GO SOUTH ON NORTH AVENUE

The main north-south roads near Bethel
are Gratiot Avenue, 3 miles to the east,
North Avenue itself and Romeo Plank
Road 4 miles to the west.

While Hall Road - M59 is the major
commercial corridor, you will need to
travel west 7-10 miles on Hall Road to
find the major shopping areas.  Several
new ones are under construction..

Several filling stations, country clubs
and a few fast food restaurants line
North Ave between Bethel and Hall
Road - M59.

BP and Mobil are located at the corner
of 23 Mile Road, 1/4 mile south of the
church.   Both have ATM's and small
convenience stores attached.   Two
miles further south on North (sorry) at 21
Mile Road there is another Mobil.   
These generally are within a cent of two
of each other in price with the 21 Mile
location usually being higher.

Approximately 1 mile south of Hall Road
- M59 is a Gulf station.  This station has
usually been 3-5 cents a gallon less than
the others but - no guarantees.

Note:  South of Hall Road - M59,
North Avenue is called North
Groesbeck Highway - M97.
GO EAST ON 23 MILE THEN
SOUTH ON GRATIOT - M3

Taking 23 Mile Road east to Gratiot
Ave for 2-3 miles and you will find a
large variety of shopping, services
and restaurants to choose from.

Head south on Gratiot - M3 and you
will find many other choices as you
travel south toward Hall Road - M59.

Note:  Gratiot - M3 is also M-59
between Hall Road and 23 Mile
Road.  Don't let the signs confuse
you.

If you head east on Hall Road - M59
from Gratiot, just before you come
to I-94, you will find another small
shopping area with a few
restaurants, a Walmart and some
other services.

Continuing on Hall Road east past
I-94 (it becomes William Rosso
Hwy at that point), it will end at
Jefferson Ave and the main gate to
Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

Heading west on Hall (M-59) from
Gratiot for 10 miles takes you to
Lakeside Mall.  It is surrounded by
smaller shopping centers and strip
malls.
GO EAST ON 23 MILE ROAD

The main east-west roads near Bethel are Hall Road - M59 / Hall Road
3 miles to the south, 23 Mile Road just 1/4 mile south and 26 Mile
Road 3 miles to the north.

While Hall Road - M59 is the major east-west travel corridor, going 2-3
miles east on 23 Mile Road you will find nearly anything you might need.

East along 23 Mile between Gratiot - M3 and I-94 and beyond into
New Baltimore, you will find shopping centers, filling stations,
department and grocery stores, banks, restaurants, entertainment and
specialty stores.
From Gratiot / M3
or I-94 Exit 243
head west on 23 Mile Rd
for ~ 3 miles
Turn north onto
North Ave for 1/4 mile
From Hall Rd (M59) at
Groesbeck (M97) turn north
onto North Ave
for 3 1/4 miles.
Have a GPS?
Find us at:

42° 40' 46.48" N
82° 52' 35.23" W
Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:   
25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Find Us ...
51850 North Ave.
Macomb, MI 48042
(586) 598-8555
1/4 mile north of 23 Mile Road
on the east side of North Ave  (M97)
Surrounding communities:  
    Macomb, Shelby and Chesterfield Townships.  New Baltimore, Mount Clemens, Sterling Heights, Utica,
    Richmond and New Haven

Local school districts:  
    Chippewa Valley, L'Anse Creuse, Utica, Anchor Bay, and New Haven + several parochial systems

Local newspapers:
    The Bay Voice,  Macomb Daily, The Advisor;  The Clinton/Macomb Chronicle;  The Journal; Romeo
    Observer; and Armada Times

Local transportation:
    SEMTA buses stop in the Meijer parking lot at 23 Mile Road and Gratiot (3 miles East of Bethel).   
    The area is served by several private Taxi cab companies
Macomb Township, 48042

Population ~ 75,000 +

Rainfall (in.)            31.6
Snowfall (in.)          36.8
Precipitation Days    135     
Sunny Days          179

Avg. July High Temp         82.4
Avg. Jan. Low Temp        16.2

Avg. Elevation (Feet)       663

Pupil/Teacher Ratio         24.3
In Michigan:

