UniteBoston

Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City

Seeking Music Director (part-time)

The Music Director is a part-time role, 10-15 hours per week. The vision of Christ the King Dorchester is
to be a gospel-driven church seeking the renewal and flourishing of all people in Dorchester and beyond.
As a church based in Boston’s largest and most diverse neighborhood, we are seeking to hire a Music
Director who will help lead our worship services in ways that reflect the beautiful diversity not only of our
congregation, but also the community our church is rooted in. Our Sunday worship services include
varied musical styles drawing from gospel, hymns, and contemporary worship. CTK Dorchester is a
member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

We are seeking:
– A gifted musician, who is called and able to lead musical worship in ways that reflect the diversity
of our congregation and community.
– A developer of persons, who can lead our current group of music ministry volunteers and
continue to develop and grow this team as you lead worship together.
– A contributing member of our church staff team, who will help shape Sunday worship services, as
well as the broader life and ministry of our local church.
– A committed member of our church, who is energized and engaged in the mission and vision of
CTK Dorchester.

Responsibilities:
– Oversee music for Sunday worship services and special events. Our weekly worship service is at
4pm each Sundays at First Parish Dorchester, however we are currently exploring options to
move to a morning service time.
– Lead and develop a volunteer worship team who help lead each Sunday
– Have creative oversight over all musical and lyrical arrangements
– Organize and lead rehearsals of the music team
– Manage the scheduling of rotations for music ministry volunteers
– Collaborate with the Lead Pastor in choosing songs
– Provide improvisational transition music during services
– Prepare slides for Sunday services
– Lead music for additional special events, such as Good Friday, Christmas Eve, etc.
– Order music and maintain music library and ensure compliance with CCLI copyright laws.
– Attend weekly staff meetings

Qualifications:
– Have experienced the grace of Jesus Christ in your own life and responded in faith
– Be willing to make CTK Dorchester your church home by becoming a communing member
– Gifted in musical ability vocally or instrumentally (piano or guitar preferred)
– Ability to lead a congregation in musical worship both solo or with a team.
– Three to five years experience in leading musical worship
– Residing in, or willingness to relocate to, the neighborhood of Dorchester or surrounding
communities is strongly preferred

Love Thy Neighbor Opportunities with Care Portal & Welcome NST

Exciting news! Boston-area churches have two powerful new ways to put “love your neighbor” into action: CarePortal and Neighborhood Support Teams.

By combining digital tools with personal connection, these initiatives empower our community to come alongside vulnerable children and families in tangible ways. Read the full details on our blog here.

Pastors, ministry leaders, and compassionate neighbors across Greater Boston – Join us for an upcoming Zoom Interest Call to hear how you can get involved with CarePortal and the Love Your Neighbor Project.

If you’re not able to make either of these times but would still like to be involved, please reach out! For questions regarding the Love Your Neighbor Project, contact Kasey Dillon at kdillon@welcomenst.org; for questions regarding CarePortal, contact Beatriz Acevedo at ​​Beatriz.Acevedo@careportal.org

Christians have always stood on the front lines, extending our hearts and hands in extravagant love to the most vulnerable—and our public witness matters now more than ever. Together, as we follow Jesus to unleash the power of community, may we rebuild infrastructures of care so that our whole community can flourish.

Loving Our Neighbors: Two New Opportunities for Boston-Area Churches

“When we see a civic promotion of fear, hate and violence as the trajectory of our politics, we need a civic faith of love, healing and hope to defeat it. Loving our neighbor, and learning to practice the politics of love, will be central to the future of democracy in America.” — Jim Wallis

This spring, UniteBoston is highlighting two new ways that Boston-area churches can put “love your neighbor” into action: CarePortal and Neighborhood Support Teams. By leveraging digital tools and relational solidarity, these initiatives unleash the power of community. Read more about these initiatives and discover how you can join in!

