unity – Page 69 – UniteBoston

Mar 27 2018

Holy Week in Boston: Here’s What’s Happening

This week, Christians all over the world are remembering Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. People often tell me that their congregation’s Holy Week service is their favorite in the year. Come, join the family of God in Boston in these liturgical services and beautiful myriad of Christian worship.

We know that it can be intimidating to go to a new church, so some of these gatherings have member of the local congregation listed as “host.” This person can sit with you and help you navigate the service.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

I’m convinced that our shared declaration that “Christ has risen” is the most powerful statement in the world. As we declare this together, Jesus will be lifted up and draw all people to Himself (John 12:32).

*Note that this is only a few of the many amazing worship services taking place in the Greater Boston area this week – check out www.uniteboston.com/events for more!

Maundy Thursday Service

6:00 and 8:00pm at Old South Church, Boston

This service combines modern jazz music with ancient liturgy of Tenebrae, where the stories of Jesus’s passion are read, and after each reading a candle is extinguished. The service ends in darkness, and the congregation listens to the repetition of 39 dissonant chimes of low handbells, symbolizing the suffering of Jesus on the night of his arrest.

Host: John Edgerton, john@oldsouth.org

Holy Thursday – Potluck & Foot Washing Service

6:00 to 7:30pm at Reservoir Church, Cambridge

Join us for a family potluck meal and service. Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, gets its name from the Latin translation of John 13:34: “I give you a new commandment” (or, in Latin, “Mandatum novum“). It was as Jesus washed the feet of his friends and followers that he said these words.

Host: John Archibald – dan@reservoirchurch.org

South Boston Outdoor Way of the Cross

10:45am to 1:00pm in South Boston

The Way of the Cross – or Stations of the Cross – is a representation of Jesus Christ’s day of crucifixion, which is commemorated on Good Friday. Churches often have 14 images hung inside, which people can stop and pray at sequentially.

Alternatively, the Way of the Cross can be walked outside, as is done each Lenten season with the South Boston-Seaport Collaborative. This ecumenical event is organized by St. Monica-St. Augustine, St. Brigid and Fourth Presbyterian parishes.

Come and join us! We will meet inside the front doors of St. Monica Church, 331 Old Colony Ave in South Boston, before embarking on a prayerful walk ending at Dorchester Heights.

To learn more, read this article entitled “We Walk With Jesus” published in the South Boston Online website.

Black Ministerial Alliance Good Friday Service

12:00pm at St John Missionary Baptist Church, Roxbury

You are invited to this year’s Good Friday Service to meditate on the Seven Last Words of Christ. There will be seven preachers from many different Christian traditions!

Host: Ellen Bass, ebass@bmaboston.org

Good Friday at Tremont Temple

6:30pm at Tremont Temple Baptist Church, Boston

11 churches are joining together for a worship service at Tremont Temple Baptist Church. Each church is independent, but we love worshiping and cooperating together so that people far from God can be filled with life in Christ.

Social Justice Stations of the Cross

March 30 from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm at the Paulist Center, Boston

All are invited to the Paulist Center to walk through the traditional 14 Stations of the Cross, but with a Social Justice lens. Our 20s/30s group will lead reflections on each station as we contemplate and pray for the many people and groups who are suffering unjustly, just like Christ did. This is a beautiful way to connect Good Friday with our lives and the world around us today.

Host: Liz Muscolino – elizabeth.muscolino@gmail.com

All Heaven Broke Loose – A New Passion Play

Still Small Theatre presents a staged reading of All Heaven Broke Loose, a new full-length drama about Jesus’ death and Resurrection. Come hear from a multitude of voices as the threads of history, Scripture, and their own lives are woven together in ways they never expected.

Saturday March 31st at 5:00pm in Woodville

April 5 & 6 at 7:00pm in Beverly

Host: Jasmine Myers, stillsmalltheatre@gmail.com

Soul Sabbath Morning – Spring Rest & Renwal

The Great Vigil of Easter

8:00 to 11:00pm at Ruggles Baptist Church, Boston

The Church of the Cross Easter Vigil marks our passage from the darkness of the tomb to the brilliant light of Jesus’ resurrection. Filled with original art created for this night (poetry, music, visual art, dance, etc.) and congregational song, this is a celebration of grand proportions. The service features readings from scripture that highlight God’s great work throughout salvation history, beginning in the work of Creation and reaching its height in the resurrection of Christ. Come join us as we reflect, pray, and raise a joyful song to God!