  • We can use our right hand as a map so long as you keep your palm facing the person trying to read the map.
    We're located at the middle joint of your thumb...
  • We are Michiganders, not Michigainians ...
  • Michigan is home to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison,Tim Allen, Alice Cooper, Madonna, The Black Dahlia Murder, Motown, Insane Clown Posse,
    The White Stripes, Stevie Wonder, Kid Rock, Eminem, and Robin Williams.   
    Okay, so we're not proud of everyone but we claim them all anyway because they are from here and we need to keep the average down...
  • For us, a vacation is a trip to Cedar Point, going Up North, down to Florida, or for a drive across the bridge (you could also take the tunnel to
    Canada if the leaky walls don't bother you.)    
    But ... when we have everything anyone could want here within Michigan, why leave ??
    (All those 'snow birds' that head to Florida for the winter are really undercover missionaries ...)
  • The sun shines here every day - it's just that some days you can't see it.  
    Clouds occasionally sneak across the border from Illinois or Indiana - even their bad weather tries to get in now and then ...
  • We do have a place called Hell in Michigan.   It's near the Ohio border.    We use it as a buffer zone ... (Isn't a buckeye some kind of nut ???)
  • We are the only large inland peninsula on earth.  (You can see us from space.)  
    God made one and only one and said, "It is good" and moved on to other things.
  • We love ... Faygo, Superman Ice Cream, Better Made Chips, Vernor's, and Mackinaw Island Fudge.
  • In Michigan, UP is a place not a direction.   
    When there, you'll have to eat a pastie!   (That's Pass'-tee, not Paste-tee !!)
  • We do have mountains - up in the UP - and you can still breath when you reach the summits.   
    How high does it have get to be a mountain ??    It's hurts as much to fall off ours and it does theirs and it's a quicker trip down on ours.
    FYI:  Don't try to climb Mount Elliot, Mount Pleasant, or Mount Clemens.
  • We use our lakes and rivers all year around.  We swim, boat, fish, hunt, camp, and water ski as often as possible.
    The water temperature doesn't change much summer to winter.
    In the winter, when we only have 'hard water', we still ski - we're just not limited to the lakes and rivers ...
  • For us 'wild' life really is wildlife - furry and feathered forest creatures.  Forests and lakes are everywhere in Michigan.
    We don't have allot of animals that will eat you, if you don't count mosquitoes.
    You may occasionally cross paths with a bear, wolf, or an angry moose ... (angry he didn't get to Michigan sooner ...)
    All of the fish with teeth are immigrants from other places (probably planted by other State Tourism Boards).
    Your Michigan fishing license does permit you to fish our road potholes but you do so at your own risk.   Traffic is not required to slow
    for fishermen...
    We only have one poisonous snake in Michigan.  (He's usually busy, off somewhere else, so you're not likely to see him ...)
  • Please take notice:  Here in Michigan "soda" is used for baking.   Here we drink "pop".
  • We measure distances in hours (as in, 'the next rest stop is about 1/2 hour').
    No matter where we are or where we're going, we'll be there 'in a few minutes ...' or 'any time now'.
  • Finally, you can identify a native Michgander because we can drive the speed limit in a foot of snow or in white-out blizzard conditions and not
    even flinch.
    We may not be able to make it to work but we still hold school.  There's never been a storm so bad we can't make it home.

Speaking of driving a few explanatory notes may be helpful to our out-of-state transfers:

    You may notice that the same roads share or change names 2-3 times within a 2-3 mile stretch.   
    The good news is they all generally run East-West or North-South (unless they don't...).    
    As long as you know where you are (and how to pronounce it), you can't get so lost you can't be found ....

    BTW: Here are a few pronuciation helps for some of the streets you may run into.
            Gratiot is pronounced "Grass'-shut"; not "Grat'-tee-ut".
            Scheonherr Road is pronounced Shay'-nor, not Show-ner or Shoe-in-hair.
            Heydenreich Road is pronounced High'-den-rick, not Hay-don-reich (I know, it may not seem right but that's the way we say it locally).
            Groesbeck is pronounced Gross'-beck, not Grow-eze-beck or Grow-ess-beck.

  • M-59 (aka Hall Road) runs east-west until it runs into M-3 / Gratiot turning north-south.  Then, what was M-59 is not called Hall Road anymore but
    becomes William Rosso Highway.   The East-West route goes North for a few miles but then "repents" and turns East -West again...joining
    another road with a new name and number M-29

  • You can go south on North Avenue...but only until you reach M-59 (the Hall Road portion of M-59 that is).   South of there it is called M-97 which
    is also known as North Groesbeck Highway...on which you can go South - but not East or West..   
    FYI:  There is no South Groesbeck Highway...so we usually just call it Groesbeck.

