coursework oriented to law-firm practice, it's generally not required. Stanford Law School offers a few elective "deals"-type courses, but the school is emphasizing new joint J.D.-master's degrees in which a law student, for example, would also study bioengineering. Transaction-simulation classes are an "inefficient way to learn content" says Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer, who recommends students take no more than one or two of them.

[Mark Gordon]

From Mr. Gordon's vantage point, if the practical coursework and advisory board help his students get a top job, it's fine with him.

"It's one thing to come out of Harvard, Yale, Stanford and be going to some of these firms, and it's another to come out of a school that doesn't have that pedigree," says Allan B. Moore, a partner at Covington & Burling who recently joined the Detroit Mercy board. "Mark is taking the ivory tower out of it."

Founded in 1912 and located in a three-story building across from General Motors headquarters, Detroit Mercy has an entering class of 265 students and is sponsored by two Roman Catholic groups, the Society of Jesus and the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Most graduates go into private practice primarily in the greater Detroit area.

The 46-year-old Mr. Gordon, raised in White Plains, N.Y., never expected to be a dean. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1990, he worked at New York law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and later at the Department of Housing and Urban Development before teaching public affairs for six years at Columbia University.

In late 2000, on a flight to Maine to visit his grandmother, Mr. Gordon started talking with the director of a public-policy institute at the University of Southern Maine who was seated next to him. By the end of the flight she had encouraged him to apply to be dean of the university's public-policy school. He didn't get the job, but the idea intrigued him. He applied to a handful of public-policy and law schools that had openings, and, in 2001, he got a callback from Detroit Mercy.

The idea of going to work at a low-ranked school "was a positive factor," he says. "It's the schools that are not as well known that are most open to change."

Mr. Gordon and his wife, a structural engineer, bought a red-brick Colonial-style home two blocks past the Detroit city line, in Grosse Pointe, and moved there with their two young sons in 2002.

The new dean wanted to "integrate the realities of law practice in the classroom" and developed the idea further with faculty. He also called more than 100 alumni and practicing Detroit lawyers to ask their opinions about what the school should be doing. Through in-house lawyers at auto maker DaimlerChrysler and auto-parts company Delphi, Mr. Gordon contacted partners at prominent national firms -- most of whom had never heard of the school -- and reached out to a handful of Harvard Law School classmates to set up his board.

After receiving an unexpected call from Mr. Gordon last year, Thomas E. Kruger, a partner at Paul Hastings, agreed to meet the dean for breakfast near his law office in midtown Manhattan, convinced he would say "no" to whatever Mr. Gordon was asking for. Instead, a half-hour meeting turned into an hour and a half, and the partner signed on to the advisory board.

Mr. Kruger is now in charge of providing documents from actual cases (redacted) for use in the new curriculum, known as the Law Firm program, which lets students handle a complex case or transaction as if they were part of a large law firm. Each course focuses on a different department in a typical corporate firm, such as real estate, intellectual property, white-collar crime or antitrust law. After a pilot program this past semester, all third-year students will be required to take at least two courses in the program.

Prior to joining the board, Mr. Kruger had personally recruited only at Harvard, his alma mater; now he has added Detroit Mercy as a second stop. Having nine top national firms conduct on-campus interviews at Detroit Mercy is a coup for the school and a critical step toward building an institutional pipeline into the firms.

So far Detroit Mercy's successes haven't raised its stock in the U.S. News rankings, which weigh such factors as percentage of graduates employed after graduation, scores on the Law School Admission Test and the bar-exam passage rate. The Michigan bar-exam passage rate for Detroit Mercy students was below the state average for the 2005 summer exam, but last summer it rose to the average for the state.

"We were in the fourth tier before I was hired, and that's where we've remained," Mr. Gordon says. He adds that he's more concerned about the students' education and job prospects.

Placing students at high-paying jobs in the top firms can do more than add prestige to a school like Detroit Mercy. Later in life, successful graduates may be able to afford to give back. Says Ken Hemler, a 25-year-old Detroit Mercy law student from Warren, Mich., who got a job starting in the fall at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York: "I plan on being on the hall-of-fame-donors list... if they have one."

