God Met Me in Boston [Interview]

God Met Me in Boston: Interview with Cherchaela Spellen

If you’re ministering in Boston, you’re probably familiar with the well-worn “godless New England” narrative. Academic reports and popular publications have cited Boston as one of America’s most “post-Christian” cities, reinforcing this image in the national consciousness.

But there’s another reality—of today’s Boston Christian vitality—that such reports do not capture.

We sat down with Cherchaela Spellen, Lead Facilitator of the Making Youth Voices Heard initiative in Roxbury.  She shares that despite being raised in a ministry family she didn’t personally connect with God until she moved to Boston. Here are excerpts from our conversation.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and what brought you to Boston?

I’m 21. I’m from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. I grew up there. I came to Boston through a student exchange. I did a semester at UMass Boston, for my undergrad in Biology. I went back home, graduated, and was like, “Hmm, I really like Boston!” So I decided to take a risk and apply to grad school in Boston.

Tell me a little bit about your spiritual background growing up.

My grandfather started a church called Zion Assembly in St. Thomas. Honestly, I was just going to church because I sort of had to, not really because I had a personal relationship or experienced God in some sort of magnificent way.

Then my grandmother fell sick with Alzheimer’s Disease, and my mother ended up taking over the ministry, which was mind-blowing! My mom had wanted nothing to do with preaching. She was like, “I’m NOT going to be a preacher!” But she ended up taking over the ministry.

But I feel as if I really started understanding God at a better level when I came here to Boston. Christianity was always my parents’ faith. When I came to Boston, I had the freedom to choose whether I wanted to keep a relationship with God, or I wanted to explore other things. Then the Lord just moved in my life magnificently.

“I feel as if I really started understanding God at a better level when I came here to Boston.”

I had done my undergrad in Biology, but I ended up switching to social work for grad school because I felt Him calling me to do that.  Also, I had met some really cool people at CrossTown Church International. I started volunteering there, just as an administrator, and then God was telling me to do more. So I did an open mic night for the youth in the Roxbury community.

What are some challenges you’ve experienced on this journey?

There were some relationships that I’ve had to let go of, and I believe that God brought me here to make it easier, because those relationships were back home. So it was a transition state for me. I just put my full attention on Him and I was like, “Lord, lead, me, direct me, wherever you want me to go, I’ll go.”

And honestly, when I accepted BC’s package to me, I was like, “Why am I going to BC? I’m not equipped to go to BC! I’m just this island girl! I don’t even know how to talk the lingo. I know nothing about social work.”

But He was like, Trust me. And I trusted Him. I still trust Him. I have a better relationship with Him now since I’ve been here. I feel like God is using this time to minister to me, telling me to focus on Him, and get to know Him better.

What would you say is your passion?

I hope it doesn’t sound too cliche. But I feel like my passion right now is to honestly win souls for Christ. I feel like that only started like January or February of this year.

I was just reading Scripture and praying, and I was like, “You have to show me some sort of direction, Lord! I feel as if I’m just going about my life, not knowing what I’m going to do. It has to be more than a career that you have me on this earth for.”  I just heard, evangelism.

“I just really want people to give their lives to Christ. It’s the best decision I ever, ever, ever made.”

My pastor preached that we have to choose whether we’re serving Christ or we’re going to serve someone else—we can’t have two masters.

I was thinking, “Lord, I think I’ve made fear my biggest idol. I’m so fearful of what people will think of me. I don’t want to go out and say, ‘Oh, do you know Jesus?’ I know You’ve done so much for my life. But I’m the type of person who wants people to love and accept me. Not everyone loves and accepts God. So how will they embrace me if I’m outside prophesying about You, Lord?”

But that message kept ringing in my head, “You can’t serve two masters.” I want other people to experience the same joy and contentment that I have, just developing my relationship with Him. So I was like, “Ok, Lord. If they don’t like me, then that’s fine.”

Now I’m being more keen to listen to Him and who He wants me to speak to. I just really want people to give their lives to Christ. It’s the best decision I ever, ever, ever made.

[Video] The Power of Story: Defying the 'Godless New England' Narrative

[Video] The Power of Story: Defying the 'Godless New England' Narrative 

If you’re ministering in New England, you’re probably familiar with the well-worn “godless New England” narrative. Reports such as this one by the Barna Research Group about America’s most post-Christian cities reinforce this view. But there’s another narrative of New England spiritual vitality that a Barna report doesn't capture. 

God is on the move in New England cities. When we share our stories of God at work, we glorify God—and we build one another's faith and vision. 