Just so you don't think its all a North-South-East-West thing, remember, you are in Michigan - home of the original, "Original Mystery Spot"....    
    At most major intersections you must turn right to go left ... unless you are entering an Interstate.   
    You'd think the interstates would be easy - but, Nope !!!
    In most cases when entering an interstate you have to turn left to go in the direction off to your right.
    I guess that's why they call those interchanges 'clover leafs'  -  it's the road engineers twisted way of wishing you ... Good Luck !

The state highway, Interstate and freeway numbers and names change often too...but only for short local stretches of distance.   This is why when giving
directions we use exit numbers and not street names.    (Exit numbers increase as you go East or North.)    Here are a few key road numbers and their
ever changing names:

  • I-75 = the Fisher Freeway and the Chrysler Freeway
  • I-94 = the (Edsel) Ford Freeway but in Macomb County it is officially the James O'Hara Freeway.  Everyone just calls it I-94
    I-94 East actually runs North to Port Huron and the Canadian Border for half its distance through Detroit
    I-94 West actually runs South to Detroit - and the Canadian Border - or on to Chicago once it finally turns West
    Detroit is the only place in the continental United States where you go south to get to Canada.   
    Just don't cross the Canadian Border without your Passport (or within 2 weeks of having a heart stress test).  
    Ask us when you see us and we'll explain....   
    Get off I-94W or you'll end up in Billings Montana if you can get through Chicago traffic...
  • I-96 = Jeffries Freeway and the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
  • I-696 = the (Walter P). Reuther Freeway
  • I-375 = runs north and south in downtown Detroit and is also known as, well, I-375.
  • I-275 = is just good old I-275 (as far as we know).
  • M-3 = Gratiot Avenue.  Up north it changes to M-19.    
  • M-10 = Lodge Freeway.
  • M-19 = is called by several names as you go from community to community including Main Street, Memphis Ridge Road,  New Haven Road,
    Gratiot, and finally Main Street once again
  • M-29 = 23 Mile Road or Green Street in the east of the county
  • M-39 = Southfield Freeway
  • M-53 = Earl Memorial Highway (never have figured out who Earl was or why we memorialized him by naming a highway after him).  
    M-53 is commonly known as the Van Dyke Freeway (not Van Dyke Road/Avenue although in the southern and northern part of the county it
    is one and the same).   It is also called  POI/MIA Freeway (get stuck in a traffic jam on it and you'll understand why) and Christopher
    Columbus Freeway (once you get off it's like discovering a New World).
  • M-97 = Groesbeck Avenue / Highway
  • The "Mixing Bowl" is where the Reuther, the Lodge and the Southfield Freeways all converge over in Oakland County.
    You can go in but who knows where you'll come out.

During rush hour all the above names, numbers and designations are temporarily cancelled and Detroit area drivers call everything by different
descriptive and usually inappropriate names....try to avoid driving around the Metro area during rush hour.   
    Rush hours are week days, usually between 7-10am and 4-7pm.   I really don't know why it's called 'rush hour'.   Traffic, if it's moving at all, moves
    slower during these times than any other time.

If you leave space between yourself and the car in front of you, someone will fill it.   We don't typically signal our lane changes or turns so be prepared.  

If you check your rear view mirror to see if there is traffic behind you do not be fooled into thinking you are driving a 12 seat limo.   
    Count the number of rear view mirrors you can see in yours, then look for cars.   
    You're probably looking through the passenger compartment of several other cars.

Also note, there is always - I say again ALWAYS - significant road and bridge construction going on so be prepared - leave extra time and pack a lunch
(or two)...  Most of the posted detour routes are also under construction and may have detour detours.
    Contact the Michigan Department of Transportation at (517) 373-2160 to verify major road construction closures.  If you are just interested in a
    local map check out  http://www.michigan.gov/drive .

Detroit surface roads were originally laid out in a "hub and spoke" pattern with the hub being the city center down near the river front and main roads
radiating out from there, like spokes on a wheel (everything here has a Motor City / Car connotation).   As the city grew, main East-West Roads were
added every mile or so to assist in crossing town.    The mile roads - like all the rest have both number names and road names depending on which city
or suburb you happen to be in.   I've listed some (but not all) of the various names you may encounter as you navigate the Detroit area.   The mile road
numbers increase as you head north.   While most people just use the "Mile Road" numbers north of 8 Mile, some old timers still use the road names -
a protest against the new math.