NEW: Showing Up Well: A Training for Volunteers on Genuine Engagement

UniteBoston hosted a training session entitled “Essential Practices for Showing Up Well,” led by the incredible Sarah Blumenshine from the Emmanuel Gospel Center. We explored how our interior mindsets—including unspoken expectations, cultural lenses, and the instinct to fix things—shape how we serve and accompany our neighbors in Greater Boston.

Every volunteer engagement is first and foremost a relationship. Sarah shared practical tools built around three essential practices for showing up well:

  • Practice 1: Slowing Down (The Accordion Method)
  • Practice 2: Being Attuned (Inner and Outer Alignment)
  • Practice 3: Acting Sustainably (Right-Sizing your contribution)

May these practices strengthen your hands and heart as we follow Jesus to love, serve, and accompany our neighbors at this critical time in our city and country. 

1. CarePortal: A Digital Bridge for Local Families

Massachusetts is filled with an abundance of incredible ministries, foster closets, and outreach teams. CarePortal provides the infrastructure to ensure that existing resources can reach the people who need them most, exactly when they need them, through the local church. It is a rapid-response infrastructure for families in crisis vetted by child-serving professionals that alerts local churches to tangible needs—like a bed for a child, or a working refrigerator. This builds a meaningful connection with someone who cares for them within their own communities.

Imagine a single mother in our region, forced to flee an unsafe situation with almost nothing. When a caseworker posted her need for beds and a way to cook a meal, within hours, a local church arrived not just with a bed and a microwave, but with a spirit of service. They stayed to help her set up the room and offered prayer. Through this digital bridge, the mother received more than just furniture; she received community support and tangible emotional care.

Another father described, “The investigator told me I had 48 hours to get a working refrigerator or my kids couldn’t stay with me. I had no money and no truck. Within four hours of the request going up, a family was in my kitchen installing a fridge. They saved my family that day.” 

See an overview of Care Portal from President and Founder Adrien Lewis:

How the CarePortal Model Works

CarePortal functions as a communication hub that alerts local churches to the needs of families in crisis, vetted by child-serving professionals like social workers, teachers, pastors, or caseworkers. It offers a tangible network of support through four simple steps:

  1. Uncovering Needs: A child-serving professional identifies a specific need of a vulnerable child or family. 
  2. Submitting Needs: The professional vets the request and enters it into the CarePortal platform.
  3. Sharing Needs: CarePortal sends a real-time geo-located alert to nearby churches and community members.
  4. Meeting Needs: The local church responds, providing the items or services, and explores how to build meaningful connections with families for the long term. 

Drunell from Harvest Time Church describes, “Through CarePortal, we are able to touch lives that we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to meet. We’re able to connect with families, and not only provide the need, but pray with them, speak with them, encourage them, and love on them.”  

This platform has already made a difference nationally – you can see their impact live here – to date, 176,000+ needs met and 467,000+ children served!

Beatriz Acevedo is the new Area Director for CarePortal, which recently launched in Cambridge, Burlington, Waltham, Arlington, Chelsea, Malden, Medford, Revere, Somerville, and Woburn. They have plans to expand to the Metro Boston area soon. With a background in public health and pastoral leadership, she has high hopes for CarePortal: “If just 50 churches commit to meeting 2 needs per month, we will serve 1,200 families every year.” This is God’s love in action!

2. The “Love Your Neighbor” Project: Support and Solidarity with Immigrant Neighbors

For five years, WelcomeNST has empowered Neighborhood Support Teams to transform neighborhoods into communities of welcome for newly arrived refugee families. In response to shifting resettlement policies and the current political climate, they are now developing a model to support immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking families that are already living in our communities.

In partnership with UniteBoston, WelcomeNST is forming Neighborhood Support Teams by matching local congregations with “sister churches” composed primarily of newcomers through the Love Thy Neighbor Project! Boston is the first area in the country where they are piloting this model! 

