The current UniteBoston team is a tight-knit group of people that is committed to one another and to joining God in His work in this city. If you believe in Christian unity and want to be a part of a community that is working to make the unity we share in Christ visible, please prayerfully consider joining our team!
We are the volunteers who work hard to accomplish the mission of UniteBoston.
If you are interested in joining our team, click here to learn how you can Help UB!
Also, click here to view the UniteBoston Worship Team
UniteBoston Core Team
Kelly Fassett
What is her role for UniteBoston?
She is the Team Leader (Executive Director) for UniteBoston.
How did she get involved with UniteBoston?
She was visiting different churches and noticed the disconnectedness between different Christian groups. There were so many amazing events taking place and yet no one knew what else was happening; people were not connected to the events that best matched their interests and passions. She felt the need to create an infrastructure for communication which would use today’s technology to connect the Christian community in new ways. She and Mike Lloyd initiated the UniteBoston weekly email newsletter in the fall of 2011, which was the beginning of UniteBoston.
What does she like most about UniteBoston?
Kelly loves visiting Christian pastors and leaders throughout the city, learning what they do and the beauty of God’s work within each individual Christian community. She considers it a joy to understand how God is working corporately throughout the city, to see the function and purpose of each part of the body of Christ coming together as one.
About Kelly:
Kelly has served as the Executive Director for UniteBoston since 2012 and has been the catalyst for UniteBoston’s bridge-building work throughout Christians in the region. She has a certificate in Christian Foundations from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She also graduated with her Masters of Divinity in Global and Community Engagement at Boston University in 2019, with certificates in Religion and Conflict Transformation as well as International Mission and Ecumenism. She has also worked as a consultant to organize the New England City Forum and has spoken at conferences around concepts related to evangelism, mission, Christian unity, and conflict transformation. Kelly and her husband Andrew live in an intentional Christian community in the Dorchester area, are both seeking ordination in the American Baptist tradition, and are expecting their first child this November. They enjoy spending time outdoors, and you can find them frequently biking around the city and climbing mountains.
Judith Gale
Church / Ministries:
Grace Chapel Lexington
What is her role for UniteBoston?
UniteBoston Bookkeeper / Accountant
What does she like most about UniteBoston?
I am so excited about the Mission of UniteBoston. Uniting as one people in God’s love is the only hope we have to make positive changes for future generations.
About Judith:
Judi earned a B.S. in Accounting from Babson College, and an MBA in Finance from Suffolk University. She has a lot of experience with small- to medium-sized growth-oriented for profit and non-profit organizations. Judi lives in Bedford, Mass with her husband and teenage son and has been attending Grace Chapel, Lexington, Mass, for over 30 years.
Chloe Gaydos
UB Role:
UB Worship Team Coordinator
Home Church:
Congregation Lion of Judah
What Chloe enjoys about UB:
“I believe that UniteBoston’s mission expresses a core utility of Christianity, and experiencing that through building dynamic relationships with the single commonality of Jesus is inspiring.”
About Chloe:
Chloe works in the consultant field in Boston. She loves to climb, play the drums, and serve the community in her spare time.
UniteBoston Dinner Coordinator Profiles
UniteBoston Dinner Coordinators connect church and community. They help nurture relational connections with Christians across boundaries within a specific geographic community to learn about what God is doing within a neighborhood and discern how churches and ministries can collaborate together to further God’s work.
We would love to meet you to hear about what God is doing in your midst and connect you with others who are engaged in similar work!
To connect with your local UB Rep, email Kelly at kelly@uniteboston.com
Mambi Ashu
Home Church
International Family Church
UB Neighborhood Focus
Malden
Why Mambi enjoys serving with UB:
“Serving with UniteBoston allows me to step outside my comfort zone to learn how other Christians worship Jesus. UB gives me the opportunity to learn about the diversity that exists in our Christian faith and how to share my love of God with others.”
About Mambi:
Mambi is a corporate wellness consultant by day and an avid football (soccer) player in her spare time. Mambi loves anything involving the outdoors, and enjoys getting lost in translation in different countries.
Kate Devane Brown
Home Church
Mosaic Boston – Brookline
UB Neighborhood Focus
Jamaica Plain
Why Kate enjoys serving with UB:
“Friendships with fellow Christians from different cultural and denominational backgrounds have been an incredible tool that God has used in my own life to show me new facets of Himself and to validate the core truths of the gospel. My vision for volunteering with UniteBoston is to put down roots by building a network of close relationships which is attractive and welcoming to not-yet-believing neighbors and friends.”
About Kate:
A Massachusetts native, Kate spent time living in Germany after college before moving back home for her current job at an educational software startup. Kate and her husband Matt, a loyal Bostonian and Boston sports fan, share a desire to build relationships between local churches and explore ways that the gospel completes the unique culture of the city. In her free time, Kate enjoys baking, reading theology, strolling through the Arboretum, and one-on-one coffee meetups.
