What happens when church buildings close?

Trends and status of Christian institutional property ownership in the City of Boston

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher

Boston is home to about 575 Christian churches. While many of these rent space from other churches, organizations, or private owners, a significant number of congregations own and meet in traditional church buildings, former commercial properties, or converted residential buildings. 

Currently, churches and their denominations own about 320 properties in Boston, including 256 buildings primarily used for worship, ministry, and service.

In recent decades, some church-owned buildings have been sold to other congregations, developers, and private business owners. As a result, about 45 buildings formerly owned by churches or religious organizations have been lost to the Christian community as well as the communities and neighborhoods these churches once served and called home. 

These churches not only contributed to the spiritual well-being of their neighborhoods but also played an important role in sustaining the social fabric of their communities. Many provided a variety of social services and enriched civic life. Memories of important life events were tied to these sacred spaces. 

As a result, the loss of these congregations and sacred spaces has had a deeper impact than is often realized.

In a constantly changing city and culture, there are many reasons why congregations decline, and church buildings are sold. To stay vital to the life of the community, churches require spiritual renewal and the ability to adapt to younger generations. Shifting demographics also can affect congregations, particularly when their members move to different areas farther from the church building. 

In the Boston area, this movement of people is influenced by ever-rising housing costs and, in some neighborhoods, gentrification: the process of higher-earning and more educated residents moving into historically marginalized neighborhoods. While gentrification brings increased financial investment and renovation to a neighborhood, it often also leads to a rise in housing costs, which results in the displacement of long-time residents. This dynamic disrupts congregations, as church members may be displaced or move elsewhere. Churches faced with aging buildings, lack of parking, and aging, dispersed membership may find selling their buildings necessary—or even advantageous. Sometimes, congregations that were renting space are no longer able to afford the cost.   

What happened to these buildings? 

Congregations, which own and meet in residential houses, often adapted the first-floor space for worship. In several cases, when sold, the new owner has changed the occupancy, converting the space into a residence and adding an additional unit. 

• Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal at 68 Day St. in Jamaica Plain used the first floor for church services, but after the building was sold, the first floor was changed into a residential unit. 

• The Greater Community Baptist Church at 27 Howland St. in Roxbury used to meet in a converted house with a brick addition on the front. When this property was sold, the new owner removed the addition and converted the building to a two-family house. 

• Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia owned a tax-exempt converted house at 20 Moreland St. in Roxbury, which was sold and converted into a private two-family residence. 

• On Melville Avenue in Dorchester, the Salvation Army used a large house and 35,000-square-foot lot as a ministry center and church called Jubilee Christian Fellowship. When sold in 2022, the property was turned into a two-family luxury residential building. 

While several houses used as church buildings have been sold, congregations such as the Church of God and Saints of Christ on Crawford Street and Spirit and Life Bible Church on Columbia Road continue to meet in converted houses.

In the past, numerous churches met in commercial or storefront properties, even in neighborhoods like the city's South End. Some storefront churches rented space, while others purchased the buildings when prices were relatively low. As rental prices rose and neighborhoods gentrified, several churches renting storefronts had to move out or close. 

One rental storefront church space became a dental office, and another became a restaurant. Several church spaces have become laundromats. For example, the Full Life Gospel Center in Codman Square decided to sell its storefront property and buy another Dorchester church building whose Haitian congregation had moved to a former synagogue in Randolph. The former Full Life Gospel Center property on Washington Street was then renovated into a laundromat. 

“Over the last 50 years in Boston, as the city has changed and property has become much more expensive, many former storefront churches have disappeared.”

Although churches, which own commercial-type space, generally have not needed to move, some have chosen to sell and relocate or buy other buildings. Grace Church of All Nations in Dorchester chose to sell its storefront property to a CVS Pharmacy and purchased a former Christian Science Church in Roxbury. Over the last 50 years in Boston, as the city has changed and property has become increasingly expensive, many former storefront churches have disappeared.

From the 1950s to 1970s, as neighborhood churches in Boston declined and congregations were leaving the city, many church buildings and synagogues were sold or passed on to new Black, Haitian, or Hispanic congregations. In recent years, some church buildings have been sold to other congregations, while many others have been lost to the religious community altogether.  

Some churches with valuable properties may have concluded their assets could be better spent on more extensive, less expensive, and more modern facilities in other areas, closer to where their congregants live. Those congregants who used to live in Lower Roxbury, Roxbury, or Dorchester may now live outside the city because of escalating housing costs in Boston. Although some churches that have sold city buildings have rented temporarily, most have purchased other buildings.

The 45 church buildings cited earlier represent over 30 congregations that have closed permanently. Others have either moved elsewhere in the city—such as Grace Church of All Nations, New Hope Baptist Church, Full Life Gospel Center, Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Church of God of Prophecy, Boston Chinese Evangelical Church—or moved out of the city—such as Trinity Latvian, Christ the Rock Metro, Concord Baptist Church, and Ebenezer Baptist. Some congregations, such as Holy Mount Zion Church, New Fellowship Baptist/Spirit and Truth, and Mount Calvary Holy Church, are left in limbo due to fires, structural deterioration, or financial constraints.

Although some churches have relocated outside the city of Boston, the overall number is still relatively small compared to the total number of churches currently in the city. As lower- and middle-income Boston residents, as well as new immigrants, settle in communities farther from downtown, new churches are also starting up in these communities. At the same time, inner-city churches are losing members who no longer commute back to their former congregations. 

When traditional church properties are sold to non-church buyers, they are mostly converted into market-rate residential units, such as condos or apartments. However, there are notable exceptions to this: St. James African Orthodox Church in Roxbury, Hill Memorial Baptist Church in Allston-Brighton, and Boston Chinese Evangelical Church in Chinatown.

St. James African Orthodox was rescued from demolition and private development through neighborhood activism and the help of Historic Boston, Inc., which purchased the building, made repairs, and eventually resold it to a community organization, the Roxbury Action Program. (In the process, Historic Boston, Inc. tried to interest other churches and community organizations in developing the building cooperatively; however, no churches could take on the project.)

Hill Memorial Baptist worked with a neighborhood development organization and the City of Boston to see their church sale result in plans for affordable senior housing, with the church building preserved to serve as a social center for the new residents. The church, its denomination, and the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation went through a five-year partnership and planning process to achieve positive outcomes for the community and church. 

Boston Chinese Evangelical is another unique example of a traditional church-building sale. Over the years, church leaders were in dialogue with the City of Boston and the Boston Public Schools about their church building and property in Chinatown, which was in a strategic location next to the Quincy Elementary School. After the congregation purchased a large, nearby building at 120 Shawmut Ave., it sold its church building to the city. The church building was demolished, and the new Josiah Quincy Upper School was built on the site. 

While the St. James African Orthodox and Hill Memorial Baptist congregations closed, the Boston Chinese Evangelical congregation continues to use a diverse portfolio of property that includes rented worship space at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School, its multi-purpose building at 120 Shawmut Ave., and a Newton, Massachusetts, satellite church building.  

Preserving and sustaining church congregations and their properties is critical for the health of Boston’s neighborhoods. Churches’ physical and spiritual presence contributes to their communities on many levels. 

Congregations that want to stay in their current neighborhoods can seek ways to serve others and sustain themselves by renting space to community groups or other congregations. Churches looking to close or relocate and sell can plan and consider positive outcomes for their building by selling to another church or community-serving organization. They can also work to see community development efforts, such as community centers or affordable housing units, built within the church or on its site.

Church Landscape Review: Changing Faces of Faith

Churches have experienced plenty of change and faced much upheaval over the last 10 years. If you could take a snapshot of your church before and after that period, what would it look like? Would you see any big structural changes? How would the leadership of your church have changed? What about the congregation? 

That’s just what the Applied Research team at the Emmanuel Gospel Center did with a diverse group of newer churches in Boston between 2014 and 2024. 

They looked at things like attendance, leadership, and demographics. Their findings in the “Changing Faces of Faith” report show time left little untouched. The churches in the study had to be creative when it came to finding meeting space, facing a pandemic, and navigating leadership changes.    

This report is part of the larger 2024 Church Landscape Review, a study of newer church communities in the Boston area over 10 years. We will publish the Applied Research team’s findings in a series of reports we will release periodically throughout 2025:

• Executive Summary Report

• Pastors Under Pressure

• Evolving Vision*

• Open Doors in Boston*

Stay up to date with this project by subscribing to the EGC newsletter.

*Titles are subject to change.

Church Landscape Review: Executive Summary Report

In 2014, the Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC) conducted a research study of over 40 church plants in the Boston area. It involved in-depth interviews with a diverse group of new churches from different denominations, ethnic groups, and networks. While the study focused on women in church leadership, it yielded a treasure trove of information on the church planters and their congregations. 

Ten years later, EGC’s Applied Research team revisited the snapshot the 2014 data had produced and re-interviewed almost two dozen of the original churches. The team wanted to examine any shifts in the church landscape over a challenging and tumultuous period.

The research team gathered their findings in a series of reports they will release periodically throughout 2025. The Executive Summary Report provides a broad introduction to the study along with major data trends. The other reports revolve around four different themes:

• Changing Faces of Faith

• Pastors Under Pressure

• Evolving Vision*

• Open Doors in Boston*

Stay up to date with this project by subscribing to the EGC newsletter.

*Titles are subject to change.

Exploring Church Spaces

Christians look on in dismay as empty churches are converted into luxury condos. Steeples used to dot city skylines and dominate small towns. But for decades now, it’s felt like these sacred spaces are being overshadowed. Disemboweled.

However, a sea change is underway as congregations reassess the use of their buildings outside Sunday worship. They are beginning to ask themselves some uncomfortable questions: How much of our building lies empty during the week? How much dead space is the church creating on a city block? How else could this space be used? Who else could benefit from this space?

Communities and cities are buckling under the strain of challenges such as affordable housing, economic and education inequality, mental health and substance abuse, environmental resilience. There is a unique opportunity for churches to leverage their real estate assets for missional witness.

Saranya Sathananthan, a researcher in residence at EGC, has been engaging with local congregations at the forefront of church-space innovation. She delves into the challenges they face and uncovers powerful missional opportunities in reimagining church spaces.

Explore the resources she and her team have created and discover insights on church-space innovation.

Christian Organizations Addressing Social Issues

Photo credit: Matt Vasquez via Lightstock

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher

Boston is home to an array of initiatives dedicated to tackling social issues. Many churches and Christian organizations are at the forefront of addressing these needs. Some have been serving for decades. Others are new.

This guide showcases Christian organizations addressing some of the most pressing social issues. Their endeavors range from supporting vulnerable children and families to promoting environmental stewardship.

Organized into over a dozen categories, this guide lists many organizations engaged in this work. Whether you want to collaborate, network, volunteer, or learn more about what God is doing in our city, we hope this guide serves as a valuable resource.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list. Don’t see a Christian organization you think should be included? Feel free to contact us to suggest any additions.

Contact

Christian Organizations Addressing Social Issues

• Community and Individual Trauma & Neighborhood Healing

  The Boston Project

  “The mission is to engage and equip neighbors, volunteers, and congregations to build strong communities characterized by God’s shalom. 

  “Shalom means wholeness, peace, well-being, righteousness, and justice.”

  The ministry applies “community-building strategies that include strengthening youth and families, developing leaders, multiplying collaborations, and investing in corner-by-corner transformation resulting in a more green, healthy, safe, connected, and economically-empowered neighborhood.”

  For more on their youth programs, see "Youth" below.

  • Website: tbpm.org

  • Email: tbpm.org/contact

  • Phone: (617) 929-0925

  • Location: 15 Elmhurst St., Dorchester, MA 02124   

  Cory Johnson Program for Post Traumatic Healing

  “The Cory Johnson Program for Post Traumatic Healing is a Christ-inspired, community-based, clinically-supported 501c3 program of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church Social Impact Center that offers a peer-centered approach to addressing post-traumatic stress in urban neighborhoods.” The program fosters connections and empowers individuals to take active roles in helping themselves and others heal. The main outreach of the Cory Johnson Program is  the Can We Talk Network, which has several sites in Boston.

  • Can We Talk Roxbury: “This program component offers a safe, sacred space for people to share their stories of trauma, loss, grief, and hope in words, poetry, or song. Artists in residence offer their creative expressions, and Community Companions offer support. It is a place for listening, and people experience individual and community healing.” Other support groups are also available.

    • Contact: Danielle McFarlane, dmcfarlane@rpcsic.org

    • Location: Roxbury Presbyterian Church, 328 Warren St., Boston, MA 02119

  • Codman Square Can We Talk? A partnership with the Boston Project Ministries, Life Church Boston, Second Church of Dorchester, and Neighborhood Church of Dorchester. “Codman Square Can We Talk? is a safe place to share your story and have your voice heard and welcomed. It is a community-based, clinically-supported program that increases awareness and understanding of trauma, offers mental health resources, and a safe environment for what can at times be painful conversations to occur.”

    • Website:  tbpm.org/community/codman-square-can-we-talk/

    • Phone: Contact through The Boston Project by dialing 617-929-0925 or emailing Maridena Rojas, maridena@tbpm.org

    • Location: Community Room, 86 Southern Ave., Dorchester

    • Also: Anointed Fire Church, 777 Washington St., Dorchester;  Contact: Tony Fernandes, tonya_f@hotmail.com

  • Peace by Piece: Fourth Presbyterian Church

    • Contact: Lauren Basler, laurenabasler@gmail.com

    • Contact: Rev. Burns Stanfield, bstanfield@hds.harvard.edu

    • Location: 340 Dorchester St., South Boston, MA 02127 and 5 O’Connor Way, South Boston, MA 02127

  • Emmanuel Episcopal Church of Boston (Common Cathedral)

    • Contact: Rev. Carrington Moore, carrington@commoncathedral.org

    • Location: 15 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116

  Boston Trauma Healing Collaborative

  “The vision of Boston Trauma Healing Collaborative is to develop an integrated strategy that draws from the strengths of current trauma healing programs (both locally and nationally), to train and equip churches and communities to become more trauma-informed as they respond to wounded people and unacceptable realities that are often rooted in trauma. . . . 

  “This integrated strategy includes a collaborative effort between BTHC, as a local partner with the American Bible Society and the Trauma Healing Institute, and the Cory Johnson Program for Post-Traumatic Healing and their Can We Talk… Network, which will help encourage churches and non-profit organizations to work together to bring healing to those wounded by trauma.”

