Reality Boston + The Table Merger
Merger Announcement
04.30.2023
We are thrilled to announce that the elders of Reality Church Boston and The Table have reached the unanimous decision to join our two communities.
Reality Boston has been advancing joy in the city since 2012, and The Table has been training people to live and love like Jesus in Dorchester since 2019. Both churches have taught and believed that we are part of One Church, of which our communities are expressions.
As we have prayed, considered, and worshiped together over the past few months, leaders from both communities have discerned that God is growing a “new thing” in our midst. Today, our expressions join together to journey into the future as a united family. By linking arms, we create a stronger, more diverse, and more vibrant expression of the church that can better advance joy, equip our community, and extend Jesus’ love in our city.
We look forward to a new season of Kingdom fruitfulness as we journey into the future together as a united church.
THE PROCESS
Discern
WINTER ‘22 - SPRING ‘23 | In late 2022, Pastor Rashad reached clarity that God was inviting him into a new season of leadership that would involve him stepping aside and making space for new leadership at Reality (RCB). Along with key leaders at RCB, he began to pray that God would send the individuals to guide the next season of the church. In late January ‘23, Pastor Rashad approached the Wilsons and invited The Table into a discernment process. Over the following months, our communities prayed, built relationships, and held joint gatherings as we discerned the possibility of a merger. On April 30th, both Reality and The Table announced that their elders had reached the unanimous decision to merge. On May 7th, the communities came together for their first official joint gathering, including the recognition and installment of Pastors Josh and Aly Wilson.
Connect
SPRING - SUMMER ‘23 | Everything flows from relationship. This spring and summer, we’ll make space for our communities to meaningfully connect. Individuals across both communities are invited to host “Summer Tables” – social events such as dinner parties, prayer meetings, game nights, serving opportunities, and more. Each week we’ll share opportunities to connect. We encourage everyone to attend at least one event and share at least one individual meal or drink with someone new. Our hope is to lead with curiosity, get to know one another as we are, building a foundation of joy and trust that can carry us into the next season.
Discover
FALL ‘23 | In the fall, we’ll begin building on this foundation of connection. Our Pastoral Team will host a series of curated conversations for our community to discover our lived culture and values, and to listen to God about how we might bring the best of each of our histories into the future to which God is calling us. We’ll solidify language that helps us name our shared values and cultivate collective imagination for who we are as a church and where we’re headed.
See Session Recaps from each of the Discovery Sessions
Discovering Our Future
Experiment
WINTER ’24 | As we enter the new year, we’ll engage in a series of “experiments” to identify the structures and spaces that will help us most effectively pursue the mission God has given us. We’ll host events, pilot fresh expressions, and try out new things together as we aspire to equip our community to go deeper in discipleship and further in mission. In this season, we invite everyone to participate and to actively share your feedback and learning.
Advance
2024 - FORWARD | As we solidify language, structures, and practices, we hope to enter a new chapter as a united family—advancing joy and extending Jesus’ love in the city of Boston as we run together into the future God has for us.
YOU CAN EXPECT
There’s a lot of questions right now, but not everything is up for grabs. Here’s a few of the things you can count on:
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We are committed to being a people of prayer. Our community is built on the prayers of faithful women and men and our preferred future is inextricably tied to prayer. We submit our plans and strategies to the leading of the Spirit. Our desire is to continue to make prayer and seeking God’s face central to the fabric of our community.
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Our beliefs aren’t changing. We remain committed to the complete authority of the Christian Scriptures for our life and practice. We hold to the historic teachings of Christian orthodoxy as articulated in the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Lausanne Covenant.
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We are excited to have Pastors Josh and Aly join our staff to serve along with Pastor Rashad and Mandi Paszek. While there are new faces and roles for our church, we have utmost confidence that our current team of gifted, mature, and godly leaders are equipped to shepherd, listen, care for, and lead our community through this season and into the future.
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Beginning on May 7th, our new joint community will meet each Sunday at 10:15AM at the Melvin King South End Academy (previously the McKinley School) for shared worship, prayer, teaching, communion, and kids’ ministry.
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We recognize the high value both RCB and The Table place on community, whether that's been in the form of community groups or microchurches. In the short term, we will continue to care for and invest in all current expressions and their leaders as we move through this season of discovery and experimentation. As we advance into future phases, we look forward to discovering more about what’s working across Reality’s Community Groups and The Table’s Microchurches and to discern God's leading for next steps.