Here at UniteBoston, we love to see churches collaborating together, and we are excited to have Melissa Lowther as our guest blogger this week. Melissa is the Ministry Associate for Discipleship at North Shore Community Baptist Church in Beverly, MA, as well as the coordinator for the North Shore Gospel Partnership – read below to learn about the incredible gospel movement that God is birthing on the North Shore!

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About four years ago, five pastors serving on the North Shore of Boston in churches of different denominations gathered together in recognition that the lostness in our area is greater than what we could ever reach on our own. God’s heart is that the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:4). Currently, less than 3% of the people in Essex County have a living, authentic relationship with Jesus. We knew that if we kept doing things the way we were doing them, we would not see that number significantly increase. If we continued focusing simply on building our individual churches, we could all triple in size and still not even be close to seeing the landscape of our area transformed by Christ.

The North Shore Gospel Partnership

We knew we needed to be working together if we wanted to see a movement of God on the North Shore that would result in thousands of people meeting Jesus, growing as disciples, serving in gospel-centered churches, and living on mission every day. As the North Shore Gospel Partnership formed and began talking about what we can do better together than separately, three specific areas surfaced: mobilizing prayer, developing leaders, and starting & strengthening churches.

Mobilizing Prayer

No revival or awakening in history has ever taken place without kingdom-centered, corporate, bold, prevailing prayer. About two years ago, we began Scattered Prayer, where we reserved locations on a specific night in public spaces (libraries, town halls, etc.) across the North Shore and encouraged our church members to attend the prayer gathering closest to them. As we prayed in our towns for our towns, Christians who attend different churches but live in close proximity to one another came together to seek God for his Spirit to move in our neighborhoods. As the season of Scattered Prayer has come to an end, we are now working toward establishing 24/7 prayer for the North Shore.

We have also partnered together in praying for the foster care system in our region. As we’ve been praying weekly over the last year, God has raised up more Christian families who are opening their homes to foster children or stepping up to support other families who are fostering. The Department of Children and Families office near us has started noticing this shift and relying on local churches for support and care. Praise be to God!

Developing Leaders

Our instinct as leaders is to jump into action. However, the North Shore Gospel Partnership has found it essential to take time to clarify our process for action-taking.   We have been receiving coaching from Christ Together – a national organization that helps mobilize the greater body of Christ for mission in cities across North America – on establishing a common lens for how we approach saturating our area with the gospel. We held a two-part Gospel Saturation Conference early in 2019 that enabled us to cast this vision more broadly to church leaders across the North Shore. As we grow in defining our common vision, we are now able to consider other practical initiatives that will help us build up disciples and leaders in our area.

Starting & Strengthening Churches

Renewal in our region will only take place if we are multiplying disciples, developing leaders, and planting and revitalizing churches. Our hope in the coming years is to establish a residency program where potential church planters and revitalizers can be raised up from within our churches, receive targeted training and experience, and be sent out and supported by a partnership of churches seeking to see God’s Kingdom expand.

As more churches continue to partner in a desire to see the North Shore saturated by the gospel, pray with us that God would be increasing our burden for the lost and building up his church so that every person around us will have repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ. 

My take-away from the Bible Study discussions, and our life together that week in Taizé, is that Christianity — living the Gospel — is a life of living in relationship. Our time at Taizé was a precious few days of being consciously in the presence of God, and our goal was to take that confidence in God home with us.

-Susan Butterworth

This week, Susan Butterworth is our guest blogger. Susan Butterworth, is a writer, teacher, singer, and lay minister. She is a graduate of Episcopal Divinity School and leads Song & Stillness: Taizé @ MIT, a weekly ecumenical service of contemplative Taizé prayer at the interfaith chapel at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

On Tuesday and Wednesday, October 15 & 16th, Brothers Emile and John from the Taizé community will be visiting Boston. You are welcome to join for prayer and dinner with them on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Also, check out this video about the Find A Way Relay, which was a journey on foot and by bicycle, that ten people took from DC to St. Louis, where they participated in the Taize St. Louis Pilgrimage of Trust in May 2017.

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In July 2019, I made a pilgrimage to the Taizé Community in France. I’ve been home for two weeks, and my impressions of living and worshipping in community at Taizé are vivid and inspiring. Two thousand voices lifted in prayer together; two thousand souls breathing in silence together; four thousand hands cooperating to make communal living possible.