  • Website:  bostoncollaborative.org/boston-trauma-healing-collaborative

  Others

  • American Bible Society Trauma Healing: ministry.americanbible.org/trauma-healing

  • Trauma Healing Institute: traumahealinginstitute.org

  • Cory Johnson Program for Post-Traumatic Healing: rpcsocialimpactctr.org

  • Can We Talk… Network: canwetalknetwork.org

• Domestic Abuse

  Hagar’s Sisters

  “For an individual who has experienced the life-shattering effect of domestic abuse, Hagar’s Sisters is a non-profit organization that offers holistic services that empower them to find healing and a new healthy way of life that is free from abuse.” 

  • Website: hagarssisters.org

• Education

  Boston Education Collaborative

  The Boston Education Collaborative (BEC) is an initiative of the Emmanuel Gospel Center which recruits, trains, and connects church volunteers with underserved schools to address disparities in educational opportunities.

  The BEC “empowers churches, schools and non-profits to support underserved urban students. BEC helps students thrive in all areas of life by nurturing and supporting church-school partnerships; facilitating and encouraging neighborhood-focused involvement; engaging in systems level work; and participating in broader networking, coaching, and learning opportunities.”

  • Leadership: Ruth Wong, director

  • Website: egc.org/education

  • Email: rwong@egc.org

  • Phone: (617) 262-4567

  Boston Higher Education Resource Center (at Congregación León de Judá)

  Mission: “The Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC) functions to equip first-generation youth of color to access and thrive in higher education, to break the cycle of poverty, and to become agents of change in our communities.”

  The Passport Curriculum is designed to equip 11th and 12th-grade students to navigate the college admissions process and the college world successfully while gaining and developing their academic and leadership skills. The center offers both in-school programs and a community-based program at 62 Northampton St. These programs are far more extensive than typical after-school tutoring programs.

  • Leadership: Carolina De Jesus, CEO;  Junardy Jean-Charles, Passport to College Program Director

  • Website: bostonherc.org

  • Email: info@bostonherc.org and infopassport@bostonherc.org

  • Phone: (617) 221-6495

  • Location: HERC, 62 Northampton St., Boston, MA 02118

  American Chinese Christian Educational & Social Services, Inc. (ACCESS)

  Mission: “ACCESS seeks to empower, encourage, & motivate immigrants to build confidence, gain skills, and the ability to make positive changes within their own lives.”

  Vision: “We want to see our Chinatown neighbors thriving and building bridges across languages, cultures, and generations in God's love.”

  Their programs include K-5th grade enrichment afterschool and summer programs, adult fitness as well as arts and crafts programs in Tai Tung Village.

  • Leadership: Pasang Drolma, executive director; Annie Tran, director of children and families

  • Website: chinatownaccess.org

  • Email: info@chinatownaccess.org

  • Phone: (617)-426-1070

  • Location: 244 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111

  Victory Generation 

  Victory Generation Programs of the Black Ministerial Alliance/Ten Point, a network of faith-based, out-of-school educational enrichment programs.

  Mission: “Our mission is to empower and strengthen out-of-school program leaders and their staff who serve as role models and the front-line to the children and families we wish to serve. In addition to building impactful and qualifiable programs for students, we also provide workshops and training to empower parents in advocating for their children and fostering positive school relationships.”

  • Leadership: Rochelle Jones, director of education

  • Website: bmatenpoint.org/victory-generation

  • Email: info@bmaboston.org

  • Phone: (617) 445-2737

  “Victory Generation directly aids out-of-school programs dedicated to nurturing, strengthening, and enhancing the social, emotional, and cognitive development of Boston's youth aged 5 – 12. As an intermediary, we support our affiliated programs by enhancing their organizational and programmatic capabilities. Our assistance includes networking, financial aid, professional development workshops, and technical guidance.”

  • Sites

    • Twelfth Baptist Church After-School

      • Leadership: Darryl Simpson, program director

      • Website: tbcboston.org

      • Email: dsimpson@tbcboston.org

      • Phone: (617) 427-5158; main line: (617) 442-7855, ext. 121

      • Location: 160 Warren St., Roxbury, MA 02119

      • Hours: Monday - Friday, 2-6 p.m.

    • Greenwood Shalom After School Program (a Victory Generation site)

      Greenwood Shalom offers a range of enriching activities designed to engage and inspire students. These include tutoring, homework assistance, interactive online learning using Lexia, art, music, STEM projects, physical fitness, social emotional support, field trips, play, and test prep.

  • Programs

    • After-school enrichment program for children ages 5 to 13.

    • Summer enrichment program

    • English Language Arts Bootcamp: A full day program in February vacation week.

    • Math Bootcamp: A full day program during April vacation week.

    • Saturday Online Academy (10 a.m. - noon): Designed to uplift and empower students who may face barriers to traditional academic and emotional support.

    • Healing Hearts Club Camp: A transformative five-day program designed to provide healing and support for children ages 8 to 13 who have experienced trauma.

  • Contact information

    • Coordinators: Sasha Desrosiers and Jennifer Merren

    • Website: greenwood-outreach.org

    • Email: greenwoodshalom@gmail.com

    • Phone: (617) 282-1464

    • Location: 378 Washington St., #A, Dorchester, 02124. (The entrance is on Dakota Street.)

  St. Stephen’s Youth Programs

  Mission: “To promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in education, employment and opportunity through long-term relationships with youth and their families and communities.”

  • Programs

    • B Ready

      • Afterschool enrichment program for students grades 1-12. See ssypboston.org/bready for more details.

    • B Safe

      • “Summer enrichment program - provides a safe, fun, academically enriching environment for 650 students each year. We run B-SAFE at our year-round sites in the South End and Lower Roxbury and at four additional sites in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Chelsea.

    • Intergenerational Organizing

      • This program “equips young people to become agents of change and helps them to organize their neighbors, parents, and peers to address the issues of that disproportionately impact their communities” (such as gun violence).

  • Contact information

    • Leadership: Inés Palmarin, executive director; Eva Ortez, chaplain

    • Website: ssypboston.org

    • Email: info@ststephensbos.org

    • Phone: (617) 262-9070

  • Sites

    • South End: St. Stephen’s Church at 419 Shawmut Ave., Boston, MA  02118

    • Lower Roxbury: The Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin at 31 Lenox St., Boston 02118

• Environmental Justice

  Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light

  “Mission:      

  • To educate people on why climate change is a matter of morality and justice.

  • To foster public understanding of policies that will lead to a sustainable future.

  • To work with faith communities and their members to be better environmental stewards of their buildings by providing technical expertise and assessing ways they can lower their carbon emissions and save money.”

  • Website: massipl.org

  • Email: info@MassIPL.org

  • Phone: 617-244-0755

  • Address: P. O. Box 600163, Newton, MA 02460

  Better Future Project

  Better Future Project builds grassroots power to advance a rapid transition beyond fossil fuels. Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW), a program of Better Future Project, is Better Future Project's network of local leaders building grassroots climate resilience. In 2023, CREW sponsored the Interfaith Summit, How to Respond to Climate Change.

  • Rev. Vernon Walker, former director

  • Location: 30 Bow St., Cambridge, MA 02138

  Boston Faith & Justice Network

  Boston Faith & Justice Network, as part of one of its online book club discussion series, has focused on how we as Christians are called to climate justice. See the BFJN website for recommended resources and readings.

  • Leadership: Elizabeth Grady-Harper, executive director

  • Website: bostonfaithjustice.org/learn

  • Email: info@bostonfaithjustice.org

• Foster Care

  Fostering Hope

  “Fostering Hope empowers churches and individuals to care for children and families impacted by foster care. 

  Our vision is the dream of a day when ZERO children in foster care are waiting for a safe and supported family to care for them. This initiative is called Project ZERO. “

  • Leadership: Jonathan Reid, founder and director

  • Website: fosteringhope.org

  • Email: info@fosteringhope.org

  • Phone: (401) 524-0949

• Health Care

  Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality

  Although this organization is not independent, it addresses the important relationship between spiritual care and spirituality to medical care and physical health. The initiative is centered at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. 

  It aims “to study and implement ways to better integrate religion and spirituality into the practice of medicine and public health. It seeks to discover individual and social connections of spirit, mind, and body within the healthcare context.  Advancement of spirituality research is energized by the practical concern that new discoveries from spiritual and religious resources will yield significant new gains in alleviating illness and promoting human flourishing.”

  Some of the studies are relevant to end-of-life spiritual care.

  Faculty leaders include Dr. Tracy Balboni, Dr. Michael Balboni, Ms. Laura Tuach, and Dr. Tyler VanderWeele.

  • Website: projects.iq.harvard.edu/rshm/home

  • Email: xavier_symons@hsph.harvard.edu (Xavier Symons, administrator) 

  • Location: 12 Arrow St., Cambridge, MA, 02138

  Boston Health Care Fellowship and Longwood Christian Community

  “Our vision is to reunite faith and healthcare in line with God's intention of bringing healing to the world.  To that end, we exist to make disciples of Jesus among those in the biomedical science and healthcare community in Boston for the glory of God.”

  • Website: healthcarefellowship.org

  • Email: boston@healthcarefellowship.org

  • Location: Boston Healthcare Fellowship, Longwood Medical Area, Boston, MA 02120

  Christian Medical and Dental Society

  The Christian Medical and Dental Society “has over 340 healthcare campus ministries as well as over 80 community ministries. Along with encouraging students to live out the character of Christ on their campuses, they help Christian healthcare professionals connect with each other through local ministries.”

  • Campus chapters

    • Boston University School of Medicine (email: cmda@bu.edu)

    • Boston University Goldman School Of Dental Medicine

    • Harvard University Medical School

    • Harvard University School Of Dental Medicine

    • Tufts University School Of Medicine

    • Tufts University School Of Dental Medicine

    • New England College Of Optometry, Boston

• Housing Justice and Affordable Housing

  Housing Justice

  Boston Rescue Mission

  “The Boston Rescue Mission transforms lives by empowering individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless to achieve and sustain life skills necessary to become more self-sufficient.

  “We operate an emergency overnight shelter every year. We offer healthy and hearty meals, basic necessities, and bathroom and shower facilities. We provide sober living and life growth shelter communities for men in recovery transitioning from homelessness to independent living.

  “Our mission is to

  • Offer resources that prevent and end homelessness

  • Support the recovery, health, faith, and independence of those with a history of substance use, incarceration, and homelessness

  • Raise awareness about the root causes of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration

  • Serve our guests and residents and each other with respect, integrity, and grace

  • Continue to learn, grow, and excel in our services

  • Be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us by our supporters”

  • Contact information

  • Website: brm.org

  • Email: info@brm.org

  • Phone: (617) 338-9000

  • Location: 39 Kingston St., Boston, MA 02111

  • Veterans’ House: 173 Humboldt Ave., Dorchester, MA 02121

  Faith Leaders for Housing Justice

  “A coalition of Boston area faith leaders collecting and sharing information and stories about issues facing people with housing insecurity.”

  The group is involved in several practical ministries. Leaders include Art Davies, Rev. June Cooper, Sara Mitchell, Jennifer McCracken, Amanda Grant Rose, and Phil Jones. They are working in partnership with the Boston Faith & Justice Network.

  • Website: bostonfaithjustice.org/fl4hj/

  Send Relief: Boston Ministry Center's Friendship Initiative

  “The Friendship Initiative of the Boston Ministry Center seeks to build friendships with neighbors experiencing homelessness. It begins with sharing a meal, engaging in constructive conversations and transforming lives through fulfilling relationships.”

  • Leadership: Andrew Montoya, coordinator

  • Website: sendrelief.org/projects/boston-ministry-center/

  • Phone: (401) 443-6839

  • Location: Boston Ministry Center, 88 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02108

  MANNA (Many Angels Needed Now and Always)

  MANNA is a “ministry of and with the unhoused community in downtown Boston. Through MANNA, we seek not only to welcome folks across differences of class, wealth, culture, race and mental ability, but also to empower all people to claim their place as essential members of our community. We all have gifts to give and to receive. We need each other. And this is why we gather each week to serve, to pray, and to create together.”

  Mission statement: “To provide a space for spiritual refuge and flourishing; To build a community of genuine belonging with the unhoused and unstably housed of Boston.”

  • Leadership: Rev. Jennifer McCracken, contact and lead pastor

  • Website: mannaboston.org

  • Email: mannaboston.org/contact

  • Location: St. Paul’s Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02111

  • Hours of ministries:

    • Gathering of friends over coffee and worship service (Sundays, 8:30 - 11 a.m.)

    • Lunch and worship service (Mondays, 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.)

    • Black Seed Writers Group (Tuesdays, 9:30 - 10:45 a.m.)

    • Quiet Meditation (Tuesdays, 11 a.m. - noon)

  Miracle Mile Ministries

  "Miracle Mile Ministries is a Boston, MA based Christian ministry devoted to a sustained, deliberate, and strategic response to the area we call ‘Miracle Mile’ (a roughly 2-square-mile area in the South End of Boston often referred to as ‘Mass & Cass’ or ‘Methadone Mile’).

  “It is led by a core group of four Boston area Lead Churches (Congregación León de Judá, Antioch Community Church Brighton, Cornerstone Church, and Symphony Church) but involves a universe of a dozen or so churches and parachurch ministries from throughout Boston's neighboring communities who faithfully support this effort week after week.”

  Saturday ministries include breakfast, prayer, clothing distribution, counseling and referral, and street outreach.

  • Website: miraclemileministries.com

  • Email: cljstreetministry@gmail.com

  • Saturdays at 9 a.m. (volunteers arrive at 8 a.m.)

  • Location: Congregación León de Judá, 62 Northampton St., Boston, MA 02119

  Winter Walk

  Winter Walk is a non-profit organization raising awareness and funds to end homelessness in our communities. It centers on an annual walk, 2 miles around the streets of the city in February, one of the coldest months of the year. The Winter Walk raises awareness and funds for 25 non-profit organizations working to alleviate suffering and address the root causes that give rise to homelessness. It helps fund St. Francis House, Common Cathedral, and the Manna Community. Also, various church groups have participated in Winter Walk.

  • Website: winterwalk.org

  • Email: info@winterwalk.org

  Women’s Lunch Place

  Although not specifically a Christian organization, Women’s Lunch Place operates at the Church of the Covenant at 67 Newbury St. in Boston.

