Justice & mercy ministry
The purpose of the Justice & Mercy Ministry is to cultivate an attention and love for the aspects of God’s character that display justice and mercy. Through our sustained engagement with the broader community in Greater Boston, we seek to build a communal commitment to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
Since the founding of Church of the Cross, we have had a consistent desire to serve the city and have partnered with a number of different organizations that meet a wide range of needs. Some of the areas we formerly partnered in (pre-COVID) included refugee services, education, and homelessness.
In the Spring of 2024, our community participated in a grassroots information gathering process to better understand our community’s interests, needs, and capacities related to justice and mercy. Through this process, our Justice and Mercy team discerned partnership organizations and volunteer opportunities across Greater Boston where our church community can serve.
Miracle Mile Partnership:
Church of the Cross partners with Miracle Mile Ministries, which is a multi-church initiative in Boston's Mass-Cass neighborhood, hosted at Lion of Judah Congregation, which serves people dealing with homelessness and addiction. It is organized by a core group of Boston-area churches who partner with over a dozen other churches and parachurch ministries to provide access to holistic resources together with a community breakfast and worship service.
Get involved!
Join a team of volunteers to serve on the second Saturday of each month at Miracle Mile's weekly breakfast Saturday mornings from 8-10:30. Please reach out to homelessministry@cotcboston.org if you'd like to learn more!
Food Justice:
The CotC Food Justice Initiative partners with Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge to volunteer with their Drop-In Ministry on Sunday afternoons. Through this partnership, volunteers get to cook, serve, and fellowship with our neighbors in the Somerville/Cambridge area who are experiencing food insecurity.
Get involved!
There are opportunities to volunteer in two different shifts: cooking from 1:00-3:30pm, and serving food from 3:00-6:00pm. Reach out to foodjustice@cotcboston.org if you’d like to join us as a volunteer at Hope Fellowship!
Prison Ministry:
The CotC Prison Ministry partners with various organizations and people across Greater Boston working to support and build up those affected by incarceration both within the prison system and throughout the process of reentry.
Get Involved!
Our prison ministry is working to create opportunities to support and connect with inmates and formerly incarcerated individuals through letter writing, reentry support, advocacy, and more. Email prisonministry@cotcboston.org to connect!
Mini-Grants Program:
The Justice & Mercy Team (JMT) invites you to apply for a JMT mini-grant! Through these mini-grants, the JMT encourages Church of the Cross parishioners to find ways to directly serve in our neighborhoods or partner with organizations serving our city. This could involve—among many other possibilities—purchasing supplies to prepare a meal for neighbors who are food-insecure, organizing a trash pick-up in a nearby park, or partnering with a local nonprofit to participate in a service day.
To learn more about these mini-grants, please read our grant guidelines here. To apply for a mini-grant (up to $1,000 per project), fill out this form.
Contact Heather Kaufmann at heather@cotcboston.org if you have any questions.