UniteBoston

Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City

A Theology of Friendship

Many people are still feeling the after-shock of the Covid-19 pandemic that forced them into isolation. One of the significant challenges has been the restrictions on physical interaction. While remote gatherings can provide levels of human interaction, many have found that virtual gatherings are not sufficient enough to fill the relational void caused by isolation. It requires an uncanny type of resilience and creative methods to cultivate authentic friendships and develop new relationships. 

In this week’s blog, we are excited to highlight a resilient and creative group of young people from Young Life Boston who have been intentional about developing genuine friendships even through the pandemic. According to Emma Dickinson, the writer of this blog, “this restricted season has limited our ability to host and lead traditional Young Life programs, and for the greater Church, our ability to gather in typical fashion. But it has by no means slowed our collective ability to tell the people of Boston about Jesus through the bonds of friendship.”

Emma is the Area Director of Young Life in Downtown Boston. She moved to Boston with her husband, Billy, to begin this role in September of 2020 after completing three years of Young Life staff in Buffalo, NY. As the world emerges with more and more openness beyond the pandemic, Emma shares about the need to consider the quality of our relationships as Christians.

As you read her blog, we hope you will be inspired to be more resilient and strive to find creative ways to cultivate friendship as we emerge through a season of social disconnectedness.

Can I pull back the curtain and tell you what we are talking about in one of our Young Life high school small groups? 

How to be friends. 

I’m not talking about how to form the elusive high school clique. And I’m definitely not talking about how to grow your Instagram followers, a perceived community based on incomplete windows into each other’s lives.  

We are breaking down examples of friendship that we find in Scripture. We are talking about Ruth and Naomi, Mary and Elizabeth, Jesus with John, Peter, and James. We are asking each other hard questions about exclusion, rejection, and selfishness. We are seeing God’s good design for community, how His way is for us to live at peace with one another, by any means possible. (Romans 12:18). 

We are earnestly praying for every high school student in our city – that they would know of the love Jesus has for them.  And we are humbly praying for ourselves – that we could be a bright light amongst the darkness in our schools. 

We don’t believe that the gospel goes out into our communities of young people because of great programs. It’s because of the Holy Spirit. It’s because of the relationships we are building with students. And it’s absolutely because of the relationships we are empowering them to have with others. One leader received a text from a student that read:

“hey. i just wanted to say thank you for inviting me to young life tonight. it’s exactly what i needed.”

This student, we will call her Julie, reached out to one of our Young Life leaders at the beginning of January with an “enough is enough” attitude. She was done doing high school on her own, done with trying to follow Jesus in her own strength. Julie did not ask for more programs and she did not ask for more resources. She asked for friendship. She asked for someone to walk alongside her as she walked toward Jesus again, after a season of waywardness. 

A consequence of the pandemic has surely been further isolation for our young people. Do you want to know what I’m seeing in a culture that prioritizes self-protection and survival over gospel friendships? I am watching young people and the generations that precede them dive deeper into chosen isolation than ever before. While there are many people in Boston in isolated situations by circumstance, there are potentially many more who are simply but profoundly numb from the trauma of the last year. 

This restricted season has limited our ability to host and lead traditional Young Life programs, and for the greater Church, our ability to gather in typical fashion. But it has by no means slowed our collective ability to tell the people of Boston about Jesus through the bonds of friendship. 

We can be encouraged and motivated by what Paul writes in Philippians 1:12, that his difficult circumstances served him in advancing the gospel. Our pandemic chains are no match for the love of God, displayed through the body of Christ, by laying down our lives for our friends (John 15:13).  

Boston, what would it require of us to continue to press in, brush off discouragement and pursue meaningful friendships? What if the revitalization of our gatherings as vaccines roll out and restrictions decrease only matter if we are fully engaged with one another in a Romans 12 kind of way? 

It can be truly messy. It is most always awkward. It will cost you. You will definitely be inconvenienced. But if friendship is God’s design, and we are God’s people, and this is the city He’s asked us to serve – how else would we spend our days? Who else would we want to be? 