  • Leadership: Jennifer Hanlon Wigon, executive director

  • Website: womenslunchplace.org

  • Email: info@womenslunchplace.org

  • Phone: 617-267-1722

  Affordable Housing

  Greater Boston Interfaith Organization

  “The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), founded in 1998, is a broad-based organization that works for the public good by coalescing, training, and organizing people across religious, racial, ethnic, class, and neighborhood lines.” “Our mission is to build power by developing local leaders so we can act together on issues that matter to our communities.” 

  Housing Justice Campaign

  “This comprehensive, multi-pronged, statewide Housing Justice campaign addresses challenges to safe and dignified public housing, affordable rental and homeownership, and access to supportive housing for citizens returning housing justice and other issues.”

  • Leadership: Allie Gardner, chief of staff, (608) 630-3041; Kathleen Patron, executive director

  • Website: gbio.org

  • Email: office@gbio.org

  • Mailing address: GBIO, P.O. Box 190892, Roxbury, MA 02119

  • Location: GBIO, 1803 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, MA 02124

  Habitat for Humanity

  “Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston’s homeownership program provides homeownership opportunities to families without the financial means to purchase a home through traditional methods. By utilizing volunteer labor, sweat equity, and donated supplies and funds, Habitat Greater Boston can build and sell homes at an affordable price to first-time homebuyers.” Since its founding, the organization has used its model to build more than 120 homes in Dorchester, Roxbury, and other neighborhoods.

  • Website: habitatboston.org

  • Phone: 617-423-2223

  • Location: 434 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 201, Boston, MA 02118

• Human Trafficking

  Amirah

  Mission: “Amirah exists to provide a refuge for those seeking to break free from exploitation and heal in community on their journey toward lasting hope. “ “Amirah exists to provide exit and aftercare opportunities to women exiting the commercial sex trade.”

  Amirah’s “supportive services include comprehensive case management, economic stability planning, housing navigation, support groups, individual coaching, and peer care navigation. We provide supportive services to clients living in our residential program, those housed in other local housing programs, and clients housed independently or seeking housing placement.” 

  Amirah also has a rapid rehousing program, a community resource center, and education programs.

  • Leadership: Mary Speta, executive director

  • Website: amirahinc.org

  • Email: info@amirahinc.org

  • Phone: (781)-462-1758

  • Location: 100 Cummings Ctr, Suite 204-J, Beverly, MA 01915 (office)

  Route One Ministry

  “The mission of Route One Ministry is to serve sexually exploited and trafficked women by entering strip clubs and building relationships with the women who work in the clubs. We also strive to equip the local church, and community leaders with the tools they need to understand trafficking, identify vulnerable people, and respond in the most healthy ways to those who have experienced sexual abuse.”

  • Leadership: Bonnie Gatchell, executive director

  • Website: lovedbyrouteone.org

  • Email: info@lovedbyrouteone.org

  Send Relief: Boston Ministry Center’s Beloved Initiative

  “The Beloved Initiative is an effort to serve human trafficking and sexual abuse survivors as they are brought into safe community with opportunities to be mentored and empowered to embrace new identities in Christ.” This ministry is a part of the Boston Ministry Center.

  • Leadership: John Ames, director

  • Website: sendrelief.org/projects/boston-ministry-center/

  • Phone: (401) 443-6839

  • Location: Boston Ministry Center, 88 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02108

• Mental Health

  Harbor Christian Counseling

  “Harbor Christian Counseling provides clinically skilled, biblically informed, gospel driven counseling services for individuals, couples, children and families in the Greater Boston area. Our team also seeks to partner with local churches to provide training and resources that promote a more effective and compassionate ministry to mental health issues within the church.”

  • Leadership: Matt Warren, executive director

  • Website: harborchristiancounseling.com

  • Phone: (617) 299-6516

  • Location: 874 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215

• Poverty & Intersectional

  Boston Faith & Justice Network

  "The Boston Faith & Justice Network brings Christians from many traditions together to move from personal religious commitment to transformative action against poverty and oppression. We foster a dialogue about money and responsibility while presenting opportunities for practical lifestyle shifts and justice-oriented engagement. Economic discipleship—following Jesus with our money—is one of the foundations of our vision for Christ-centered just living."

  • Leadership: Elizabeth Grady-Harper, executive director

  • Website: bostonfaithjustice.org

  • Email: info@bostonfaithjustice.org

  Massachusetts Poor People's Campaign

  The Poor People's Campaign, a national ecumenical and interfaith anti-poverty campaign, seeks to confront the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of health care, militarism and the expansion of the war economy, and the false narratives of religious extremism and white supremacy. Cynthia Parker is one of the local Massachusetts organizers.  

  • Website: poorpeoplescampaign.org/committee/massachusetts

  • Email: massachusetts@poorpeoplescampaign.org

• Racial Justice & Reconciliation

  Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC): The Race & Christian Community Initiative (RCCI)

  RCCI collaborates across racial lines to foster shalom between individuals, communities, and systems damaged by racism. “RCCI works toward this vision by equipping Christians in Greater Boston to engage issues of race in ways that honor the image of God in all people and nurture the righteousness and justice Jesus desires for our communities.”

  RCCI “provide[s] biblically-based discipleship so white evangelical communities can experience — and contribute to — healing from the sin of racism.” RCCI “also work[s] with BIPOC Christians who desire to see transformation in white evangelical communities and the body of Christ at large.”  

  The ministry includes action communities, learning community cohort groups, experiential education, workshops, and coaching. Resource lists, articles, and books are also available.

  • Leadership: Megan Lietz, director

  • Website: egc.org/race and egc.org/race-resources

  • Email: mlietz@egc.org

  • Phone: (617) 262-4567

  • Location: EGC, 44 Moultrie St., Dorchester, MA 02124

  Be the Bridge

  “Our vision is that people and organizations are aware and respond to the racial brokenness and systemic injustice in our world. That we are no longer conditioned by a racialized society but are grounded in truth. That all are equipped to flourish.”

  During 2020 and 2021, UniteBoston launched a “Be the Bridge” Zoom group, where 28 people engaged in weekly conversation with Latasha Morrison’s “Be the Bridge” curriculum. Although this is a national organization, a number of Boston area churches have started “Be the Bridge” groups and used the curriculum.

  • Website: bethebridge.com

  • Email: info@bethebridge.com

• Refugees & Migration

  Awaken City Church: Immigrant Connection

  "Immigrant Connection is dedicated to building a community of inclusion.

  "By providing low-cost legal services to eligible immigrants to secure permanent residency and citizenship, our hope is that they will experience greater access to employment, education, housing, and health services. Our entire community and economy benefit when individuals experience stability and opportunities.

  "Immigrant Connection (IC) is recognized by the Department of Justice, and our services include legal representation for green cards and citizenship, petitions for survivors of domestic violence or violent crimes, family-based petitions, temporary protected status, consular processing, work authorization applications, and DACA renewal applications."

  • Website: awakenboston.org/immigrant

  Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC): Intercultural Ministries

  “Intercultural Ministries (IM) supports immigrant leaders' work in grassroots organizations tuned in to community needs. We leverage our volunteer and church networks, offering thought partnership as our partners share their concerns and make strategic connections to support our partners' priorities. We network, train, and consult to promote effective intercultural ministry and international mission networks in and out of Greater Boston.”

  • Leadership: Sarah Blumenshine, director; Gregg Detwiler, consultant

  • Website: egc.org/intercultural

  • Email: sblumenshine@egc.org

  • Location: EGC, 44 Moultrie St., Dorchester, MA 02124

  Mygration Christian Conference

  “We exist to explore God's heart through stories of migration.” 

  “We believe that the Bible's stories are our stories, and that through the exploration of these stories we can come to a greater understanding of how Christians can positively and proactively respond to the migration crisis in our world today.”

  Mygration Christian Conference sponsors an in-person and online conference each summer and provides educational webinars and resources throughout the year.

  • Leadership: Daniel Montañez, founder and director

  • Website: mygrationchristianconference.com

  • Email: MygrationChristianConference@gmail.com

  UniteBoston: “A Sanctuary for Strangers”

  “We want to help every church, big and small, to feel equipped to address the migrant crisis and mobilize their church to ACT. We have put together a full preaching package complete with designs, multimedia content, sermon examples, and more, to help churches recognize Migrant Sunday across Boston effectively.”

  • Leadership: Rev. Kelly Fassett, executive director; Rev. Devlin Scott, managing director

  • Website: uniteboston.com/a-sanctuary-for-strangers-understand-believe-act/

  • Mailing address: UniteBoston,  P.O. Box 961162, Boston, MA 02196

  Agencia Alpha

  “Our mission is to improve the quality of life of immigrants in Massachusetts by empowering our community members to become leaders, overcome social challenges, and fight against xenophobia. As an immigrant-led, grassroots organization, we work in three areas: community organizing, legalization, & citizenship services.”

  Some of Agencia Alpha’s many services include:

  • Immigration advice and consulting

  • Family petitions and adjustment of status

  • Temporary Protection Status (TPS)

  • Work permit renewals

  • Free citizenship application assistance

  • Citizenship classes (Boston/East Boston)

  • Interpretation and translation services

  Agencia Alpha has also worked with the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative. 

  • Leadership: Patricia Sobalvarro, executive director;  Damaris Velasquez, program director; Vilma Galvez, legalization program director

  • Website: agenciaalpha.org

  • Email: info@agenciaalpha.org

  • Phone: (617) 522-6382

  • Location: Congregación León de Judá, 62 Northampton St., Boston, MA 02118

  True Alliance Center

  True Alliance Center is a faith-based charitable organization that seeks to promote advocacy in the Haitian community related to education, housing, immigration, health, and economic development. The Center advocates for positive change, educates its constituents about their rights and opportunities, provides assistance, and develops partnerships.

  • Leadership: Rev. Keke Fleurissaint, director

  • Website: truealliancecenter.org

  • Email: dieufortnfs@gmail.com or tacempower@gmail.com

  • Phone: (617) 749-6947

  • Location: 1550 Blue Hill Ave., Mattapan, MA 02126

  Send Relief: Boston Ministry Center’s Geneva Initiative

  “The Geneva Initiative of the Boston Ministry Center mobilizes churches to receive refugees and international families in healthy and loving ways, inviting them into a supportive community and connecting them with opportunities in their new home country.”

  • Website: sendrelief.org/projects/boston-ministry-center

  • Phone: (401) 443-6839

  • Location: Boston Ministry Center, 88 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02108

• Youth

  The Boston Project

  “The mission is to engage and equip neighbors, volunteers, and congregations to build strong communities characterized by God’s shalom. 

  “Shalom means wholeness, peace, well-being, righteousness, and justice.”

  The ministry applies “community-building strategies that include strengthening youth and families, developing leaders, multiplying collaborations, and investing in corner-by-corner transformation resulting in a more green, healthy, safe, connected, and economically-empowered neighborhood.”

  • Youth ministry: The Boston Project partners with Young Life Boston. Along with others, Christian and Mary Grant serve as staff for both organizations.

  • Day program: “The Elmhurst Park Program aims to keep neighborhood children engaged by fostering a safe environment where they can grow as a person and develop friendships.” This is a free, summer day program from 12:30 – 4 p.m.

  • Mental health: “The Mental Health Ambassadors program brings together teenagers who are passionate about supporting teen mental health. Together, the MHA team works to decrease the stigma, educate their peers and community about mental health, and create innovative spaces for self-care and healing.”

  • Life coaching: LevelUp Life Coaching “provides teens with a personal life coach, a caring mentor trained to help them create, achieve, and celebrate their goals.”

  • Summer employment

    • Artists in Action: “In collaboration with professional artists, young people bring shalom (peace, justice, healing, wholeness) through visual art pieces benches, murals, sculptures) and performances (music, drama, spoken word, and dance) in our community.”

    • Healthy Youth Champions: In this summer program, “youth work at urban farms and gardens, learn how to cook nutritious snacks and meals, assess community health resources, and educate their peers and children in healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise, self-care, and healthy eating.” 

  The Boston Project also offers leadership development programs and teen jobs.

  • Website: tbpm.org 

  • Email: tbpm.org/contact

  • Phone: (617) 929-0925

  • Location: 15 Elmhurst St., Dorchester, MA 02124   

• General and Multi-Program Organizations

  Black Ministerial Alliance / Ten Point Coalition

  Mission: "to build the capacity of Black churches and ministry leaders to support the empowerment of our youth and families and strengthen the Health and well-being of their surrounding communities."

  The Ten Point Coalition works collaboratively to end patterns of violence in Boston. It seeks to foster cooperation between faith-based organizations and leaders in citywide-crime-reduction efforts and youth intervention.

  • Contact information

    • Leadership: Rev. David Wright, executive director

    • Website: bmatenpoint.org

    • Email: info@bmaboston.org

    • Phone: (617) 445-2737

    • Location: 2010 Columbus Ave. (Lower Level), Roxbury, MA 02119

  • Programs

    • Victory Generation out-of-school programs – see above

    • Vacation Bible School: In partnership with churches

    • Teen Café: Activities and work opportunities to prevent youth violence

    • Community Wellness: Seeks to improve health outcomes and eliminate disparities

  Boston Faith and Justice Network

  Mission: “The Boston Faith & Justice Network brings Christians together to live simply and give generously in pursuit of a just world.”

  • Principles:           

    • Working for justice: “Christians have a Biblical call to be at the front lines of transformative action against injustice.”

    • Practicing economic discipleship: “Economic Discipleship is what BFJN calls the process of following Jesus with our money.”

    • Engaging in Community: “Through our Lazarus at the Gate small group study, BFJN encourages open discussions about wealth, poverty, and Christian responsibility to meet the needs of the suffering and vulnerable.”

  • Programs

    • Service: The “Micah 6:8 programs offer multi-day experiences for those wishing to explore deeply the concepts of justice and generosity in their own lives.”

    • Bible study: Lazarus at the Gate is an eight-week Bible study that challenges participants to understand the Biblical foundation for generosity, simple living and just consumption. BFJN also offers shorter Lazarus at the Gate workshops.

  • Contact information

    • Leadership: Elizabeth Grady-Harper, executive director

    • Website: bostonfaithjustice.org

    • Email: info@bostonfaithjustice.org

  Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC)

  EGC “is a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to supporting the work of passionate individuals, ministries, and organizations seeking to positively impact critical issues in the city. Our collaborative approach aims to create a more equitable, connected, and thriving community for all Bostonians.”

  • Website: egc.org

  • Phone: (617) 262-4567

  • Location: 44 Moultrie St. Dorchester, MA 02124

  • Mailing address: P.O. Box 240017, Dorchester, MA 02124

  The Salvation Army Boston Kroc Center

  The Kroc Center offers fitness equipment and instruction, an aquatics center with a pool, climbing wall, gym, group exercise, youth programs, culinary arts training, programs for seniors, and many other classes.

  The Youth programs include F.E.A.S.T., which stands for “Food, Enrichment, Arts, Spiritual Development and Teaching.”

  “Kids F.E.A.S.T is a children's out-of-school program that aims to provide a relaxed, safe, Christian environment where children experience God’s unconditional love, learn valuable biblical stories, develop appropriate social behavior, discover new skills, pursue interests, utilize talents, make new friends, and have lots of fun.

  “Youth ages 6-12 have the opportunity to receive tutoring and mentoring, spiritual development, social and emotional skill development, fitness fun and enrichment activities.”

  • Website: easternusa.salvationarmy.org/boston-kroc

  • Email: BOKInfo@use.salvationarmy.org

  • Phone: (617) 318-6900

  • Location: 650 Dudley St., Boston, MA 02125

  UniteBoston

  UniteBoston sees its role is to “create opportunities for ‘beloved community’ to emerge, one that leans into our diversities, nurtures belonging for all of God’s children, models redemptive power dynamics, and works together to nurture shalom across historic divides. As we nurture kinship relations among diverse siblings in Christ, we believe our self-giving love for each other will be a collective witness to the reconciling power of the gospel.” 

  • Leadership: Kelly Fassett, executive director; Rev. Devlin Scott, managing director

  • Website: uniteboston.com

  • Email: info@uniteboston.com

  • Mailing address: UniteBoston, P.O. Box 961162, Boston, MA 02196

  Boston Collaborative

  “Christians are serving generously in every sector of Boston. The Boston Collaborative is helping them work together to achieve the greatest impact.

  “Our dream is to see communities transformed and Christians known as redemptive change agents in Boston.”

  The Boston Collaborative focuses on the Boston Trauma Healing Collaborative, Pastors Praying Together, Boston Flourish, and Returning Citizens.

  • Leadership: Jua Robinson, executive director

  • Website: bostoncollaborative.org

  • Email: info@bostoncollaborative.org

  • Phone: (617) 804-6195

  • Mailing address: P.O. Box 365988, Hyde Park, MA 02136

  The Boston Project

  See above for details of programs. Other programs of community organizing and promoting community and individual well-being involve adults as well as youth.

  • Leadership: Paul Malkemes, executive director

  • Website: tbpm.org

  • Phone: (617) 929-0925 (general); (617) 318-6937 (ministry and church)

  • Location: 15 Elmhurst St., Dorchester, MA 02124   

  Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center

  The goal of the Center is “to provide relief and opportunity to the most vulnerable, distressed and underprivileged, undeserved, under-represented people of the greater Boston area, with a particular emphasis on the Haitian community, immigrants and youth in Mattapan, Dorchester and vicinity.”

  • Objectives

    • “To enable limited English speaking adults to access skill building programs and basic services to stabilize families, and develop marketable skills that position them for success.” 

    • “To mobilize the community to address critical issues and opportunities that affect Haitians in Greater Boston.”

    • “To provide high quality education and support services that effectively advance youth along the ‘educational pipeline’ from elementary, middle, and high school through college graduation.”

  The Center operates a large food pantry, a workforce readiness initiative, education programs, refugee ministries, and a youth arts and culture program.

  • Leadership: Rev. Dr. Pierre-Louis Zephir, executive director

  • Website: https://www.gbncc.org/

  • Email: info@gbncc.org

  • Phone: (617) 506-6161

  • Location: 130 River St., Mattapan, MA 02126

  Send Relief: Boston Ministry Center

  “In the heart of Boston, this Send Relief ministry center is dedicated to functioning as a catalytic hub for restorative ministry in and around the city. The center is committed to working alongside local ministries and through the local church to see communities strengthened to the glory of God.”

  “The Boston ministry center is committed to resourcing local churches, renewing ministry workers and families and restoring communities in need across the city. We do this through three initiatives: The Friendship Initiative (relating to homelessness), The Beloved Initiative (relating to human trafficking), and the Geneva Initiative (relating to refugees & international families). See categories above for more detail).

  • Leadership: John Ames, director 

  • Website: sendrelief.org/projects/boston-ministry-center

  • Phone: (401) 443-6839

  • Location: Boston Ministry Center, 88 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02108

• Interfaith collaborators

  This section highlights some organizations that, while not explicitly Christian, are doing meaningful work with churches and faith-based groups to address social issues.

  City of Boston's Faith-Based Monthly Community Meetings and Newsletter

  • Leadership: William Dickerson III, City of Boston, Senior Advisor of Faith-Based Initiatives; Kenneth Moales, assistant

  • Email: william.dickerson2@boston.gov; kenneth.moales@boston.gov

  • Phone: (617) 308-7609

  Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence

  “Our Mission: The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence brings together impacted communities, advocates, public health experts and policy-makers to prevent gun violence in all its forms. Because we recognize that gun violence is a public health emergency exacerbated by economic disparity and systemic racism, we address those root causes through education, policy analysis, trauma informed advocacy, and by amplifying the voices of impacted individuals and communities.”

  “Our Approach: Directed by survivors and member organizations, we seek to strengthen legislation, gun safety practices, research, and funding for community based solutions to create a Commonwealth that is free from gun violence. The Coalition engages in this work through four main avenues: Education, Advocacy, Community Organizing, and Member Support. Many faith-based partners (including EGC) are a part of the coalition.”

  • Leadership: Ruth Zakarin, executive director; Mark Scott, president of the board of directors

  • Website: mapreventgunviolence.org

  • Email: info@mapreventgunviolence.org

More than a fundraiser

More than a fundraiser

Pulling back the curtain on EGC’s content creation process for our annual fundraiser. 

At a historic church space in the heart of Cambridge, a diverse choir has gathered to worship God. But instead of a Sunday, it’s a rainy Saturday morning. In place of a congregation, a camera crew adjusts lights, angles shots, and tries to stay on schedule. But like any church gathering, there is coffee.  

It’s film day for the Emmanuel Gospel Center as we prepare for our annual fundraiser and virtual concert. 

This year, we’re filming at Central Square Church, a sacred space that’s hosted luminaries such as Fanny Crosby, who penned the lyrics to “Blessed Assurance,” and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who preached there to more than 2,000 people on a snowy Sunday evening in 1960.  

EGC film day in preparation for our annual fundraisers. Photography by Rosa Cabán at R9Foto.

Each year, we partner with different churches, which generously host us as we film content for our next fundraiser.   

“It’s yet another point of connection and relationship-building that happens, where these relationships are leveraged and strengthened in the process to create something that will be a blessing beyond that moment,” says Saranya Sathananthan, researcher in residence at EGC. “Every church we’ve filmed in is aesthetically unique, and I do think that being in God’s house contributes to the quality and essence of his presence with us in the moment and in the feel of the final piece.”

Central Square Church’s historic building underwent a renovation in 2020, much like EGC’s fundraisers were remade for the pandemic era. 

“Some sayin’ it’s the ending — I think it’s a new beginning.
”

— Caleb McCoy

Originally the brainchild of Jeff Bass, EGC’s executive director, our annual fundraisers began as dinners hosted by multiple partner churches around the region. 

It was important to Jeff that the fundraiser not just raise funds but also advance the Center’s mission in multiple ways. 

“I love that EGC’s fundraiser is missional for us,” he says. “It raises money for our work, yes, but it also invests in Christian creatives, provides a significant connecting opportunity for Christians throughout Greater Boston, and worships God by celebrating some of the ways we see Jesus at work in our city.”

(l-r) Hanna Garcia, Elijah Mickelson, Jalen Williams, Caleb McCoy. Photo credit: Rosa Cabán at R9Foto.

Over time, we consolidated the fundraiser to one location. For several years, we held the event at Florian Hall in Dorchester or Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan. (EGC staff members still have flashbacks of cleaning the expansive sanctuary with a household vacuum cleaner before resetting all the chairs for the next Sunday’s worship services.)  

Then came the pandemic, and like everyone else, we had to pivot. Our 2020 fundraiser consisted of a single video, “Cry Out,” which included Caleb McCoy’s prophetic line, “Some sayin’ it’s the ending — I think it’s a new beginning.” 

That meant rethinking our approach to content and gathering as a community. 

“God has made us as individuals with different gifts that come to make up and culminate in the whole body. When we collab, we truly honor ourselves, we honor God, and we also bless others.
”

— Giovanni Acevedo

Even before the pandemic, we had been moving away from presentations to embrace the diverse gifts of our staff members and ministry partners, adopting more creative content expressions. 

But our next fundraiser marked a clear separation from the past. The pandemic was the first time we began working with local artists in a consistent, professional capacity, and we created a hybrid in-person and virtual concert event that resembled a drive-in movie theater experience.    

Caleb, EGC’s marketing manager who wrote and performed “Cry Out,” says it’s a beautiful thing to collaborate with talented artists, dancers, filmmakers, musicians, poets, photographers, and singers. 

A compilation of music videos produced and directed by the Emmanuel Gospel Center alongside some of New England's brightest musicians.

“This has strengthened relationships among the Christian creative community, and continues to be a blessing in the city,” he says. “And to think, this largely came out of the chaos of COVID, when many artists shared the same uncertainty with their vocation and expression. It just shows how God continues to make beauty from ashes.”

Jen Aldana, singer, songwriter, and worship leader. Photo credit: Rosa Cabán at R9Foto.

For EGC staff, friends, and ministry partners, it’s a deeply meaningful experience. 

“I am inspired by this unique space where filmmaking, art, and church community blend together to create something beautiful and sacred,” says Hanna Garcia, development manager at EGC.

“God has made us as individuals with different gifts that come to make up and culminate in the whole body,” says Giovanni Acevedo, poet, photographer, and filmmaker. “When we collab, we truly honor ourselves, we honor God, and we also bless others.”  

“Performing and participating in EGC’s fundraiser event was an incredible blessing!” says Jen Aldana. “As a Boston-based artist, it was special to see my work come to life in a new way by creating an acoustic version of my song ‘Trust in You’ — a song about trusting in God through every season, with EGC’s vision. They stand true to their mission by incorporating the arts and empowering and uplifting others. . . It was truly a blessing to take part in.”

“As a Boston-based artist, it was special to see my work come to life in a new way.”

— Jen Aldana

Each film day is a unique opportunity to connect with these artists. Saranya says she was blessed to catch up with them and hear about the latest in their lives. 

“It’s beautiful to see believers with different skills and active expressions of faith come together and contribute to something that uniquely demonstrates those talents and heartfelt stories while also reflecting a bigger picture of our amazing God and all he can do through those whose lives are surrendered to his purposes,” she says. “I left the time feeling full of joy.” 

That joy sees the team through what can sometimes be a messy process of making the sausage. 

“There’s a bit of chaos and feeling that spike of adrenaline, especially for those who are keeping track of the schedule, managing the equipment, and helping with all the logistics that are involved in making it happen,” Saranya says. “All these are things that you don’t really get a grasp of in seeing the final piece.” 

Saranya Sathananthan. Photo credit: Rosa Cabán at R9Foto.

Saranya says she’s wrestled with the filming process. It doesn’t always feel like a natural worship experience with all the bright lights and lidless, one-eyed cameras staring you down. 

“But I’ve been surprised at how the Spirit often moves even in the constrained settings we often film under,” she says. “There was definitely a moment when our EGC choir was singing the Doxology together, hearing our voices magnified through the acoustics in the room, with Pastor Larry [Kim] and Laura [Mitchell] watching and singing along, that I felt like this was my sincere thanksgiving and worship to the Lord. I was grateful to be there with everyone amidst the non-stop laughter and great energy that was created together.”

As Saranya says, we hope this joyful creation and artistic expression “speak truth and encouragement to people in our collective moment and are also often timeless for those moments of needed encouragement.”

You can watch the concert anytime by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

The EGC board, staff, and friends choir at our 2024 film-day shoot. Photo credit: Rosa Cabán at R9Foto.

EGC’s (Inaugural) Shalom-Seekers Book List

EGC’s (Inaugural) Shalom-Seekers Book List

Liza Cagua-McAllister for EGC staff

The Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC) exists to catalyze kingdom-centered, systemic change for the shalom of the city and the glory of God. If you are also on this amazing mission, our staff recently put together a list of books that have influenced and helped us along this challenging journey!

We asked our team: What books from diverse authors have you read that have contributed meaningfully to your shalom-seeking in the urban context? Why were these books significant to you? 

Submissions ranged from systems thinking primers to books on racial healing, from urban ministry classics to challenging new works less than a year old. From the 28 books mentioned by our team, we selected about a dozen to display in our EGC breakroom. Here are a few of those noteworthy titles, with staff comments.

“I find this book important for shalom-seeking in the urban context because... ”

A Multitude of All Peoples 

A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity's Global Identity by Vince L. Bantu (2020) 

In order to know where we are headed, we need to know where we’ve been. Dr. Bantu — a former EGC staff member — brilliantly challenges Western mental models and makes the case for how the Church’s very foundation is multicultural.

Buried Seeds

Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resilience of Marginalized Christian Communities by Alexia Salvatierra and Brandon Wrencher (2022)

Rev. Dr. Salvatierra and Rev. Wrencher glean powerful learnings from faith communities facing brutal challenges and evidencing tremendous power and imagination! From these historic movements, they offer present-day applications to different audiences, which is very helpful given urban shalom-seekers’ diverse experiences and social locations.

The Color of Compromise

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby (2020)

Dr. Tisby offers an eye-opening and thoughtful account of how the Church has been complicit in creating and maintaining the unjust structures of systemic racism in America. This is an important book for understanding one of the key issues of our times.

Ecosystems of Jubilee

Ecosystems of Jubilee: Economic Ethics for the Neighborhood by Adam Gustine and José Humphreys III (2023)

The authors richly engage Scripture to address the relationship between justice and economics, which is so central to making things right in our world. We can’t really live out the gospel without having it reshape our economic ethics, and this is a great beginning!

Seek the Peace of the City

Seek the Peace of the City: Reflections on Urban Ministry by Dr. Eldin Villafañe (1995)

Dr. Villafañe applies the “Jeremiah paradigm” for ministry in the city, laying the biblical and theological groundwork for engaging issues such as violence and reconciliation in the city with the wisdom and truth of God’s word.  

Thinking in Systems

Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows (2008) 

We work in a complex web of interrelated living systems. Understanding systems is fundamental to our work, and this is the classic primer on what systems are and why they matter. It’s a great starting point or great refresher for your systems journey.

Other titles you can find in the EGC breakroom:

• Beholding Beauty: Worshiping God through the Arts by Jason McConnell (2022) 

• Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in our Christian Approach to Immigration by Karen González (2022) 

• First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament trans. by Terry M. Wildman with consultant editor First Nations Version Translation Council (2021)

• Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience Paperback by Sheila Wise Rowe (2020)  

• I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation by Chanequa Walker-Barnes (2019) 

• The Alternative: Most of What You Believe About Poverty is Wrong by Mauricio Miller (2017)

• The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict by The Arbinger Institute (2006)

Come by EGC to borrow one of these copies, check them out at your local library, or purchase them at your local, independent bookstore through bookshop.org!

These books help us pursue the shalom of the city for the glory of God. How about you?

College Ministries and Churches Serving University Students

Skyler via Lightstock

College Ministries and Churches Serving University Students in Boston

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher

With its 150,000 students and 35 colleges and universities, Boston has long been known as one of the leading college towns in America. The greater Boston area has about 50 colleges and universities and over 250,000 students. Known as the Athens of America, Boston also hosts many thousands of international students, scholars, and researchers.

Here is a selective guide to some Boston-area Christian campus ministries and a sample of churches serving college students.

If you are a prospective student, parent, youth worker, or advisor, this information can help you find a Christian group or staff worker. If you believe God is calling you into campus ministry, Boston is a strategic area with many opportunities for ministry. If you have a concern to pray for Boston-area campuses, students, and ministries, this guide provides an overview and some information to start with. Current students with questions about God or the Christian faith can use this guide to find fellow students or campus workers to talk to or meet with.

General Campus Ministries

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)

"The purpose of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is to establish and advance at colleges and universities witnessing communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus as Savior and Lord: growing in love for God, God’s Word, God’s people of every ethnicity and culture, and God’s purposes in the world." — IVCF, Our Purpose

• Leadership: Susan Park, Area Director

• Contact: newengland@intervarsity.org

InterVarsity has ministries, groups, or staff covering the following campuses: Babson College, Berklee College of Music (including Boston Conservatory), Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Bunker Hill Community College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), New England Conservatory, Northeastern University, Radcliffe College, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Some ministries on various campuses are focused on serving specific undergraduate or graduate groups. For example, Harvard Graduate School Christian Fellowship serves Harvard graduate students in the Law School, Business School, and others.

For contacts and information on staff or groups, visit intervarsity.org/chapters.

Cru Boston

“Cru is a caring community passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ. Our purpose is helping to fulfill the Great Commission in the power of the Holy Spirit by winning people to faith in Jesus Christ, building them in their faith and sending them to win and build others. We help the body of Christ to do evangelism and discipleship in a variety of creative ways. We are committed to the centrality of the Cross, the truth of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit and the global scope of the Great Commission. … Cru offers spiritual guidance, resources and programs tailored to people from all cultures in every walk of life.” — Cru, What We Do

• Website: cruboston.com

• Leadership: Sharon Kumar, Cru Team leader in Boston

• Staff contacts: cruboston.com/contact

Cru has groups, ministries, or staff covering the following campuses: Babson College, Berklee College of Music (including Boston Conservatory), Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Bunker Hill Community College, Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Harvard University, Lesley University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New England Conservatory of Music, Northeastern University, Roxbury Community College, Simmons University, University of Massachusetts Boston, Wellesley College, and Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Navigators

“The Navigators Christian Fellowship at Boston University is a community of students and friends who want to know God and Jesus Christ and who want to love and encourage each other while walking through life together in Boston.” — The Navigators Christian Fellowship at Boston University

The ministry has weekly small-group Bible studies and large-group meetings.

Navigators is a 90-year-old international, interdenominational Christian ministry known for its emphasis on discipleship and its motto, “to know Christ and to make him known.”

• Website: bunavs.org

• Leadership

  • Craig Parker, City Leader

  • Rich Brzoska, Campus Director

Chi Alpha

Chi Alpha is a campus ministry that seeks to reconcile students to Christ and build a strong foundation for a lifelong relationship with Him. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination.

In Boston, there are Chi Alpha Christian Fellowships at Boston College, Boston University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

• Website: chialpha.com

Christian Union

Christian Union seeks to “bring spiritual transformation and renewal to campus by seeking the Lord, growing in knowledge and love of His Word.” Staff teach “intellectually rigorous Bible courses, disciple students one-on-one, and coach students to develop as Christian leaders.” — Christian Union

Christian Union ministers at Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

• Website: cuglorialaw.org

• Leadership

  • Don Weis, Christian Union Director of Undergraduate Ministry at Harvard

  • Justin Yim, Christian Union Ministry Director at Harvard Law

• Contact: glorialaw@christianunion.org

Coalition for Christian Outreach

Coalition for Christian Outreach is a national student ministry partnering with local churches. Its vision is to see students empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out the public implications of their personal transformation in every sphere of life. They love Jesus intimately, view the world Biblically, live obediently, join in Christ’s restoration of all things, and invite others to do the same.

Locally, the ministry serves students at Boston College and Berklee College of Music and partners with the Church of the Cross.

• Leadership: Garrett Rice, Campus Minister, Boston College

International Students Inc. (ISI)

“International Students, Inc. exists to share Christ’s love with international students and to equip them for effective service in cooperation with the local church and others.” — International Students, About Us

• Leadership: Steve Hope, ISI Boston City Director

• Contact: internationalstudents.org/massachusets

Boston International Student Ministry

“Our mission is to collectively serve international students, scholars, and their families by providing valuable services and activities. … The services we offer consist primarily of friendship partners, holiday host families, seminars, tourism, and ESL classes (conversational and academic). Spiritual activities such as Bible studies and church participation are also offered for those who are interested.” — Boston International Student Ministry, About Us

• Website: ismbostonwest.org

• Contact: Michael Dean

For more information on international student ministry in Boston, see the Emmanuel Gospel Center’s New England’s Book of Acts, Section 2, pp. 103-113.

Reformed University Fellowship (RUF)

“Reformed University Fellowship - (RUF) is a campus ministry that reaches college students from all backgrounds with the hope of Jesus Christ. College is a time when beliefs are explored, decisions are made, and lives are changed. We invite students into authentic relationships and the study of God’s Word.” — Reformed University Fellowship

• Boston University

  • Website: rufbu.com

  • Campus minister: Nathan Dicks

• Harvard University

  • Website: ruf.org/ministry/harvard-university

  • Campus minister: Michael Whitham

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Website: ruf.org/ministry/massachusetts-institute-of-technology

  • Campus minister: Solomon Kim

Sojourn Collegiate Ministry

Sojourn is a New England campus ministry with a focus on community, justice, and faith. Serving Northeastern University, Boston University, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Tufts University (Bread Coffeehouse).

• Website: sojourncollegiate.com

• Leadership

  • Boston Lead: Linsey Field

  • Executive Director: Tim Hawkins

The Archdiocese of Boston has a Campus Ministry Office with links and information about its many Catholic campus ministries: bostoncatholic.org/chaplaincy-programs/college-campus-ministry.

Athena Grace via Lightstock

Churches with college student ministries or serving college students

Abundant Life Church, Cambridge

A number of college students attend this church led by Pastor Larry Ward. Associate Pastor Kadeem Massiah is experienced in campus ministry.

• Website: alccambridge.org

• Phone: (617) 864-2826

Bethel AME Church

College Corner is Bethel AME’s college ministry.

• Website: bethelame.org/church-school

• Facilitators: Sis. Shironda White & Rev. Carrington

• Phone: ​(617) 524-7900

Boston Chinese Evangelical Church (BCEC)

BCEC has a long history of serving college students.

• Website: bcec.net

• College ministry staff

  • Ryan So, Director Young Adult & College Ministries, (617) 426-5711, x219

  • Chris Horte, Director of Student Ministries, Newton Campus, (617) 243-0100 x207

Central Square Church, Cambridge

The conveniently located congregation tends to have many college students attending.

• Website: centralsquare.church/youngadults

• College ministry staff

  • Jean Shim, Pastor of Young Adults & Ministries

• Phone: 617-420-2232

• Email: info@centralsquare.church

Christ the King Church, Cambridge

Christ the King is centrally located between Harvard and MIT at 99 Prospect St. in Cambridge and supports several Reformed University Fellowship groups on campuses.

• Website: ctkcambridge.org/college

• Phone: (617) 864-5464

Church of the Cross

The campus ministry is a partner with Coalition for Christian Outreach, which is a national student ministry partnering with local churches: ccojubilee.org/about-us.

• Website: cotcboston.org/staffandclergy

• College ministry staff

  • Garrett Rice, Director for Collegiate and Young Adult Ministry

City Life Church

City Life Church serves students from many campuses with community groups, monthly city-wide meetings, and retreats.

• Website: citylifeboston.org/university

• Hyunjo Park and Jamie Lee, University Ministry Interns

• Email: university@citylifeboston.org

Cornerstone Church of Boston

Cornerstone has both young adults and students in its congregation. Its campus ministry contact person is Danny Yoon.

• Website: cornerstoneboston.org/connect/life-stages

Jubilee Christian Church

Jubilee’s College & Young Adult Ministry is called “Influence.”

• Website: jubileeboston.org/influence

• Phone: (617) 296-5683

• Email: connect@jubileeboston.org

Park Street Church (PSC)

PSC partners with Cru Boston to reach undergraduates and InterVarsity to reach graduate students on campus, but college students involved at Park Street Church also participate in other on-campus ministries.

• Ministries

  • College community: parkstreet.org/ministries/college/

  • Internationals: parkstreet.org/ministries/internationals

  • Boston Healthcare Fellowship: healthcarefellowship.org

• Staff

  • Tammy McLeod, Director of College Ministry

  • Tim Leary, Director of Grad Student Ministries

  • Dr. Raymond Kam, Minister to Internationals

Symphony Church

The Symphony College Congregation meets at 967 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston.

• Website: symphonychurch.com/college

• Email: admin@symphonychurch.com

• Staff

  • Michael Oh, College Pastor

*For more complete information on churches, see our online Church Directory and map.

Aimee Whitmire via Lightstock

College Campuses & Christian Ministries Serving Them

• Babson College

  • Cru, IVCF

• Berklee College of Music

  • Cru, IVCF, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Berklee House of Prayer

• Boston College

  • Cru, IVCF, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Chi Alpha, Asian Baptist Student Koinonia (ABSK)

• Boston University

  • Cru, IVCF, Navigators, Reformed University Fellowship, Sojourn Collegiate Ministry, Chi Alpha, Asian Baptist Student Koinonia (ABSK)

• Brandeis University

  • Cru, IVCF, Asian Baptist Student Koinonia (ABSK)

• Bunker Hill Community College

  • Cru, IVCF (Christian Fellowship)

• Curry College

  • IVCF - Crossroads, JAM, Office of Spiritual Life

• Emerson College

  • Cru, Emerson Christian Fellowship

  • See nearby Park Street Church, City Life Church, & Cornerstone Church

  • Center for Spiritual Life: emconnect.emerson.edu/organization/spirituallife

• Emmanuel College

  • Cru, IVCF, Mission and Ministry (including Community Service)

• Harvard University

  • Cru, IVCF, Christian Union Gloria, Southern Baptist Chaplaincy, Foursquare Church Chaplain, Reformed University Fellowship (PCA), Asian Baptist Student Koinonia (ABSK), and other denominational chaplaincies. Radcliffe also has an IVCF group.

• Lesley University

  • Cru, IVCF - Christian Fellowship

• Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt)

  • Cru, IVCF

• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS)

  • Cru, IVCF

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

  • Cru, IVCF, Reformed University Fellowship, Chi Alpha (Baptist Student Fellowship), Asian Baptist Student Koinonia, Octet Collaborative-Christian Study Center, Cambridge Roundtable on Science and Religion (for faculty, contact: dyamash@mit.edu)

• New England Conservatory of Music

  • Cru, IVCF (NEC Christian Fellowship)

• Northeastern University

  • Agape Christian Fellowship (CRU), InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Asian Baptist Graduate Student Koinonia, Chinese Christian Fellowship, Open Table (Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry), Sojourn Collegiate Ministry, Youth Empowerment Ministry, and YWAM Friends (International Students)

• Roxbury Community College

  • Cru

• Simmons College

  • Cru

• Suffolk University

  • Youth Empowerment Ministry

  • See nearby Park Street Church, City Life Church, and Cornerstone Church

• Tufts University

  • C. Stacey Woods Programming Board (Partnering with IVCF), University Chaplaincy, Sojourn Collegiate Ministry (Bread Coffee House)

• University of Massachusetts, Boston

  • Cru, IVCF, Sojourn Collegiate Ministry, UMB Christians On Campus, First Love UMass, and Life On Campus

• Wellesley College

  • Cru, IVCF, Asian Baptist Student Koinonia (ABSK), Wellesley Symphony Church group, Awaken the Dawn (Christian Acapella Group), Wellesley CityLife Church group

• Wentworth Institute of Technology

  • Cru, Alpha Omega

To find further information about specific campuses and groups, you can typically use a search with the following pattern: “name of school” and “student organizations” (category: religious & spiritual).

Christian Creatives and the Church

Photography by R9 Foto for The Emmanuel Gospel Center

Christian Creatives and the Church 

It’s time for the two to support each other. 

by Hanno van der Bijl, Managing Editor, Applied Research & Consulting

Armani Alexis Acevedo is an artist, designer, entrepreneur, and hip hop artist. Everything he does is to glorify God, but at one point in his life, he just could not see a home inside the Church for his creative passion. 

He is thankful for the spiritual foundation he received from his church growing up but he didn’t feel fully supported in his calling until recently. A lot of that has to do with the buy-in of his pastors, including Davie Hernandez, co-senior pastor of Restoration City Church.

“It definitely is an encouragement to know that your pastors support you in that way, from the little things, even sharing my posts, or my songs, or our collections — he's probably wearing one of our tees right now,” Armani said. “Those things really mean a lot.” 

For many people, artistic expression is an important part of their faith. In this video, the Emmanuel Gospel Center connected with Christian creatives and pastors to learn from them how churches can support the artists sitting in the pews.

But Armani still hears parishioners voicing their disapproval: “I don’t think this glorifies God” or “This art is too loud.” These moments don’t come without pain as Armani invests hours and heart into his creative projects.

“As artists, I feel like we do see things a little differently and appreciate detail more and the commitment behind it,” he said.

Christian creatives like Armani intentionally pursue their vocations as believers and artists, actively integrating their faith and work. 

They live in the tension of a Church trying to stay faithful in a changing world. They’re caught between competing visions of what the Church should look like and how it should operate. 

Pastor Davie Hernandez

Davie Hernandez, co-senior pastor of Restoration City Church, wearing one of Almighty Above All’s t-shirts.

Pastor Davie Hernandez

Pastor Davie sporting one of Almight Above All’s t-shirts.

Armani Alexis Acevedo

Armani Alexis Acevedo is an artist, designer, entrepreneur, and hip hop artist.

Almighty Above All

Armani and his brother, Fugi, created the fashion line Almighty Above All.

Armani 2021

Armani says everything he does is to glorify God.

They don’t always feel seen. Many feel like spiritual orphans in a world that neither understands nor values their faith and a Church that neither acknowledges nor appreciates their gifts.          

Some church leaders do see them. They say Christian artists are an untapped resource.

Pastor Valerie “Val” Copeland, pastor of Neighborhood Church of Dorchester, said God has given every Christian gifts and skills for a reason. 

“Christian creatives sit in church without their gifts being used, without space being made for their gifts, while they sort of dry up on the vine,” she said. “If we need a singer or guitarist or drummer, we'll search them out. But where's the imagination to say if they are gifts that God has given you, then it's incumbent upon us to figure out how to make room for them?” 

“Christian creatives sit in church without their gifts being used, without space being made for their gifts, while they sort of dry up on the vine.”

— Pastor Valerie Copeland

It hasn’t always been this way. Historically the Church has been a driving force for the arts, integrating it in its worship, teaching, and architecture. In some places marked by post-Christianity, the churches may be empty but their beauty continues to bear witness.

The arts have the power to speak to people in ways that sermons can’t. The Christian creatives sitting in the pews could help address some of the biggest challenges facing churches today. This is an opportunity for churches to support creatives while at the same time mobilizing them for mission.   

In an effort to help churches do that, we connected with Christian creatives and pastors to learn from them how churches can support and equip the artists sitting in the pews. 

A creative God 

Christian creatives say they draw inspiration from the Creator — and that churches should too. 

“God is the first artist,” Pastor Val said. “The beauty of art and the drama of art calls our hearts to something greater than ourselves and reminds us that God’s design is intentional: the way that he uses color, the way that he uses the drama of thunder and lightning, the way that he calls us to be creative in how we love the world.”   

God’s creation is not only beautiful, it's also unique. He made humans in his image to reflect his creativity. For Michael “Mike Mack” McPherson, founder of Elevation Conference, the rich diversity of God’s created order is the “essence of creativity.”

“God is the first artist. The beauty of art and the drama of art calls our hearts to something greater than ourselves and reminds us that God’s design is intentional.”

— Pastor Valerie Copeland

“He could have easily made every single bug the same — every single ladybug could have the same amount of spots, and he decided that he would splatter and make them all look so different and so unique,” Mike Mack said. “But then we come into the Christian world and we look at art and music and we're like ‘It's supposed to sound like this.’” 

Creatives embrace the call to “sing a new song.” They thrive on expressing themselves through their work, improvising to bring something new out of the old. 

Elevation Conference 2022

The Elevation Conference 2022 team

Elevation Conference 2022

The winners at Elevation Conference 2022.

Elevation Conference 2022

Elevation Conference 2022

The 2022 conference included a panel discussion on how to steward your influence.

Elevation Conference 2022

Elevation Conference attendees.

Elevation Conference

Elevation Conference attendees

Elevation Conference 2019

A panel discussion at Elevation Conference 2019.

Elevation Conference

Wande teaching a workshop at Elevation Conference 2019.

Elevation Conference

Elevation Conference

Steven Malcolm performing at the Elevation Conference concert in 2019.

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A post shared by Elevation Conference (@elevationconbos)

nobigdyl performing at Elevation Conference 2022.

Many creatives feel that a lot of churches function exactly the opposite way. The familiarity of traditions provide safety and stability; however, if churches hold them too tightly there can be little room for something new. The tension between creative expression and commitment to tradition can often be at odds.  

“The overarching problem is that the Church is terrified of so much. The Church creeps around so much,” Mike Mack said. “The Church still has — despite what Paul said — a 'taste not, touch not' mentality (Col. 2:20-23) about almost everything that could be considered sin and is probably not actually sin.” 

Christian creatives often face the impossible task of producing art that checks all the boxes for churches theologically and for the world aesthetically. Placing restrictions on artists that don’t concern the core message of the gospel chokes creativity.

A creative Church 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced churches to get creative. The crisis compounded the new challenges with long-standing issues that surfaced and threatened division. Many people did not return to worship services after lockdown measures were lifted, and increasingly younger generations don’t want anything to do with the institutional church. 

To minister in this new reality, Pastor Val said “our missiology has to shift.” 

“I talk to a lot of folks who are just really hanging onto the Church by a string,” she said.

Christian ministry is often geared to preaching that appeals to the head, but it is missing out on the power of the arts to reach the heart.

“This is definitely an area that the Christian Church has fallen asleep on,” Pastor Val said. “We've sort of limited God to the area of our brain: think about it, write about it, talk about it.” 

Pastor Valerie Copeland

But with the state of the broader culture, this will not be enough to communicate the gospel effectively to many people. The call of Jesus’ Great Commission is to “go” to people instead of telling them to “come” to the Church. 

“I think too often we're waiting for people to meet our criteria — and it's completely backwards,” Pastor Val said. “This idea — I'm willing to do whatever it takes to tell you about God: a God that loves you, a God that inspired all of this beauty, and a God that finds beauty in you — I'm willing to do whatever it takes. You've got to be willing to do whatever it takes.” 

Pastor Val said Grace Chapel’s passion week display was a moving example of how God can use the arts to “preach” the message of the gospel. The display included beautiful art installations with quiet spaces for reflection.     

“The last installation is just an empty tomb, and I can't tell you how that thing just brought me to my knees,” she said. “I've heard many sermons about the empty tomb that didn't bring me to my knees. Seeing that empty tomb brought me to my knees.”

In addition to proclaiming the Good News in different ways, Pastor Val said Christian creatives have the opportunity to help heal the fallout from broken or false views of God. Images have power, and when they’re not created to look like the people they’re meant for, it can have a lasting negative impact. Creatives can step in to redirect the image and narrative that disaffected people have of God.  

“Give them platform, stop hiding them, stop discouraging them, be more encouraging, give them opportunities to present — especially on Sunday mornings. If you look around your congregation, there’s probably people who do all sorts of really cool, really unique things.”

— Mike Mack

“One of the ways that Christian creatives can be helpful is in bringing these important issues to light but also in correcting the narratives that have been associated with these images, and redirecting the narrative towards what is true and who we are as Christian believers,” Pastor Val said. 

For churches that want to take the risk and change their approach to ministry, it will likely mean a painful period of adjustment, she said. But church leaders who worry about how to reach the unbelievers in their community may not realize that God has already provided them with the answer right there in the pews. 

God has equipped Christian creatives in their congregations with gifts to preach the beauty of the gospel. But they must be empowered, not exploited. 

“Give them platform, stop hiding them, stop discouraging them, be more encouraging, give them opportunities to present — especially on Sunday mornings,” Mike Mack said. “If you look around your congregation, there's probably people who do all sorts of really cool, really unique things.” 

Creatives have their own ideas for how churches can begin to support them as they live out their calling to glorify God. They stress that this will mean a change in the usual mindset and approach to ministry. Of the many ways they can help, churches can start praying and thinking creatively about how they approach their finances, building space, and ministry staff. 

Creative with support 

One of the basic ways churches can begin to think creatively about equipping the artists in their pews is by supporting them financially. 

An economy shaped by modern technology and social media has conditioned us to expect things to be free. Coupled with the tendency in churches to spiritualize volunteerism as Christian service, this dynamic puts Christian creatives in a difficult spot. They’re often expected to use their gifts and skills for free. And not complain about it.

“One of the things that does concern me is the inability for creatives, in general, particularly Christian creatives — particularly Christian creatives of color — to make a living,” Pastor Val said.

“We’ve got to start seeing people as an investment in the kingdom versus their output as the investment.”

— Pastor Valerie Copeland

It’s not fair the way churches impoverish Christian artists as they pursue their ministries, Pastor Val said.

“Christian creators contribute so much more to our economy than they get back,” she said. “They contribute so much more to the economy of the Church than they get back.”  

When churches exploit the work of their people, it compromises the Church’s witness to the world.

“Justice starts in the house of the Lord. We cannot be out there fighting for justice and defending the rights of the poor and the exploited and then be exploiting people within the house of the Lord,” Pastor Val said. “We've got to start seeing people as an investment in the kingdom versus their output as the investment.” 

Emmanuel Gospel Center

Filming for EGC’s annual fundraiser at Reservoir Church, Cambridge. Photography by R9 Foto for The Emmanuel Gospel Center.

Individual Christians can also think creatively about their tithing and giving. Mike Mack is confident that there are believers in the area who want to “make sure that New England’s a hub for artistry” and that Christian creatives have the tools and access they need to thrive. 

“Somebody out there has that heart, but they've probably been told that the only way that you can give is to give it directly into the Church,” he said.     

Being open to think creatively when it comes to finances is an opportunity to walk in step with the Spirit and partner with what God is doing on the ground.

“Are you listening to the voice of God? Do you ever wake up in the morning and say, ‘What does my city need? What do I gotta do?’” Mike Mack said. “Do you ever see somebody who's a creative and just think to yourself, ‘Wow, this person could really use assistance. I believe in what they're doing — let me help them out’?” 

Creative with space 

Boston is not kind to Christian artists and creatives looking for event space. They can have a tough time finding venues that will meet their needs at an affordable rate. 

Many churches have significant real estate footprints with resources that could be used to support the work of creatives. Stewarding those resources well has kingdom implications. 

Mike Mack said that along with everyone else, church leaders will one day have to give an account for what they received and what they did with it — “especially the stuff that we prayed for.”

“You look around and it’s like, what resources is the church sitting on? What young, up-and-coming rapper is actually the greatest preacher in your church, and you’re just not utilizing him because you don’t like the way that he does it?”

— Mike Mack

“‘Lord, I need this, please give me this.’ And he's like: ‘You just want it for yourself, you wicked servant. You just want it so you can hoard it. Why should I give it to you?’” Mike Mack said. “Somebody's praying for their building fund right now — got money coming in from everywhere — and have no plans of using it for the people who gave to it.” 

Churches can use their spaces to host concerts, exhibits, and other artistic events. They can work collaboratively with creatives to further the kingdom in their local communities with the use of their building space. 

Creative with staff 

Beyond physical assets and resources, churches can build out their ministry staff with Christian creatives who feel called to serve in the church. 

“Put the creatives in your church on staff. Pay for their position,” Pastor Val said. “Put people on staff so that they're actually able to do what they need to do and also support the life that they need to live.” 

Bringing creatives on staff may not come intuitively to some church leaders. It may mean interrogating our ideas of what a church staffer looks like. 

“You look around and it's like, what resources is the church sitting on?” Mike Mack said. “What young, up-and-coming rapper is actually the greatest preacher in your church, and you're just not utilizing him because you don't like the way that he does it?” 

“Church” may not look exactly the same anymore. Christian creatives may have interests that don’t naturally align with the way many churches usually approach the arts. They might not play a musical instrument or want to lead the children’s Christmas play. 

“It’s glorifying God just in a different approach. I think once people can realize that, they’ll definitely leave more space for more opportunity for creatives like myself and others.”

— Armani Alexis Acevedo

“We have to start — and I'm hoping even at my church — making room for the ministries — no matter how unique they are — so that this is a place where they can flourish,” Pastor Val said. “This is a place where we will financially invest in that ministry just like we're going to invest in the summer camp, the food pantry, the marriage retreat.” 

Pastor Val said church leaders should recognize that creatives are also theologians. They should invite creatives to look for ways they can visually bring to life what is being taught or preached from the pulpit. 

“One of my dreams is that someone would do a dramatic piece of the encounter between Jesus and Satan in the desert, where they have this word battle, and Jesus literally drops the mic at the end. It is done. It's a wrap,” she said. “It's so dramatic. This interaction between Jesus and Satan is intense, it's high stakes. And I'm like, why hasn't this been made into a dramatic piece yet?”

Creatives like Acevdeo are confident churches can make use of them and support them at the same time. He encourages creatives to be plugged into a local church community, rooted and grounded in Christ alone. He believes this spiritual vitality will help shift hearts and minds within congregations to make room for artists with unique gifts who relate in different ways.   

“It's glorifying God just in a different approach,” Armani said. “I think once people can realize that, they'll definitely leave more space for more opportunity for creatives like myself and others.”

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WATCH: Church & Creatives

Have you ever experienced music or art that has helped you feel closer and more connected to God? For many people, creativity and artistic expression have become an important part of their faith. The Emmanuel Gospel Center connected with Christian creatives and pastors to learn from them how churches can support and equip the artists sitting in the pews. Watch this video that dives into this world of faith and creativity while highlighting opportunities for support and collaboration.

Why I Love CUME

Why I Love CUME

by Jeff Bass, Executive Director 

On January 21, I attended the opening convocation day at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Boston campus, more commonly known as CUME, or the Campus for Urban Ministerial Education. I am an adjunct professor at CUME, and each spring, I teach one of their core urban ministry courses, Living Systems in the Urban Context. 

Attending the convocation is one of the obligations of teaching at CUME. But even though I went out of duty, it didn’t take long to reconnect with my sense of why CUME is so important and to remember why I make teaching there one of my priorities. Throughout the day, I was reminded why I love CUME, and I went home with a renewed appreciation for and commitment to CUME’s vital ministry in urban Boston.

I love CUME because it is a genuinely diverse expression of the church in Boston. The Bible is clear that we are heading for a multiethnic reality, with people “from every nation, tribe, people and language” standing before the throne (Rev. 7:9). The CUME community is the best representation of this that I have experienced. The room has no majority and is a glorious mix of Black, white, Asian, and Latino; men and women; people from different countries and backgrounds; and a range of ages from young adults to seniors. It’s a joy to worship, pray, interact, teach, and learn in this beautiful expression of the kingdom of God in Boston.

