Jesus taught about the kingdom of God: the prophets’ vision of shalom, where the powerful and the powerless can imagine and enact a just world together. In our time, prophetic voices such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others used the language of Beloved Community to describe the experience of God’s kingdom in our lives today: moments of reconciliation and joy that break in and rebuke our racial and social divisions. “Beloved Community” was new language in the 1960s for what Christianity has held for almost 2,000 years — the ever-inbreaking-but-as-yet-not-fully-realized Reign of God.
“Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will e replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.
In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it.
Racism and all forms of discrimination,
bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.
In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power.
Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.”
The King Center, “The King Philosophy”
“Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will e replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.”
The King Center, “The King Philosophy” Find out more here.
What you’ll find in this tab is a guide to dive more deeply into creating the Beloved Community. We invite you to first dive into learning – you can do this individually or as a small group (we have resources for each). You are then invited to look at how God might be calling you to build the Beloved Community around a specific topic or issue area – we’ve curated a few examples and resources for that as well.
Looking to catch a glimpse of what folks around the state are thinking about and doing to bring forth the Beloved Community? Check out this videos, featuring the faces and voices of Episcopalians in Minnesota.
I’m building the Beloved Community by…
Let’s move forward with building Beloved Community together so that…