The St. John's - Grosse Pointe Park Little League Connection



This past Wednesday we had 5 of the 6 St. John's kids in Grosse Pointe Park Little League at Defer Elementary School (where the fields are) and I couldn't resist taking a photo.

From left to right

Sam and Andrew Kelly, Charlie Thompson, Will Kelly (not in uniform, didn't play that day), and Brad Thompson.

The only St. John's parishioner in GPPLL not pictured is Daner Hughes. Daner plays in the LL Majors, Charlie with the Pirates in Triple A. Sam and Andrew played Brad's team the evening this photo was taken - they are in Double A. William plays in Single A instructional.

A blessed Whitsunday!



May we come to know the Holy Ghost, and know Him with POWER...
to be empowered for the mission of the Church!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

One more post about baseball....

What a great Saturday we had at Defer baseball fields in Grosse Pointe Park.

In the morning William's Single A team played a great game, winning 18-5. Most Single A games are high scoring with a mercy rule of only going up 4 runs (or 4 more if ahead), but Will's team is beginning to show some defensive prowess, holding the other team scoreless in 3 of the 6 innings. And then on Sunday he team won again 20-5 and Will made a great catch at 2nd and had great hits and was awarded the game ball! On Monday his team played a 3rd game in 3 days and were flat, losing by 4 runs.

Back to Saturday - in the afternoon Sam and Andrew's team played the Devil Rays, the only undefeated team in Double A. We lost to them 6-2 the first game of the season. With the exception of a fluky loss last week to the Rangers, our team (the Giants) are having a great season! The key is that we have great pitching! The Devil Rays have twins, the Martinez brothers, who are the best pitchers and hitter/fielders perhaps in the league. But ours is perhaps as good, and we have 5 kids who can really pitch!

On Saturday we had a great game. Going up 2-0 in the first we held them scoreless until the 4th when they tied it up. Andrew came in with bases loaded retired the final batter. He then pitched the 5, 6, and 7th (yes, extra innings). In the top of the 7th, with bases loaded, Sam hit a single, scoring two runs. We won 4-3. It was a great day!

The Angels come to town

Not the heavenly Angels, but the Anaheim Angels (or is it the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?).

And when the Angels are in town it means a visit/phone call from Episcopalian Ned Bergert. Ned is the head trainer for the Angels. My first year here Ned stopped by for the Sunday 8am Service before the game. He asked, concerning "the Banner" on the Church whether it was okay if he didn't pray for the Tigers...so we gave him an exemption. Since then he has been to St. John's almost every year (if it is a weekday series he comes on Wednesday at 12:15pm). He have struck up a friendship - sharing lunch and catching up this year.

Now the team is staying at a hotel outside of town, so he isn't sure if he will be in in time for Mass this year. But he offered to leave me some tickets to the game for me and the boys, which is a very nice offer. It would be my 5th game this year (a Wednesday game in April, 2 Thursday games, the parish Tiger Outing, and now the game this Thursday - weather permitting). And I have tickets for another outing with my boys karate group on June 12 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers (I lived near Milwaukee while in seminary and enjoyed going to games at the old County Stadium). You can't beat going to the stadium to watch baseball!

Tiger Baseball Outing 2007



We had our biggest turn out ever for our yearly Tiger Baseball Outing! Last year we sold 215 tickets, this year 325!




Of course, it was great seeing so many people here at the Church beforehand, for services and the barbeque. Unless you know that we had the Tiger outing, no one would believe that we had our second largest Sunday attendance (even bigger than Palm Sunday) on the seventh Sunday of Easter!





The choir sounded great doing the National Anthem, but they had some country music singer doing "God Bless America" instead of our choir soprano Mary Grivas.



And best of all, after a 6 year draught, the Tigers finally won a game on the day of our outing to the ballpark! 6-3 was the final score.