Imagine an immigrant family in Boston who has been part of our community, but is now living in constant fear of separation due to shifting immigration policies. A Neighborhood Support Team is there to walk with them in solidarity and accompaniment. 

  • Relational Support: Mutual friendships help families navigate systems and overcome isolation.
  • Practical Assistance: Teams listen to the family’s self-identified needs and goals, then come alongside the family with information and resources, such as job readiness, legal support, and language skills.
  • Proven Model: Every team receives a Preparedness Playbook, “Know Your Rights” training, and ongoing support from a WelcomeNST Specialist.
  • Grant funding: We’re pleased to share that the first NSTs will start off with a small amount of seed funding to support families.

The beauty of these partnerships lies in their mutuality; everyone has resources to give and places to receive. Recently, North Shore Community Baptist Church partnered with WelcomeNST to resettle a refugee family from Afghanistan. As they walked together, both the church and the family grew through a deep, transformative friendship.

Scott describes the experience: “We didn’t realize what was missing in our own lives until we met this family. Their hospitality and warmth drew us out of our frantic world and reminded us that life is about relationships. By simply being themselves, they showed us a better way to live.”  Scripture calls us to welcome one another as Christ welcomed us (Romans 15:7) and to love the “stranger” as ourselves (Leviticus 19:34). By reestablishing infrastructures of care, and extending our hands in mutual friendship, we follow God’s call to show belonging and welcoming to our immigrant neighbors so that our entire community can be strengthened. 

Join the Movement: Your Next Steps

We are calling pastors, ministry leaders, and compassionate neighbors in Greater Boston to join these two initiatives to live into Jesus’ commandment to “love your neighbor.”

Here is a recording from a Zoom interest call where Kasey Dillon and Beatriz Acevedo shared more about CarePortal and the Love Your Neighbor Project:

Care Portal

We are hoping to recruit 10 new response teams with congregations in the pilot phase.

You can enroll your church or team right away: Get Involved with Care Portal. For questions regarding CarePortal, contact Beatriz Acevedo at ​​Beatriz.Acevedo@careportal.org 

The “Love Your Neighbor” Project (NST)

Our immediate goal is to establish 5 matches between churches seeking support and sister churches by the end of March, with another 5 matches by the end of April.

If you are a church with interest in providing support please complete the Interest Form.  If you are a church seeking support, please complete the LYN Church Intake Form. Churches are all differently resourced and our hope is to nurture reciprocal relationships where all give and receive in different ways. For questions regarding the Love Your Neighbor Project, contact Kasey Dillon at kdillon@welcomenst.org.

churches are all differently resourced – strong in different ways – finances, others strong in relationships and care, churches indicate the types of support they are looking for – reciprocity & how everyone benefits when we extend our hearts and hands to give our resources time and talents to support one another – unleash the power of community

Together, we can unleash the power of community to ensure every neighbor has access to needed resources and friends who care. While much in our world today is pulling us apart, as Jim Wallis suggests, practicing the “politics of love” is an important action step we can all take to re-weave the ties that bind us together and our common life together. 

“Our work lives far above the realm of politics. It lives at the core of every faith – to love our neighbors. It’s the great commandment – and it applies everywhere in the world to everyone in the world. At the heart of it, this isn’t about a program, it is about standing together in kinship with those who are targeted, abused, persecuted and hated.  And it’s our chance to write the story that we will one day tell our grandkids when they are learning about this era in their history books in hopes that one day, they too will do the same.​” 

— Elizabeth Davis-Edwards, Executive Director of Welcome NST 

Collaboration in action! Snapshot into a call we had this week with Beatriz from CarePortal, Rev. Kelly from UniteBoston, and Kasey from Welcome NST

Two Open Positions with Boston Project Ministries

Join the work of loving our neighbors well

Boston Project Ministries is hiring for two positions on our Neighborhood Engagement Team. If you’re passionate about building trusted relationships, listening well, and helping neighbors turn priorities into shared action, we’d love to hear from you.