I am praying, Boston brothers and sisters, that we’d be known for the way we pursue one another and the “other”. I am praying we’d be a witness to the friendship God has offered us. I am praying the words of Jesus, that we would be one (John 17:22). 

CULTIVATING [ spaces ]

FOUR NIGHTS | COMPLETELY FREE | FOR PARENTS OF TEENS

Supporting parents navigating the unchartered waters of raising teenagers in 2021 and beyond. Webinar begins at 7 PM each evening. 

CULTIVATING SPACE FOR… 

  • May 17 – INQUIRY: Think about the future of education
  • May 18 – HOPE: Help your kids face the future with confidence
  • May 19 – HEALING: Consider recovery & resilience after trauma
  • May 20 – CULTURE: Navigate a changing & divided world

To sign up or for more information, click here.

Accountability as a Step Towards Justice

Today, we’re featuring a reflective piece by UniteBoston’s Team Leader, Rev. Kelly Fassett. Here, Kelly shares a reflection on the jury results this week of the murder of George Floyd, from her perspective as a White person and a mother.

Artists Cadex Herrera, Greta McClain, and Xena Goldman pay tribute to George Floyd through this large mural. Photograph by Xena Goldman

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about justice lately and what it means for justice to be served. I recently found a moving poem and painting created by people of color and I wanted to highlight them here.

While a jury in Minneapolis found Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts, this is not the end but a beginning. Attorney General Keith Ellison described that “I would not call today’s verdict justice, however, because justice implies restoration. But it is accountability, which is the first step toward justice.”

Derek Chauvin being held accountable for the murder of George Floyd is just a small drop in the bucket; the racism that people of color face on a day-to-day basis continue to endure, and the struggles remain. It seems like every morning, I wake up and there is another story on the news about a black or brown brother or sister getting shot, or another story about violence towards Asian-Americans. I lament this reality and long for God’s kingdom of holistic peace and justice to come forth in our world: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream…” (Amos 5:24).

Here is a poem by Chicago-based poet Leslé Honoré that describes raising her Black son in our world today. This hit me deeply as a new mother, recognizing the injustice of how differently my daughter’s experience in life will be, purely based on the color of her skin.

“Backpacks” by Leslé Honoré
 
When black boys are born
We mothers kiss their faces
Twirl our fingers in their curls
Put them in carriers on our chest
Show them to the world
Our tiny black princes
 
And when they start school
As early as 3
We mothers
Place huge back packs on their backs
And we slowly fill them with bricks
Etched with tools
Tattooed with truths
Hoping to save them
 
Don’t talk back
Don’t get angry
Say yes ma’am
Say no sir
Don’t fight
Even if they hit you first
Especially if they are white
Do your best
Better than best
Be still
Worker hardest
BRICK
 
they get a little older
And we add more
 
Keep your hands out of your pockets
Don’t look them in the eye
Don’t challenge
Don’t put your manhood before your life
Just get home safe
Don’t walk alone
Don’t walk with too many boys
Don’t walk towards police
Don’t walk away from police
Don’t buy candy or ice tea
Don’t put your hood up
I’ll drive you
I’ll pick you up
You can’t be free
Don’t go wandering
Come home to me
BRICK
 
They get a little older
And we add more
 
Understand you are a threat
Standing still
Breathing
Your degrees are not a shield
Your job is not a shield
Your salary makes you a target
Your car makes you a target
Your nice house in a nice neighborhood
Makes you a target
Don’t put your ego before your safety
Don’t talk back
Don’t look them in the eye
Get home to your wife
Your son
BRICK
 
They weigh them down.
This knowing
Of having to carry the load
Of their blackness
 
the world hasn’t changed
The straps just dig deeper into their skin
Their backs ache
But their souls don’t break
Our beautiful black men
 
