Second Saturdays are events that happen the second Saturday of every month where Christians from across Boston get to network, meet other Christians, get plugged in, and meet that special someone potentially, at a brewery, restaurant, or fun new place in the Boston area! The group has grown tremendously in the past 6 months to 500+ and each event has had close to 50 or more attendees. Come one, come all and make new friends and acquaintances and see what Jesus is up to through community in Boston!
2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Photos and Testimonies
This year, we sought to make the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity truly reflective of the denominational and ethnic diversity within Boston’s Christian community.
By God’s grace, this happened! The anchor event on Saturday, January 21st had 22 co-sponsoring churches and institutions, drew together over 800 people, and has been called the largest and broadest gathering for Christian unity in Boston ever.
The concluding line in the gospel reading for that day was “We have seen incredible things today.” Indeed, God did great things in our hearts as we lifted up Jesus together, both on Saturday and throughout the week of nightly prayer gatherings. But, don’t take my word for it! Check out the photos and testimonies below to celebrate what God has done!
Photos
Wed Jan 21: Video of singing “Amazing Grace” together at River of Life Church
Co-Presiders from diverse Christian traditions at the January 21st Prayer Service. From left to right: Pastor Barry Kang from Symphony Church, Rev. Dana Baker from Grace Chapel, Rev. David Wright from the Black Ministerial Alliance, Metropolitan Methodios from the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Boston, and Bishop Arthur Kennedy from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Boston Pilot: “Hundreds join in prayer at Boston’s Christian Unity service”
Testimonies:
“I would like to express my gratitude to all who contributed a piece to the rich mosaic-experience we all enjoyed on January 21st. It is one of the stand-out Week of Prayer for Christian Unity events in my 35 years of ministry devoted to the cause. All who gathered around tables for both food and faith-sharing, who in church joined their hearts and voices in prayer, young and old, black, white and brown, robed in various styles—all, together, represented a microcosm of the human family and gave us a glimpse of God’s dream for us: reconciled to God and to one another. Jesus must have had a joyful smile on his face!”
-Fr. Tom Ryan, Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
“What a great privilege and delight to worship the One True God together in the unique forms of each branch of the Christian Church. It was incredible to experience our agreement in who God is and who we are. I’m especially thankful for the Cardinal, his leaders, and the leadership of the Orthodox church, for their humility and at the depth of their willingness to come together.”
-Ellen Bass, Black Ministerial Alliance
“Saturday’s event was honestly the most powerful event I have ever attended. It was incredible to have in one room members of the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and the Orthodox Church gathered together to worship and praise our Lord, our Father. During the prayer service I was incredibly moved by the word “OUR”. And when at the end, we all said the Lord’s Prayer in ONE voice I was awestruck by the most powerful recitation of the prayer I’ve ever heard. This is the way it ought to be. We are weak divided, but together we stand strong in Jesus Christ.”
-Daisy Hanna, Coptic Orthodox Church
“What an amazing witness this was of the variety and Christ-centered unity found in the Body of Christ!”
-Edouard Pichette, OneUnited
“This was the most impressive ecumenical event I have ever been to. The Holy Spirit was clearly at work in this event.”
– Father David Michael, Pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…” On Saturday, all of us present at Holy Name witnessed a portion of God’s will done in the City of Boston. An undertaking such as this requires an immense amount of hard work and effort that can only be achieved with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you all who made this happen, and may God’s Grace continue to bless all involved, and our city, til Kingdom come.
-Steven Hardy, UniteBoston Rep and member of St. Paul’s Parish, Harvard Square
“On January 21st, the Body of Christ in Boston got a glimpse of itself for the first time in its entirety.”
– Dr. Vito Nicastro, Associate Director of the Archdiocese of Boston’s Office of Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs
– Dr. Vito Nicastro, Associate Director of the Archdiocese of Boston’s Office of Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs
“When my mother walked into the church she was amazed. It was at the moment of the entrance procession when all the various Christian groups came one after another to be together and worship that she began to cry. She said, ‘This is what Christ wants.’ It was very moving.”
-Natalia Pellicano, Office for Ethnic Apostolates, RCAB
“God wants this Church to be one… and to see that expressed so beautifully here, that’s really fun. It’s different tastes and different flavors, and you start to realize folks love Jesus in ways that you don’t appreciate until you see them and get to connect with them. You see that people are really different, and yet their hearts are coming from a love of the Lord that’s really neat to see.”
– Jeff Bass, Executive Director, Emmanuel Gospel Center
“It was incredible, wonderful to see so many different Christians together and the music… I was crying. The Holy Spirit was there.”