Host: Carson Rockett – carsonrockett@gmail.com

Good Friday Orthodox Service of Lamentations
Friday April 6 at 7:15pm at St Mary’s Parish in Cambridge

The beautiful hymns of this service express these feeling of grief and loss through a dialog of prayer between the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Ultimately, they show that the tomb of Christ is not a place of death and decay, but a source of life and hope. The sorrow of the crucifixion gradually transforms into joy as the faithful process around the Church with the eptitaphios (a symbolic tomb) and pass under it on the way back inside, symbolizing Jesus’ passover from death to life as He breaks the gates of Hades and frees the souls of the righteous trapped there.

Join the St. Mary’s Orthodox community to celebrate this moving, joyful service which invites us to enter into the profound mystery of humanity’s redemption.

Happening All Week

Sacred Spaces

Daily in Lexington and Wilmington

Where are the cracks in your world? If your news feed leaves you troubled, or your relationships could use a little more glue—if you need a place to process what’s going on halfway around the globe or inside your own heart, Sacred Spaces is waiting for you.

In the week leading to Easter, Grace Chapel’s Lexington and Wilmington campuses host a self-guided spiritual retreat. Different rooms are transformed into spaces where, with the help of a written meditation, you are invited to spend time in quiet prayer and reflection.

Reflective Art for This Week

Artist: Adrian Johnston, Park Street Church

Mar 21 2018

CityRuach: Where the Love of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and Jewish Life Unite

This week, Joe Miterko, graduate of Berklee College of Music and Talbot School of Theology, explains the importance of our Jewish heritage as Christians. He is a key leader at CityRuach, a new intentional Believing community in Brighton with Messianic Jewish Followers of Yeshua (Jesus). Read below to learn from our Messianic brothers and sisters about the roots of Judaism within Christianity.

The secret is out! Almost everyone knows about Jesus’ Jewishness. But have you considered:

…that His Twelve Disciples were all Jewish?
…that His later Followers were also Jewish? In fact, did you know His brother James’ real name is Jacob according to the Greek?
…that His mother Mary was really named Miriam, also 100% Jewish?
…that Peter and John still prayed at the Temple according to Jewish customs after His Ascension into Heaven (see Acts 3:1)?
…that the New Testament was written primarily as a book by Jewish people for Jewish people? It’s so Jewish!

As a result, when someone asks, ‘Can you be Jewish and believe in Jesus at the same time?” the answer is a confident and hearty “Yes!” This is what CityRuach is all about. (Ruach, pronounced Roo-ahk, in Hebrew means “Spirit”).

CityRuach is a new ministry based in the Boston area, desiring to promote an authentic encounter where the love of Messiah Yeshua (Hebrew name for Jesus – literally meaning “Salvation”) and Jewish life unite. In short, Messianic Judaism is defined as Jewish people who believe that Jesus-Yeshua is the promised Jewish Messiah. We are building a Messianic Jewish presence in Boston as a safe space where all people can come, no matter what.

Many people move to Boston and have a hard time being away from family. In a completely new environment, finding new friends in an unfamiliar city can be challenging. Also, for college students, constant stresses and pressures of projects, papers, and academia can be daunting. We want to be a place where people can come and be supported with a warm, Yeshua-centered community. For Messianic Jewish college students within the Boston area, we will be a familiar face for their home practices. For Yeshua-Believers in the Church, we serve as a place where they can explore their Jewish heritage and faith more. And for non-Yeshua believing Jewish people, we provide a safe place where their questions can be answered and views can be expressed.

Jewish Life and Yeshua Faith go hand-in-hand. Through Shabbat (Sabbath) dinners, Holiday events, Bible Studies, Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) initiatives, fun social gatherings in the city, and much more, we are trying to build a vibrant atmosphere where the gospel can be heard and people can feel at home.

Shabbat (Sabbath) Dinner at the Ruach House

Some of our members made Challah (traditional egg bread) during our recent bread baking activity.

At the end of the evening, we broke bread together in the spirit of Acts 2:42.

Our ministry is birthed out of Congregation Ruach Israel in Needham. a longstanding Messianic Jewish Congregation (founded and established in 1979). For the average college student, it is a schlep (long way) to get out to the suburbs, with little to no public transportation, so we are taking the congregation to them as a satellite campus! Our home base is the Ruach House, a communal house located in Brighton, where our residents are the lead coordinators of the CityRuach team. Residents are also covenant members of the Synagogue and in good standing with Ruach Israel leadership.

We welcome non-Jewish people to come and see what we are about. Jesus was Jewish. As stated, He lived as a Jew and died as a Jew. By having those from the nations participating with us, we see Kingdom realities break loose. The prophet Isaiah not only says, “So all nations will flow to it (The House of the Lord)” (Is. 2:2) in the Last Days, but he also says, “For My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations” (Is. 56:7). Jesus is One Man Israel and is the Light to the Nations. By joining with us, you can understand these realities in a deeper way.