Meg attended her 2nd Tiger Game (the first one was the World Series Game). Despite the cold wind (61 degrees and windy!), Meg lasted until the 5th inning, when Jennifer had to take William home to go to his Little League game (which they won 20-5). Sam went with them, but Andrew and I stayed until the end, and then went down to the field for "kids run the bases" at the ballpark.

Perhaps we should arrange another day to go the park this summer to break up the Summer heat. It would be without the choir, but hotdogs, and baseball are a great time. Looking at the calendar the Tigers have Sunday Games vs. the Yankees and A's. I will have to make some phone calls tomorrow

Click on the photos to enlarge

From this past Sunday's Chronicle

Rector’s Rambling - 5/20/07

Welcome to all our guests and friends who are going with us to the Tiger Baseball Game. What a difference success makes! In years past we sold 100 to 125 fewer tickets to the game on our yearly outing over to the park. But the recent winning ways of the team, combined with an opponent that makes for a rematch of last year’s World Series, adds up to an exciting gathering here at St. John’s before and during the game! We are glad you are here to join us in the excitement.
Although “success” seems like too worldly of a term, we also give thanks to God for the blessings, ‘successess’, here at St. John’s – which are all by God’s Grace and all to His Glory!
Since 2001 much ‘success’ has been given us. Sunday attendance and membership is up considerably. The building and grounds have been, and are being, restored and repaired after a period of neglect, for continued ministry in downtown Detroit. The music program has blossomed through the leadership of Dr. Lewis and the addition of the Edwards Organ Scholar. New people are coming to Christ through personal relationships, the Alpha Course, and other evangelism efforts. Opportunities for outreach ministry abound with our work with and for Gleaners Community Food Bank, Operation Quiet Comfort (support for injured troops), Alternatives for Girls, One Night Initiative (temporary homeless shelter) and others. Add to that the various Devotional Guilds and Societies within the parish (Altar Guild, Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Daughters of the King, Episcopal Church Women, Tuesday Morning Men’s Fellowship, Guild of All Souls, Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, Franciscan Third Order of the Divine Compassion and Society of the Holy Cross to name a few) which provide for us opportunities for greater holiness and fellowship.
If you are not a member or regular worshipper at St. John’s, we invite (is implore too strong of a word?) you to make St. John’s the place where you fulfill your weekly obligation to keep holy the Sabbath day (4th Commandment). Here at St. John’s, it is not just an obligation, but a Joy with Thanksgiving for the ‘success’ he has and is showering upon us. Come share in these blessings!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

an assessment of 'the situation' by Bishop Howe

Here is the last 1/2 of his letter to his diocese.....

