She was a very unassuming person. To meet her you would never know that she held positions of leadership within the national organization of the Church of God in Christ. She wouldn't tell you that before she started a soup kitchen at her home church Upton Ave. Original Church of God in Battle Creek, she worked for 32 years for the State of Michigan's Department of Mental Health as a Human Resource Developer.
Or that she graduated from Byrd Pillerman High School (in Virginia) with high honors. That her education included two years at Bluefield State College (in West Virginia), the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.
She and Arthur Rhan, Sr. were married on March 21, 1958. He eventually became the pastor of the Upton Ave. Original Church of God in Christ and Judith served in a variety of leadership positions, including church clerk.
Besides these activities, Judith was instrumental in raising two children.
But it was in her capacity with the church's soup kitchen that I got to know Judith.
She was in her glory in the kitchen, along with the other volunteers.
Each Tuesday Judith and her team put together a home-cooked meal, from scratch, in the fellowship room of the church's basement. And for all practical purposes, for a two-hour piece of time the fellowship hall was transformed into a magnificent, all-you-can-eat restaurant. Complete with the aroma of food that seemingly wafted down from heaven.
During the course of a dozen years, three times I was privileged to be part of a small team that interviewed willing participants while they were eating their lunch at the Upon Avenue Church of God soup kitchen. One of the important questions we asked was: "How are you usually treated when you come to this place?"
Without exception they all had positive things to say. Not one could offer up anything negative about the soup kitchen, the food, or the volunteers. (I remember this well because every four years we took teams to many other emergency food sites - sometimes over a hundred.) People being people, there were always a few disgruntled folks.
But not at Mrs. Rhan's soup kitchen.
She and her crew greeted each person coming into the fellowship room. Oftentimes by name. And it was Mrs. Rhan who set the tone for the meal.
The church also ran a Fresh Food Initiative (FFI) every Friday morning during the spring through the early fall. It was here that I got to know yet another side of Mrs. Rhan.
She was easily identifiable because of her height (she stood, physically, at less than five feet tall) and her hat. The fresh produce was delivered early in the morning before the heat of the day. And at least an hour before the truck pulled into the church's parking lot, there were neighborhood folks lined up.
The FFI volunteers worked together as a team. Each knew their assigned duty, but primarily, each also knew how to welcome those coming to the food line. Many times I arrived before the delivery truck to find Mrs. Rhan walking the line, talking with the families and individuals as if they were family members. In the course of working for the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, visited all twenty or so of the FFI sites we served. Her FFI site set the gold standard for treating people with dignity.
It was while visiting the FFI at Upton Ave. Original Church of God that I got to know Mrs. Rhan's affection for Tony the Tiger (of Frosted Flakes fame). The Kellogg Company, each spring or summer, would send out the company's mascot (Tony) dressed in full tiger-gear to some of the FFI sites. It got to the point that, after several years of this happening, that come spring Mrs. Rhan would routinely, eagerly ask: "Is Tony coming today?"
When Mrs. Rhan passed away, there was a memorial service held at the church. When I turned the corner onto Upton Avenue, I had to park half-way down the block. The church itself was overflowing. In fact, if a good friend hadn't spotted me and beaconed me in to sit next to her, I would have been in the standing-room-only section that was backed up to the entrance of the church.
The MC for the memorial service began by saying: "Brothers and sisters. This isn't a day for mourning. This is a day of celebrating Sister Rhan's joyous completion of this life's journey and entrance into heaven. She would be the first to point out that this is a homecoming!"
And then the singing commenced as well as several testimonies of what Judith Rhan had meant to her husband, her family, her church and her city. I stayed for two hours and when I left the church, the service was still going strong! In the church that day were members of the Church of God in Christ from Michigan and all over the Midwest. A testimony for how much love and respect they had for Mrs. Rhan.
This was yet another side of her that I hadn't seen. Mainly because Mrs. Rhan was not one to boast or bring attention to herself. She was, quite simply, extraordinary in the way she lived a life of service.
This was yet another side of her that I hadn't seen. Mainly because Mrs. Rhan was not one to boast or bring attention to herself. She was, quite simply, extraordinary in the way she lived a life of service.
Happy Homecoming Anniversary Mrs. Rhan!
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Arthur Rhan, Sr., Judith's husband, passed away on January 31, 2015. Arthur and Judith were married for 56 years and together led the Upton Avenue Original Church of God in Christ. Rev. Rhan was a very thoughtful, purposeful person. He wasn't one for "small talk." A conversation with Rev. Rhan was filled with wisdom and insight that flowed from him in a very unassuming way. Just like Judith.
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