November 15, 2002

"City Trilogy Part 1, Fort Wayne"

Fort Wayne, IN -- Small, But Thriving!
Where Americans Live: Small, Medium and Mega-Sized Cities

Not much of America’s population can any longer be found in municipalities of under 100,000 people. Let’s face it. If we’re talking city in the twenty-first century, we’re now talking about a place that got energy for commerce and education, lots of cultures and language groups, it’s share of confusion and problems, and well in excess of 100,000 people. If it doesn’t have that kind of critical mass, it is ceasing to be a city rather than growing as a city (or simply a "museum piece" of it’s former self).

The current trilogy of CityVoices editions profiles three very different-sized American cities: Fort Wayne, Indiana (with just over 205,000 citizens, ranks 84th nationally), Memphis, Tennessee (with its 650,000 people citywide, ranks 18th ), and Los Angeles with a municipal population of 3,694,000 ranks second only to New York City throughout the entire United States. Metro areas certainly encompass far more people for each one of these cities, with greater Los Angeles accounting for several "nations" within its roughly defined borders.

The point in our comparison & contrast is that there are many ways to live within urban American at the beginning of this century. Some cities face backward, some fast-forward, some are traditional, some are a global urban village, barely looking like last century’s America at all!

It’s an exciting to be part of our nation’s cities! There’s seems to be a place for everyone, and there’s a place for nearly every kind of church. Just watch with wonderment, as Christ’s mission gets carried out in amazing ways!

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Fort Wayne: City of Churches
By Roger Johnson, editor -- CityVoices

Whether known as "The Summit City," "Genealogical Capital of America" or "the City of Churches" (with some 360 houses of worship), Fort Wayne, Indiana, with its current population of 205,000 has an unusually heavy concentration of churches for a city of its size. Churches have been a big part of Fort Wayne’s life through nearly all the 200-plus years of history since Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne first established a Fort at the confluence of the St. Mary’s, St. Joseph’s and Maumee Rivers in what became northeastern Indiana.

Since then, Fort Wayne has grown into Indiana’s second largest city. Yet to this day, many of its citizens maintain that Fort Wayne is best understood by its adherence to small town values and ways of doing things. Long-established friendships and relationships are still more important to getting things done in Fort Wayne than new money, national franchises or out-of-town influence. Fort Wayne’s traditionalism is both delightful and troublesome as the city struggles to move into a 21st century of urban connectivity and growth.

Some sides of the old "summit city" will remain and contribute to the new Fort Wayne, others will be best housed at the Allen County "historical society," making room for modern visions of a compact, post-industrial Fort Wayne.

Whether Fort Wayne will continue to be a "city of churches" is not clear. But it is certain that churches of all denominations will have a big role (and in bigger numbers than in most cities it’s size) in deciding Fort Wayne’s future. Piety, dedication and devotion will continue to loom large in greater Fort Wayne and Allen County, and those forces will have a major impact on "how things get done" – as big an impact as any traditional relationships running deep through local bloodlines.

Watch for small changes in Fort Wayne, nothing big at all. Watch for downtown to grow and revitalize, watch for an airport to slowly revitalize its traffic and facilities. Watch for some slow economic growth as Fort Wayne discovers its new supply roles in the global economy. But primarily, watch for a constancy of spirit that will guide Fort Wayne into its role as a small 21st century American city.

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Fort Wayne: Stats / History and More

Population: 205, 727 * 2nd largest city in Indiana

(white: 155,231; African American 35,752; Latino 11,884)

Mayor: Graham Richard (2000 – present)

Nine City Council members

Churches: 360

Hospitals: 6

Newspapers: 2

Area: 77 sq. miles

City employees: 1,858

Parks: 87, covering over 2000 acres

Date founded: 1794 (incorporated: 1840)

Allen County Government:

3 County Commissioners
7 County Council members

History:
When George Washington was President he declared war on the Miamis and Fort Wayne was the focal point of several bloody battles. The Indians were able to carry the day until Washington sent General "Mad" Anthony Wayne into the territory and Wayne did what General St. Clair and others had not. He defeated the Indians. Captain John Hamtramck had a new fort erected and called it Fort Wayne in honor of the victorious general.