One of my strongest impressions is of the incredibly global nature of the Taizé Community. We came from all over the world to be together. The first person to speak to me, as we stood patiently in line to receive our room and work assignments, was a woman from Poland. The young man who explained the daily routine was from the Netherlands. My bunkmates were Swedish, Russian, Scottish, Belgian, and American.

There were English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Chinese language orientation and discussion groups. Every conversation allowed generous space for translation. Every chant, every intercession, every scripture reading, every opportunity to talk with the brothers, was offered in a dozen languages. 

The embodied message of Christian unity at Taizé was deep and wide. In our small Bible Study groups, we were mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, and those who have not yet found a church home. An international meeting of Franciscan Brothers joined in the life of the community. Catholic Mass was offered daily, in addition to morning, noon, and evening prayer with the Taizé brothers. After morning prayer,
blessed bread was offered in the Orthodox tradition, while the Taizé brothers distributed consecrated bread and wine to all who wished to receive. After evening prayer, conversation, confession, and the sacrament of reconciliation were available in multiple languages, from both Taizé and Franciscan brothers.

A bit of background for those who wonder what exactly is Taizé. Taizé is a village in the Burgundy region of France, not far from Geneva, Switzerland. It is the home of a monastic community started in 1940 by Brother Roger, a Swiss Protestant from the Reformed tradition. The mission of the community, from the very beginning, was reconciliation. The community is open to all Christians, and especially addresses Christian youth gathered in weekly meetings devoted to prayer and reflection. The community gives its name to a style of chant and contemplative prayer in meetings large
and small, all over the world.

In addition to the daily prayer, everyone at Taizé joined in daily Bible Study. The theme of the weekly meetings was Hospitality. After morning prayers and breakfast, everyone gathered into large cohorts to read the scripture passage of the day (in multiple languages of course), and listen to an introduction given by one of the brothers (with generous pauses for translation). In my group of “Adults,” aged 30 – over 60, Brother John led us
through a beautiful reading of the Andrei Rublev’s fifteenth-century Icon of the Trinity, within the context of the Genesis story of the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15). Each day he left us with a series of questions to ponder, and discuss with our small groups in the afternoon.

My group was English-speaking, but the people came from the U.S., Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, and China. Often the depth of the discussion was beyond the English ability of some of our people, and we’d pause while Johanna’s story spilled out in German, Stephanie translated into English, and Joseph translated from English to Chinese for Ting.

My take-away from the Bible Study discussions, and our life together that week in Taizé, is that Christianity — living the Gospel — is a life of living in relationship. Our time at Taizé was a precious few days of being consciously in the presence of God, and our goal was to take that confidence in God home with us.

I’m excited and inspired to continue offering weekly Taizé prayer at MIT in the new academic year. I especially want to extend the invitation to experience Taizé prayer, with its embodiment of Christian unity, to UniteBoston and the wider Christian community in Boston and Cambridge. We meet at the MIT chapel on Mass Ave in Cambridge, every Sunday evening during the academic year, for multi-lingual scripture reading, song, and contemplative silence. More information can be found on our Facebook page, Song & Stillness: Taizé at MIT.

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“I believe the Church needs to recognize that the solution to the achievement gap in Boston isn’t simply a bigger budget for BPS, or better teachers and administrators and policies. The solution is a stronger, more integrated village, which must include a Church that is seeking the welfare of the city…”

This week, Pastor Barry Kang is our guest blogger. Barry is the Lead Pastor of Symphony Church (which meets in two locations in Boston) and is on the directional team for Greater Things for Greater Boston, a network of churches committed to joining the greater things of Jesus in Boston.  He lives in Arlington with his wife, Sunny and two boys, Caleb and Micah. He shares about the value of churches getting involved with local schools, and the unique opportunity right now to share feedback with Dr. Brenda Cassellius, the new Superintendent of BPS.

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When I was in seminary many years ago, I heard a statistic that rocked my world. I learned that there was a high correlation between 3rd grade literacy and future incarceration.  This makes sense. Until the 3rd grade, children learn to read. From the 3rd grade on, children read in order to learn. If you can’t read at 3rd grade, the rest of life becomes that much more difficult.  Here’s the thing: no one learns to read by themselves. No one graduates from high school or goes to college by themselves. It takes a complex system of support systems and those who have more and better support systems generally are more successful in life. A popular African saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child,” recognizing that the pathway from childhood to maturity isn’t a path walked individually, but one that requires communal support – such as families, teachers, friends, and other social institutions, including of course, the Church. 