When you say to me
#AllLivesMatter
I simply ask
Will your son die
At a traffic stop
Will your son die
For a 20 dollar Bill
Will your son die with the a knee
on his neck
Mine have
TIME Magazine’s June 15, 2020 issue features a painting by artist Titus Kaphar titled “Analogous Colors”

Worship Singer Jen Aldana’s EP: “Trust in You”

“The biggest thing that has kept me afloat this season is learning to receive God’s love. It’s hard to trust anyone when you don’t truly believe they love you. When I struggle with that trust, I do my best to sit and receive God’s love, to remember He’s a good father that loves me.“

This week, we are excited to share about Jen Aldana’s full EP (Extended Play) release! Jen was one of our featured artists in the Love Boston concert last fall and she has been working hard to put together an amazing array of music collectively called “Trust in You”, which is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music. Jen took time for an exclusive interview with UniteBoston resident journalist Peter Seremetis; read below to hear the impactful story behind the EP’s creation, and some hopeful words from Jen!

Peter: Tell me about your first EP. It sounds really exciting!

Jen: Yeah absolutely! The whole EP is called “Trust In You.” It’s about trusting in God every step of the way. I’ve had to trust that the path I’m on is the track that God has for me, trust that His promises are good and that they will be fulfilled, trust that even in the midst of a pandemic and struggles and fears, He’s got me and He loves me, and He’s guiding me. It’s like a big part of this whole journey for me. 

Peter: Have you been working on this full EP for a while? Or is this a recent project? 

Jen: This has been a long time coming. 

Peter: Admittedly I’m not as familiar with the music business, so I’m curious what exactly is an EP, and how did you put it together?

Jen: So EP stands for “Extended Play”, and is a collection of songs that’s a little shorter than an album (e.g. albums usually have 7+ songs, and this EP has 5). Usually with music, you first have to write the song and come up with demos. Then you produce the song by bringing in other musicians and record it. Then you get help to mix and master the song, and once this is finished, it is ready for release. So I had this project mastered, done and ready to release (for distribution, shipment, etc.) since December 2018. 

Peter: Wow! So it’s been ready for two years. What had been holding you back from releasing it? 

Jen: The last two years, I was almost waiting for the right moment and I just felt there was never the right time. It was really just fear that was holding me back. I was fearful that it wouldn’t do well, or that people wouldn’t resonate with it, etc. So what I ended up doing was releasing it song by song–like “Heaven Rejoices”, “Trust in You”, and “Your Peace” performed in UniteBoston’s Love Boston Concert last year. 

So come 2020, I’m like “this is the year! I’m gonna release it! No matter what!” And then the relationship I was in at the time ends the week right before quarantine, and now we’re in this pandemic and everything is completely shut down! So all of my motivation and all of my inspiration is just kind of gone and shattered, and I’m like “how am I supposed to go through with this project in a pandemic? What is even going on in the world?” I had so many plans, I was going to do a tour, I was going to do an EP release show, I was going to do this and that, and suddenly I couldn’t do those things anymore. So, I was sad and heartbroken about it, and again, I didn’t release it.

Peter: It sounds like you’ve been through a lot with this EP, and a lot of those feelings definitely resonate. So what motivated you to release it now?

Jen: Come 2021 I was like “Man, I have to do this. I have to move on!” I have other projects and music that I want to work on and release, and by holding onto this project, I just felt like it was keeping me from that. So I said to myself “I have to do this.” But at the same time, I wanted to be obedient to God because I have felt led through the Lord to work on faith-based music to begin with. This wasn’t the direction I was going in before artistically, so this EP is an act of obedience and a leap of faith for me. 

Peter: Since your EP is called “Trust in You” and since all of us wrestle with trusting God sometimes, I’m curious what encourages you to press through in those moments when you have a hard time trusting God? Especially during this challenging season you’ve been going through?

Jen: The biggest thing that has kept me afloat this season is learning to receive God’s love. It’s hard to trust anyone when you don’t truly believe they love you. When I struggle with that trust, I do my best to sit and receive God’s love, to remember He’s a good father that loves me. He’s not a God waiting with crossed arms for me to make the “right decision,” He’s a God waiting for me to run into His arms, and that brings me more peace than anything.

