UniteBoston

Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City

JOIN UNITEBOSTON IN A DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING

Join us for a transformative experience rooted in the rich biblical practice of fasting. UniteBoston invites you to participate in a 24-hour period of fasting and prayer, dedicated to fostering spiritual growth and unity. Inspired by passages from the Bible, fasting involves a purposeful abstention from food and indulgences, allowing us to shift our focus towards connecting with God on a profound level. Together, we will embark on this journey of devotion, seeking guidance, expressing humility, and building stronger bonds of community. Let’s draw inspiration from moments like Jesus’ 40-day fast and the Israelites’ collective fasting during times of national significance. By setting aside physical nourishment, we aim to nurture our spirits and deepen our faith, while also praying for the mission, impart and collaborative opportunities of UniteBoston.

Join hands with us as we come together in a day of spiritual connection, reflection, and solidarity.

Ways to FAST with us:

You can fast one meal a day, one whole day of meals, or a particular food/drink. (sweets, coffee, soda, carbs, alcohol, etc.). Some may choose to do water/juice only for a day. Be sure to consult your doctor before you do. 

Turn off all social media and news. Can you make it a full day? The idea is as little time online as you can. Get creative! Plan to go to the park, play board games, read books, build something, bake something, have dance parties, invite friends and family over and pray. 

This fast means no movies/TV (NetflixTM, YouTubeTM, etc.) or shopping. Again, set yourself up for success. Don’t just create an empty space, fill that space with something good, productive, helpful, or meaningful! Fill it with prayer.

Ways to PRAY with us:

  • Pray for wisdom for our team as we seek clarity on what is at the heart of our mission and decide on strategic priorities for our program year.
  • Pray for mobilization of the body of Christ and for a renewed sense of God’s presence at our upcoming worship concert on September 30.
  • Pray for the members of our Christian unity cohort as we seek to understand what is at the heart of our divisions and how we can live out Christian unity as a way of life.
  • Pray for Calvin Lee, our new Communications Administrator as he jumps into this new role.
  • Pray for our collaboration with The Send as we support this event in serving the city of Boston in a way that would leave the greatest positive impact.
  • Prayer for the many churches coming together for the time for a citywide Alpha campaign that would off a safe place for hundreds of people to explore the Christian faith.
  • Pray for this year’s Boston Flourish Conference and the initiatives who hope to support so that there might be flourishing for all in Boston.
  • Pray for the thousands of next generation Christians who will be attending, that they would be activated on God’s mission fields locally and globally.
  • Pray that the state’s foster care system would come on board to ease the process of people committing to foster care and adoption.
  • Pray for a tangible sense of God’s presence and that people would walk away transformed.

Locked In Solidarity

On February 11, Highrock Beyond Bars will host a (free) conference entitled Locked in Solidarity. It’s a gathering on behalf of those affected by incarceration to encourage practitioners, engage with stories of change, and be equipped in the pursuit of justice, redemption and restoration.

This conference will feature Dave Mayo (Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens), TJ Weaver (Chaplain at MCI-Shirley), Dave Renna (Chaplain at MCI-Concord), Shari Johnson (MCI Framingham), Jua Robinson (Executive Director of the Boston Collaborative), former inmates, leaders from the Highrock community, and others engaged in this important work. 

Hebrews 13:3 “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them…” All are welcome.  Register Here.

The Best Stories

Today, we are featuring Dan Elliott as our guest blogger. Dan serves as the Promotions Manager for K-LOVE Boston and describes that his goal and his mission are simple: to help his audiences take one step closer to Christ. Dan holds a Master’s Degree in Ministry and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Ministry with a focus on Advanced Expository preaching. Read below to hear Dan’s testimony of how he has seen God change lives and how KLOVE can partner with you to celebrate God’s great work in our region.

I love stories.

Stories that have a great beginning, middle, and end. I love stories that are as captivating as they are encouraging, ones that can take our attention forever and make the hours fly by. Where a great hero defeats evil and saves the people. And, when asked, I’m sure many of us can tell these kinds of great stories in our own lives. Stories of both pain and fulfilled promise, stories of devastating lows and incredible highs, and stories that are amazing examples of how good God is.