The city of Boston is of course much larger than a village and the complexity of raising a child ramps up almost exponentially.  It shouldn’t surprise us that educational outcomes in Boston also show much more variance than in smaller, more affluent communities. Children in Boston experience greater disparity in their support systems than do children in wealthier suburbs (some equal or greater, but many much lower).  I believe the Church needs to recognize that the solution to the achievement gap in Boston isn’t simply a bigger budget for BPS, or better teachers and administrators and policies. The solution is a stronger, more integrated village…which must include a Church that is seeking the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7); loves its neighbor as itself (Mark 12:31); is praying for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) and actively living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, going to the highways and byways to invite the marginalized into the fullness of the kingdom (Luke 14:15-24).

For the past four years, Symphony Church has had the privilege of being one of a number of church-school partnerships within BPS.

Most of the students in our partner school live outside of the school neighborhood. As such, it is difficult for their parents to be involved in the daily life of the school given the distance. Many of the students are from non-English speaking households and so aren’t able to receive the same level of literacy support at home. This is a school filled with a dedicated and competent staff, backed by a budget that is higher (on a per student basis) than for suburban schools and all the resources of the BPS system, but they can’t do it alone.  It takes a village. A school system can’t be the entire village. A family can’t be the entire village. Most churches can’t be the entire village…but we can and must be part of one.

On Tuesday, October 1st, pastors and church leaders will have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Brenda Cassellius, the new Superintendent of BPS. Given the complexity of BPS, she has a huge task ahead of her and she can’t do it alone. Dr. Cassellius and BPS will need more than our prayers.  Raising a child in Boston will take the whole village which includes the whole Church. I’ll be attending this gathering and I hope you will join me.

This week’s featured blogger is Kelly Fassett, UniteBoston’s Team Leader. There have been many stories of changed lives that have come out of the Celebration of Worship gathering last month – read the blog below to see the impact of united worship for the city of Boston.

UniteBoston has been building bridges across historic divides in the Christian Church for nine years, and for the last three summers, we have hosted a public worship gathering in the Boston Common. While many people in New England today have a negative view of Christianity, and Christians here often feel isolated and alone, we wanted to change that through coming together in a united celebration of worship that highlighted local Christian artists and organizations contributing to God’s work in our city. John 17 points out that our unity as Christians is meant to be a witness to the world about the reconciling power of Jesus Christ. This summer, we called our summer worship gathering “Engage Boston,” with the focus on ministering to people who might not normally come into a church building. Our goal was to invite everyone, regardless of background, to experience the vibrancy of the Christian faith in a new way. There were a local Christian hip-hop, Latina, and spoken word artists who performed in the first half of the evening, and a charismatic dance group leading the crowd in dance moves. Throughout the evening, an estimated 2,000 people stopped by to listen to the music, learn about the various organizations in the city, or receive prayer. David Wright, Executive Director of the Black Ministerial Alliance describes that a friend he invited, “was singing, waving her hands, and really experiencing the love of God.  She raved about it so much, another mutual friend insists I tell her when it happens next year.” 

There were also 33 different organizations who hosted ministry tables surrounding the perimeter of the gathering. Sean Bowen, the Executive Director of Barnabas Ministries, describes that they interacted with and prayed with dozens of people on the sidewalk at their sponsored table. One young woman had extreme pain in her back, and after prayer, the pain was gone. Sean describes that at the event, “It felt like heaven was open. The worship wasn’t just background music; it provided an atmosphere where God could really move.” There was also a prayer tent where people could learn more about the Christian faith or receive prayer, which was frequented by a stream of people throughout the evening. Jenna Higgins’ highlight moment was ministering to one gentleman who described a lot of things going on in his life. After they were done praying, the man confessed, “For the first time in forever, I have hope.” 