  • 1 Mile = Warren Avenue.
  • 2 Mile = Joy Road.
  • 3 Mile = Plymouth Road.
  • 4 Mile = Schoolcraft Road.
  • 5 Mile = Fenkell Road
  • 6 Mile = McNichols Road
  • 7 Mile = Moross Raod
  • 8 Mile = Baseline Road (it was the point from which surveyors laid out much of the region) and Vernier Road
    8 Mile is typically the northern border of the City of Detroit.
  • 9 Mile = (I've never heard it called anything but 9 Mile but I am sure there is a suburb out there that has named it something...)
  • 10 and 11 Mile = have become the I-696 service drive in parts of Macomb and Oakland County.    I-696 tends to wander back and forth as
    between 10 and 11 Mile as it weaves its way across the city - every bend in the road a potential traffic jam...
    FYI - I-696 has 2 speeds = FULL STOP and GO LIKE YOU'VE BEEN SHOT OUT OF A CANNON - not much in between.
    There is no "rocket lane" on our roads.  We have to go fast in all lanes so as not to fall into the potholes (watch for fishermen).   
    If you're going slower than we are, you are considered a road hazard.  You'll get passed left, right and on the shoulder.
  • 12, 13 and 14 Mile = like 9 Mile Road these roads generally just go by the mile road designations but note, like 9 Mile, the suburbs may have
    given them various names.
  • 15 Mile = Maple Road
  • 16 Mile = Metropolitan Parkway, Big Beaver Road, and Quarton Road.   
    16 Mile may occasionally be referred to as Nunneley Road,  although that is wrong.   Nunneley Road is a separate road that actually runs
    parallel to 16 Mile ... on both sides of 16 Mile.   Yes, I said "both sides".
  • 17 Mile = Wattles Road
  • 18 Mile = Long Lake Road
  • 19 Mile = Square Lake Road
  • 20 Mile (It's never really called 20 Mile) =  M-59, Hall Road, William Rosso Highway or South Blvd.      
  • 21 Mile = Shoemaker Rd
  • 22 Mile = Waldenburg Rd
  • 23 Mile = East of Romeo Plank = Whiskey Road (don't ask)
                          way east its called Green Street                                        BTW: Romeo Plank did start out
                 = West of Romeo Plank = Coldwater Rd                                       as a real wood plank road going
                            even further west its called Avon Road                                from Detroit to Romeo
  • 24 Mile = French Road
  • 25 Mile = Arnold Road                   
  • 26 Mile = Marine City Hwy

The mile roads "go for miles"...   If you get to 34 Mile, give it up.   
    Find an apple orchard, pull in and have a piece of pie and a cup of coffee.   Then go get a room, get some rest and try again tomorrow.   Don't
    consider the day a loss however.  At least you'll know where to get some great coffee and pie.

If you do get lost, count to 10 and thank God you're ultimately going to Heaven (at least I hope you are).  
    The really good news (for those who are going) is that Jesus is coming to pick us up.  
            We don't have to drive and won't need a map!    

Until then - if you get lost - give us a call.  
    As long as you know where you are, (and can pronounce it so we recognize it), we can guide you to Bethel.
             We can even show you the way to Heaven !
GO WEST ON 23 MILE ROAD

The main east-west roads near Bethel are Hall Road - M59 / Hall Road
3 miles to the south, 23 Mile Road just 1/4 mile south and 26 Mile
Road 3 miles to the north.   

While Hall Road - M59 is the major east-west travel corridor, going 2-7
miles west on 23 Mile Road you will find many stores, restaurants and
retail businesses.

West along 23 Mile at Card Road and at Romeo Plank Road and then
beyond toward Utica, particularly at Hayes Road and Scheonherr
Road you will find shopping plazas, filling stations, grocery stores,
banks, restaurants, entertainment and specialty stores.

Going south on Romeo Plank Road for 3 miles, you will come to
Partridge Creek mall.

Going south on Scheonherr or Hayes Road for 3 miles, you will come
to Lakeside mall.  

Shopping, services and restaurants line the route from 23 Mile south
toward Lakeside Center.
New to Michigan?   Unfamiliar with the area?    See our explanatory notes below...
L I V E - L O V E - L E A R N
Note:  This page refreshes automatically every 15 minutes.
Today is: