- [Will] Coming up on "One Detroit."

The Church of the Messiah in Detroit celebrates 150 years.

We'll look at its impact on the surrounding community.

Plus, Senior Pastor Barry Randolph talks about the future of the church.

Also ahead, our political contributors offer their thoughts on some important races in next week's election.

Plus it's Filipino American History Month.

We'll have a conversation from our Asian American and Pacific Islander Story Series.

And we'll tell you about some of the events to enjoy this first weekend in November.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit."

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(pensive music) - [Will] Just ahead on "One Detroit."

As Election Day nears, our political contributors weigh in on key local and national races.

Plus, in honor of Filipino American History Month, a husband and wife talk about the cultural differences they navigate as an interracial couple.

And we'll see what's happening in Metro Detroit this weekend and beyond.

But first up, this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Church of the Messiah on Detroit's east side.

The church has been a mainstay in the community, providing valuable programs and resources for residents.

Over the years, "One Detroit" has covered several stories at the church as part of our commitment to engaging with the community.

Today, in honor of this historic occasion, we take a look back at the impact the church is having in the city.

(pensive music) This year marks the 150th year of the Church of the Messiah, a non-traditional Episcopal church at the corner of East Grand Boulevard in East Lafayette Street in Detroit.

Serving the Islandview community near Belle Isle, the church takes pride in its diverse and young congregation, its community engagement initiatives, and its role as a community resource center.

This is the leader of the Church of the Messiah, Pastor Barry.

- I can't believe the Church of the Messiah is turning 150 years old this year.

The church was in 1874 by Christ Church Detroit, which is on Jefferson of 375.

They created Church of the Messiah.

We were a mission of Church of the Messiah, and then we have a connection to another Episcopal church, the oldest Episcopal church in the state of Michigan and in our diocese is 200 years old this year.

They were originally downtown, that building caught fire after it had been around for about 50 years.

They decided to build a new St. Paul's.

The pastor of Church in Messiah back then went to the diocese and said, "Hey, can I have the leftover pieces of the old St.

Paul?"

And took the leftover pieces of the old St. Paul, and they were shipped from downtown to East Grand Boulevard in Champlain Street.

And we are sitting in the building of Church of the Messiah, which is the leftover pieces of old St. Paul's.

- [Will] Part of our mission at "One Detroit" is to tell stories by getting into the communities we cover with the intention to listen and learn.

The Church of the Messiah let us film and capture a community meeting being held in the basement of the church, leading to a conversation I had back in 2018 with some of the congregation's young men about what life looks like from their perspective.

- Well, a lot of our young people wanted to have a conversation among themselves, so they did not want to older people to be there to tell them how they should feel or why they should feel a certain way.

They just want to be able to address their own concerns about Detroit and what they think the future holds for them.

- [Will] What conversations do you guys have most often, or do you hear coming up a lot that you care about?

- Just how to keep going when you're doing stuff, you trying to do the right thing, and bad stuff still happening.

Like, it'd be the equivalent of standing at like the bottom of a mountain, and everything you needed was at the top.

You can't stay down here, and it's gonna be hard as hell getting up there, but you gotta do it.

- [Will] Throughout the years, "One Detroit" sat in on some of the community conversations held by the church, like those around affordable housing.

- Church of the Messiah's role is to make sure that this city is for everybody.

I'm so grateful that we do affordable housing.

We've been doing affordable housing for 46 years.

- Islandview is one of those key strategic areas in the city for investment.

- Mm-hmm, and something to his rent, and then also now he's gonna start paying his own utilities.

So actually, he's gonna go from paying 600 and something with everything included, to a year later, paying almost 15.

This just happened.

- [Will] The Church of the Messiah has also been foundational to the success of Detroit entrepreneurs.

Nikki's Ginger Tea is a company that started in the church's commercial kitchen that has grown into a successful business, with Nikki's Ginger tea being sold at multiple Michigan Whole Foods and other local markets.

Here's Nikki of Nikki's Ginger Tea talking about the Church of the Messiah.

- I was across the street in my apartment, and then one of my friends said to me, "Well, Nikki, why don't you talk to your church about using the commercial kitchen?"

- [Will] The Church of the Messiah also organizes the Silence the Violence March, an annual event that honors the lives of those lost to gun violence.

Recently, the church has taken in Venezuelan migrants that have landed here in Detroit.

Bill Kubota had the story.

- [Bill] Some new parishioners at the Church of the Messiah on Detroit's east side.