Additionally, one of our team members can come present a Jewish Roots seminar for your Church or small group, such as Messiah in the Passover, Healing Prayer: A Jewish Approach, Messiah in the Fall Feasts, etc. It is important to remember that we are one body in Messiah and that Jews and Christians need to work together (Ephesians 2:11-22).

We encourage you to connect with us! If you are simply curious about what we do, have a question about modern Messianic Judaism, want to have one of our team members speak at your congregation or small group, or just want to discuss more, please send a note to cityruach@gmail.com or connect with us on our CityRuach Facebook page. We would love to help and collaborate with you! Yeshua simply said “Come and See” (John 1:39), so come and experience a new light to the Jewish people in Boston for Messiah’s glory!

Joe Miterko is a graduate of Berklee College of Music (B.M. Contemporary Writing & Production) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div Jewish Studies). Born and raised in Connecticut, Joe is passionate about music, travel, and much more!

Feb 24 2018

Stroller Christian Unity in Cambridgeport

“We experienced radical welcome from our neighbors, the surprise of the new and unfamiliar, and the unity of celebrating the Eucharist.”

This week, Susan Butterworth, a local writer, teacher, singer, and lay minister, shares about a rich encounter of visiting neighboring churches in Cambridge inspired by the curiosity of her granddaughter. Susan Butterworth is a recent graduate of the Episcopal Divinity School and leads the weekly Song & Stillness: Taize at MIT prayer service in the MIT Chapel.

A recent post on the UniteBoston Facebook page asked, “Have you ever visited an Orthodox church?” This story came to my mind.

When my little granddaughter was a toddler, living in Cambridgeport, we’d go for long afternoon walks along the river, with the stroller. The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, an Episcopal monastic community, keeps the doors of their beautiful chapel on Memorial Drive open in the afternoons, for stillness, silence, and prayer. Anja and I and the stroller would take the little lift up from the street level to the chapel, and spend a few minutes of cool rest. She’d dip her little hand in the holy water as we entered. We’d light a candle and pray for her other grandmother, who had died when Anja was an infant. We’d look at the stained glass windows, and talk about the symbols and objects in the church. Stopping by the monastery church became part of our routine, and Anja got used to the idea that one could go into a church, visit, and rest.

At that time, Anja and her family were living very near the Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Magazine Street. We passed the Greek Church, as we called it, every day walking to and from the Central Square T stop or the public library. Naturally, Anja would ask to go into the Greek Church.

I’m on my home turf in the Episcopal church, but I had never been in an Orthodox church, and I had no idea if the door was even open. Time and time again, I said no, when she asked to go inside the Greek Church. One week, however, I’d spent Saturday night with Anja while her parents went to a wedding, and we were out with the stroller early Sunday morning. It was summertime, the doors of the Greek Church were wide open, and the sound of chanting floated out into the warm air. We spontaneously locked the stroller to a pillar outside, climbed the big stone steps, went in and sat down in a pew near the back. We looked in awe at the gorgeous icons and imagery, and Anja was able to identify some of the saints and symbols she knew from the monastery church.

View from the inside of the Orthodox church

All this time the priest was chanting, and people were following along in their prayer books. Anja pulled out a prayer book, opened it, saw the Greek letters. “What’s he singing?” she asked. “ABCD?” And she began singing along, chanting ABCD, not particularly quietly. I looked around, embarrassed to be making noise in church, especially a church where I don’t know the customs or the language. Fortunately, this church seems to welcome children. People smiled at us. The couple in the pew behind us had a fussy baby with them.

For me, the unfamiliarity of the service fell away when we stood for the Lord’s Prayer. Now the incomprehensible language began to speak to my heart. Even though I didn’t understand the Greek, I knew we were praying a universal prayer together.

We will never forget what happened next. At an unseen signal, a group of children appeared from the back of the church, and began to line up. It seems that in this church, the custom is for the children to receive communion first. My active, impulsive, social two-year-old was loose in the pew next to me. “I’m going down there!” she announced, and in a flash, Anja was in line with the other children. I was at a loss. What to do? The answer came from a hospitable “little old Greek lady” in a front pew, who turned around and gestured for me to join Anja in line. “Okay,” I thought, “it looks like we’re going for communion.”

It was great to be up close, and watch the priest and deacon as they offered the bread and wine to the children, an act that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. We watched as the priest dipped a long-handled spoon into the cup of wine, and as each child opened his or her mouth, the priest fed them the wine while the deacon held a big red napkin to each little chin. When it was our turn, however, Anja got cold feet. I opened my mouth for the wine. She clamped her mouth closed around her binky, and refused to open it. I was mumbling, “It’s okay, she doesn’t have to do it,” when the deacon calmly pulled out the binky and, quick as a wink, the priest popped the wine into the surprised O of her mouth. Smiling, the deacon handed me the binky, and Anja and I followed the other children down the chancel steps, where there was a big basket of bread. Following the lead of the others, I took a piece of bread and handed it to Anja. Then, we headed out the back door of the church, and I buckled her back into the stroller while she ate her bread.

