Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City
Free Summer Block Party
hosted by First Church in Charlestown
Date: Thursday, July 19th
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Come join us for our FREE summer block party!!
We will have a FREE raffle raffling off a family 4 pack of Red Sox tickets (must be present to win), pictures with WALLY, a bounce house, petting zoo, music, food and much more!!
For more details:
Email: office@fccharlestown.com
Church website: www.fccharlestown.com
Facebook Event Page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1961121807254031/
This week’s blog is written by Tony Lee, who attends Aletheia church and has been involved with UniteBoston’s worship team and neighborhood dinners. As a young professional in Boston, he is interested in finding Christian movements in the city and connecting people together. Read below to hear about how Tony understands gathering as an opportunity to gain, give, and grow.
I was a UB dinner coordinator this past year and had the pleasure of hosting a few dinners at my home in Revere. I got to coordinate strangers meeting other strangers for fellowship, and make them some good food. (Note: You can read Father Tom Ryan’s experience of attending a UB neighborhood dinner at Tony’s house here.) From these nights of gathering, I’ve picked up on a few themes that can illuminate the value of gathering, and the unifying potential it has.
To gather is to gain.
Gathering comes with perks. I’ll start with the food. I especially enjoy potluck gatherings (pro-tip: hosting a potluck usually correlates with extra treats later). In college, I was on a student leadership team and remember planning events to always involve food because that was the best incentive to get students to attend. Not surprisingly, this works the same for people after college. We like food and we like to go to things where food is present.
Whenever food and fellowship combine, good things happen. People are happy, and the social atmosphere is pleasant. I sincerely believe there is more potential for exciting conversations over hors d’oeuvres than over the phone. So by gathering, we also gain relationships. Every time I invited someone into my home, I was receiving their friendship by spending time with them. These dinners are now memories for us, and a point of empathy. In summary, I got a friend, a memory, and some empathy points from gathering. That’s pretty good.
To gather is to give.
I have the role model of my mother as a great giver. She was the homemaker in my family, and the most faithful, diligent, caring person in our house. Her hospitality was more like sacrifice. So whenever we came together for supper, the spirit of giving was evident. Now I’m doing the best I can to give like her.
Hosting a dinner for a large group is a commitment. I’d get worried about food, seating, or social comforts for the guests sometimes. But out of my anxiety, was an opportunity to give. Guests also may need to prepare their sides, or travel far distances. In the process of gathering, there are opportunities for us to give, or to give up. I’m sure we’ve all been the people who show up to a potluck empty-handed, or choose not to go to somewhere because of the commute. But like anything else, we can practice giving and grow in our sacrificial lifestyle. Even interpersonally, I try to focus on encouraging or motivating others in their own esteem than dig for what they can offer me. It just so happens that we meet others who also like to give, which is how we gain. The world teaches me to take, but my mom taught me to give. I believe this is what God desires to teach us as well.
To gather is to grow.
At the dinners, we were able to gain and give to one another. We practiced this with people we knew and strangers. Of course, it can be challenging to suddenly come to a point in a conversation with someone who has drastically different ideologies than me. One time, I caught myself becoming very defensive, and had to recalibrate my objective in the moment to prioritize unity. I got some growth points from that. It’s actually much easier to live without fixating on our differences, and rather seeking out our common denominators. To do this, I have to receive someone as a friend (gain), and be considerate to them (give). Because in the end, it’s not what divides us that matter.
As Rose from Star Wars 8 says, “we’re going to win this war not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.” This is critical. We as children of God are created in His image and have a deep connectedness that unifies us. Jesus was the model for the ideal unifier. He ate with outcasts on the margins and shared the gospel to those who needed it most. We have the same opportunities in our city. We can find a rhythm of gaining and giving, by staying open to friendships and paying it forward. There is much growth that develops from this rhythm.
I believe this is the direction our hearts and minds must go. It’s the direction of growth and wisdom. Gathering together is simply the vessel that allows us to get there, through practice and experience. But also, food can be a part of the journey.
Learn more about UB neighborhood dinners here, and sign up so that we can contact you when one is happening in your neighborhood!
One of the greatest ways to learn about the manifold expressions of Christianity in Boston is to worship with different denominations and traditions. Shelton and her husband visited six different worship services during Holy Week this year, many of which were promoted through the UniteBoston website. Shelton is a former student at Fuller Theological Seminary and currently works as program director for Boston’s Interfaith Youth Initiative. She describes that these experiences of mourning the death of Christ and celebrating our shared hope witnessed to evidence of God’s New Creation that is springing up all over Boston!
