Helping University Students During Boston’s “Big Move-In” Is Central to the Community Engagement Strategy of King’s Hill Church
Volunteers from King's Hill Church carry a mattress in Mission Hill.
Thousands of university students were on the move to Boston over the Labor Day weekend and they needed a lot of help. Nearly three hundred Baptists from seven states came to their rescue at the invitation of King’s Hill Church.
“The city is just filled with college students,” said Jonathan Moseley, teaching pastor of the university-focused congregation that serves the city’s Mission Hill district. “Twelve universities are located within a square mile of where we gather on Sundays.”
Following a common practice of urban congregations on the move, King’s Hill Church gathers for their two Sunday morning services in a hotel—the Fenway Room at the Hilton Back Bay, 40 Dalton Street. They do not own a church building so midweek small groups meet in apartments or similar locations.
In Boston, September 1st has been called the “Big Move-In” for many years and it was first identified as a unique citywide event in an 1899 story, “Getting Back To The City,” published in the Boston Daily Globe that year. On that day every year, the city’s stress and chaos levels increase as students from around the world descend on New England’s largest city.
Students arrive to their on-campus assigned or off-campus rented housing in rental trucks or family cars that are loaded with essentials they will need to survive until summer. Often their anxious parents are present for the annual event.
In addition to helping people move in and out from their homes, volunteers from King's Hill Church also handed out water, toilet paper, tape, and granola bars to residents.
“As of Fall 2023, nearly 163,000 students [were] enrolled in Boston-based undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Institutions do not have sufficient student housing to accommodate this population, which puts considerable pressure on the city’s housing market,” increasing prices for all, according to the city’s 2023 Student Housing Trends report.
Most of King’s Hill Church’s community engagement effort is focused on nearby Northeastern University, a world leader in experiential learning that is well known for its co-op program, according to a Princeton Review online report. Their students come from all fifty states and more than one hundred countries. Undergraduate enrollment is reportedly 20,400.
Harvard Medical School, Simmons University, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design are among the other higher education institutions also located in Mission Hill. (Until 1955, Gordon College, now in Wenham on Boston’s North Shore, was located in Mission Hill.)
The church, which affiliates with the Baptist Churches of New England and Send Boston, is committed to community ministry that “guid[es] generations to wholeheartedly follow God with a bold faith,” according to their website.
Twice monthly young adults meet for Bible study and fellowship, or just to “hang out somewhere around the city!” This semester they will seek to understand the life implications found in First John.
College students and young adults are being invited to the BCNE’s Fall Fusion Conference October 18-20 in Hyannis.
The church also has life groups and ministries for all ages. They schedule summer soccer and cheerleading camps to serve the youth in their neighborhood and they even offer pickleball matches.
Moseley anticipated a need that his church could fill with help from volunteers, so in January he asked his network of ministry partners to help. In response, 280 Baptists from twenty-three churches in Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas flew to Boston and rented hotels or other short-term accommodations.
The modern-day Good Samaritans arrived on Friday and devoted the weekend to patrolling the streets to which they were assigned until they found students or families needing help unloading their vehicles. Each team of visitors was assigned to serve on particular streets and everyone received a commemorative T-shirt.
Since 2018 when they launched the student outreach ministry, September 1st has become an integral part of the church’s community engagement efforts. They suspended the outreach ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their spontaneous acts of kindness given in the name of Jesus were appreciated, as three online notes to the pastor show:
“I just wanted to thank your members for being ‘the hands and feet of Jesus’ last weekend as they helped us with off-campus move-in. My family greatly appreciated the two men (didn’t get their names) who helped us carry boxes and furniture. It took away some stress and made the process faster and smoother than we had anticipated.” —Jennifer Hanlon
“Daniel, Colin, and friends helped my daughter and I move her and her roommate into their apartment today. To say I’m grateful is simply not enough. The weekend started out stressful for several reasons. Suffice it to say that because of the support of your church community our stress was short-lived. Thank you for your kindness.” —Teresa Crews
“Just wanted to send a quick thank you to all of your members who helped my Northeastern student and her roommates move into their off-campus apartment on Carmel Street. The assistance was much appreciated.” —Jack Sandler
In previous years when the Big Move-In day approached, the pastor asked church member to take a day off work if possible, but this year September 1st was a Sunday.
It’s not easy for a small church without a building, a large sign out front, and a tall steeple to garner the attention it needs to survive in a dynamic and complex city.
A King’s Hill Church volunteer smiles while holding a bin of apartment supplies.
“In Boston, you’re not driving by lots of gospel-centered churches. A lot of thechurches that you pass by, unfortunately, have forsaken the gospel,” commented Moseley. “Many church plants are meeting in schools and theaters and auditoriums and hotel rooms—so there’s not a lot of visibility.”
“What's amazing about it is that we were able to go out and meet real, tangible, physical needs by helping somebody move and, at the same time, we were very visible. The whole city was out—and so was the church. We connected with police officers and Northeastern professors. It's just been a huge blessing!” he added.
While young people on the visiting teams did the heavy lifting for the students, their older teammates talked to the parents out on the sidewalk. “It’s just a fun way for the gospel to be shared,” noted the pastor who reflected that the youngest visiting team member was three months old and the oldest was ninety.
A Georgian, Moseley and his wife, Chelsea, a South Carolinian, and their four young girls are all involved in the ministry. In addition to being a “full-time mom,” Chelsea leads a life group and handles administration and communication for her husband. ”I love that they all get to be a part of the ministry. It really is a family endeavor.”
Moseley experienced God’s call to Boston in 2012 and left Georgia for New England “with a love for the city and a passion to see Jesus made much of.”
He completed a Master of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA, before joining City on a Hill Church in Brookline, MA, and then launching King’s Hill Church.
Assisting students as they arrive in Boston for another academic year builds friendships that might last beyond the college years and might even lead to lives changed by the gospel.
In 2023, the pastor and his church saw a Muslim-turned-atheist commit his life to Jesus. They also rejoiced when a Buddhist from Thailand made the same faith decision. “I love seeing that,” the pastor said. “It just makes it all worth it!”
When asked what he most enjoys about being a pastor, Moseley said he “really enjoys seeing life transformation happen for those who are coming from different faith backgrounds—and Jesus saves them.”
A Massachusetts native and a New England Baptist since 1970, Dan Nicholas is the BCNE managing editor.