Starting/power issues, new battery, starter is fine

My 2011 chrysler town and country van has been acting weird lately. My wife said it wouldn't start one morning so I bought a new battery, as the old one was over 6 years old. Come to find out, it does nothing when trying to start with the new battery. The odometer comes on when opening the door but that is all. Turn the key, nothing. Now the weird thing: I unhooked the battery and put the terminals together for an hour or so. Hooked up the battery again and it started right up. Shut it off and let it sit. Turned it on a bit later to pull it out of the garage and shut it off in driveway. Went back a few hours later only to find it would do nothing again. I've since had it start again after disconnecting the battery for awhile only to do nothing the second time I try to start it. I've read somewhere it could be a bad bcm? But why would it keep starting after being disconnected from power for awhile? Please help!