The frontier Fort Wayne suffered through the Siege of 1812 (during the war of the same name) and felt the wrath of Tecumseh. General Harrison was one of the deliverers. Fort Wayne at this time was considered a barbaric and wild and woolly frontier town. Murder, mayhem and lawlessness were the order of the day. When Samuel Hanna arrived in 1819 he was one harbinger of a town’s beginning. Isaac McCoy started the first school with 25 students. The Wabash and Erie Canal construction opened up the waterways, saloons and churches vied for souls while the advent of the Civil War vied for men’s bodies. Even though Stephen A. Douglas carried the county over Abraham Lincoln and southern sentiment was quite prevalent, Allen County sent 6,000 men to fight in the war between the states. Fort Wayne prospered and grew, gamblers publicly reformed, civilization took hold, and the present Allen County Public Library had its beginning in the 1890s.

The city was inundated when all three rivers flooded in 1913. The city with a predominately German heritage had its problems during World War I, as it did later in World War II. The crash of 1929 hit the town hard, but did not stop the groundbreaking for the then tallest building in Indiana, the Lincoln Tower.

The thirties brought hard times that were eventually alleviated in the wartime economy of the forties. Theater, vaudeville, radio and television shrunk the world and Fort Wayne became known for its diversified industry. The downtown’s magic with the famed Wolf and Dessauer Department store lost out to the state’s largest mall and the industrial base changed its format. Fort Wayne’s park system includes a world class children’s zoo, a botanical garden and a showplace park that is the direct result of planning after the devastating flood of 1982.

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Fort Wayne Rescue Mission Ministries – Pastor Dave Humphries

(Pastor Dave Humphries directs the day-to-day operations of Fort Wayne Rescue Mission Ministries, an organization with deep roots in the religious and social fabric of the Fort Wayne community. The mission’s work has grown from being a safe over-night place to stay to being a true center for change and recovery as people allow God to intervene in destructive life patterns.)

Dave, what is the city’s identity that you see here in Fort Wayne?

If you want to understand this city, think of a town of 10,000 with all its culture and ways of getting things done, except we’ve got lots more people. In the city 205,000; in Allen County, 330,000. Things happen here because of relationships. When people come to town, and have 40 people on a letterhead and try to call themselves an organization, it does little. This town has an historical identity; much of it based in the 1800s. I came here to pastor First Baptist Church founded in 1845. We’re a town that looks backwards for our identity, as much as we look forwards.

Are you being asked by the City of Fort Wayne to do certain things that you can or can’t deliver on?

We’re used by the city as a resource in a consultative and educational way. There’s also an unwritten tacit in force that we will house the homeless men on the streets every night. Guys are given the choice to come here, or go to jail. Usually they come here.

The churches here in Fort Wayne – 400 or so in Allen County – they should be able to handle a lot of the financial issues you have by their sheer institutional "relevance", right?

Well, we do have the interfaith hospitality network, which works with meals and housing.

Are these churches able to make the kind of financial impact necessary to support the rescue mission and other mission efforts as well?

Typically, three percent of our annual income comes from churches. Individual members do far better than the institution of the church can for our purposes. There is tremendous ownership of the Rescue Mission Ministries here in Allen County. People say, "How did you get into United Way?" The answer is we started United Way along with 10 other agencies 80 years ago. Our organization is a place where you come to start your life over; not just to spent a night. Staff is now 39.

What do you see happening with the Downtown Improvement District here in Fort Wayne?

Paula Hughes, director of the Downtown Improvement District, is a good friend of mine. What we’re seeing here is something new and good. We’ve found ourselves included "around the table" on several "downtown issues" now.

