We began gathering online with faith leaders* in March of 2020 to wrestle together with Being Church in a global pandemic, which transitioned over the summer of 2021 to Courageous Leadership, as COVID revealed our perceptions and misconceptions about most things in life. We continue to discern where Spirit might be collectively leading us as people of faith. Jesus is our primary model as we move toward Creating Beloved Community: Healing Together to learn together and experiment in community with a variety of spiritual practices and focus areas.
We believe this is in attunement with our call as Christians from:
- Scripture and our expanding understanding and expression of love for ALL of our neighbors
- MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail and Vision of the Beloved Community
- What Is the Beloved Community and Why Is It Important?
- The Idea of the Beloved Community: The creative friendship of Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh
- ELCA Teaching, and especially our "connection to all of life"
- ELCA Living Our Baptismal Covenant
- ELCA Truth and Healing Movement (facilitated by ELCA's Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations)
- ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations
- Dr. Shawn Ginwright's The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves
- And so many other diverse voices and sacred ways we engage with each other and with the world.
* An important definition: The coaching ministry defines "faith leaders" as all members of the Body | "priesthood of all believers"| Beloved Community, so even if you do not feel like you are a leader, you are welcome in this space.
ELCA Coaching is collaborating with Rev. Brenda Smith (ELCA), Deacon Tammy Devine (ELCA), and Rev. Candy Holmes (MCC) to facilitate our gatherings on the first Wednesdays of each month through 2025. For January 2025, we are meeting on January 8 instead of January 1.
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To answer some commonly asked questions about these regular gatherings:
"Why are you still meeting?" "Don't become too familiar with loneliness. Community is a risk, but liberation depends on the collective. Who can you trust to hold you?" -- Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies
"How can I prepare?" Beloved Community members pay attention and listen actively. We invite you to bring a spirit of curiosity and openness to these gatherings and to all aspects of your life. What are you noticing? Where is Spirit moving? How are you being invited to participate in the work God is already doing, especially outside the walls of the building where the church often gathers?
"What if I'm not a group person?" Beloved Community members take calculated risks. We invite you to take a small step outside your comfort zone and allow yourself to be seen and witnessed. We can almost guarantee that you will be pleasantly surprised by the loving, caring, and nurturing nature of community in this time together.
Recordings from prior gatherings can be found here: https://www.elcacoaching.org/podcasts/media
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CREATING BELOVED COMMUNITY: HEALING TOGETHER with ELCA Coaching
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