Great storytellers know how to engage people with what they’re doing and how to take the audience with them into the story. My story is an example of just that. I’ve grown up in church, have seen God do great things in the lives of people and have gotten to watch many stories changed for the better by Jesus. As a former Pastor, I have gotten to connect with people from all walks of life and see how the presence of God in their lives has made all the difference. As a traveling speaker, I’ve seen many people and their stories from a variety of places and have gotten to have a front row seat to the story that God is writing through His church here in New England. This story is one of unity and community, where God glorifies Himself through the collaboration that we can all have in working out His plan. 

Worship band at the 2019 UniteBoston Concert

I have also known significant pain, that has resulted in two books being written by my family. We have seen abuse, injury, and autism, as well as good times, hard times, and everything in between. I have seen God meet us in the middle of that pain and show how skilled of a storyteller He is. In fact, there is not a greater storyteller than Jesus, and the stroke of His pen changes the world. 

As we look at scripture, we can see God working both in our lives individually and in the lives of all of us together. Isaiah 43: 19-21 says this:

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

We can see God writing the story of His people and His work that culminated in both His resurrection and the creation of His church. Isaiah was writing this about future generations to come and to set the stage for one of God’s greatest stories, The Church. And the best part is, He isn’t done writing stories through His church, His eternal partner in His work for a renewed world. His love for the world is shown by His love for the church, because through the church the world will see Him. 

At K-LOVE, we see the value of the local church, and we exist to push it forward. We want to partner with churches in telling the stories of how God is moving in their midst to do great things for His glory. God is doing so many amazing things throughout New England, and we know that the church at large here could truly benefit from hearing some of these things and seeing themselves encouraged. God is moving here, and we love sharing the stories of it. One of our favorite stories is of the time God used our radio station to prevent someone from taking their own life. While on their way to a bridge, they were moving through the radio dial, and they providentially came across our station. Through the message of the songs that they heard they realized that there was hope available, even when life seemed hopeless through a relationship with Jesus. Once they came to this conclusion, they got involved in a local church and the rest is history: this person began a relationship with Christ and never looked back.

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

Personally, I love hearing these stories of how God is changing lives through His church and doing great things. If you would like us to be a part of your church’s story, we’d love to talk about how we can help. We have a variety of platforms that we could feature your church or organization on including our text club, Instagram page, and our website events page. We don’t ask for anything financially, rather we see it as an opportunity to partner alongside your church to tell others about the story that God is telling through you. We love stories and can’t wait to tell others about God’s work in the middle of yours. 

For more information about how we can help please shoot us an email at boston@klove.com or reach out to us on Instagram @kloveboston. 

Bible Studies in the Suffolk County Jail

Pre-pandemic, a team of us sponsored by the Boston Dream Center co-led “Soul Care” Bible Studies at the Suffolk County Jail, 200 Nashua Street for about 5 years.  Over 700 men participated. Although there is still a COVID masking restriction, there is a new possibility for volunteers to serve at the jail following background check and orientation.  We have been invited to relaunch Bible studies as soon as we can get a team together and get ourselves organized.  I invite you to a ZOOM information meeting June 9 – 7-8PM to explore this possibility with you.  (If you are unable to join the ZOOM meeting, but are still interested please contact me).
Craig Parker
Boston City Director – The Navigators
craig.parker@navigators.org

Boston Microchurch Conference

The Boston Microchurch Stream & Summit is an in-person gathering organized around a high-quality livestream of the Microchurch Conference plenary sessions supplemented with rich opportunities to debrief, learn, and build relationships at an in-person event.

This event is perfect for Boston-based missional practitioners, leaders of traditional churches who are exploring microchurch, and anyone eager to learn about this smaller way of doing church.

Co-Hosts: This event is organized by three networks working to cultivate decentralized church movement in Boston. THE TABLE, Antioch Roxbury, and Public Church.

COVID Protocol: Please do not attend if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Masks required unless you are actively eating/drinking or speaking from the front. All participants are required to have a negative COVID test (at home or PCR) within 48 hours of the event. Rapids tests are available on-site for participants who are unable to otherwise secure a negative result at a cost of $10/test.

Location: The event will be held in the at Awaken City Church | 184 Hyde Park Ave. in Jamaica Plain. The location is conveniently located steps away from the MBTA Orange Line Forrest Hills stop. Some street parking is also available on adjacent streets


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