Each month, Campus Ministry @ Grand Rapids gathers with our student leaders to learn and grow in various aspects of leadership. We have grown in our ability to study the Bible, follow the guidance of the Spirit, and pray with and for our community. This January, we focused on service and gathered at Bridge Street Ministries to facilitate our training. We use the Bridge Street Ministry building to worship at “The Well” on Sunday nights and are grateful for their hospitality and mission of empowering youth through holistic development. They have been a wonderful partner for our community and kindly offered an opportunity to serve with them in helping restore their ministry center.
The ministry building they own wasn’t always used for such beautiful purposes. It was once a space known for distributing drugs and porn, but after years of prayer walking around the block, Bridge Street Ministries was able to purchase the building and begin a multi-year project of restoration. Our student leaders came to study service late on Friday night, and instead of considering concepts and encouraging action, we began with a liturgy of Labor in Community from Every Moment Holy. It says, in part:
“We are gathered here because we believe
That we are called together into a work
We cannot yet know the fullness of.
Still, we trust the voice of
The One who has called us.
May our acts of service and creation,
Frail and wanting as they are,
Be met and multiplied by the mysterious
Workings of Your Spirit
Who weaves all things together
Toward a redemption more good and glorious
Than we yet have eyes to see,
Or courage to hope for.
May our love and our labors
Now echo your love and
Your labors, O Lord.
O Spirit of God,
Now shape our hearts.
O Spirit of God,
Now guide our hands.
O Spirit of God,
Now build Your kingdom among us. Amen.”
What a beautiful invitation to the people of God! So, in prayer and expectation of the unseen fruit of our labor, we climbed upstairs at the ministry center and worked together to demolish the unfinished space remaining in the building. By the end, we had knocked down walls, removed old beams, and pulled up flooring. Our students were covered in drywall and dust, but so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the wonderful kingdom work that Bridge Street Ministries is doing.
As we cleaned up our tools at the end of the night and grabbed cups of water, one of our leaders, Clay, called us all together to pray over the room that we had worked on and all the ministry that would someday take place in that space. What a holy moment it was, as a dozen college students covered in dirt and dust raised up a prayer of gratitude and blessing.
