Nurturing Relational Connections Across Boston's Christian Community
From a huge summer worship night to our neighborhood coordinator team tripling in size, UniteBoston has built and grown in big ways this year! Thanks for joining into our community and for all the ways you contribute to building bridges across Christians towards greater gospel movement in Boston!
Here are our top ten photos from this year
Americans tend to eat with a variety of people around the Thanksgiving table: neighbors, close friends, and family. Often, there are a variety of religious and political affiliations, and at times, these differences can lead to volatile conversation.
Barna research points out that today, religious views and political views on topics such as patriotism and immigration are especially dicey. They also found that there are generational differences in the aspects of our identity that tie to our sense of self.
The challenge in these settings is to learn how to have constructive conversations with people who are different than you. Younger people tend to be more likely to choose diverse social environments than older generations, yet more often than not, people choose to be with people who are like them.
To capitalize on the learning that can happen through engaging with people different than you, we want to highlight a great resource called “Reaching Across the Divide” from Essential Partners. It offers tips to help people better understand each other’s perspectives, and the hopes, fears and values behind them. As Christians, we need to take the lead in modeling how to love one another across deep divides, and stay in relationship even when it’s difficult, as that is what Christ has done for us.
Click on the link below to download the resource!
https://uniteboston.com/…/2018/11/EP-Red-Blue-Guide-1.pdf
We had a great time celebrating all that God has done this year through UB at the UniteBoston fundraising party! There was Greek food, a jazz trio with the musicians on the UniteBoston Worship Team, and featured breakout stories, including:
-Paul Castiglione, UniteBoston’s Somerville Dinner Coordinator on “The Power of Unity in Diversity”
-Cleopatra Muhammad, UniteBoston’s Dorchester Coordinator on “Gaining New Perspective and Hope”
-Caleb McCoy, Christian Hip Hop artist and musician on “The Joyful Noise of Collaboration and a Wider Network”
-Chloe Gaydos, UniteBoston worship night coordinator on “A New Vision for the Future”
-Rev. David Wright, UB Board Member and Executive Director of the Black Ministerial Alliance on “Nurturing God’s Revival”
Thanks to everyone who gave to help us reach our goal of $12,000! Click here to learn why your gift to UB makes a difference.
Thanks to Deepak Bardhan for the great photographs here. Check out more photos from the event on Facebook!
Featured Breakout Sessions
On August 18, 2018, an estimated 1,000 people came out to the second-ever UniteBoston Summer Worship Night in the Boston Common. The worship team was intentionally diverse, with Christians from all different ethnic and denominational backgrounds. There was incredible music, 13 sponsored tables by local churches and organizations, Lori Dupre painting with our theme “One City / One Love,” great fellowship, and even a spontaneous dance party!
Click here to check out the photo gallery from the event and click below to watch the video from the 2018 summer worship night in the Boston Common!
Did you know that there is a Christian community of vowed women in Brighton, whose mission is to realize Christ’s prayer “that they would be one,” and seek to work for unity and reconciliation where there is brokenness? Since 1873, these Sisters of St. Joseph have worked in schools, parishes, hospitals, nursing homes, retreat and campus ministry centers, refugee services, literacy programs, shelters, food pantries, and more.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston are excited to host the 2018 “Make a Difference in Allston/Brighton” this Monday evening in Brighton. Their press release describes that this event, “seeks to honor the great work of active volunteers in Allston/Brighton and to recruit new volunteers for the 20 different non-profit organizations that will be represented.” These organizations all share the common goal of “loving the dear neighbor without distinction” throughout Allston/Brighton. We encourage the UniteBoston community to support their great work to serve and love our neighbors in Allston/Brighton.
Read their “Make A Difference Day” press release
Learn more about the Sisters of St Joseph
Read “The Neighborhood as the Unit of Change” (New York Times)