Becoming Beloved Community
Racial inequality is the imbalance of power, economic resources, and opportunity that exists between people of color and people who are white. It is a reality we experience daily in our 21st-century world and that we are called to resist and strive to overcome as we live out our baptismal covenant to:
Persevere in resisting evil, and whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.
Becoming Beloved Community is the name of the vision presented by Episcopal Church leaders in 2017 that "frames a path for Episcopalians to address racial injustice and grow as a community of reconcilers, justice-makers, and healers who share a passion for the dream of God." It provides a framework for the formational work of truth-telling, proclamation, discipleship, and reconciliation.
In the Episcopal Church in Colorado, many of our congregations are eager to begin or to go deeper into this work, work that asks us to challenge our assumptions, look deeply within ourselves, and commit to God's vision. Perhaps your congregation has held adult forums to understand current events and share personal stories. Maybe you've participated in dismantling racism training or begun identifying and seeking ways to repair dysfunctional systems and institutions in our communities. Regardless of where you are on this journey, it is important to understand that the work of racial reconciliation–of racial justice and healing–will not be finished in our lifetimes, and we must commit to this work as a way of being as well as doing. We suggest you begin where you are.
For questions regarding Becoming Beloved Community, reach out to any of the following Office of the Bishop Staff:
The Rev. Canon Greg Foraker
Canon for Formation &
Pastoral Care
The Rev. Quirino Cornejo
Missioner for Multicultural
Ministries
Missioner Tracy Methe
Missioner for Baptismal Living
Missioner Elizabeth Cervasio
Missioner for Children, Youth & Campus Ministry
Janet Choyce
Event Coordinator
Are We Called to Seek Beloved Community?
"As the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, we dream and work to foster Beloved Communities where all people may experience dignity and abundant life and see themselves and others as beloved children of God. The Becoming Beloved Community Vision Document and accompanying resources help us to understand and take up the long-term commitments necessary to form loving, liberating, and life-giving relationships with each other. Together, we are growing as reconcilers, justice-makers, and healers in the name of Christ."
As we in the Episcopal Church strive to become beloved community, we are called also to remember and acknowledge the racism and bias that has existed in our own institution.
What Does Scripture Say?
We need look no further than the greatest commandment. When asked which commandment in the law was the greatest, Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:36-40) In loving God with all our being, and in loving others as ourselves, we live into God's vision for us.
Ways You and Your Congregation Can Make a Difference
Becoming Beloved Community is a broad umbrella that includes engaging in race justice and healing, allying ourselves with Indigenous people, and embracing cultural diversity through multicultural ministries. Click the boxes below to explore each of these areas, find curated resources and opportunities for engagement and connection, and find out who can come alongside you in your efforts to engage or go deeper in these ministries.
Racial Justice &
Healing
Race and racial inequality affects all aspects of daily life. This inequality has its roots in enslavement and has been propagated by ostracism and negative rhetoric. Racial inequality continues to exist because of imbalances found in systemic norms and leadership structures, intentional and unintentional biases, a lack of awareness of the history of our communities and institutions, and barriers to understanding such as white privilege and white fragility. Racial inequality relies on unjust power structures that make it challenging for people without power to live into their full potential. People with power experience advantages they often take for granted. It means that all of us, as God's children, experience disconnection, fear, anxiety, and lack of wholeness.
Coalition for Indigenous People
We acknowledge that the land on which we live and meet is the traditional territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, and many other peoples, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the watershed of Boulder Creek. We honor the Indigenous people who once lived on this land, and support the resilience and strength of their descendants living among us today. We lament that settlers on this land caused many harms to Indigenous people and to the land they hold as sacred." We seek, through our work together, to establish right relationship, to learn the truth of the past and present, to reckon with our role in the harms caused, and to stand in solidarity with our Indigenous kin as we seek an equitable future together.
Multicultural
Ministries
In view of the notable population shifts in our demographics and the present social realities of today, and in order to live more intentionally and faithfully into what God calls us, we must strive for a more authentically multiethnic, multicultural church that shows our real diversity and inclusion. The main purpose and mission of the Multicultural Ministries of the Episcopal Church in Colorado is to fully reflect the richness and unity of the body of Christ by welcoming and embracing each person in their wholeness (questions, complexities, ethnicity, and culture), and by assisting congregations and communities in becoming more culturally diverse and truly inclusive by engaging in cross-cultural and racial equity learning.