We’re still in transition; they still have the "corporate counsel."

Where is the Chamber of Commerce in all this?

It’s fairly important, important, but it’s more consultative. They play their part in recruiting businesses to come here. But no longer do we have a few leaders together calling the shots in a smoke-filled room.

This is a city of churches. But it’s also a city of very loving and caring people. Some of the churches come from fundamental backgrounds. Because of that people can be stern in their judgments. That’s their religious background. But that’s also the Germanic heritage of the city -- that people should do the right thing and do it properly, and if you don’t you is not being a good person. So as long as we can show people here that what we are doing we are doing on the up and up, we are doing effectively, we are doing it in a caring way, our support will be tremendous. Independent, stubborn, but loving and caring more than any other place that I’ve ever been.

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First Wayne Street United Methodist Church -- Robert Dygert-Gearheart

(Rev. Robert Dygert-Gearheart serves at First Wayne Street United Methodist Church, one of the oldest churches in Fort Wayne. First Wayne Street Church came about through the union of two Methodist churches, both with long histories, to form a strong and multi-faceted church in Fort Wayne’s historic downtown.)

Pastor, let’s talk about identity. How does Fort Wayne view itself?

Fort Wayne is in some ways very much a small town, not a city at all. It’s also very divided. Christianity is very much divided here. Black and white pastors are divided. Protestants and Catholics are divided. Downtown churches are increasingly divided from suburban churches, and that’s unfortunate.

The center of Fort Wayne is in serious trouble. I wouldn’t say is that it’s dead, but for all practical purposes, efforts at enlivening center city are only in the minds and imaginations of people. Every central United Methodist church is a commuter church.

West of here there are some classical "mansions"

Yes, that’s the West Central neighborhood. People who choose to live there are artisans, bohemians, And have money to restore their property. (To the east I see some vacant property.) Lots! Starting with Lafayette Street over here. The city just tried to create an idea of buying up all that over there, but its very slow. We’re very close to the Black community, and there are invisible walls.

Give me a little bit of this church’s history.

1968 was a merger in Methodism. The United Brethren and down the street was the Wayne Street Church. They came together and it became First Wayne Street United Methodist Church. And with that merger came the decision to intentionally become a downtown church. We just finished rewriting a mission statement (five years ago) that confirmed that decision to reach out in mission downtown. We try to be intentionally about our involvement downtown. We see ourselves as the liberal voice of Christianity in Fort Wayne. And we do have a voice. Recently we just led this city on the issue of crime. And yet that has always been a struggle.

Does Christianity have a lot to say about what’s going on in Fort Wayne? Yes and No. I think we can do a lot more. Though we have lots of structures that apparently are in place, there are few new ideas coming out of them.

What would you say the best part of being downtown really is?

There are some people who don’t come downtown because of fear of crime, but that’s a negative. Now, if anybody wants to know what’s happening among Methodists in Fort Wayne, they come to talk to us down town. There’s something about the downtown that Americans still relate to.

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Faith Lutheran Church (ELCA) – Pastor Dan Stroebel and Fort Wayne Urban Ministries – Doug Brouwer

(Faith Lutheran Church ministers on the touch southeast side of Fort Wayne. There, Pastor Dan Stroebel has served for more than two decades. He’s seen much change in what was once a healthy blue-collar community, but now has some question marks facing its future. Doug Brouwer, a lay leader has helped bring about Fort Wayne Urban Ministries, meeting the needs of young people on Fort Wayne’s southeast side.)

Rev. Dan Stroebel – This city got hurt very badly back in 1982 when International Harvester left in 1982 (10,000 jobs left). But we still have a small town community feel about life here. For a city of 200,000 people, we don’t feel we’re too "big city" to help each other with our groceries at the local supermarket.

Doug Brouwer – My roots are in rural Allen County, and I’ve served for 23 years as a juvenile probation officer. Through a series of God-incidents I’ve become involved in urban ministry here. In a way, urban ministry here in Fort Wayne is small town USA, in a way it’s not. When you’re here for 20 – 30 years you’re able to build strong working relationships. We’re small enough to build those relationships.

