I have had a gnawing feeling over the past few months. I'm not sure where it's coming from, but it digs at me a little bit here and then a little bit there. It's a feeling that folks at the Conference Office are expected to make bricks without straw. This is probably a familiar metaphor to those of you who know the Book of Exodus. In the fifth chapter, Moses tries to explain to a bewildered Pharaoh about his encounter with I AM WHO I AM. Moses outlines why Israel must depart from Egypt to worship God in the wilderness. Pharaoh assumes that if the people are asking for time to worship they must not be working hard enough. Therefore, he orders the taskmasters to no longer give the people straw for the making of bricks. They must scrounge and gather the straw for themselves. However, the same number of bricks will be required.

"Making bricks without straw" is a way of saying that there is so much that is required of us but we do not have the resources required to get the job done. I imagine in this day of shrinking resources that many of us in our churches feel that we are making bricks without straw as well. There is a lot that is expected of us, and yet, we just don't have the necessary tools, or funds, or facilities, or volunteers, or assistance, or endowment, or budget, or demographics, or staff, or.... to get the job done.

Donna Schaper is the pastor at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. I remembered reading something she wrote many years ago. In a former church she was often overwhelmed by the people seeking emergency assistance. Since she was not a social worker, she felt like she was making bricks without straw in her efforts to render the appropriate aid. She just didn't quite have all the tools or resources needed.

When I did a little research about what Donna is up to now, I was delighted to see that she is also a principal with the consulting firm, "Bricks without Straw."  The strategy of "Bricks without Straw" is to "aid congregations and nonprofits in fundraising, conflict management, and making a little go a long way." If you were to Google, "Donna Schaper Bricks without Straw" you would also find a chapter by that same title in the 1992 book, "Envisioning the New City: A Reader on Urban Ministry." Schaper examines six places that we get stuck in our mission and ministries in cities and elsewhere - primarily because we give into being overwhelmed by what is lacking rather than relying fully on God's grace and mercy. What she wrote twenty years ago is still very applicable today. There is hope. With God we can make a little go a long way. God can make a way out of no way!

So, when I'm fretting that the Conference has lost multiple staff positions over the past ten years, and that the office building has a lot of deferred maintenance, and that the parking lot is crumbling, and that support staff has not had a raise in four years, and that...., and that..... I am reminded that the people of Israel - even in their captivity - were able to scrounge for straw and find hope in that God who would lead them toward liberation. Making bricks without straw, then, can be an image of resignation and hopelessness, or it can be an encouragement to keep things in perspective. This may simply be a time of hardship that we experience on our journey of faithful following. There is hope. There is liberation. There is promise.

I would be interested to know of your efforts of "making bricks without straw" in your local setting. Please let me know how you are doing "making a little go a long way."

                                                                                              With you on the journey,

Campbell

We are now more then half way through our Michigan 2x2 campaign season, and the numbers are coming in strong.  Check out the Tally Boxes at the Michigan Conference website - www.michucc.org. One-third of our Conference churches are formally participating and most of those have been sending in weekly updates. The results are impressive. Even if your church did not sign up, you can still send in results of a mission partnership you have with a community organization at home or abroad. The Conference has sent out press releases about the initiative and articles have appeared in many local papers. You can send your results to: 2x2@michucc.org

"Walk in the Spirit"  

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the spirit" 

                                                           Galatians 5:25

June 8, 9, & 10, 2013

Kettunen Center ~ Tustin, Michigan

 2013 The Gathering - Flyer/Registration