At the 2016 New England City Forum, we heard stories from Hartford, CT; Cambridge, MA; Worcester, MA; and Manchester, NH. Here are some highlights of what we learned from the cities, and you can also refer to the handouts linked below.

Hartford, CT: The Hartford group was largely connected through Urban Alliance in Hartford, who provided for us valuable statistics of the city. Highlighting the importance of trust-building, they presented a Network Model for the Body of Christ coming together, and shared how leaders are collaborating to address the health and basic needs issues of their communities as well as those facing children and youth. These focus areas emerged as the network’s diverse leaders related with one another and reached out to the community. Currently the network’s initiatives leverage volunteers, funding and research-informed best practices to bring positive change to Hartford.

Cambridge, MA: The Cambridge Black Pastors Alliance shared the challenges of a city with soaring housing prices, no parking, and a general hostility to organized religion, as well as the group’s vision to see Cambridge be a murder-free zone. Beginning with joint watchnight services one New Year’s Eve, the Alliance has developed strong relationships which allow the churches to jointly minister in powerful ways, such as through concerts and community events where church members and leaders share food with and wash the feet of Cambridge residents, right on the lawn of Cambridge City Hall. The churches continue to build relationships with Cambridge government officials and to demonstrate that they are key partners in taking care of the city.

Worcester, MA: The city of Worcester prepared a very rich and insightful presentation and handout summarizing key demographics, testimonies, and challenges for the city and the churches, as well as Christian leaders’ key learnings as they engage the city and one another. Last year when local, state, and federal agencies hosted community dialogues on race, none of the organizers thought to invite the churches as key players in addressing this issue, prompting Christian leaders to ask how the Church is perceived by city and why that is. Worcester’s story challenged us to fight isolation among churches, take concrete action together, and to build trust across many lines because sometimes the “people you expect to be hostile [in fact] welcome you”.

Manchester, NH: The Manchester group witnessed to us that “anything that God does, He moves first through prayer.” Awe-inspiring testimonies were shared from Symphony House of Prayer of the power of strategic prayer from many churches as the foundation for a city movement. Leaders remarked on God’s request to “heal my Body first” and address the guardedness that many leaders felt that led to territorialism and lack of partnership. As God stirred the hearts of leaders, one of the initiatives that emerged was Manchester Ignite, through which 200 people from 20 churches expressed love and care for the city over the course of 4 days. New initiatives in Manchester and other NH cities are being birthed as Christians gather together to pray, relate and act.

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