While UniteBoston hasn’t always coordinated large events, we are finding that organizing large gatherings such as our summer worship celebration is also a catalytic opportunity for cultivating inter-Christian relationships. It was amazing to see 80+ volunteers from dozens of local churches join their hands and hearts to contribute to this initiative. The 13 members of the UB worship band came from incredibly diverse backgrounds, displaying the reality of our boundary-breaking God who transcends the culture’s pervasive divisions of race, language, nationality and generation. Guitarist Richard Mussachio describes, “The Celebration of Worship symbolizes the Kingdom of God, as opposed to a homogenous group of people, like so many other worship events. This event incorporates different ages, different cultures, different colors, and that’s really important, in this time especially, because that’s what the Kingdom of God looks like.” 

Last, Lori Dupre coordinated a team of artists to form an “artist’s row” near the stage on the grass. She describes what a blessing it was to paint alongside other artists whom she just met, including one man from Columbia. While he did not speak English, nor she Spanish, she describes that “We had a special time communicating through our art instead. I could never have dreamed up how our amazing God orchestrated this blessing. Now we are FaceBook friends!” 

These are just a few of many stories that I could share about lives that were impacted by this event. Throughout the years of UniteBoston’s ministry, we have seen that God really shows up when we come together from all of our different backgrounds to worship Jesus. While many people have different strategies for greater spiritual vitality and gospel movement in Boston, maybe all that it takes is to come together, as one, and worship! Clearly, Jesus thought so. Together, we can show how human barriers and enmity between people are transformed through Christ’s reconciling work.

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Kelly Fassett is the Executive Director of UniteBoston. She has a graduate certificate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and recently graduated with her Masters of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology. She planning to be ordained in the American Baptist Churches this fall. She lives with her husband in Dorchester and is expecting her first child this November. 

Here are some things you can do to continue the momentum towards Christian unity after the 2019 Celebration of Worship:

1. Build relationships with other Christians 

While large events are great, the power of Christian unity comes from relationships. It is relationships across our varied church traditions and backgrounds which empower inter-church collaboration. Thus, one of the greatest things you can do is to set up a time to meet with someone from a different background than you – perhaps ethnically, denominationally, or socioeconomically. To do this, you can visit a worship service from another church in your neighborhood, asking, “What can this form of Christian worship teach me about God?” It’s often as we step outside our comfort zone that our false understandings are revealed and we discover the manifold wisdom of God present within the church (Eph 3:10).

2. Join a UniteBoston Neighborhood Dinner

UniteBoston has a team of nine dinner coordinators that are coordinating regular gatherings for prayer and fellowship within neighborhood communities.  The goal for the dinners is to build relationships and to let our relationships inform our shared mission of revealing Jesus’ love within our communities. We gather to hear our personal stories of faith in Christ and to answer two questions: “What is God already doing in our community?” and “What can we together to better demonstrate the love of Christ?”

You can sign up for a dinner in your neighborhood by clicking here. Our neighborhood dinner coordinators are also happy to sit down with you and grab a cup of coffee to learn how we can be supporting you and what God is doing in your midst. Please contact us – We’d love to hear from you!

3. Share about UniteBoston on Facebook or Instagram

This year, we increased our marketing strategy and have discovered the power of social media. We encourage you to take one of our photos and share it on Facebook (@uniteboston10) or Instagram (Uniteboston) – or simply email your friends and encourage them to get involved with UB/sign up for our weekly newsletter!

4. Submit an event from your church/ministry to UniteBoston’s weekly newsletter

UniteBoston has a large infrastructure for promotion and advertising. Our website is viewed by 2,000+ people monthly and our weekly newsletter goes out to over 3,000 Christians in the Greater Boston area, so it’s a great way to get the word out about your event and increase visibility. Many people attest that posting on UB helped them to connect with new people and increased their event size!

There are two options for posting:
-Free: Posted on the UniteBoston.com website OR

-$30/week: Featured on our weekly e-newsletter  

Click on the link here to submit your event to UniteBoston!

5. Join our team!

The current UniteBoston team is a tight-knit group of people that is committed to one another and to joining God in His work in this city. If you believe in Christian unity and want to be a part of a community that is working to make the unity we share in Christ visible, please prayerfully consider joining our team!

Right now, we have volunteer opportunities available in finance, administration, journalism, and neighborhood dinner coordination.

Thanks to each of you for being part of the UB community – it is a joy to serve alongside each of you, as together we seek greater gospel movement in our city!