Listen to this brief talk by EGC’s Stacie Mickelson and Caleb McCoy about the importance of story in Christian witness.

Stacie Mickelson and Caleb McCoy of Emmanuel Gospel Center, GO Conference, Springfield, MA, February 17, 2018.

Why Christian Activists Wait For God

Why Christian Activists Wait for God

by Jess Mason

Christian social activists are a busy bunch. They’re action-oriented, and the world never lacks work for those concerned with the suffering, the marginalized, and the oppressed. But if Christian social activists run on the same steam as everyone else, they’re not actually making Christ’s difference in the world.

At a worship gathering of over 30 EGC leaders and social activists, the worship leader posed the question, “In all that we have going on, what’s the value of waiting for God?” I was moved by the breadth of responses. I felt it such a rare privilege to be in the company of so much gathered wisdom that I wanted to give other Christian leaders in Boston a taste.

I pray that these perspectives encourage you in your waiting for God—possibly the most strategic action we can take to make a lasting difference in the city.

Nika Elugardo, Chief Growth Officer

I feel personally transported to another dimension when I move into a quiet space of recognizing God's presence. In those moments, it's not that I am invited into God's reality, but that I invite myself into an awareness of reality itself.

This deeper awareness seems to unlock the constraints of our physical world and release God—who seems to restrain himself by the very laws he created—to be who he is in this (our) world, where our sin has closed us off to him. It’s in stillness and quiet that new buds of faith flower.

Brian Gearin, EGC Missionary

We wait for God so that we can "be with Him" and know His purposes for each issue we face. I think that He desires us to "know Him" and respond to issues with His guidance.

Liza Cagua-Koo, Assistant Director

I wait for God for the same reasons I ask my kids to wait for me.

First, it's dangerous without me—There's a street to be crossed ahead! Also, I want them to value that staying together is more important than getting something done, or getting there first—No one gets left behind! The importance of togetherness with God can't be overestimated. He waits for us, though we often think we're having to wait for him!

When I am the one having to wait for my kids, when I see how small they are, or how much practice it takes to learn something, I am reminded of how patient and steadfast God is with my own growth. He never leaves me behind. He waits for me.

When I wait on him, I become present to those realities, which in turn fills my tank for being able to wait on others—and be patient with myself—as we all travel this pilgrim road.

Sarah Blumenshine, Co-Director of Greater Boston Refugee Ministry

Waiting puts us in a posture of receiving. God is the main actor, and we act as we receive direction. Waiting trains us to discern his voice. It requires us to back away from our impulses and evaluate, “Is this God leading, or is it me, or something else?"

Caleb McCoy, Development Manager

God is outside of time. Waiting on him helps us to reconnect with the mystery of His timing and submit our plans to his will.

Jeffrey Murray, Director of Operations

Any response or action taken without waiting before God runs the risk of being idolatrous. We are— intentionally or unintentionally—elevating our thought processes and plans above God's intentions.

God's commandment clearly instructs us, “You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:3, Deut 5:7; NIV). To take action (i.e. move, do, respond, etc.) prior to—and thus outside of—seeking God's will is a way of going against his instructions for us.

Jeff Bass, Executive Director

In 1 Kings, Elijah is running from God. God comes to meet him, but not right away. God was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He came after, quietly. Elijah had to wait to experience him that day.

God's timing is often not our timing. We want things now, but God's plans take time. God called David to be King, and Samuel anointed him. But he didn't get to be king until years later, after Saul was removed. We need to wait if we want to stay connected with God's plans.

Gregg Detwiler - Director of Intercultural Ministries

Waiting on God is a gift from God—it’s rest for our souls.

In God’s presence, we also become more self-aware of our inner world, the broken and darker parts of our being, and our motivations. There we can submit our lives and our plans to God to lay them in his hands, so that we can give him glory for anything good that comes out of our action.

Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength. They rise up as if they had eagles’ wings. They run without growing weary. They walk without getting tired. - Isaiah 40:30-31 (NET)

Sarah Dunham, Former Director of Abolitionist Network

Waiting on God helps us remember that we are not in control. We need to stop striving, and running around trying to make things happen.

Once we step back and remember who is really in control, then we can really join God in what He is doing. Christian social action is not about a frenzy of doing things for God—it’s knowing God, and allowing him to work in and through us.

Elijah Mickelson, Director of Communications

We see in part, God sees the whole.