Peter: Such a powerful and important perspective. So what can people expect to see in this EP now that it’s released? 

Jen: People will hear familiar songs I’ve written and released already like “Trust In You” and “Heaven Rejoices,” but also some new songs like “Come Away With Me / Come Away” and “How Good You Are.” The “Come Away With Me / Come Away” song I’m especially excited for people to see because it’s a cover medley between the pop song “Come away with me” by Nora Jones, and a worship song called “Come Away” by Jesus Culture. Even though the two songs are different genres, the medley between them in the Trust In You EP is almost like this love song of God just loving His children and His people. For example one of the Nora Jones verses is “Come away with me on a Bus. Come away with me, I’ll never stop loving you;” and in the Jesus Culture song it says, “Come away with me. It’s not too late for you. I have a plan for you.” So the statement I wanted to make in putting the two songs in a medley together was that God really is in everything, we’re just not always looking for Him. We can find God in a bus. We can find God both in secular pop music and in worship music. We can find God all throughout His creation. So people listening can see that we honor God so much more when we can identify him in the mundane, not just when we’re sitting in the pews of the church or listening to a sermon. 

Peter: Why should people listen to the EP, and how can they support you in this EP release?

Jen: I really just want folks to feel God’s love & peace as they listen, and the EP can be listened to in all kinds of situations. It’s great for background music while praying, a workout playlist, a commute playlist (or while you’re doing work at home!), and really great for any time you want to get in the presence of God. I’ve even had a pregnant mother reach out once that she’s adding it to their birthing playlist, I’ve seen videos of folks listening while working out, and many stories of folks feeling encouraged by the honest lyrics. I’m also just excited for people hearing the EP’s music as a project, a journey and a story being told all the way up until the last note. Heaven Rejoices are the first words of the EP, and I want people to really feel that tug on their heart and come closer to the Lord. In terms of support, any listen, re-share, Spotify follow, and email subscription is super helpful! 

Peter: Do you have any encouraging words for Christians in Greater Boston at this time? 

Jen: I do! My word of encouragement is something powerful my pastor shared: The key to this season isn’t always doing something new, it’s consistency. In a time where it’s so easy to get discouraged in our faith, our ambitions, and relationships, it’s taking one consistent step in front of the other that will help keep us afloat. You’re doing better than you think.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

All of us Together

The beautiful diversity within the human family. Image Credit: Vaticano.com

“Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation. If only we might rediscover once for all that we need one another. God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those,’ but only ‘us.'”

This week’s blog is written by Father Tom Ryan, director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations in downtown Boston. Father Tom shares about a recent encyclical that Pope Francis released entitled “Fratelli Tutti” which means “Brothers and Sisters, All.” Father Tom expands on the core of this timely message by describing how organizations in the Boston area are living out God’s call to be connected with and care for our neighbors. 

Fratelli Tutti (Brothers and Sisters, All) is the encyclical that Argentine Pope Francis released on October 4th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, after signing it in the previous day in the Italian town where the Franciscan saint lived most of his life.

An encyclical is the highest ranking document of authority that a pope can write on his own. Fratelli Tutti builds on his previous encyclical in 2015, Laudato Si’, which focused on the environment and on the care of creation, and which taught us that everything is connected. It indicates an inherent relationship that extends not only to human beings, but also to the earth.

Fratelli Tutti teaches us that everyone is connected. Its focus is biblical.  Pope Francis asks us to look at ourselves and ask: Who is my neighbor? 

We need to acknowledge that we are inclined to ignore others. The Pope is challenging us to overcome the individualism in our culture and to serve our neighbors in love, seeing Jesus Christ in every person, and seeking a society of justice and mercy, compassion and mutual concern.

In analyzing conditions in the world today, the Holy Father provides us with a powerful and urgent vision for the moral renewal of political and economic institutions from the local level to the global level, calling us to build a common future that truly serves the good of the human person and of “all of us together.” 