I cannot tell you how any of this will continue to unfold, but I ask your prayers as we seek the mind of Christ.
These are some of the things I know are true: 1) Many of our Bishops believe that the “full inclusion” of gay and lesbian people in the life and ministry of The Episcopal Church is not only a matter of “justice,” it is a “gospel imperative.” 2) Many other Bishops, including myself, believe that sexual orientation is not the issue, but sexual behavior is. Holy Scripture and the nearly unanimous witness of Christian tradition say that sexual intimacy is appropriate within marriage, one man and one woman in Christ, and not outside it. 3) However much we can respect the sincerely held positions on both sides of this issue (and I do), both cannot be true at once. 4) The Primates have repeatedly declared the position of the Anglican Communion, and asked The Episcopal Church to comply with it, and they have warned us that a refusal to do so will have consequences regarding our standing in the Communion.
I met with our clergy during Holy Week, and I told them (yet again) that I am committed to remaining both an Episcopalian and an Anglican as long as it is possible to do so. But ultimately, all of us may have to make choices. We will not all make the same choices, and we will not all make them at the same time. What is imperative is how we treat each other.
“By this will everyone know that you are my disciples,” our Lord declared, “if you have love for one another.”
It is not by all the sermons we preach, not by all the books we publish, not by the cathedrals we build, the missionaries we send out, the bold actions we take, or even the purity of our doctrine, but it is by the quality of our relationships with others who name the name of Christ that we will prove we truly belong to him.
We reflected together on what it means to “love one another,” and I suggested we use as a template the great “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, and I shared four reflections with the clergy that I want to repeat today.
1) There is not a single “feelings” word in all of 1 Corinthians 13. The kind of agape love that Jesus calls us to, and that St. Paul attempts to describe, is entirely a matter of attitude and behavior; it is a matter of choice. I don’t have to feel a certain way toward you; I have to behave a certain way toward you. (There are a lot of feelings in eros; there are none in agape.)
2) The “love chapter” is a remarkable description of the Lord Jesus himself. You can actually substitute his name every time Paul uses the word “love.” (“Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind; Jesus is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on his own way; he is not irritable or resentful; he does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things.”) The corollary is that when I run out of my own supply of agape love for you, I can ask Jesus to love you through me!
3) There are sixteen synonyms or synonymous phrases in the chapter, and nine out of the sixteen are negative: Love is NOT envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, irritable, resentful; it does NOT insist on its own way or rejoice in wrongdoing, and it never ends. Evidently, then, there are things I need to work on NOT doing toward you.
4) Notice how many of the synonyms are also synonyms for patience (or heavily dependent on it). You cannot be kind without being patient. You cannot bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things, without being patient. By my count at least eight of the sixteen words or phrases are synonymous with patience – which is to say that extending agape love toward someone is at least half a matter of being patient with him or her. The old phrased, “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me,” is really a plea for an expression of Jesus’ agape love from each other!
I suggested that it is no accident that patience is the first word on the list; it is like getting the top button of your shirt right; if you don’t all the other buttons will be wrong, as well.
So, I say to you, as I said to the clergy: please be patient. Let’s trust the Lord. Let’s see what comes out of the meetings of the “Windsor Bishops” and the House of Bishops. Let’s hear what Archbishop Rowan has to say to us. And if and as we make difficult decisions, sometimes perhaps not in agreement with each other, let us do our very best to comply with our Lord’s instructions.
Jesus shared his Last Supper with the one who would betray him and the others who would desert him, and then he went to the cross for them – and us. And he said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
My love to all of you,
–(The Rt. Rev.) John Howe is Bishop of Central Florida

http://www.cfdiocese.org/news/news07/accord0507.htm

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A busy night at St. John's


Some evenings there are lots of events going on at St. John's. This being a holy day (Ascension Day) we have Communion in the Chapel. The photo shoot in the Church is wrapping up now.

We also have the Alpha Celebration Dinner tonight and Pro-literacy Detroit has training in the Youth Ministry Room. Oh, and AA is meeting 5 to 6pm as well.

The problem is we have lots of doors to direct people to!

BeBe Winans visits St. John's


For those who follow the local gospel music scene, the name BeBe (Benjamin) Winans is a familiar one. He is one of the famous Winans family members who are pastors and musicians.


BeBe was here today doing a photo shoot for his new album cover, using the interior of the Church as a backdrop.


Here is a snapshot of him and me in the Church. The lights shining on the side is the special photo lights for the photography session.
More info on him and his music can be found at www.bebewinans.net

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Boys Weekend


Jennifer and Meg have gone up north for the Michigan La Leche League Conference. They left today so the boys and I are on our own until Sunday evening.

We are off to a good start. After the 12:15 Mass we went over and cheered on the Tigers to a 7-3 victory over the Mariners! It was a great game! The attendance was over 37,000 for a weekday game - amazing for a Thursday afternoon (lots of school groups).

Here are a couple of photos from the game, one with the church behind us taken from the 300 level, the other with the field behind us on the main concourse.

Tonight they are helping me cook the Alpha Dinner and then tomorrow we have all day to play! Saturday is tightly scheduled with baseball games and karate testing.
Sunday Morning I have to get them all up, dressed, fed, and to St. John's before 7:30am.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Changes coming to the neighborhood?