1) The Community Engagement Coordinator builds trusted relationships with residents, civic groups, and partners and helps turn community priorities into shared action. This role is highly relational and neighborhood-based—showing up consistently, listening well, organizing neighbors, and supporting resident-led solutions that strengthen quality of life. The Coordinator also serves as BPM’s staff for two initiatives: our Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Program and the Healthy Heart Dorchester economic mobility initiative.

You might be a great fit if you: love connecting with people, are comfortable meeting folks where they are, have organizational skills, and can help move ideas from conversation to action.

2) The Getting Connected & AI for Age-Strong Tech Coordinator helps Age-Strong neighbors (55+) build confidence using technology to stay connected, access resources, and engage more fully in community life. This role designs and delivers practical, easy-to-follow tech support across phones, tablets, and computers—meeting each neighbor at their comfort level and helping them take their next step.

You might be a great fit if you: enjoy patient, encouraging one-on-one support, can explain tech in simple language, and get excited about helping neighbors feel more connected and capable.

To apply: Send your resume and cover letter to jobs@tbpm.org
Location: Dorchester | Start: Early February 2026 | Hours: 30 hours per week (part-time) | $25 per hour

Learn More here

Faith in Action: Boston Churches Step Up to Feed Their Neighbors

When the nation faced the longest government shutdown in history, millions of families were left wondering how they would feed their children. Even as Congress reconvenes, the effects of halted federal food assistance programs—like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—continue to ripple across the country. Here in Greater Boston, the need remains acute.

According to a recent report by The Greater Boston Food Bank, nearly 45% of adults in Suffolk County experienced food insecurity between late 2022 and early 2023—one of the highest rates in Massachusetts. The City of Boston estimates that more than 100,000 residents lack reliable access to fresh, healthy food. Despite the city’s goal of ending food insecurity by 2030 through the Mayor’s Office of Food Justice, the immediate crisis is far from over.

Read below to see how churches and Christian organizations across Boston are coming together as the hands and feet of Jesus, responding to these needs to show God’s love and care for our neighbors.

Send Relief: Partnering with Churches to Meet Immediate Needs

As federal food programs stall, Send Relief, one of the nation’s largest faith-based compassion ministries, has expanded its hunger relief efforts through local ministry hubs. In Boston, UB Cohort member John Ames and his team are coordinating shipments of food and resources to families in need.

Send Relief Boston has mobilized four local church partners—Arborway Community Church (Jamaica Plain), Timothy Baptist Church (Roxbury), Redemption Hill (Medford) and Hope Fellowship (Cambridge)—to distribute groceries and provide meals to neighbors as early as this weekend.

“As these hubs operate, we anticipate that each location will serve approximately 150 families, providing meaningful and timely relief over the course of the month of November. We believe healthy compassion ministry flows through the local church,” said John Ames, North Regional Director Send Relief and the Boston Ministry Center Director of Send Relief Boston. “We have been so inspired by each of the pastors, staff, members, and volunteers who have mobilized quickly to respond to food insecurity in Greater Boston.” On left, see members of Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge launching the new food hub.

These Send Relief Hubs will continue their efforts as long as the need persists, reminding the city that hunger is not just a statistic—it’s a shared human story that the Church can help rewrite.

Dorchester Neighbors Respond: Community and Compassion

In Dorchester, local leaders are finding creative ways to ensure no one is left behind. The Dorchester SNAP Cuts Community Response group—organized by community organizers like Hannah Hafter from Episcopal City Mission —has become a lifeline for residents navigating sudden reductions in benefits.

Through mutual aid and collective care, they created a “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” group which connected families with groceries, gift cards, and delivery support, prioritizing those whose needs often fall through the cracks—seniors, people with disabilities, and those with dietary restrictions.