We already have some undertakings and networks in the Boston area that show us what this looks like in the concrete and practical. Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM) is the greater Boston area’s oldest interfaith social justice network. It was founded in 1966 by faith communities to address poverty, housing, and racial justice in Boston and to link urban and suburban congregations in just, transformative partnerships.

CMM has tackled the most pressing issues facing our communities, working to build Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of a Beloved Community for all citizens. CMM’s members and partners include nearly 100 congregations, nonprofit agencies, and educational institutions in Boston and 16 surrounding cities and towns. CMM’s approach to social action and cross cultural/interfaith partnerships affirms the necessity of collaboration, as well as the dignity and value of all persons in our common quest for justice and peace.

Yet another example of what “all of us together” looks like is St. Francis House in the heart of downtown Boston on Boylston St, which offers basic care and services that make the difference between hope and despair, and for some the difference between life and death.

Many guests come to St. Francis House initially because they need a hot, nourishing meal. They serve breakfast and lunch 365 days a year. Meals are free, no questions asked. St. Francis House is also the largest distributor of clothing to the poor and homeless in Boston, and provides nearly 10,000 showers a year to its guests, along with toiletries, including shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

The St Francis House offers holistic care, including meals, clothing, showers, medical care, workforce development and recovery support.

And in its Atrium and Resource Center, a safe, comfortable alternative to spending the day on the street is provided. Here, guests can escape the elements, enjoy the company of friends, and watch the local news or a movie. The Resource Center also features a library, telephones, and computers with Internet access, vital tools for keeping in touch with loved ones and job-hunting.

On yet another front, the Park Street Church and UniteBoston have joined together in a Love Thy Neighbor Grocery Delivery program in which Christians throughout the Greater Boston area can assist families with basic food needs. This program is focused on families and households who have someone that tested positive for COVID-19, by providing them with groceries. Their goal is 100 per week, and as of January, 126 volunteers from 31 churches have been able to provide 14,438 meals to families! In fact, 14% of families requesting groceries through the State of Massachusetts have been served by this program! And just down the street at the Paulist Center, there is a weekly Wednesday eve supper offered for the homeless and the hungry. You would be welcome to participate in one of these ministries.

Patrick described that delivering groceries to care for this family was a gift from God. You can read more stories from the grocery delivery program here.

In another project, UniteBoston recognized the need to address the sin of racism and the pervasive inequities that persist in our city and nation. Justice is not peripheral, but intrinsic to the gospel, and Christians should be leading the way in the movement towards racial justice today. In it’s Be the Bridge for Boston program, UniteBoston is actively working against racism and towards reconciliation, equity, and justice in our day-to-day lives.

In short, says Pope Francis, the Church “in the power of the risen Lord, wants to give birth to a new world, where all of us are brothers and sisters, where there is room for all those whom our societies discard, where justice and peace are resplendent.” The encyclical overturns the perspective of “we and they.” The perspective is “all of us together,” and the Church has a public role in working for universal fraternity and sorority.

Pope Francis sets out his vision for a post-COVID world. The pandemic offers us a unique opportunity for conversion. If anything, we have seen how interdependent we are on every level, political, social and economic. We have no choice but to truly live as brothers and sisters, with humanity as well as with our ravaged planet Earth.

From the outset the encyclical makes clear how Francis of Assisi extended fraternity not only to human beings – and in particular to the abandoned, the sick, the discarded, the least, going beyond the distances of origin, nationality, color or religion – but also to the sun, the sea and the wind. The perspective is therefore global, universal.

The perspective is “all of us together.” Solidarity is the core, and he seeks to universalize it. “Once this health crisis passes,” Pope Francis writes, “our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation. If only we might rediscover once for all that we need one another. God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those,’ but only ‘us.’ “

The Encyclical lends itself well to study groups reading it, praying with it, reflecting on it, and discussing it together. Click here to read it.


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