Holy Week 2018 will forever remain an especially important ritual and experience of worship for my husband and me. Just three weeks before, we lost our first child after giving birth preterm. Our daughter Hosanna, meaning, “A shout for joy! A cry for help!”, being embraced by God’s grace and love, rose from this earth. We, her parents, were witnesses of death by sight and of resurrection by faith.
Isn’t this the story of Holy Week? We all cry for help, desperate for salvation to come deliver us. And in Jesus, we shout for joy knowing salvation has come once and for all. It is the now personalized nature of Jesus’ story of death and resurrection that led us to six very different Holy Week services. We craved a taste of what Revelations 7 and 21 describe as the New Creation, a people from every tribe, tongue and nation worshipping God on the throne. We wanted to share a glimpse of our Hosanna’s glorious new life.
Eager to soak up the diverse songs of praise and lament, scripture interpretation, prayer and rituals that so beautifully make up Christ’s Church, we made our plans to drink deeply from the Black Ministerial Alliance’s Seven Last Words service, a house church Good Friday gathering, Stations of the Cross at the JP Pond, an Anglican Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday at our small, multiethnic neighborhood church.
The good news I have to share is the evidence of this New Creation all over Boston! We witnessed components of God’s Beloved Community boldly, creatively and distinctly mourning death and celebrating our shared hope and future with Jesus each in their specific ways. As unity between us comes to fruition, the more we’ll experience the true joy of our salvation and shout “Hosanna! Hosanna! Salvation has truly come!”
Perhaps this Holy Week glimpse into our full unity in heaven has become for us a healing salve from God and from Hosanna. As I expressed before, never had the darkness and suffering of Good Friday, the confusion and grief of Holy Saturday and the resurrection of Easter Sunday mattered more to me. But what preceded and inaugurated these three profound days in my life was my annual favorite liturgical service: Maundy Thursday. Weighted down with an anger I could not name, masking a sorrow I could not bear, I hurriedly made my way through frustrating traffic to the Old South Church’s jazz service, which is held weekly at 6pm. Tight chested and complaining about work-related stress, I loudly tip-toed into the candlelit chapel, silent, yet full somehow, and found that I had time traveled in my spirit to the night Jesus ate with his disciples.
This being only my second time as a visitor to the Old South Church, I did not enter expectantly. And I have found that if I’m able to loosen my grip on expectations as a visitor to another Christian community, I am profoundly reminded how God always shows up where two or three are gathered in His name.
What stood out to me this particular visit was how all five of my senses were exercised and enlivened during the course of this time of worship. The music of the stunning jazz musicians and chorus convicted me to reflect more honestly with God than I had allowed myself to since Hosanna’s passing. The smell of incense and candle smoke attuned my soul to the unseen presence of God filling the room, filling me. The touch and taste of the bread and wine drew me in to physically receive the extravagant grace Jesus offers when it felt my hardened heart might resist forever. The altering of my sight by increasing darkness – each candle blown out as different brothers and sisters read the story of this holy night long ago – demonstrated that my eyes would adjust over time to seeing in the darkness. The feel, sight, taste, smell and sound of my streaming tears freely dripping onto my journal is what I’ll remember most.
Hope and welcome. Weeping and lament. Light and darkness. Shame and forgiveness. Healing and unity. Beauty in pain and chaos. Freedom to be held as I am, where I am. Jesus, arms wide-open.
These are among the words I scribbled in my journal during the time in the Old South Chapel. This precious conversation with God came out of this new and different shared sacred space.
My husband and I continue to walk, sometimes crawl, the long road of healing toward Jesus’ wide-open arms. You might find yourself in a similar place but for different reasons. If so, I invite you to take your imagination with you next time you visit another Christian community in this city to catch a glimpse of the New Creation we so long for, the New Creation Jesus died for, the New Creation where my beautiful daughter now resides, now and forevermore.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2018 Dinner Dialogues
Christians all over the world are taking time this week to pray for Christian unity during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We want to encourage you to pray for Christian unity this week in your congregation, small group, or family, so we’ve posted our dinner and prayer template below for you to use.
The theme, chosen by the Caribbean churches, is from Exodus 15:6 – “Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power,” from the song of Moses and Miriam after they had seen the miraculous power of God parting the Red Sea and destroying Pharaoh’s army. This guaranteed that God’s people were now free from bondage and able to take up their call to worship God and live as God’s people in the land God has promised to their ancestors. The hymn is Israel’s song of praise to God for God’s victorious work and triumph over oppression.