“A group of us from the neighborhood used Facebook, and existing neighborhood groups like “Nothing for Sale” and “DOT Parents,” to create a network where neighbors whose SNAP benefits were impacted could connect with neighbors offering to help with groceries through the crisis,” says Hannah Hafter. “It became a lot bigger than we ever imagined, with over 60 families that ended up being matched, and we had to close out the form unfortunately to make sure we could follow through for everyone. We felt like this offering was really important because there are a variety of barriers people can face related to food pantries, whether it’s transportation, or timing, or having dietary restrictions and allergies in the family that aren’t met by pantries, so we wanted this to support and supplement the rest of what already is out there.”

This grassroots model reminds us that food justice is not only about access but dignity—ensuring people can receive the foods that meet their cultural and religious needs.

Churches Offering Hope and Hospitality

Across the city, congregations are transforming their sanctuaries into spaces of hospitality and hope. First Baptist Church of Jamaica Plain, under the leadership of Rev. Ashlee Wiest-Laird, has long hosted regular community meals and food pantries for their neighbors.

Pastor Ashlee describes, “Our Centre Food Justice Program provides low cost food, free groceries and two hot meals a week to our neighbors in Boston. Every month over 75,000 pounds of food are made available to people in Jamaica Plain and throughout Boston. We believe that food is a God-given right for all people. By providing meals and food to our neighbors, we embody the love and justice of Jesus.  All God’s children deserve a full stomach.”

Churches, like this one, exemplify what it looks like to live out the gospel in public—feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and building tables big enough for everyone.

Faith Communities Working Together

UniteBoston celebrates how faith leaders and organizations are joining forces during this time of need. From large-scale operations like Send Relief to neighborhood-based efforts like the Dorchester SNAP Response, these collective acts of compassion are a testament to the power of collaboration and sharing the gospel in word and deed. But the work is not over.

“While SNAP has been restored in MA, lots of people are reporting reduced benefits, which seem to be permanent due to changes in the system coming down from the Trump Administration – it’s not just partial payments this month,” says Hannah Hafter. “One mother of 3 tells us that her SNAP was cut to $26 a month. This really highlights that food security among our neighbors is going to continue to be a big concern.”

In addition to these local efforts, churches across the state are collaborating through SNAP Sundays, an initiative of the Black Ministerial Association Tenpoint of Massachusetts, the Pastors Council of Greater Springfield, and the Black Ecumenical Council of Massachusetts. Together, these networks are gathering canned goods, funds, and essential resources to continue to support families affected by the SNAP cuts and fall-out of the government shutdown.

No matter what happens in Congress, the Church’s call remains clear: to love our neighbors as ourselves and to ensure that no one in our city goes hungry.

It can be hard to look beyond ourselves when money is tight and resources are dwindling. However, we celebrate how these congregations and organizations are choosing God’s kingdom economy of generosity and abundance, knowing that what affects one of us affects all of us: “But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor 12:25-26). Together, they remind us that the beloved community Jesus prayed for is built one shared meal, one open table, and one act of love at a time.

Local Food Resources

If you or someone you know is experiencing food insecurity, here are local resources you can share:

  • Food Resource Guide for the Greater Boston area that is updated frequently
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Pantry Finder
  • City of Boston SNAP Resources
  • Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline
    Call or text 800-645-8333 for information about local food programs.
  • Healthy Incentives Program (HIP)
    Continue to use your SNAP card to get fresh food from farmers markets, farm stands, and CSAs.
  • Boston Double Up Food Bucks
    Get 50% off fresh produce with SNAP at participating stores.
  • Dorchester SNAP Cuts Community Response
    Join or support neighbors by offering groceries, gift cards, or deliveries:
    Support form
  • Fresh truck – If people have $.01 on their SNAP, card they are eligible for $40- 80$ of fresh produce
  • Send Relief Boston Food Drive
    Donate non-perishables or give financially:
    Send Relief Boston Facebook
  • Support the Centre Food Justice Program with First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain – GoFundMe Link


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