Paul Castiglione
Home Church:
Reservoir Church
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Somerville
Why Paul enjoys serving with UB:
Kiki Densamo
Home Church:
Hope Fellowship Church
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Cambridge
Why Kiki enjoys serving with UB:
“I love the mission and idea of connecting people, the sharing of resources and events in the Christian community. I have always seen myself as a connector. I believe by joining others like me through UniteBoston we can make a bigger impact while supporting each other. I am excited to step out and meet different people and learning from one another.”
About Kiki:
Kiki is a public health professional who lives and works in the Boston area. Her goal in life is to be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people. In short, she wants to love people by living out the purpose God has set out before her and finish the race well.
Anne Freeman
Home Church
River of Life Church (Jamaica Plain)
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Rosindale
Why Anne enjoys serving with UB:
The vision and mission of UB is right up my alley! I can say a hearty AMEN! to the goals of this ministry and long to see Jesus’ prayer answered that His church will be one. I also love to cook and host people at my home!”
About Anne:
Anne Freeman is married with a teenage daughter. She is a member at River of Life Church in Jamaica Plain, where she serves as prayer coordinator. She is an ordained deaconess with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and serves as Coordinator of New England Deaf & Hard of Hearing Ministry, under the umbrella of the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (TABCOM). Anne works as a free lance ASL interpreter in the Boston area and loves to host people for dinner!
Peggy Hothem
Home Church
Our Savior Lutheran Church in Topsfield
UB Neighborhood Focus:
North Shore
Why Peggy enjoys serving with UB:
I am excited about serving with UniteBoston because praying for spiritual revival in New England has been on my heart for a long time. To bring followers of Jesus together in unity allows us to see how the Holy Spirit is moving in and through His church. May His kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven!
About Peggy:
Peggy is a retired professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies from Gordon College. She has been a single mother to two terrific sons who are now young adults. She feels fortunate to have the time, health, and energy to not only serve in my church and community, but to enjoy God’s beautiful creation through various recreation activities such as fitness walking, bicycling, and cross-country skiing. She loves to travel internationally to explore cultures and history, as well as serve on mission trips.
Sally Jackson
Home Church
Church of the Cross
UB Neighborhood Focus
West Roxbury
Why Sally enjoys serving with UB:
“Gathering and connecting people is what comes most naturally to me! Throw in a dinner party and people coming together to talk about God’s work in the world; there are few other places I’d rather be.”
About Sally:
Sally works in higher education student services and called Chicago, Virginia, and Prague “home” before setting down roots in Boston. When she’s not working, you can find her biking around Boston, exploring outside, cooking up a storm, and finding creative ways to bring people together around the table.
Rebekah Kerstetter
Home Church
HighRock Church in Arlington
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Medford
What Rebekah enjoys about UB:
“In UniteBoston, there are so many open and friendly people all seeking to love God and others.”
About Rebekah:
Rebekah is a wife and mother of three in Massachusetts since 2017, and before that, in five other states. She loves dancing, helping people with parenting or marriage questions and relaxing with her family by playing Settlers of Catan and playing other games or watching movies.
Adam Montalbano
Home Church:
Reality Boston
UB Neighborhood Focus:
East Boston
Why Adam enjoys serving with UB:
“I am passionate about connecting people across Boston together for Christ and welcoming new people. I am also skilled at organizing events and hosting people, whether in a small group setting or celebratory event.”
About Adam:
Adam works at Oracle as an IT sales consultant. He enjoys dance music, foodie culture, including visiting and connecting with the top restaurants in Boston, as well as making and enjoying craft cocktails. He is also a huge Red Sox fan and avid volleyball and ping pong player.
Caroline Meditz
Home Church
Church of the Advent
UB Neighborhood Focus
Allston/Brighton
Why Caroline enjoys serving with UB:
“I love getting to know other Christians who I may not otherwise meet at church or in my denomination!”
About Caroline:
Caroline has lived in the Boston area for almost ten years and works in higher education career services. She loves exploring the city, and in addition to Unite Boston, she volunteers with the MSPCA Safewalk program, where she helps shelter dogs become socialized for adoption.
Cleopatra Muhammad
Home Church:
Mars Hill Fellowship
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Dorchester
Why Cleo enjoys serving with UB:
“I enjoy meeting different people, being a part of a network, and experiencing God at different events.”
About Cleo:
“Put simply, I am from Massachusetts and love the Lord Jesus. I currently reside in Dorchester.”
Pastor Stephen and Rebekah Nyakairu
Home Church:
Grace Chapel – Watertown
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Watertown
Why Stephen and Rebekah enjoys serving with UB:
“We love seeing Christians unite together to be shining light in our world.”
About Stephen and Rebekah:
Stephen is the campus pastor at Grace Chapel Watertown and Rebekah teaches second grade at Park Street School in Boston. They love spending time with their young girls Grace and Emma.
Andrew Walker
Home Church:
First Lutheran Church
UB Neighborhood Focus:
Back Bay
Why Andrew enjoys serving with UB:
“Conversations starting with, “What is God doing among us?” are very influential in forming our goals and direction.”
About Andrew:
Andrew is an IT professional at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. He studies, teaches and coaches Biblical Peacemaking. He lives in Medford and enjoys walking and reading.
