Day Ten: Getting to Know Grandville

Total Mileage: 1,156

Song of the Day: “King without a Crown” (Matisyahu)

Book of the Day:

 - Beyond Megachurch Myths (Scott Thumma & Dave Travis)- going to be on this one for a while I think.

Grandville, Michigan: First Impressions

I wish that I had a guide like Pastor Thurman here in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, but since I don’t, I’m going very much by my own instincts and by the input that Allison gave me at dinner yesterday.  As I walked and drove around last night and this afternoon, the first thing I realized is that my mental stereotype of a suburb needs to be modified substantially.  When I hear “suburb,” images of Cordova, TN, come to mind: impressive French Colonial houses, flawless lawns, consciously-uniform shopping centers, etc.  Grandville, MI, definitely isn’t that.  Lying just southwest of Grand Rapids, Grandville originally started as a transportation center for the logging industry due to its location on a bend along the Grand River, and it was officially incorporated into Grand Rapids in 1933.  According to 2000 census data, Grandville is roughly 95% white with fairly even age and gender distributions.  (Thanks for the assist, Wikipedia.)

Mars Hill logo- I should find out what this is.

Allison explained the geography to me a bit:  “Well, Grand Rapids has suburbs sprawling all the way to Holland.  In fact, if you get a chance to go into Grand Rapids itself and poke around, I’d recommend it.  Lots of poverty and homelessness-- you’d like it.  Might provide some useful information for your project.”  I wanted to take her advice and stop off in Grand Rapids for a bit, but since it was already nearing 8:00PM by the time I reached the city limits last night, I decided to push on and find a cheap motel as close to Mars Hill as possible.  Having just come off of I-196, I missed Mars Hill when I first drove by it, passing a bowling alley and a small shopping mall before remembering that a significant portion of that small shopping mall was Mars Hill (identifiable only by the stylized green asterisk that serves as the church’s logo).  There was a Holiday Inn Express right there in the parking lot, but I avoid staying in those places if I can-- not worth the cost.  A Best Western on the other side of the church was booked up, so I made my way around town for a bit before landing at a Day’s Inn.  I entertained the notion of sleeping in my car in the Mars Hill parking lot, but I was in need of internet, and since I had been doing the couch/floor/car thing since leaving Baltimore, I figured two nights in a real bed might do my aching back some good.

Mars Hill Bible Church (west entrance)

Grandville definitely has a right and wrong side of the tracks from the look of things.  The area to the north of Mars Hill is fairly depressed.   There are a number of warehouses and industrial facilities, and all of these have a sort of decay about them that makes it difficult to tell if they are operational or not.  This is also where many of the most basic business needs are: fast food, convenience stores, mechanics, local retailers, and more independently-owned pizzerias per square mile than any other city I’ve ever visited.  Seriously, I’m yet to drive past a block that doesn’t have at least one hole-in-the-wall pizza place, and these aren’t like Pizza Hut and Domino’s and the other chains-- we’re talking about real local pizza here.  If I weren’t doing my best to subsist on EasyMac and granola bars, I would be stoked for this.  Sorry, tangent.  Getting back on track . . .

To the south of Mars Hill is a relatively upscale neighborhood.  Most of the homes I drove past looked to have been built around the 1950s (or at least shared that design aesthetic); they were most frequently painted wood or vinyl-sided one-story homes with small, well-tended lawns.  The neighborhood was dotted with smaller trees that had the look of only being a few decades old, perhaps planted around the same time the homes were being constructed.  There were a few people milling about here and there, but perhaps the area isn’t quite as nice as I’m assuming since I did see a police officer interviewing a couple in front of one house.  Still, the neighborhood had a very pleasant atmosphere to it.  It felt homey, and I liked it.  Of course, just a little farther south lies RiverTown Crossings, the largest mall in the Grand Rapids area.  Memphis folks, think of Wolfchase Galleria.  Triangle folks, think of Crabtree Valley.  The place is huge, and it was packed.  I walked around RiverTown Crossings for a little while and realized that there were a number of things about this suburban shopping Mecca that just weren’t sitting right with me.  Some of the things that made me a little uneasy were . . .

   - teenagers who wear enough makeup to look like 30-year-olds

  - 30-year-olds who wear enough makeup to look like teenagers

  - upper middle class males trying to coopt the gangsta image

  - polo shirts tucked into khakis (There’s a long story behind my distaste for this.)

  - a lack of discernible racial diversity

  - conspicuous consumption

  - conspicuous absence of Chik-Fil-A from the food court selections

Gerber Gator Machete- Now that's a knife.

 These things are not necessarily bad (except for the lack of a Chik-Fil-A, which is a crime against hungry people everywhere), but I did feel fairly out of my element walking around the place, and I suspect that my own biases are at fault here rather than the environment itself.  The shoppers were friendly enough (good about nodding back and returning greetings), but they were moving pretty briskly and purposefully around that mall, so I didn’t attempt to stop people and strike up conversations.  I also resisted the urge to purchase a two-foot-long, serrated “gator machete” from Dick’s Sporting Goods.  Sure, it would’ve made Erin feel better about my potential run-ins with bears, but I feel like a knife that size might be kind of a liability in Chicago . . . although I hear that Chicago Bears can be pretty dangerous too.  I wouldn’t want to see what Ditka can do when backed into a corner.

With my exploration completed, I decided to head back to the north side of town (which is also where my hotel happens to be).  Based on the range of socioeconomic levels represented by the north side, the south side, and RiverTown Crossings, I wonder what sort of people I will be worshiping with tomorrow.  My hope is to see a mixture of these communities, but at the moment, it’s still too early to tell.

Grand Rapids skyline

Churches of Grandville

I’ve been trying to get a feel for religious life in Grandville, and I have been impressed by the number of smaller and mid-size churches around-- even right across the street from Mars Hill.  Of course, given the number of small churches in the community and the presence of multiple hotels right around Mars Hill, I can’t help but wonder if the church draws much more attention from outside the neighborhood than from within it, so I’ll be asking around about that tomorrow.  As far as the denominational breakdown of the community goes, though I’ve noticed a handful of Lutheran, Methodist, Bible Churches, and even a token Baptist church, I would say that about 75% of Grandville’s churches seem to be Reformed.  Allison had warned me about this: “Keep in mind, Southern Baptist boy, you’re in Dutch Reformed territory, so unless this is a big non-denom that you’re visiting, it’s probably going to have a lot of that Reformed influence.”  Just as the Dutch ethnic influence is very visible around Grandville (again, 95% white), so too is the religious influence.  At one point, I even drove by what appeared to be a Korean church in northern Grandville near the border with Wyoming, MI, and the English section of the sign proudly proclaimed that it was Reformed!  Calvin is everywhere.

I was a little surprised not to see worship centers of other faiths in the neighborhood, particularly since Detroit has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States.  I had figured that some of that diversity would be bound to make its way over to Grand Rapids, Holland, and their suburbs, but in my exploration of the town, Grandville provided no mosques, synagogues, or other houses of worship other than Christian churches.  A google search later informed me that these places were located closer to Grand Rapids itself, leading me to wonder about the religious diversity present in Grandville.  Again, this will be something to ask church members about tomorrow, but also I can’t lose track of the most important issue: the relationship of the church to the larger community.  I’ll be interested in seeing how many familiar faces from today’s exploration are present tomorrow, and I’ll be curious to see how Mars Hill members regard the neighborhood around their church.  What is the church doing to stay involved and get to know their neighbors?  I’ll find out more tomorrow.

Anticipation

As I looked around town, I will admit that I definitely found myself keeping an eye out for Rob Bell.  I mean, the odds of bumping into him were probably slim to none, but still, I bet he stands out like a tall, lanky, emerging church pastor in glasses and trendy clothing, so I kept my eyes peeled.  When I drove past the church again today, I thought to myself, “What kind of car does Rob Bell drive?  I wonder if that’s Rob Bell’s car.  For some reason, I had just assumed he would drive a hybrid.  I wonder what his salary is like; could he afford a hybrid?  Maybe he practices sermons on Saturday afternoons.  Maybe I can get in and meet him . . . then again, I’d probably get tazed.”  As I drove through south Grandville, I kept thinking to myself, “I wonder if that’s Rob Bell’s house.  I wonder if that’s Rob Bell’s kid.  Hey, is that Rob Bell?  Nope, the cops probably wouldn’t be frisking Rob Bell.  At least, I’m relatively sure they wouldn’t.”  As I walked around RiverTown Crossings, I kept thinking to myself, “I wonder what happens when Rob Bell goes out to a mall.  I bet he’s pretty famous around here.  Do people flock to him or just let him be?  Hey, is that Rob Bell over at Wetzel’s Pretzels?  Nope, false alarm.  Rob Bell wouldn’t be seen in public in a Hawaiian shirt.  That’s Rick Warren’s look.  Also, is the pretzel a hip enough snack food?  This might require more research.”  As I came back through north Grandville, I thought to myself, “I wonder if Rob Bell walks around here and meets people and collects sermon illustrations.  Hey, is that Rob Bell on that bike?  Nope, Rob Bell probably doesn’t carry a bindle.”  So yeah, I’m kind of excited to hear him tomorrow.

Of course, there is justification for this blatant hero worship on my part.  As I explained in a previous post titled “Mars Hill Just Wants to Be Friends,” Rob Bell holds a special place in my heart.  I think he has a knack for making the gospel alluring and a little mysterious while keeping it genuine and accessible, and he very much appeals to the intellectual side of my faith.  As I’ve been relearning the ropes of the church over the past few years, having someone like Rob Bell around to keep things fresh and interesting has been a huge blessing.  I really appreciate the guy, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll get to meet him at some point in the next 24 hours.  Maybe even get a photo op.  That would be awesome.  Of course, if I could actually ask him some questions, that would be even better, but based on my interaction with Mars Hill so far, I’m not going to count on it.  Still, I already know what I’ll ask if I get a chance, and it’s actually the exact same question that I plan to ask Joel Osteen:

Rob, how do you handle being a pastor with celebrity status?  How do you keep it from going to your head?  How does it affect your ministry?  How is it beneficial, and where does it cause problems?  Do you see it furthering the Kingdom, or does it just get in the way?  I think a lot of people secretly want to be celebrity pastors in famous megachurches, and I think that our churches and seminaries unwittingly encourage that, so what advice would you give on really humbling yourself for ministry?  Can a person have those ambitions and still be humble?  Can a person have those ambitions and still be an effective pastor?

Hmm . . . maybe I should write all that down and see if he’ll let me send it in an email later.  I get the feeling that I won’t get a chance to ask all of that in a receiving line after the service.

Tomorrow’s sermon will continue a series on love based in 1 John, and the text will be 1 John 2:1-6:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.  Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.  Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection.  By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked.

Right off the bat, I have two observations:

1) I’m excited to see such a praxis-centered text being used.

2) “the sins of the whole world” you say?  Oh, this ought to be interesting.

Peace and Blessings,

Tom