Cambridge Community Fellowship Church
234 Franklin Street
Cambridge
Massachusetts
02139
Senior Pastor:
Pastor Larry Kim
Denomination:
Non-Denominational
An Urban Church With a Heart for The Community
This church is very unique in that they want to be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural church that has a focus on urban ministry, world missions, and racial reconciliation. The church is about 75% Asian (meaning from all over Asia) and 25% other. The atmosphere is very friendly, and the people are very nice. Mostly students and those who have stayed in the Boston area past graduation. It is a very transient church and the member count goes down considerably in the summer. However, as the church is getting older so are the members and less and less people are leaving for the summer. There are also great small groups in which to get to know people even better, they call them House Churches though.
The church has numerous outreach opportunities mostly working with urban youth in the Cambridge and more specifically the Central Sqaure area. That is the real pulse of the church. Many of the members even students, participate in dinners with neighborhood families, youth group, etc. Many of the memebrs themselves are involved in numerous volunteering and humanitarian efforts.
The music is contemporary. Sometimes the worship team can go a bit overboard with trying to be multi-cultural. (Singing songs in languages that no one or only one or two people in the church speaks.) It is regular songs played by good musicicans. Nothing flashy. No fog machines. No lights. Just music.
The preaching really depends. The church has gone through a lot of changes recently and there is technically no Senior Pastor at the moment, although they are searching. Some of the pastors in the past have left to pursue other outreach opportunities which is good and fits with the transient nature of the church, but it does feel a bit unstable sometimes.
The biggest issue with the church would be that since it has dedicated itself to being multi-ethnic and broaching the subject of racial reconciliation somethimes not everything is always pleasant and people say and do things that can be percieved wrong. There are culture clashes but it is also the greatest stength of the church because once you get past that you have moved to a place that is more in line with how I think God wants the church to be. Reconciled.
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I wonder if your church might be open to planting networks of house churches for neighbors and friends of church members who live too far away to be likely to come to weekly worship in Cambridge. Your church already has a network of home groups and an existing method of training home group leaders, as well as a commitment to world missions and urban ministry, so it would seem consistent with the church's existing philosophy to be open to starting mini-congregations where the Word could be proclaimed and the sacraments celebrated in a manner consistent with Evangelical Covenant principles. From your description, it's not clear to me whether the church's "house churches" celebrate the sacraments or not; I am suggesting that the church plant networks of "full-service" micro-congregations that provide not only a sense of small-group community and opportunities for Bible discussion and prayer, but also such sacraments as baptism and the Lord's Supper, with large group gatherings from time to time for mutual encouragement.
I'm glad that the church from time to time expresses its welcome to people from varied countries by singing verses or songs in languages that many in the congregation might not know. My hunch is that doing so would be more deeply appreciated by people who speak these languages than others might guess, and would help to give them a sense of care and belonging.
I've heard good things about Evangelical Covenant churches (such as its commitment to both the Bible and women in ministry), and am glad to hear your report about the good deeds of this fellowship in Cambridge.
"The biggest issue with the church would be that since it has dedicated itself to being multi-ethnic and broaching the subject of racial reconciliation somethimes not everything is always pleasant and people say and do things that can be percieved wrong."
Sounds like a problem Jesus would be proud of any church taking on