It looks like there may be more changes to the neighborhood near St. John's! God willing a new hockey arena will be built in the neighborhood, increasing foot and car traffic driving by the Church....and parking income as well! Here is an article from the Detroit News. Note in the map that St. John's is in the upper right corner.


DETROIT -- Ilitch Holdings Inc. is quietly increasing its control of a run-down patch of downtown long considered a potential site for a new hockey arena for the Ilitch-owned Detroit Red Wings.
After decades of little activity, a rush of buying, selling and construction work is taking place in the area known as Foxtown, just west of Ilitch Holdings' Woodward Avenue headquarters at the Fox Theatre complex. This week a vacant and derelict building at 138 W. Columbia St. that was once the Hotel Vermont is being razed.
One block away on the corner of Elizabeth and Clifford streets, Ilitch Holdings Vice President of Tax Affairs John Kotlar has taken ownership of a parking garage that has been vacant for decades. Kotlar purchased the structure through a company called Elizabeth Street Properties LLC. The address for the company is listed as the Fox Theatre, according to records from the Wayne County Register of Deeds.
County deed records also show that Olympia Development LLC, the downtown development arm of Ilitch Holdings, now owns the former Chin Tiki at 2121 Cass Ave. The Polynesian-themed restaurant was featured in the Eminem film "8 Mile" but was shuttered in 1980.
The activity comes at a time when the Ilitch family is fast approaching a deadline on whether to build a hockey venue or renovate the Joe Louis Arena. The Ilitches' lease on the city-owned riverfront arena expires in 2009. Mike Ilitch, co-founder of the Little Caesars Pizza chain that started it all, has hinted that he prefers building a new hockey arena near the Fox Theatre.
No decision has been made about whether the Wings will stay at The Joe or move to a new venue, said Karen Cullen, spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings.
"The bottom line is nothing has changed," Cullen said. "Even without an arena being built there, we care about what is over there," Cullen said. "We continue to study our options."
Whatever options come up for Ilitch Holdings, there will be plenty of land to accommodate them. All told, one Ilitch-related firm or another controls a nearly open swath of land that spans four blocks containing only a few vacant buildings, a nightclub and two transient hotels. The holdings span an area from the Fisher Freeway service drive to Grand Circus Park and all the space behind the Fox Theatre.
The Ilitches already have a huge presence in the area. Their Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park across the street from the Fox Theatre. The company also owns Hockeytown restaurant on Woodward and the Detroit Life Building on Park, which the Ilitches intend to restore as a high-end residential development.
Olympia Development also has big plans in the adjacent Grand Circus Park area.
The company is looking for tenants for the possible redevelopment of a five-acre site that includes the United Artists Theatre building and the former Statler Hotel parcel, which is owned by the city. Olympia continues to market that site along with the city, including talking with Rock Financial/Quicken Loans about moving its headquarters there, Cullen said. Olympia is also seeking tenants for the former Madison-Lenox Hotel land, which is now a parking lot, and the Fine Arts building at 44 W. Adams, just north of Grand Circus Park.
While Ilitch Holdings remains mum about its plans regarding a new home for the Red Wings, other downtown property owners say they are counting on something big.
"Frankly, I think it's a logical place for a new hockey stadium" said Chuck Forbes, founder of Forbes Management whose company owns the Gem Theatre and the State Theatre just down the street from the Fox. Forbes also owns two properties on Park Avenue, the Women's City Club and the Colony Club buildings, and says he's already invested more then $700,000 in recent upgrades.
"We're talking about a formidable, unique district," Forbes said. "You have top-rated theaters, professional sports stadiums, upscale nightclubs, luxury housing. We're really optimistic of the opportunities back there."
Ilitch Holdings agreed the area has plenty of potential.
"If there are opportunities to purchase properties that are adjacent to ours, we take a look at those properties," Cullen said. "That area is a tremendous sports and entertainment district and we are committed to seeing that develop and grow."
Also near the Fox Theatre, the former C&C Bar at the corner of Cass Avenue and Columbia was partially demolished within the past month and is now being rebuilt. Ilitch Holdings does not own the property.
The Joe Louis Arena opened on the Detroit riverfront in 1979 after former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young built it to keep the Red Wings from moving to Oakland County. The team was under different ownership at the time. Joe Louis is the fifth-oldest arena in the National Hockey League. A new facility would bring the Wings at least $10 million in additional revenue each year from naming rights and luxury box sales alone.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/BIZ/705090380

Monday, May 07, 2007

A good weekend!

