“How can we love our neighbors? How can we help make easier a really stressful day?” said King’s Hill Church Pastor Jonathan Moseley after the church’s annual “Big Move” event. Since 2018, the church, located in Back Bay, has participated in what they call the “Big Move”: helping students move into their new apartments in neighborhoods like Back Bay, Fenway and Mission Hill, where many college students can be found Sept. 1.
The day brings about many emotions for students returning to Boston for the start of the academic year or moving to Boston for the first time. The laborious task of moving couches, TVs and beds into new apartments can bring copious amounts of stress to parents and students alike. King’s Hill Church aims to alleviate some of this stress at no cost to families.
Volunteers from cities all over the country come together in Boston each year Aug. 31 for an orientation and reception before the Big Move.
“This year, we had around 280 volunteers from all over the country,” said Soriah Lott, a coordinator for the Big Move. “To hear [the volunteers] say, ‘We got to serve so many people,’ is so exciting. And they’re excited to come back and to take this home with them to serve their communities as well.”
In 2018, Kings Hill Church volunteers helped Leah Regester, a 2023 Northeastern graduate, move into her apartment. Touched by the volunteers’ act of service, Regester, who now lives near Chicago, has since helped organize the Big Move for the church from hundreds of miles away.
“It was Sept. 1 of 2018, and I was moving into a new apartment in Mission Hill and volunteers from King’s Hill helped me move in,” Regester said. “I remember that the people had been really kind and just very welcoming and very warm, and so I decided to go check out the church and I was part of the church for five years after that.”
Regester, like many students and families who have been helped by the church, was surprised when the volunteers didn’t expect anything in return.
“I did [expect them to want something in return] just because that’s how a lot of things generally work,” Regester said. “People are pretty transactional and I think that’s very human.”
Parents who spoke with The News said the volunteers worked well together with smiles on their faces to help facilitate the big day.
“They were like a well-oiled machine,” said Jack Sandler, a parent of a student at Northeastern. “My daughter is living in a second-floor apartment, so they set up a bucket brigade. They had people every couple of steps up and they just started passing everything small up.”
Moseley said that although the church appreciates new members, the purpose of the Big Move is to help out their neighbors, and the church expects nothing in return.
“It’s totally free. There’s no strings attached. We just want to make today easier for you,” Moseley said. “We meet people from all sorts of faith backgrounds and faith journeys. We won’t take their money and so they’ll say, ‘I’ll go visit your church on a Sunday,’ and we’re like, ‘Really, we’re just doing this to help you out.’ We’re not trying to exchange help for recruitment.”
Regester said the community is “really welcoming, really enthusiastic and really caring.” She said the community aspect of the church is a large part of why she continues to stay connected with them.
“Being able to be involved with King’s Hill was a really pivotal part of my life, my growth spiritually and just as a person. It’s a really meaningful community to me,” she said. “So, I’m just very grateful for this event and for the Big Move because that was how I got connected with a group of people that cared for me really well and changed my life in a lot of positive ways.”
Families can expect to find King’s Hill Church volunteers in their neighborhood again Sept. 1, 2025 sporting their blue shirts that read, “Others over self,” a message Moseley said church members practice every day. He said the church hopes returning and new volunteers from all over the city and country come ready to help with smiles on their faces.