“That priest gave me something!” she announced. Indeed, we experienced radical welcome from our neighbors, the surprise of the new and unfamiliar, the richness of the decoration and liturgy in the Orthodox church, and the unity of celebrating the Eucharist across denominational boundaries.

We continued down Magazine Street in the stroller, headed for Dana Park. We then passed Pentecostal Tabernacle, whose doors were open to the summer morning. We heard singing. We could see the worship team projected on a large screen through the open doors. “Can we go in there?” asked Anja.

“Another time,” I said. “Let’s go on the swings now.” But yes, I kept my promise, and in the spirit of knowing our neighbors, we did go to Pentecostal Tabernacle a couple of weeks later.

Susan Butterworth is a recent graduate of Episcopal Divinity School (M.Div. 2017). She is a writer, teacher, singer, and lay minister. She leads Song & Stillness: Taizé @ MIT, a weekly ecumenical service of contemplative Taizé prayer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s chapel. She also sings with Threshold Singers, a group that sings at hospice bedside. She teaches writing and literature to college undergraduates, and writes essays and literary reference articles.

Read similar articles:

“Discovering the Gold” – Kelly Steinhaus describes the attitudes needed to see the gifts that others bring to the larger body of Christ.
“One River, Many Streams” – Jacob Urena describes his experience during his first time at an Orthodox service

Jan 27 2018

Christian Unity Dinners – Photos & Stories

Thanks to everyone who came out to this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity dinners!

If you attended either the large dinner at Lion of Judah Church, or one of the neighborhood dinners, we would appreciate hearing your feedback and how the experience impacted your faith and your sense of what is happening in your community!

Share Your Story By Filling Out the Survey

The first night – Neighborhood dinner at Pastor Stephens house in Watertown

Table conversation at Saturdays anchor dinner

UniteBoston Worship Team at the anchor dinner

Diverse cross-section of pastors and leaders represented at the anchor dinner

Bishop Arthur Kennedy of the Archdiocese of Boston, Deacon Chuck Hall, and Bishop Bill Murdoch of the Anglican Diocese of New England

Stories and Personal Experiences

“This connection showed me the need for more people who can connect others together and lead in uniting Christians in the city of Boston, moving me towards becoming a UniteBoston dinner coordinator. Lots of people at my church are longing for connection to other Christians in Boston, so promoting these dinners can help foster that connection.”

-Adam Montalbano, Reality Boston

“It encourages me to see how delightful it is for individual Christians to connect with each other across difference. I talked with a young woman from Africa getting her PhD here in Boston. Learning about her faith community in her home country and here helps me understand and lean into the depth of the Lord’s love for those like her, who are strangers in a foreign land, which happens to be my home.”

-Ellen Bass, Black Ministerial Alliance

“Last year, we witnessed an amazing prayer gathering of hundreds of Christians from many expressions of the body of Christ from all over the Boston area. This year, we witnessed a more intimate, but still amazing, dinner gathering. Sitting down to share a meal with bishops, pastors, lay leaders and lay people helped me get to know their stories of growing Christian unity and I left the evening really encouraged. Last year’s gathering advanced the work of Christian unity broadly; this year’s gathering deepened it.”

-Scott Brill, Institute for Christian Unity

“It was moving for me to see such a diverse representation of the Christian community join together for a shared meal. There is power in us joining to sit at the table and celebrate our stories of God at work in our lives and congregations. As we become more reconciled to one another, our witness is magnified and God is glorified!””

-Kelly Steinhaus, Executive Director of UniteBoston

“I loved seeing how people stayed late into the night, telling stories and connecting with one another about how God is at work in their lives. It was great to see Christians connect together!”

-Rebecca Nyakairu, Grace Chapel Watertown

FEATURED IN THE NEWS

Here’s an article in the Boston Pilot about Saturday’s anchor Christian unity dinner.

And here’s an article written by Paulist Father Tom Ryan about the significance of these dinners.

NEXT STEPS

If you haven’t yet, please Share Your Story with us – We’d love to hear about your experience at any of the neighborhood dinners.

We’re currently cultivating networks of people who want to collaborate to impact their neighborhood – To join into one of the upcoming dinners, sign up here!

Jan 20 2018

Dinner Dialogue Questions: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

First “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” Dinner Dialogue at Pastor Stephen’s house in Watertown

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:

Have each person briefly introduce themselves
Eat dinner together
Read the song of Moses & Miriam from Exodus 15
Have a discussion, using the questions below or your own questions
Pray and sing together, using the prayer model below or your own

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.