What a wonderful weekend this was.


On Friday in the morning I had Police Chaplain work for the Annual Memorial Service at Old St. Mary's, downtown. We marched from Campus Martius to Greektown for the service. Yes, I am in the first picture, on the right side, in my Chaplain's Uniform.
In the afternoon we had baseball for Sam and Andrew (won 5-0) and William (won 15-5).


On Saturday it was Sam's birthday. We took a trip to Southgate to Commonwealth Displays, the 'mecca' for those doing high-powered rocketry to spend Sam's birthday money on rocket stuff.


Then we had baseball game for Sam and Andrew - also won 5-0. Afterwards we had some friends over for cake and ice cream and to sing Happy Birthday.
Sunday we worshipped the Lord in the beauty of holiness in the morning, and then went to Jackson to launch model rockets! Sam received several gifts from the men at the club, including some hybred motor casings. He capped the day by doing his first hybred rocket - H78 size. He is pictured here with Scott, who helped him with it.
After driving back, we finished the weekend with a 7pm baseball practice for William!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

This is what I have been saying!!!!

Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria, responding to Schori's public letter to him, asking him not to 'cross diocesan boundaries' and install Bishop Minns as a bishop in their missionary endevour in the USA. He hits right on the hypocracy of the PB and others claiming that crossing boundaries is breaking tradition, and they are holding buildings in 'historic trust' while ECUSA has abandoned the historic biblical faith and her traditions.
------------------------------
You speak in your letter of centuries old custom regarding diocesan boundaries. You are, of course, aware that the particular historical situation to which you make reference was intended to protect the church from false teaching not to prevent those who hold to the traditional teaching of the church from receiving faithful episcopal care. It was also a time when the Church had yet to face into the challenge of different denominational expressions of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I also find it curious that you are appealing to the ancient customs of the church when it is your own Province’s deliberate rejection of the biblical and historic teaching of the Church that has prompted our current crisis.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Happy Birthday Hershey



Our chocolate lab puppy turned one today. We got him in August from the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Agency, a few weeks after the death of our 12 year old black lab, Harper.

It hasn't always been easy, but perhaps we have euphoric recall that Harper was easier as a puppy and adult, and we certainly had more time to pay attention to him because we didn't have 4 kids back then!

These pictures were taken today. He is certainly taller than Harper was, and not a crazy about water (most labs are), but he is a very active dog and pretty good on the leash (we jog together in the morning). He is a timid dog - lovingly referred to by us as a chicken dog because he cowers at loud sounds such as the trash truck in the alley.

A grand "to-do" yesterday


There was a special service yesterday at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul here in Detroit. The new dean was installed (formerly the Canon to the Ordinary), and other canons were 'seated' as well.


One thing you can say about the Episcopal Church, we clean up and look churchy really well.


Prayers for blessings on the ministry of the Cathedral and the Diocese continued today here at St. John's for the Feast of Ss. Philip and James at the 12:15pm Communion Service.
Please also keep Christ Church, Detroit, in your prayers as their rector of 6 years as departed for warmer climes (Arizona), and they are now entering a period of transition. One would expect that they will not elect a successor as quickly as the Cathedral was able (the old Dean and new Dean overlapped by a month).
God willing, I hope to be here at St. John's a LONG time - pray too for God's continued blessings on our parish that we may grow in grace and membership in the weeks, months, years to come...AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM

"berries, please"

This is a frequent request from our darling Meg.....

And we have become quite proficient with the stain remover as well!