How has Fort Wayne Urban Ministries developed?

Brouwer – In the early 1990s, some of it began through pastors getting together on daycamps. That spawned an idea. In the late 90s, a three-year grant from a Lutheran foundation allowed for an eight-week daycamp. Then the question, where do we go from here? We’re working with 100-120 kids at this point with a free daycamp program at this point. Staff consists of college and seminary students. A grant in the year 2001 allowed us to become more intentional, and that’s where I came on as staff.

What we have is continuing growth. Similarities in the parishes and neighborhoods in which we work. It took us a while to determine if we should start a 501(c)(3), which we finally did in May of 2002 (this year), thanks to help from Lutheran Outdoor Ministries.

This part of town, southside, well how do you see changes going on downtown first of all? Do they affect your southeast side community at all?

Stroebel -- Unfortunately, we are not a healthy, integrated community. We’re a segregated community in many ways. And I’ve seen the change just over the years that I’ve been here, since 1972.

Here at Faith Lutheran Church and the southeast side of Fort Wayne, you’ve been here quite a long time, you’ve seen much happen. Project five or ten years ahead. What do you see happening?

Stroebel -- When I came here, the Southtown Mall was thriving, it was the place where we did all our shopping. Soon a new charter school will be developed near there, with public funds, administered through Ball State University. So we will have competition for the traditional public school system.

As far as the larger mall, I am very worried that this end of town could very well become like the south side of Chicago years down the road. That’s what I’m afraid of. Having known this community since 1972, I just see things going down, down, down. That’s what I’m worried about. Will our congregation be able to survive in twenty years? We are able to hang in there now, but will future generations be able to hang in there?

The media has been very negative in this city and has killed the south side of Fort Wayne. This area has had total white flight.

Politically, our mayor is a very nice man, but he is not "out-front" the way a mayor should be. He is not a leader! He’s a hard worker, I’m sure, but he’s behind the scenes. That’s okay for the people under him, but he should be out front! Fort Wayne is searching for more the activist!

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St. Jude’s Catholic Church – Fr. Tom Shoemaker

(St. Jude’s Catholic Church serves a middle-class community on Fort Wayne’s prosperous northeast side. With a multi-faceted ministry and many challenges ahead, the future looks bright for this strong parish.)

How do you perceive Fort Wayne’s identidy in the year you’ve been at St. Jude’s Parish here on the near east side?

I can speak for the southeast side of town where I used to serve. That area of town has changed radically. With the closing of International Harvester, lots of jobs were lost, lots of people were forced to leave. The Catholic population has simply dwindled. The minority population has grown a lot in that part of town. Southtown Mall is probably a symbol of all that has happened on that side of town. Lots of businesses closing, real estate values dropping. Also there was a toxic waste dump there was put out on the south side of town, within a mile of the city limits. That didn’t help real estate either. But the closing of International Harvester was the big factor.

Do you see anything new on the horizon for Fort Wayne?

Sure, I with the expansion of the Coliseum I think there’s an effort to attract more and bigger events to the greater Fort Wayne community.

How about the faith community?

The Catholic church and the Lutheran church are both very big in Fort Wayne. Also a big variety of evangelicals and Baptists and everyone else imaginable. I see a strong future.

I see a healthy future right here at St. Jude’s Parish. We have four masses with about 1500-2000 attending, total. We’ve got a pretty good cross-section of people here at our church. We’ve got a large staff, about a dozen.

What are you proudest of the ways in which St. Jude ministers to the northeast side of Fort Wayne?

Our school, also just our active prayerful people in our church. We also have a lot of social action. We’re involved in Habitat for Humanity, blood drives, etc. That’s all a plus. Also our ministry at Park View Hospital through lay people.

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NEXT EDITION: Memphis, TN