Welcome to MOSES!

Our theme for this year is “3000 Voices for Change.” As we look around us there are all kinds of issues, obstacles, and challenges that face our city, region, and state. It's almost impossible to decide what our priorities should be in order to survive. Many of the political decisions that are being made today boil down to the people deciding what aspect of basic living is a priority: a roof over our heads, fresh food in our refrigerators, access to healthcare, access to living wage employment, access to quality education, safe places to live, or fair humane treatment? We shouldn‟t have to choose. Do corporations have to choose? Do politicians have to choose?

Everyone (corporations, residents, workers) has a stake in what happens in our city, region, and state. But whose voice is being heard? Whose voice is the loudest? Who is listening to the residents of Detroit and surrounding suburbs? Are we taking the time to listen to each other‟s concerns, passions and self-interests? How do we build a relationship around those findings? When we listen to each other, we will find that we have more in common than differences. Are we having conversations with our neighbors, fellow worshippers, and co-workers, fellow shoppers, in the class rooms and where we play? We organize, rally and protest on issues, but do we know the person standing next to us? Do we know their story? Knowing their stories and their issues can strengthen our alliances with one another.

MOSES' goal is to have each congregation rediscover the art of building intentional relationships, trust, and community through a culture of one-on-one conversations. MOSES will conduct congregation listening campaign training on March 26th. A team of people from each congregation will be trained to organize and conduct one-on-one conversations. The goals are: 1) to build a culture of intentional relationships in the congregations; 2) uncover individual member‟s self-interests, passions and talents; 3) hear their concerns about the community and their quality of life; and 4) organize the congregations to take action on what they heard.

The goal is to have the congregations motivated to impact or execute change in their congregation by reaching out into the community. If each congregation organizes an outreach into the community, exercising the same process of listening, congregations become the catalysts to move obstacles and address issues in the community. But we first have to do some intentional listening.

On March 26th, MOSES will train 300 people from congregations and institutions to have intentional conversations with 10 other people, build teams equipped for action, and become the catalysts for change. We will have 3000 intentional conversations, 3000 intentional relationships, 3000 voices demanding change in Metro Detroit. Will you join us on March 26th? RSVP TODAY

The more congregations that are active, the better our chances of building powerful alliances to impact systemic change and overcome the challenges in our communities. To do this we have to be in conversations with others. We can no longer keep our heads in the sand! We must join alliances and organize others to be engaged with the issues at hand, in our congregations, in our neighborhoods, in our region. Let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart!

Respectfully,

G. Ponsella Hardaway
Executive Director