Jeff Bass teaching a class in the Living Systems in the Urban Context course in Spring 2023. Emmanuel Gospel Center.

I love CUME because of the passion and commitment of the students. The vast majority of CUME students have jobs as well as active ministries. In one small group session, we heard from a student who has a full-time job, is a senior pastor and a grandfather, and is, of course, taking classes at CUME. His energy for his life and learning was palpable, as was the energy from all the students I interacted with that day. It’s inspiring to be with so many people who expressively love the Lord, invest in their learning and growth, and put their faith into action in their whole lives. 

I love CUME because of the real difference it makes in the lives and ministries of its students and graduates. CUME students are urban ministry practitioners. They are not there just for academics but also to deepen their knowledge and practical skill sets so they can engage in effective ministry now and in the future. While I was eating my lunch, a student came over and spoke to me for five minutes about how he is applying what he learned in my systems class and how it is positively impacting his ministry. CUME undergirds the active ministries of its students with theological understanding and tools for practical ministry, and it is fun to see the enormous impact this has had across the church in urban Boston over decades.

“CUME undergirds the active ministries of its students with theological understanding and tools for practical ministry, and it is fun to see the enormous impact this has had across the church in urban Boston over decades.”

— Jeff Bass

I love CUME because of its strong and dedicated leadership. I’ve known CUME’s dean, the Rev. Dr. Virginia Ward, for many years now. She is a gifted and passionate leader who is building a solid team around her. The feeling at the convocation that day was one of confident team leadership, with all the parts working together to create an excellent experience for the students. Despite its many challenges, CUME is well led and is moving forward with strength and competence. 

I love CUME because its mission is critical to the health of the church in urban Boston. CUME’s mission dovetails beautifully with EGC’s mission, and this dovetail is intentional. CUME was founded in the 1970s to provide theological education to urban ministry practitioners. At the same time, EGC was re-envisioned as a center for applied research and ministry development, all in the service of Christian leaders. As we approach the 50th anniversary of CUME’s founding, I love seeing CUME’s vision and mission still being turned into a beautiful reality each semester as we continue to work together to strengthen Christian leaders and seek the peace and prosperity of this city to which we have been called.

Snapshot of CUME

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary—Boston

Campus for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME)

1976

CUME was founded in September 1976 at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Student Body*

For the 2021 to 2022 academic year, total enrollment at CUME stood at 138 students, including 86 men and 52 women. 72% of the enrolled students are ethnic minorities, not including international students. The students represent 28 denominations and come from 19 different countries. Like other theological schools, CUME’s enrollment has been negatively impacted by the COVID pandemic.

• African American: 46 students (33%)

• Asian: 25 students (18%)

• Hispanic or Latino: 26 students (19%)

• White: 12 students (9%)

• Two or more races: 2 students (1%)

• Unknown/Unavailable: 19 students (14%)

• International Students: 8 students (6%)

Faculty

CUME has two full-time and 14 adjunct professors.

• African American: 10 (63%)

• Asian: 1 (6%)

• Hispanic or Latino: 1 (6%)

• White: 4 (25%)

Certificate and Degree Programs

• Urban Ministry Graduate Certificate

• MA in Christian Ministries

• Master of Divinity, including the Urban Ministry Track

Languages

Classes are taught in English as well as some in Spanish and Portuguese.

*The data is based on Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s ATS Enrollment Reports for Fall 2021. The numbers are based on fall census data from September 27, 2021, and not on full-year totals.  

Contact Jeff

New Form

Mutual learning is helping Black churches thrive

Pastor Jean Louis of Free Pentecostal Church of God and Pastor Bisi Asere of Apostolic Church LAWNA meet for the first time in person after participating in online meetings for half a year. Rosa Cabán with R9 Foto for The Emmanuel Gospel Center

Mutual learning is helping Black churches thrive

Black Church leaders reflect on God’s work in Boston.

By Hanno van der Bijl, Managing Editor, Applied Research & Consulting

“I see God bringing people together, having conversations that are important that we haven’t had. We’re being more open with one another and more transparent about ways that we can partner and collaborate.”

That sentiment expressed by Gina Benjamin was echoed by others reflecting on God’s work in Boston at a recent meeting for the Boston Black Church Vitality Project. 

Benjamin, social services director of the community center at Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church in Hyde Park, is part of the project’s Thriving Initiative, a cohort of 10 ethnically and denominationally diverse Black churches that are located in four predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city.   

Members of these churches participating in the cohort said God is using the pandemic and other challenges not only to unify and strengthen the Church, but also to create opportunities for compassion and evangelism. 

The cohort meets together for two hours every other month for fellowship, peer learning, skills-based workshops and group training, and discussions about opportunities for collaborative ministry. During a meeting earlier this year, two church leaders shared their strategies for serving the community and keeping their congregants safe from COVID during worship services.  

Caring for the community

At the onset of the pandemic, Fania Alvarez, who heads up The Greater Boston Nazarene Compassion Center (GBNCC), said the leadership team decided they could not stop. But they knew they would have to do things differently.

The GBNCC runs a food pantry that distributes more than 7,000 pounds of food to families in need every week. When COVID hit, people started lining up hours earlier than usual with little social distancing. 

The GBNCC decided to open up a couple of hours earlier to accommodate the crowd.

“It was really challenging, but God was in the midst of it,” Alvarez said. 

Launched by the Haitian Church of the Nazarene — Friends of the Humble almost 30 years ago, the GBNCC serves low-income families and individuals who have limited access to services and resources in the community. 

In addition to the food pantry, the ministry runs a safety-net program, assisting people with government programs such as SNAP and WIC. The GBNCC also provides English language literacy and workforce development classes.

Once the vaccines became available, the ministry served as a vaccination clinic. The shots were a godsend, but some people were hesitant, Alvarez said.

“We had to find strategies to work with them. We had to go out and convince and educate them on the vaccine,” she said. “It wasn’t an easy time, but we made it. We can say we made it.” 

Churches that want to develop a social ministry of their own need a dedicated leader who is able to manage programs and secure resources from donors and charitable organizations. 

“Pray to the Lord so you can find somebody that has the heart for it,” Alvarez said.  

In a meeting earlier this year cohort participants were asked: “What do you see God doing in the city?” Here’s what they said.

Managing churcH through pandemic

In 2017, the Rev. Kenneth Sims at New Hope Baptist Church started bringing bank machines into the church services. 

“Some of our real spiritual-deep folk thought that I lost my mind bringing a machine to receive tithes and offerings,” Rev. Sims said. “But that was the biggest aspect of our giving.” 

He also felt compelled Sunday after Sunday to tell his congregants to get a smartphone.

“It didn’t really seem spiritual at the time,” he said. “The church eventually caught on. Every Sunday — especially the seniors — would flash their smartphones and say, ‘Reverend Sims, I have a smartphone. I don’t know how to use it but I have one.’” 

Then the pandemic hit. No collection plates were passed around to receive contributions. All in-person services stopped. 

“I just thank God … because we weren’t scrambling,” Rev. Sims said. “That taught me one thing: to really listen to the voice of God even when it’s in opposition to what many people are thinking. Listen to God because he knows the future.”

Rev. Sims met with nurses in the church to chart a way forward. An executive committee made up of four teams was formed to oversee the church’s response to COVID.

“We knew we were coming back to church,” he said. “We didn’t know when, so we started planning so that we’d be prepared.” 

A security team oversees registration, traffic, and parking. A health-and-hygiene team handles pre-screening, including handwashing, mask-wearing, and seating. A social distancing and redesign team handles seat spacing and equipment. A cleaning and disinfecting team cleans the bathrooms after each use. 

Rev. Sims said members of the congregation took ownership of the various teams and made a difference. 

“It got the people involved, and it wasn’t all about me. I’ve been trying for the last few years to get away from that — to stay in my role, of course, overseeing — but not having to do it directly,” he said. “People have been empowered, and they have taken off. I don’t get in their way.” 

After a five-month hiatus, the church resumed in-person worship services in August 2020. Rev. Sims said the church continues to practice the safety measures it put in place.

“Our main concern was that our people remained safe,” he said.

The executive team spent many hours meeting, praying, discussing, and researching their options to balance out the physical and spiritual needs of the congregation.

“I did not believe that New Hope could survive spiritually being away from the church gathering from March 2020 to now,” Rev. Sims said. “I could not see that.” 

While some members have come down with the virus, Rev. Sims said it was not due to their worship services as far as they know. 

“We have not had any kind of super-spreader situations going on at New Hope since we’ve returned,” he said. “That’s been a tremendous blessing for us.” 

With even more tools at their disposal than they had at the beginning of the pandemic, Rev. Sims is confident the church can keep moving forward.

“I’m just of the impression that, yes, let’s do all that we can to be safe: let’s do everything that we can, and then we’re leaving the rest up to the Lord,” he said. “What I can’t control, what I can’t power over, I leave that to the Lord.”

TAKE ACTION

The Thriving Initiative is a three-year process rooted in learning, discerning, and doing ministry. Participating churches are examining their mission and values in light of shifting social and cultural landscapes in Boston. 

By deploying tools such as interview guides, congregant surveys, and ministry inventories that BBCVP designed to support churches in understanding the needs and perspectives of congregant and community stakeholders, the cohort leads in a learning endeavor that seeks to model the work of reflection that is essential in order for the Church to remain relevant and vital. 

Through online articles, reports on what is being learned, videos, and data visualization, the Boston Black Church Vitality Project project will share these stories of innovation, successful strategies, and effective use of leverage points that exemplify models of prophetic leadership, community care, spiritual formation, and the pursuit of justice. 

The Thriving Initiative is generously funded by the Lilly Endowment with additional support from Boston Baptist Social Union and others. For more information, visit blackchurchvitality.com.

Would you be willing...?

Would you be willing...?

by Jeff Bass, Executive Director

Editor’s Note: In this opinion piece, Emmanuel Gospel Center’s executive director, Jeff Bass, shares how his life took an unexpected turn from the suburbs to the city. His story is one of the many ways God calls different people — from those down the street to others around the globe — to embrace the call to join him in his “divine mission for redemption.”

There I was. Alone in a room with the Rev. Dr. Michael Haynes. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Would you be willing to go to the city?”

But I wasn’t really alone. I was among thousands of other college students that Dr. Haynes, the senior minister of Boston’s historic Twelfth Baptist Church and former pastor of Martin Luther King Jr., was addressing at Urbana ’79, just south of Chicago. That question has led to other “Would you be willing” questions over the decades, each one shaping God’s call on my life.

Urbana is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s famous missions conference, but I really had no interest in being a missionary. My college roommate and I had asked the English theologian John Stott a question when he spoke at Princeton a few months back, and Dr. Stott invited us to discuss it more over breakfast if we would come to Urbana in December. In retrospect, I think he was keener on getting us to Urbana than he was truly interested in our question. Be that as it may, after Christmas with my family in the suburbs of Cleveland, I drove to Urbana to have breakfast with Dr. Stott and attend the conference.

Jeff Bass as a young college student around 1979. Emmanuel Gospel Center.

It turned out that Urbana ’79 was an amazing experience. Forty-plus years later, I remember Luis Palau’s dynamic speaking, the energetic worship, the challenging small-group conversations, and a very well-orchestrated communion service with 17,000 participants. I don’t remember Billy Graham speaking, though I see he was on the agenda. I do remember that Dr. Stott’s devotions on Romans each morning were the best Bible teaching I’ve ever heard, and I remember that it was cool to have breakfast with one of the greatest theologians and Christian leaders of our time — though I don’t remember gaining much ground on our question.

What I remember most was Dr. Haynes’ passionate speech about the importance of God’s work in the city. I remember him saying at the end of his talk, “Some of you will be called to the city.” Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I just discovered that what he really ended with was:

“God this day may be directly calling you to personally covenant with him in a partnership to fulfill the most exciting yet demanding and critical mission of the Church of Jesus Christ in this new age and in the decade of the 1980s — right in center city, urban America, USA.

Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, our Lord is waiting for you to walk and work the city streets of this world with him in a divine mission for redemption. Would you be willing to go to the city?”

I can’t explain it, but it really did feel for a minute like Dr. Haynes was talking just to me — like I was alone with him in that big hall, and the Holy Spirit was asking me: Would you be willing to go to the city? And somehow, I knew at that moment I was being called to the city.

“I can’t explain it, but it really did feel for a minute like Dr. Haynes was talking just to me — like I was alone with him in that big hall, and the Holy Spirit was asking me: Would you be willing to go to the city?”

— Jeff Bass

Of course, I had no idea what that meant. It would not have been any stranger to me if Dr. Haynes had said, “Would you be willing to go to the farm?” I really had no connection with the city, and no real interest in the city either. I grew up in the burbs and was happy there. I picked Princeton over MIT in part because of its bucolic campus. I was studying environmental engineering and thought I would be headed to the woods someday.

But God had other plans. Not only was he calling me to the city, he was calling me to Dr. Haynes’ city. In the summer of 1981, I graduated from college, got married, moved to Watertown just outside of Boston, and started a new job as a hazardous waste management consultant at Arthur D. Little in Cambridge. And so began a journey to develop what so many others have had all along, a sincere love and appreciation for urban communities and urban people in general, and a passion for Boston in particular.

My wife, Ellen, and I did our best to get to know urban Boston. We joined an urban church — Ruggles Baptist on the border of Boston and Brookline. (It seemed pretty urban to us at the time.) We found a little ministry in the Yellow Pages (yes, this was pre-Google) called Christians for Urban Justice and started volunteering with them.

Through Ruggles, we met other people who cared about the city, and eventually, ten of us moved together to Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood, building homes on land no one wanted. And through Christians for Urban Justice, Ellen and I met folks at the Emmanuel Gospel Center, including Doug and Judy Hall. I took their inner-city ministry course in 1988 and got my first introduction to systems thinking in Christian ministry. Around that time Doug, EGC’s executive director, asked me to join the organization’s board. From there, Rev. Bruce Wall, EGC’s board chair and a spiritual son of Dr. Haynes, encouraged me to join the staff in 1990, and I replaced Doug as executive director in 1999.

My life took a turn in December of 1979. An opportunity to have breakfast with a Christian leader I admired turned into an apparently clear word from the Holy Spirit, which led to a whole series of “Would you be willings”: Would you be willing to come to the city? … to move to Mission Hill? … to raise your family here and send your kids to Boston Public Schools? … to learn from the richness of people often labeled as “poor”? … to become friends with, work with, and work under people who are very different from you?