– Lorna DesRoses, Director of Black Catholic Ministries
“I’ve always felt the importance of Ecumenism. I’m a very strong Greek Orthodox Christian, but I went to Catholic schools and I’ve had very strong friendships, relationships with Catholic Christians, and they’ve just given me so much support in my faith. I just love the coming together of people of different Christian denominations, and I feel so excited about progress in Ecumenism. I feel like we’re getting closer.”
– Maria Makredes
It was a very moving experience. It was so inspiring also to see the church so completely filled… Holy Name Church was such a beautiful venue for the gathering. We are so grateful to [those] who worked so hard with so many different groups to bring this very important celebration together. It was astounding.
— Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston
“What brings us all here really is Christ, and that’s what the point of Christian unity is. If Christ says we should all be one, we should see that, and frankly the world doesn’t feel like that today. I’ve grown more in my faith, and I feel like as a young person I especially have the obligation and responsibility of witnessing to my vocation as the member of the body of Christ.”
– James Kelley, St. Joseph Parish, Roman Catholic, Needham
– James Kelley, St. Joseph Parish, Roman Catholic, Needham
“I loved the prayer service- beautiful diversity and beautiful unity – that was the greatest part for me, was worshiping together with my fellow Christians. It was very moving. To hear the Greek Orthodox chant, and the Pentecostal choir, and the Cardinal’s homily. Thank you for doing this!” — Craig Dyke, Director, Family Life Office, RCAB
“We can be too preoccupied with the “doing”- what are we going to do together, the Martha part- and we forget the “being,” who and what we are called to be together, the Mary part. We forget that for God, the goal is not something we have to do. He came to form a people for His own. Jesus prayed that we be one as He and the Father are one– that is the witness, that is part of how the world comes to believe. That witness – especially these days, that witness is important for the world. That’s what we increased on January 21st.”
-Deacon John Koza, Holy Name Parish
But wait! There’s more…
Click here to view the entire photo album on Facebook, and add your own pics too!
Share your story!
How was your faith in Christ impacted by worshipping at churches throughout the city? We’d love to hear from you – Click on this link to fill out a short survey!
Christ is Risen!
Our blogger this week is Steven Hardy, who is a UniteBoston Rep in the Cambridge/Harvard Square area. Steven attends St. Paul’s Parish and is a self-described “arm chair theologian and historian.” Below, Steven presents some great insights on the unity of the church after attending his first Orthodox liturgy service.
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For the first time this year, I decided to attend the Pascha (Easter) celebrations at an Orthodox church. A group of us from UniteBoston had participated in the Good Friday service of Lamentations the previous evening, and I felt as though it would be incomplete to lament the crucifixion and burial of Christ with this community, and not celebrate his joyful resurrection with them. Being a Western Christian, I had already undergone the Lenten fast and the Feast of the Resurrection, but one can never mark this great mystery enough, right?
Going into the service, I fully expected the many differences in the Eastern liturgy to stand out. I was eager to experience these differences and ready to make note of them. Basically, I suspected that I would be more of an observer than a participant. However, what drew my attention was the many things I saw that were in common with my own liturgical background. Many of the prayers, verses and responses, and even the placement in the liturgy were the same or very similar to my own background. Some of them were in the very same translations that I’ve known my whole life. As is often the case, my expectations were utterly off base when it comes to the work of God, through the Holy Spirit.
Another thing that I was very conscious of, being at an Antiochian Orthodox Church, was the current strife taking place in Syria. I noticed that, though many were not of Syrian decent, those who are, were at least one generation removed from their immigrant forerunners. The blood of Christian martyrs is being spilled there far too frequently. These Christians martyrs are not just Orthodox, but a mix of denominations. They are being persecuted and murdered due to their shared faith in Christ, causing the blood of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant martyrs to be mingled together in union. As Pope Francis told Catholicos Karekin II of Etchmiadzin, the Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, “Just as in the ancient church the blood of the martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so in our day the blood of many Christians has become the seed of unity.” The Pope was referring to both the Arminian Genocide that took place under the Ottoman Empire 101 years ago, as well as the current state of affairs.
We often use the term brother and sister when referring to Christians of other denominations. I suspect, however, that we often mean something more akin to cousin, or friend. As I witnessed the many things in common with the Orthodox in Cambridge, as I was made to feel welcome at their festive post- liturgy celebrations, and as I thought on the witness of the martyrs, I can’t help but to feel a much closer bond to these people who are indeed my brothers and sisters in Christ.