RESPOND

The Psalms Vigil

Waiting on God is both healthy and strategic. The Psalms Vigil is a simple, ancient practice that helps focus our hearts with God. I have found the Psalms Vigil to be a powerful form of active waiting on God. The vigil has a simple, three-part rhythm:

1. Read a psalm.

2. Talk or journal to God about any emotions or issues come up in your heart from what you’ve read.

3. Rest in silence for anything else the Holy Spirit may want to do in your heart.

When you feel ready, you can move on to a new psalm, repeating the three-part rhythm with as many different psalms as you like. 

Connect with Jess

Contact Jess Mason

Jess Mason is a former licensed minister and spiritual director. She is currently a ministry innovation strategist in Applied Research & Consulting at EGC, and the chair of Christian Formation at a church in Jamaica Plain. Her passion is to see God’s goodness revealed to and through Christian leaders and pillars in the Boston area.

From the Bible Belt to Boston: What God's Doing in New England

From the Bible Belt to Boston: How God’s Moving in New England

by Kathryn Hamilton

Do the numbers lie?

In the most recent “post-Christian” study by Barna Group, a research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture, Boston ranked 2nd among “The Most Post-Christian Cities in America: 2017.” In fact, eight out of the top 10 are located in the Northeast, five of which are located in New England.

To qualify as “post-Christian” for Barna’s study, individuals had to meet nine or more of Barna’s 16 criteria that indicate “a lack of Christian identity, belief and practice, including, individuals who identify as atheist, have never made a commitment to Jesus, have not attended church in the last year or have not read the Bible in the last week.”

https://www.barna.com/research/post-christian-cities-america-2017/

As I reflect on my two months interning for EGC and prepare to return home to my “Bible-Belt” town in West Texas, I find myself a bit baffled, as my experience has been far from spiritually dry and Godless.

“Saying you’re a Christian in Boston is weighty. There is no cultural norm influencing your religious affiliation. ”

Knowing the Lord was calling me to Boston, it was seeing numbers Barna posted in 2015 that sparked my initial interest – that Boston ranked 4th among the top dechurched cities. However, as I settled into my temporary home in Cambridge and plugged into a local church there, I was in awe of how “Christian” the Christians in the Boston area were.

Cultural Christianity is prominent in my region of Texas. You grow up “Christian,” go to church on a regular basis (or at least on Christian holidays) and hold to what you consider “good Christian morals.” You hear the Gospel preached so much that the meaning numbs and you fall prey to the comfort and ease of day-to-day life.

Let me disclaim, this is a broad generalization. I'm where I am spiritually because of devoted and loving Christian parents and mentors that demonstrated the hands and feet of Jesus. I generalize the culture of the Bible Belt to make the point that saying you’re a Christian in Texas and saying you’re a Christian in Boston can reveal starkly different fruit. Saying you’re a Christian in Boston is weighty. There is no cultural norm influencing your religious affiliation. You’re a Christian because you choose to follow and live for Jesus.

The Christian community that I have found here in Boston is unlike anything I’ve seen or experienced before. The community seen in the early church of Acts is still alive, and, from my experience, flourishing. It’s small but strong.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47 has been my Boston.

Where I thought there was going to be nothing but pluralistic, moral relative doctrine, I have found sound, Gospel-oriented teaching. Where I expected to see scattered believers, I have seen great unity. Where I knew social injustices and needs to be present, I saw the church on the front lines. Where I expected to be a lone believer and disheartened by the lack of believers, I’ve been the one nurtured and influenced.

“Where I expected to see scattered believers, I have seen great unity. Where I knew social injustices and needs to be present, I saw the church on the front lines.”

So if Boston Christian community is anything like the early church, the Lord is going to “add to their number daily” those who are being saved.  

I’m sure that Barna’s numbers are accurate, and that Boston is in fact one of the most post-Christian cities in America. But as church planters who come to Boston because of that number partner with and learn from the Christian vitality already here, the fruits of both their labors are multiplying.

Seeds are being sown on good soil in Boston, and a revival is growing roots.

RESPOND

Are you from the Bible Belt? Do you agree? Disagree? Have a different experience? I'd love to hear from you! 

Share Your Thoughts

Contact Kathryn

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About the Author

Kathryn Hamilton is a Summer 2017 Communications BETA at EGC. She graduates in 2018 with an Advertising and Public Relations major from Abilene Christian University. Growing up in the church in Dallas and Abilene, TX, she developed a heart for missions among unreached people groups. After graduation, she plans to work in the non-profit sector or with corporate social responsibility. In Boston, she has enjoyed the diverse culture, the "T", lots and lots of J.P. Licks and, of course, the people.