UB Board of Directors
Rev. David Wright
Ministry Roles:
Assistant to the Pastor, People’s Baptist Church
Executive Director, Black Ministerial Alliance
Why David enjoys serving with UB:
“I believe in the mission of UniteBoston, and we have a really interesting board of dedicated, fun people.”
About Rev. Wright:
Born and raised in Roxbury, Rev. David Wright is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law. From 1999 to 2004, David Wright served as the President and CEO of the African American Federation of Greater Boston, Inc., a collaboration of 35 community-based organizations located in inner-city Boston. David has been serving as Executive Director of the Black Ministerial Alliance since October 2007. David loves learning how to play guitar and other instruments.
Pastor Robin Lutjohann
Ministry Roles:
“I am glad to serve as pastor to a quirky and lovely little church in Cambridge: Faith Lutheran Church. It’s a community full of grace, which I believe is desperately needed in an often grace-starved world. It’s also a church that somehow its able to hold a variety of theological perspectives, age groups, and ideological commitments in one body. To be sure, we are very flawed, but we mostly know it too. And from that self-awareness, we can appreciate God’s lavish kindness and pass it on to others.”
Why Robin enjoys serving with UB:
“I am impressed by UB’s ability to bring very different followers of Jesus together. In fact, our church has already benefited from this in a number of ways. I believe in the unity of the church, not just as an aspiration, but as a present reality. In my own Lutheran tradition, we have a somewhat minimalist conception of what “church” means. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and people gather to share the sacraments — there is the church of Christ. So, I see UniteBoston simply manifesting what is already true about the Body of Christ. Our unity is not something to achieved — it’s something to be lived! And I want to be a part of that.”
About Robin:
“I am a native of Berlin, Germany. I came to this continent for college and stayed because I fell in love with my wife Heather and with the city of Boston. I am a proud Allstonian and can be found cycling manically to and fro various coffee shops, bars, churches, and museums. I grew up unchurched in a loving family of musicians, bartenders, poets, hippies, and trouble-makers. When I was in college, Jesus decided to blindside me with the full heft of the Gospel and plunk me into an ecumenical community of Christian students. My best friends were the daughter of a Pentecostal missionary, a Catholic woman with a conflicted call to the priesthood, a environmentalist who had recently converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, and an aspiring Jesuit brother. Through many conversations and countless long nights of reading and praying, I ended up in the Lutheran church (ELCA). I was baptized in the Charles River, not far from one of the boathouses in Cambridge. Ever since, God has been throwing me into the wonderful company of the saints, and I am beyond grateful. After some time of study at Harvard’s Divinity School and a brief stint of appeasing the needs of a Lutheran education in the Midwest, I have found myself right back where it all started, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Father Tom Ryan
Ministry Roles:
Executive Director, Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, located since 2016 in downtown Boston
Why Tom enjoys serving with UB:
‘The ecumenical movement has produced volumes of dialogue Agreed Statements over the past 50 years, which by and large are gathering dust on bookshelves. Those Agreed Statements need to find concrete expression at the grassroots level among church members, and that’s the significant and vitalizing contribution Unite Boston is making in neighborhoods and congregations in the region. My passion too is grassroots engagement, and it is a deep joy to join hands in the gospel work of this Holy Spirit-animated network, responding in concrete, practical ways to Jesus’ prayer for his followers that ‘they all may be one’.” (Jn 17:21).”
About Father Tom:
A member of the Paulist Fathers, Fr. Tom did his theological studies at the Washington (DC) Theological Coalition, the University of Geneva and the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland. He directed the Canadian Center for Ecumenism for 14 years; founded and directed Unitas for 5 years, an ecumenical center for spirituality co-sponsored by 8 denominations in Montreal; then founded the Paulist North American Ecumenical Office where he has served the past 20 years in NY City, Washington DC, and now Boston. Among the 17 books he has authored are Tales of Christian Unity: The Adventures of an Ecumenical Pilgrim; A Survival Guide for Ecumenically-Minded Christians; and Christian Unity: How You Can Make a Difference. He leads ecumenical workshops and retreats across the U.S. and Canada.
Pastor Dana Baker
Ministry Roles:
Former Pastor of Social Justice, Multicultural Ministry, Grace Chapel
Greater Things for Greater Boston Steering Team
Why Dana enjoys serving with UB:
“I especially like UniteBoston’s vision for neighborhood reps that develop deep relational ties with specific geographic areas in Boston, and how they seek to understand where God is on the move. So many of UniteBoston’s volunteers represent the next generation of leaders that God is raising up in the city.”
About Pastor Dana:
Raised in Oklahoma, Pastor Dana graduated from Rice University and practiced architecture for 20 years. She has over 20 years of experience in urban and multicultural ministry in Greater Boston, both as a lay leader and in vocational ministry. She resides in Medford with her husband Ron. She has two young adult children, and one of their favorite activities as a family is to spend time in Ocean Park, Maine each summer, where reading, games on the beach, and even an occasional swim in the frigid Maine waters provide an important opportunity for rest, relaxation, family and friends.