These “Would you be willings” challenged my faith, caused me to take risks and to grow, and led me to make choices in my life to follow through on what the Lord was calling me to.

More lately, the “Would you be willings” have been: Would you be willing to lament? … to find the courage to speak up even when it’s challenging or costly? … to repent of your arrogance and grow in humility? … to see things from other perspectives? … to give up power to empower others? … to learn to serve in new ways?

The journey has been — and continues to be — challenging, fulfilling, and often unexpected.

I want to continue to be willing…

TAKE ACTION

Since Dr. Haynes spoke to the young crowd at Urbana in the late 1970s, urban ministry has become even more crucial to the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ as more and more people migrate to the world’s cities. A lot has changed since then, and I wonder what challenges Dr. Haynes would have for us today.

I am clear that the Holy Spirit often challenges us with “Would you be willing...?” to invite us to cooperate with what God is doing around us. What “Would you be willings” is the Lord asking of you?

• Would you be willing to embrace the new opportunities God has created for the church through the COVID pandemic?

• Would you be willing to fight racism and injustice in your settings, even if it is personally costly to you?

• Would you be willing to listen to “the other side”?

• Would you be willing to follow instead of lead if leading has been your norm?

• Would you be willing to take the risk to follow God in a new way in this challenging season?

Jeff Bass

Jeff Bass joined the staff of EGC in 1991, and was named executive director in 1999. A graduate of Princeton University (civil engineering major), Jeff first worked as a consultant for Arthur D. Little, Inc., but left in 1987 to become the business manager of a local church, where he learned first-hand about the inner workings of an urban congregation. In 2014, Jeff was granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Gordon College. Jeff is an avid tennis and paddle tennis player. He and his wife, Ellen, have two adult children and two amazing grandchildren.

Nurturing Black Church vitality

Nurturing Black Church vitality

Black churches in Boston embark on long-term learning initiative   

by Hanno van der Bijl, Managing Editor, Applied Research & Consulting

The Boston Black Church Vitality Project (BBCVP) at the Emmanuel Gospel Center is kicking off its Thriving Initiative with a cohort of ethnically and denominationally diverse Black churches that are located in four predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city. 

These past few years, churches have faced a compounded crisis without the most essential part of their legacy — the ability to gather, fellowship, pray and worship together. Many Black churches are still grappling with the challenges extended by prolonged closure. 

The convening of a cohort committed to learning, growth, and collaboration during times when Christian community has become increasingly siloed due to the isolating effects of the pandemic is a testament to the resilience and dedication of Black pastors in the city.

The initiative is a three-year process rooted in learning, discerning, and doing ministry. Participating churches will examine their mission and values in light of shifting social and cultural landscapes in Boston. 

“We’re not here to save anybody. We’re not here to fix anybody. We’re not here to tell anybody what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. That’s not the goal,” said Dr. Emmett G. Price III, CEO of the Black Christian Experience Resource Center and Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. “The goal is to bring folks together, who are already doing the work in powerful and meaningful ways, so that you can share best practices with each other.”

“The goal is to bring folks together, who are already doing the work in powerful and meaningful ways, so that you can share best practices with each other.”

— Dr. Emmett G. Price III

By deploying tools such as interview guides, congregant surveys, and ministry inventories that BBCVP designed to support churches in understanding the needs and perspectives of congregant and community stakeholders, the cohort will lead in a learning endeavor that seeks to model the work of reflection that is essential in order for the Church to remain relevant and vital. 

“Nobody really wants to talk about what happens on the ground in Boston, because Boston doesn’t fit into the phenotype of the quote-unquote Black Church in the nation — you know that better than anybody else,” Dr. Price said, addressing cohort participants. “So, here’s our opportunity to come together and talk about what vitality and thriving looks like, and not to wait for other people to come tell us about ourselves.” 

Through online articles, reports on what is being learned, videos, and data visualization, the BBCVP project will share these stories of innovation, successful strategies, and effective use of leverage points that exemplify models of prophetic leadership, community care, spiritual formation, and the pursuit of justice. 

“For us to prepare as the Black Church — broadly defined, narrowly defined — we need data. We can’t just keep doing things on a wing and a prayer,” said Rev. David Wright, executive director of BMA Tenpoint. “We want to gather hard data so that we can assess what’s happening and then begin to prayerfully make plans so that we can prepare for the future.”

“We want to gather hard data so that we can assess what’s happening and then begin to prayerfully make plans so that we can prepare for the future.”

— Rev. David Wright

The cohort is made up of a diverse group of church leaders that includes Black Americans, Haitians, Nigerians, and St. Lucians. And the diverse list of churches represents historic neighborhoods in the city, including Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Roxbury.

“We understand that the Black Church is not monolithic,” said Jaronzie Harris, program manager at the BBCVP. “So, I’m excited to hear what kinds of conversations are coming out of that exchange, what we have to learn from each other, what we have to share with each other.”

“I’m excited to hear what kinds of conversations are coming out of that exchange, what we have to learn from each other, what we have to share with each other.”

— Jaronzie Harris

During the first cohort meeting, pastors and church leaders shared their excitement about the project as well as the places they’re already witnessing vitality.

Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church is addressing food insecurity and digital literacy as well as providing community education on COVID-19 and distribution of personal protective equipment, said Rev. Dr. Joel Piton, senior pastor of the Hyde Park church.

Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury is also focused on communal care with peace walks, a preschool and after-school program, as well as a food pantry and vaccination center. In addition, the church provided financial resources for families negatively impacted by the lengthy U.S. federal government shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019.

“What’s deep in my heart is the proactivity of the gospel,” said Rev. Willie Bodrick II, senior pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church. “I think it is the framework in which Jesus presents to us how we should manifest our words and the words of ministry into the actions of people’s lives.” 

“What’s deep in my heart is the proactivity of the gospel. I think it is the framework in which Jesus presents to us how we should manifest our words and the words of ministry into the actions of people’s lives.”

— Rev. Willie Bodrick II

TAKE ACTION

The Thriving Initiative is generously funded by the Lilly Endowment. For more information, visit blackchurchvitality.com.

Resources for Christians Navigating Political & Theological Divides

Resources for Christians Navigating Political & Theological Divides

Compiled by Andrew Tsou and Dean Borgman

We live in polarizing times—but we’re not the first. Many time-tested kingdom principles about how to engage with others in political matters are already recorded in insightful Christian books and resources.

““Moving out to do something has to have a deeply spiritual basis.” - Professor Dean Borgman”

On November 9, 2018, the Emmanuel Gospel Center held its first Long View Session—a new series of gatherings where seasoned, visionary ministry thinkers discuss matters crucial to the future of urban ministry and Christian engagement in society. At the inaugural session, Professor Dean Borgman discussed Christians’ call to engage in political conversation amidst explosive and frayed emotions in our nation, state, and communities, and he offered tips and resources to light the way.

Upcoming Long View Sessions

Tell me about upcoming Long View Sessions!

Long View Session participants also had the opportunity to share ways that they’re already engaging—well, poorly, or not at all—with friends and family on issues of political relevance.

“Moving out to do something has to have a deeply spiritual basis,” Prof. Borgman cautioned. For biblical principles on how to engage well about politically-charged issues when talking to friends, family, and people on the other side of political divides, check out Dean’s recommended resources below.

Suggested Resources

The New York Times, September 29, 2018

“What should the role of Christians in politics be? More people than ever are asking that question. Christians cannot pretend they can simply transcend politics…. Those who simply avoid all political discussions and engagement are essentially casting a vote for the status quo.” - Pastor Tim Keller

Evangelicals on Public Policy Issues: Sustaining a Respectful Political Conversation by Harold Heie (2014)

“…One of my primary proposals for a “Way Forward” beyond the debacle of current American Politics that emerged from my recent eCircle on “Reforming American Politics” is that politicians and their supporters need to ‘develop personal relationships of mutual understanding and trust by listening to and talking respectfully with those who disagree with them’. …To develop such a personal relationship is to become a friend.” - Harold Heie

The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted by Obery Hendricks (2007)

Obery Hendricks is an ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a former Wall Street Investment executive, and a scholar, professor, and author also of Living Water and The Universe Bends Toward Justice: Radical Reflections on the Bible, the Church, and the Body Politic (2011).

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis (2006)

God’s Politics covers the taboos of talking about religion and politics, and how spiritual values impact international relations, economic justice, social issues, and social change.

The Politics of Jesus by James H. Yoder (1994)

“Tradition has painted a portrait of a Savior aloof from governmental concerns and whose teachings point to an apolitical life for his disciples….Such a picture of Jesus is far from accurate,” argues John Howard Yoder.

Yoder gives us a picture of a political Jesus, and offers a polemic for Anabaptist pacifism.

Other Movements, Organizations & Resources

Civilitas, Doug Birdsall

Civilitas represents a foundational commitment to strengthen the influence of the Bible and the role of the Church as a means of bringing healing and cohesion to our fragmenting society.

Civil conversations will work to change the tone of our society by supplanting vitriolic public discourse with respectful listening, constructive exchange, and positive partnerships.

Revive Civility, from the National Institute for Civil Discourse: To Restore and Call for Civility in our Democracy

Integrated research, practice and policy to support and engage: 

• Elected officials who are capable of working to solve the big issues facing our country.

• A public that demands civil discourse as well as government that works in the best interests of the country as a whole. 

• A media that informs citizens in a fair and responsible way.

Citizen Engagement and Civil Discourse Resources

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is committed to the success of all legislators and staff. Its mission is to:

• Improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures.

• Promote policy innovation and communication among state legislatures.

• Ensure state legislatures a strong, cohesive voice in the federal system.

Where to Plant a Church in Boston: Areas of Growth

Where to Plant a Church in Boston: Areas of Growth

by Rudy Mitchell and Steve Daman

Want to know where to plant a church in Boston? You might consider Boston’s newest or soon-to-be-built residential growth sites. New neighborhoods and new residents mean new opportunities for planting new churches.

Take a look at these eight neighborhoods of current or immanent growth, based on public and private development plans. Given the general population trends, these are priority areas for outreach and new churches.

Map showing plans for potential expanded neighborhoods, from Imagine Boston Expanding Opportunity, City of Boston, Draft November 2016, p. 25

Neighborhood change is ongoing. Boston’s new neighborhood development will not happen all at once. Some areas have residential developments in process or already completed, like the Seaport District, the South End, Jamaica Plain, and to some extent Allston-Brighton. Other areas, like South Boston and Charlestown, already have many new young professionals and some new housing, but much more will be built in the next five years. Other areas, specifically Suffolk Downs and the Beacon Yards part of Allston, will most likely take more than five more years to develop.

Your geographic and demographic focus. Of course, reaching into newer neighborhoods is not for everyone. Ministry leaders should prayerfully select their geographic focus and adapt their strategies to the types of residents they are called to serve. The church in the city can be adapted in countless ways, and church planters can reach and serve a diversity of current and newer residents because the Gospel is for all people. Congregations may—by their form, style, or language—be better equipped to reach specific groups of people with whom they can make the most impact.

Church planters seeking primarily to reach specific immigrant groups like Nigerians, Brazilians, or Vietnamese, for example, need to know where these nationalities are more concentrated. Churches seeking to serve college students need to find meeting space within walking distance of campuses or in reach of public transportation while being sensitive to the needs, concerns and culture of students. Leaders seeking to reach and serve Boston’s new population growth areas will need to take the time to understand the characteristics, cultures, work, and interests of the people who will be living there.

Here’s a look at eight of the bigger residential development areas across the city:

1. Seaport District by the Waterfront. While there are many new high-rise housing and office buildings being built here, there are very few churches in the area.

2. South End. The northeastern and eastern parts of the South End from the Ink Block to the Boston Medical Center between Albany and Washington Streets will soon have hundreds of new apartments and condos which are being planned and built. Will the South End churches be ready?

3. South Boston from Andrew Square to the Broadway MBTA stations. Although still in the future, “Plan: South Boston Dorchester Avenue” calls for 6,000 to 8,000 new housing units. DJ Properties is also building Washington Square, a mixed use development near Andrew Station with 656 residential units. The nearby Widett Circle and New Market/South Bay areas are also potential major development sites proposed by the City of Boston. Currently there are already many new housing units and new residents around Broadway and in South Boston generally. The neighborhood has few Protestant churches.

Nine-building Washington Square Development with 656 residential units approved and to be completed in the next four years.

4. Charlestown – Sullivan Square and other areas. The Sullivan Square area is one of the six main areas the City of Boston has proposed for major housing expansion. Meanwhile the 1,100 units of the Bunker Hill Housing Development will be totally redeveloped into 3,200 units of mixed housing. Charlestown has very few Protestant churches.

Bunker Hill Housing Development Plans

5. Allston Brighton – Beacon Yards. This is one of the six major areas proposed by the City for development into new expanded neighborhoods. The Boston Landing Campus of New Balance is an area with new residential units and Stop & Shop will be building 1,000 new housing units. Other major housing developments are in the works as well.

Boston Landing in Allston near New Balance (NB Development Group and HYM)

Residential development with 295 units for 2018 opening.

6. Roxbury – from Dudley Square area to Ruggles MBTA station. Coming up in the next several years is the recently approved $500M Tremont Crossing development with over 700 apartments. The nearby Whittier St. Housing Project received funding for a full redevelopment into an expanded mixed income development. Other significant residential developments are also in the works, and Northeastern University is expanding in the area with high-rise dorms.

Tremont Crossing, just one mile from EGC

Whittier Choice redevelopment with 387 units of mixed income housing in three new buildings.

Whittier Choice redevelopment near Ruggles Station.

7. Jamaica Plain – Forest Hills Station. This area is booming with several large new housing developments in various stages of planning and completion. Also, the nearby Washington Street corridor recently completed a new (and controversial) plan which includes potential new residential development in addition to what is already being built in the area. Although there are some thriving churches in this area, because there will be so many new residents there is room for more churches not only here, but throughout Jamaica Plain.

The Residences at Forest Hills

8. Suffolk Downs. In the future, this former racetrack will likely become a whole new community. This massive 161-acre site is one of the six major areas proposed by the city for expansion, and was recently purchased by a developer, HYM Investments. This could become one of the largest developments in the whole region.

Planting now for future harvest. As these new communities emerge across the city, the need to plant new congregations should be high on the list for Christians in Boston as we think about the witness and work of the Kingdom of God over the next few decades.

Take Action

Learn more about the City’s plans for housing new residents.

Connect with the Greater Boston Church Planting Collaborative.