Here is one suggestion of how to facilitate the dinner:
Exodus 15:1-6, 12-13
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.
You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.”
Sample Discussion Questions
What were the Israelites feeling in this moment?
Which part of this passage stands out to you?
What does this story teach us about who God is and how God works?
Our theme this year calls us to acknowledge the God whom we know intimately in our lives and in our covenanted relationship with Him has acted, is acting and will act for us. Where have you seen God’s victorious work in your own life? Share a story that comes to mind.
Where do you see God at work in your church or neighborhood? Where is there evidence of the healing, redeeming power of God? Share a story that comes to mind.
In this passage, God acted on behalf for justice for God’s people. The Bible has continually been a source of inspiration for the Christian community to address conditions that currently undermine human dignity. Where do you see an opportunity for the Church to come together for the cause of justice?
“Your right hand” is an Old Testament metaphor for power, but also relationship, hospitality, and fellowship. We like to think that fellowship happens naturally but it takes effort to bond with people different than us. Where do you see the greatest division among the Christian community in Boston? What might be done to reconcile this division?
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2018: PRAYER
This time of prayer has been modified from the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity prayer template that is being used worldwide this week.
Person 1: The scripture for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is Exodus 15:6 – “Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power.” This passage is the song of Moses and Miriam after they had seen the miraculous power of God parting the Red Sea and destroying Pharaoh’s army. The hymn is Israel’s song of praise to God for God’s victorious work and triumph over oppression. With thanks for our liberation from slavery to sin, let us place our needs before the Lord, asking God to shatter the chains that enslave us and to join us instead with bonds of love and communion.
Person 2: God of the Exodus, you led your people through the waters of the Red Sea and redeemed them. Be with us now and free us from all forms of slavery and from everything that obscures human dignity.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
Person 3: God of abundance, in your goodness you provide for all our needs. Be with us now, help us to rise above selfishness and greed and give us the courage to be agents of justice in the world.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
Person 4: God of love, you created us in your image and have redeemed us in Christ. Be with us now, empower us to love our neighbor and to welcome the stranger.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
Person 5: God of peace, you remain faithful to your covenant with us even when we wander from you, and in Christ you have reconciled us to yourself. Be with us now and put a new spirit and a new heart within us that we may reject violence and instead be servants of your peace.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
Person 6: God of glory, you are all-powerful, yet in Jesus you chose to make your home in a human family, and in the waters of Baptism have adopted us as your children. Be with us now and help us to remain faithful to our family commitments and our communal responsibilities, and to strengthen the bonds of communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
Person 7: God, One in Three Persons, in Christ you have made us one with you and with one another. Be with us now and by the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit, free us from the self-centeredness, arrogance and fear that prevent us from striving towards the full visible unity of your Church.
All: Lay your hands on us, O Lord, that we may live.
OPEN PRAYER
Person 8: Family in Christ, what else can we pray for?
(Pray what is on your heart related to the theme, or other needs in your community)
Response: Lord, hear our prayer
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Person 9: Let us join our hands, bound not by chains but by the love of Christ that has been poured into our hearts, and pray to the Father in the words that Jesus taught us.
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.
COMMISSIONING
Person 10: Redeemed by the Right Hand of God, and united in the One Body of Christ, let us go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
All: The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, because the Lord has anointed us to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Amen! Alleluia!
SING
In the American culture, holidays provide a unique opportunity for reconciliation because it’s not often that we intentionally spend time with those we are close to and those we might not normally connect with. Alexei Laushkin from the Kingdom Mission Society writes that Thanksgiving is an incarnate moment of Psalm 23:5:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
He goes on to describe that, “Thanksgiving often brings the juxtaposition of peace and reconciliation in the midst of ongoing brokenness in the life of any family. Thanksgiving puts relationships into sharp focus in a culture that doesn’t do relational intimacy very well.”
Research from The Barna Institute shows that often, Americans choose to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. In fact, practicing Christians are 17% more likely to eat dinner with their neighbors than those with no faith.
Here is a snapshot of Barna’s research on how Americans interact with people in their neighborhood. Millennials are the most likely generation to say that their neighbors are like family (12%, compared to 3% and 5% among Boomers and Elders). In fact, 30% of Millennials include those who live nearby in their holidays or at their dinner tables.
This Holiday season, let’s be a Church that is known for loving and serving our neighbors. Here is a liturgical worship service that you can use in your congregation or small group to consider Jesus Christ’s call to love our neighbors. https://www.faithandleadership.com/preparing-love-and-serve…