Spirit of Hope Needs Statment

God is a good God. We give thanks for the presence of a Spirit of Hope within and emerging from our congregation. We thank God for the hard work, the inspiration and the faith that makes redevelopment possible. God has blessed us through the gifts of mission partners, including congregations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church. We pray to be the Church present in one of the poorest neighborhoods in our state, and yet also the ELCA congregation closest to downtown and southwest Detroit. We pray for a continued ecumenical spirit and we learn what it means to be a multi-denominational church in a post-modern world. We pray for a spirit of faithfulness in a neighborhood of contrasts and compliments, and that the evangelical spirit of God may continue to bless us with growth of faith, mission, ministry, and membership. We invite your prayers too as we represent the church in this community. It is very supportive to know that we and the mission God has called us to are lifted up in many congregations across our synod.

God continues to bless us with the presence of many and various saints, and we invite you to be one of them. Experts in early childhood or educational fundraising are invited to learn about the advisory board of Sunshine Community Preschool, serving Detroit families with quality family services and education. Build gardens with us as we turn four city lots into an urban farm, eradicate contaminated soil, and feed our community with the harvest. Serve food with us, or just come and eat, as we open our doors for 200 hungry people every Saturday. Mentor with us, as we continue to seek African American men to help guide our Pray and Play Basketball youth. Share your poetry, spoken word or music with us on the second Sunday of the month (5-8 pm) during Spirit Spit, our community open mic for artists and neighbors looking to explore the spiritual and sacred. Your presence not only makes more ministry possible but changes you too as you engage in it here with us.

We also invite your generosity. Garden tools and gloves, preschool books and toys, 20-30 gently used folding chairs, a small portable mic system and a few basketballs all go toward the programs that uplift the people of God in downtown and southwest Detroit. Financial partners of Sunshine Community Preschool support not only a quality educational program, but a church agency that seeks to provide just employment, with competitive salaries and full medical benefits for childcare workers. Whether your presents are money or items such as listed above your partnership enables us to do so much more than we are capable of alone.

Finally, we thank you for being you, being the body of Christ where you are planted. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to do the same. We look forward to building new realtionships with more congregations across our Synod as we engage in God's call together. And may God continue to grant you a Spirit of Hope!