A march Sunday.

- But I am ready to bring it.

God is in the house.

- [Bill] Pastor Barry Randolph presiding.

- We noticed an influx of Latinos in the community.

Everybody in the community told them to come to the church.

They came to the church, and of course, because they were immigrants, they were shipped here, it is believed, from Texas, it was kind of crazy.

So, we immediately jumped into action, making sure that they had the necessities of life.

- [Bill] Jennine Spencer Gilbert leads the church program.

She said more than 60 migrants originally from Venezuela have arrived since December.

They've been placed in a shelter just down the street.

- At Church of Messiah, we made a pantry for, not just for the immigrants, but for people that are in total need.

- [Bill] The church's computer labs turned into a distribution center for other organizations that need help, too.

- Churches from all over, religious organizations, political leaders, activists, all got involved.

So, it's not just church in the Messiah, it's a lot of groups who are really helping to make this happen.

- [Will] On November 1st, the Church of the Messiah will celebrate 150 years with the black-tie event, the Audacity of Faith.

For more stories from the Church of the Messiah and Islandview, visit onedetroitpbs.org.

- The mission here- - [Will] "American Black Journal" host and "One Detroit" contributor, Stephen Henderson, had an opportunity to speak with Pastor Barry Randolph about the milestone anniversary for Church of the Messiah.

They talked about the young people who will lead the church into the future.

(pensive music) - So, as the leader of Church of the Messiah, and the congregation, and of course all the work there, talk a little bit about what you see for its future.

I mean, you and I won't be around for another 150 years, but you'll certainly be around in the next year, and probably the next five, or 10, or 20.

Give us a sense of what you think is next for Church of the Messiah.

- That is an excellent question.

I must say I'm excited.

Now, I've been a pastor for 22 years, and 22 years is a long time to do anything, especially any one thing, and that was not on my agenda.

That was up to God, what He was telling me to do.

And it's been a privilege to be the pastor, but one of the things that I think I'm most hopeful for is fact that we have a generation of young people who are amazing.

I know a lot of times, they get the short end of the stick, but they are amazing.

They're doing incredible things.

And I always say that young people don't reject God, they reject the package of church, the package that the church put God in.

And here, we help them with their spirituality and activism.

Those two things go together.

They know that they're going to be the ones who are going to do the work.

We live by a scripture that says, "The kingdom of heaven is not your words.

It's a demonstration of power."

We wanna demonstrate that power.

We don't wanna commit spiritual malpractice by being able to say, "God is good," but there's no evidence of it.

We wanna show that evidence, and our young people, they are making it happen.

They're working on the issue of gun violence, they're working on the issues of social justice, and they are doing amazing work.

So, the future is very bright for Church and the Messiah, very bright.

- And when you think about the young people who are involved there, that's gotta give you real hope about not just the work you're doing, but the community that it's in.

And that's always been my impression about the relationship there, that, yes, the work that the church is doing is really important, but it is building on what's already there, and it's overlooked and it's disrespected.

You connect directly with it, though, and lift it up.

- Yeah, I think one of the things that people need to know, especially about...

I view it as well-organized.

And it's not just Church of the Messiah in this community and neighborhood.

I mean, you've got Field Street Block Club, you got St Bonaventure's, you got MACC Development, you got (indistinct) Village.

There's so many groups, the Boggs Center, there's so many groups and organizations in this community and neighborhood making it happen.

It's not just us alone.

And I like to compare...

I have people that wanna get just a little bit religious with it, with Jesus Christ.

Here He is, the Son of God, but He didn't do the work by Himself.

He went in God's will.

So, it's a team effort.

We're all supposed to collectively work together, and our biggest advantage is we have the same mission.

We wanna empower our people with the best resources possible so that they can have the best quality of life that they can possibly have.

That's what the mission is, that's what it's all about.

- [Will] Election Day is Tuesday, and the presidential candidates are making trips to Michigan as early voting is underway.

"One Detroit's" political contributors, Stephen Henderson of "American Black Journal," Nolan Finley from the Detroit News, and Zoe Clark of Michigan Public, weigh in on the presidential campaigns and the other races they'll be watching closely in the coming days.

(pensive music) - Okay, so we are literally now just days away from Election Day, although as we've been talking about, the election has already begun in Michigan because of early in-person voting, absentee ballots.

Nolan, I wanna start with you.

The Detroit News and WDIV had new polling out that continues to show this presidential race is incredibly close.

Is this the closest presidential race that we have seen in decades?

- In Michigan in the polling?

It is.

I mean, as it turned out, the Clinton-Trump race in 2016 ended up absolutely the closest race we've ever seen, but we didn't see that in the polling.

This time, we're seeing it in the polls.

I mean, they're both staying in that 47 to 49% range.

In one poll, one is up, and the other poll, the other is up.

And then the third poll, they're tied.

So this thing, I believe, is just as tight as we've ever seen or we've ever been aware of coming into Election Day.

And with this early voting, a lot of the people have already cast their ballots so they won't be changing their mind over the next few days.

And I think at this point, our poll showed 2% undecided.

So, it looks like most people have made up their minds.

And the challenge now is making sure they actually cast their ballots.

- Stephen, I heard someone recently say that if you are still undecided, that means you're likely not gonna vote.

That Detroit News poll showed 2% undecided.

What do you make of that?

- Well, I mean, I think there's no question, it's close, and closer than we've seen in past elections.

Although remember that in 2016, the weekend before the election, the poll showed a close, and in fact, the national pollsters and the analysts were saying it was too close to call.

- Right.

- Going into election morning.

I don't know what to make of it, right?

I do think the polls are undercounting some things that seem to be evident in places like Detroit.

Early voting in Michigan, which started over the weekend, also suggested a heavier Democratic trend than what you are seeing in some of these polls.

But, we gotta wait and see on Election Day what happens.

I do expect that there is an undercount in the polls of what's happening in Detroit.

That's just my gut and based on the people I hear from about the turnout.

But we thought that in 2016 as well and it didn't happen, so- - Right.

So, Nolan, let's go down the ballot a little bit to also another statewide race, that is the race for Senate, a open Senate seat.

This, too, is really close between former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, current Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin.

What are we seeing in there?

- Well, we've seen a lot of money has been spent.

This may be the most expensive congressional race in the country.

It's certainly the most expensive race we've seen in Michigan.

It's tied; our poll had a three up for Slotkin.

I've seen other polls that have it tied in there.

I've seen a poll this week from InsiderAdvantage.

It had him up a point.

So it's another one where you're not going to be able, I think, to go into this with any confidence on who's gonna win.

It's just depends on who's got their... Who gets their votes out.

Now, the Rogers team has a very strong get out the vote effort, compared to what we've seen in recent years from Republicans.

I mean, they've really fallen down on the job in recent elections on turning out their voters.

And they've got a huge ground game going.

In fact, they've basically taken over the Trump ground game because that was struggling somewhat.

So, I think this one comes right down to the wire.

It's moving every day.

- Yeah, turnout.

These are all about turnout.

And yeah, what hurts Republicans, or potentially hurts Republicans, is the fact that the state party has struggled as much as it has.

I mean, it's got better leadership now, but it's still repairing itself.

It's still trying to pick itself up off the ground.

Does that mean enough on Election Day?

The truth is that Donald Trump has never had much of a turnout game in Michigan.

What he's counted on is Democrats not voting.

He won in 2016 'cause 20,000 Detroiters didn't show up.

I don't think that happens again this time.

I think that the motivation on the Democratic side, especially in Michigan, is much stronger, and especially in Detroit.

But again, we gotta wait and see.

It is about whether Harris and the Democrats can turn out the votes that are predictable.

Republicans haven't won a significant election in Michigan since 2016.

There's a reason for that.

Elections are predictable exercises; voter behavior is predictable.

There would have to be something different about this than the last three elections to turn it in a different way.

I haven't seen what that is and that's why I still think this is a state that ends up in the blue column.

- Well, that's something might be the Arab American vote when they are still- - Could be.

- On the fence of whether they're going to cast a ballot for Harris, whether they're gonna cast a ballot for Trump, or whether they're just not gonna vote for president at all.

And you could have a very significant fall off in Arab American vote, which has gone Democratic in the last two cycles, and that could be the difference that you're not seeing.

- Could be, could be.

- It could be, and also this strategy, I was talking to the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party just today, Pete Hoekstra, who is talking about this strategy of going after voters who don't actually tend to turn out and vote.

And I said, "Look, this seems to be a risky strategy," and I think it's one that they're aware that if they can get folks who don't normally vote to turn out, it's not rocket science, that will help them, but it doesn't mean that they will.

Stephen Henderson, Nolan Finley, we're gonna leave it there.

And next time we chat, it's gonna be after Election Day.

- We'll all sound like experts then, won't we?

- Then we'll really know.

- [Will] October is Filipino American History Month, and "One Detroit" is highlighting the Filipino American stories and voices from our Asian American and Pacific Islander Story Series.

Today, we meet married couple, Lily Mendoza and Jim Perkinson.

Both are educators and activists.

Here, they talk about how they've navigated their cultural differences and what they are still learning about each other.

(pensive music) - Yeah, so very quickly, what I had to learn was about the cultural difference between my whiteness and being run through the inner city and your Filipinoness.

And so you... - And we have this core value among our Indigenous cultures in the Philippines that's called kapwa, which is shared being, the other as part of oneself, too.

And so it comes with a whole complex of communication dynamic, right?

That is not this individualistic thing.

And a lot of it carries an indirection or requires an indirection sensing.

- What I remember is early on, you, one night, asking me, "Babe, what do you want to do?"

And I told you, I don't remember what I told you, but something like I said, "Ah, let's get a pizza and go see a movie."

And you were kind of put off by that.

And only slowly did I learn, as you educated me, that what you really were inviting was for me to very obliquely indicate what maybe I might like to do, and then you would do the same, and then we would go back and forth in a dance that was delicate and exquisite.

And arriving at the decision was every bit as important as what we actually decided to do because it was just a living out of the quality of the relationship and that kind of non-verbal, or very indirectly, verbal sensitivity and knowing of each other.

So, I'm still learning that.

- Yeah, and for my part, I also had to learn a different way, especially when it came to our conflicts, right?

Well, we have this other cultural thing that we call tampo.

It's a delicate feeling of hurt where you withdraw and you expect the other person to read you and to know.

- Yeah, that was something else I had to learn about.

- Yeah, and I would get so frustrated because you couldn't sense me, right?

And we had to work it so I would also learn to speak my heart.

- Yeah, very much a back and forth, where in any given situation, whose cultural assumptions and habits we're going to be honored, and who was going to adapt to whom.

And that's part of the synergy of, I guess, any relationship.

But it was a deep kind of thing that we had to learn and still are learning with each other.

- The other thing that we had to negotiate was the protocol around food.

You were frustrated being in the Philippines because we were getting fed- - Yeah, the first time there.

- Every single house that we visited, they would put a spread.

- So, yeah.

I had like six meals in four hours.

I just didn't- - I said, "Rather than getting frustrated, you have to understand that food is a language in my culture, as most Indigenous cultures also."

- [Will] And you can see more of their story at onedetroitpbs.org.

It's Halloween, and that means Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.

There are some holiday-themed activities taking place this weekend, along with fall festivals, concerts, and a comedy show.

Cecelia Sharpe and Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ have today's "One Detroit Weekend."

- Happy Halloween Day.

- Happy Halloween.

Cecelia, there's so much going on.

Let's start with the Columbia Street Fall Festival happening through November 15th.

The event transforms the walkable street into a beautiful array of fall colors and decorations for all to enjoy.

- That area is so nice anytime of year, but the fall colors make it even better.

Today through Sunday, November 3rd is the second annual Dia de los Muertos Festival at La Jalisciense in Southwest Detroit.

Head there to enjoy shopping, cultural workshops, art activities, a folklore called dance performance, and more.

- [Dave] Saturday, November 2nd, join Stan Barnes & Friends for their annual concert at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.

They all know how to put on a performance perfect for a night out, and this year's theme is love and happiness.

- [Cecelia] Hmm.

Well, if you're down for laughing this weekend, look no further than the Fox Theatre, where Steve Martin and Martin Short take the stage for their "Dukes of Funnytown" tour.

- [Dave] "Dukes of Funnytown" is a great term for those two iconic comedians.

After Halloween, the holidays will be in full swing.

On Sunday, November 3rd, you can gear up for the season with All Things Detroit Holiday Shopping Experience and Food Truck Rally at Eastern Market.

- This year is flying by, but I'm very excited for the season to come.

Of course, there's so much going on this weekend and beyond, so please stay tuned for a couple more options.

Have a wonderful weekend.

(pensive music) - [Will] That'll do it for this week's "One Detroit."

Thanks for watching.

Head to the "One Detroit" website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

(pensive music) - [Announcer 1] From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

- [Announcer 2] DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Learn more at dtefoundation.com.

- [Announcer 1] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(pensive music) (uplifting music)