One day I hope that we can finally remove the things that stand in the way of full union with one another. We have a rich diversity in Christian faith traditions right here in the Greater Boston Area. We share in one Baptism into the living body of Christ on Earth. We all proclaim Christ crucified and risen. I would very much like to celebrate this shared faith together, in full communion so that we can reply with one voice, “truly He is Risen!”
UniteBoston Reps Share Their Insights
Last Spring, six UniteBoston Reps engaged in various activities to listen and learn from their communities. Each rep wrote a brief blog to share their findings with the Greater Boston Christian community – we encourage you to check them out here:
Crossroads of Peace – Report from Andrew Walker, UB Rep: Back Bay
Transformation at UMass Boston – Report from Amanda Green, UB Rep: UMass Boston
Unity in Diversity: Shalom in the Fenway – Report from Betsy Slate, UB Rep: Fenway
Boston’s South End and UniteBoston – Report from Ralph Kee, UB Rep: South End
Harvard Square: There’s No Place Like Home – Report from Kelly Steinhaus, UB Rep: Harvard Square
We dream of having every community in Boston connected with a UB Rep! UB Rep Cohorts begin in October and finish in May. If you’re interested in being a UB Rep in your community, email Kelly Steinhaus, kelly@uniteboston.com
Harvard Square: There’s No Place Like Home
For the past five months, the UniteBoston Reps have been engaging in various activities to listen and learn from their communities. These next four weeks, each rep will be writing a brief blog to share their findings with the Greater Boston Christian community.
We dream of having every community in Boston connected with a UB Rep! UB Rep Cohorts begin in October and extend to May. If you’re interested in being a UB Rep in your community, email Kelly Steinhaus, kelly@uniteboston.com
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Harvard Square: There’s No Place Like Home
by Kelly Steinhaus 
Cambridge has been my home community for almost six years now, and I’m coming to understand that in many ways, the Cambridge community is like a brick. 29% of Cambridge is enrolled in college (1), whose campuses are characterized by red brick buildings. In Cambridge, a person’s tends to be defined by the letters after their name, and, like a brick I’ve found many people in Cambridge to have a hard outer shell. Yet, I’ve also found that, once people trust you, people in Cambridge will open up and become some of the most loyal friends you could ever hope to have.
For many, a brick is also symbolic of “home,” which many people in Cambridge do not have. On one night in 2013, it was determined that 537 persons in Cambridge were homeless (2). Anyone who walks around Harvard Square will notice friends young and old who are living on the street. In fact, Tom Magliozzi said that “Harvard Square is the bum capital of the world.” (3)
Over the past few months as a UB Rep, I’ve become stirred by this issue and am seeking the answer to one question – What would it look like for the churches to come together to serve people who are experiencing homelessness? 
As I began researching, I realized that what we don’t need is another soup kitchen. Lunch is served every day in three locations in Cambridge, with 12 dinner meals throughout the week – and this is only the beginning of the abundance of resources available. So what should be done?
I interviewed three people with this question, and found one common thread: What people experiencing homelessness need most is a friend. Tim & Alice Colegrove serve as friends and advocates of homeless youth in Harvard Square, emphasized that “We need a shift in our attitude from charity to mutuality. The church doesn’t need to provide services, they need to build relationships.” Similarly, Alex Grant from Hope Fellowship Church said that while we can’t eliminate homelessness, we can have a change of heart where we look at those we pass during the week and desire to help them.
I also had the opportunity to interview Stephanie Akert, Cambridge’s Director of the Multi-Service Center for the Homeless. From her perspective, one of the biggest needs is to help people transition to permanent housing. We brainstormed ideas as to how churches could alleviate the loneliness that plagues many formerly homeless people who become housed. Churches could be matched with individuals and families who become housed to provide welcome baskets and walk alongside them as friends in their new community. However, the logistics of this effort would be quite difficult due to restrictions in confidentiality and the dispersal of home placements far from Cambridge.
A few friends and I did an interesting experiment a few months ago – we stood in the middle of Harvard Square with signs that read, “Free Hugs.” While many were skeptical and walked by, a few brave souls came to give us a hug. They left grinning and laughing, bringing smiles to others passing by. This momentary embrace of perfect strangers celebrated our common desire for community. (Click on the image below to watch) 
The UB Reps program has helped me to see Cambridge holistically. I’m coming to understand that more than a physical home, people need a spiritual place they can call home; a community where they are loved and appreciated for who they are, not just what they do. My church (Journey Church) is officially launching to the city in September with a campaign called “Helping Others Find Their Way Home.”
You see, a brick is only significant because of what it is a part of – a larger wall, placed in alignment with many other bricks. Truly, in Cambridge, there’s no place like home.