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.
Who can help us in this work?
Formation Team
We welcome your comments and questions at any time. Please reach out to anyone on the Formation team:
The Rev. Canon Greg Foraker, Canon for Formation and Pastoral Care
Tracy Methe, Missioner for Baptismal Living
Elizabeth Cervasio, Missioner for Children, Youth, and Campus Ministry
Janet Choyce, Event Coordinator
Communications Support (including websites)
Mike Orr, Canon for Communications and Evangelism
Mentors, Coaches, Advisors
Indigenous Communities
Sarah Hartzell, Parishioner, St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder
The Rev. Teri Shecter, Southwest Regional Missioner and Deacon, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Grand Junction
Martha Taylor Dever, Parishioner, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder
Reimagining Justice Team, St. John’s Cathedral
Susan Backus, Parishioner
Lynne Muth, Parishioner
Susan Ritter, Parishioner
Resources to Help Equip and Empower You to Engage in the Work of Becoming Beloved Community
Click on the following areas to access information and resources.
Sacred Ground Dialogue Circles
Colorado 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.
A Prayer for this Time of Race Injustice, Violence, and Trauma
Jesus, we come before you with heavy hearts.
We lament that racial injustice is so tragically common in our society.
We lament that precious lives are lost because of hate and ignorance.
We lament the prejudice, violence, and racism that mocks your teachings.
We lament that the Church has too often stayed silent in the face of racism.
We lament that the climate crisis disproportionately impacts People of Color.
We lament that racial justice has become polarizing in our society.
We lament that some church leaders have spoken foolish and hateful words which support the systemic racism that is a cancer to our world.
Forgive us, oh Lord, for our complicity in these injustices.
Please open our ears to listen and our hearts to hear. And close the mouths of those who would speak foolishness. Lord Jesus, we need you in this time of racial anxiety.
Yes! We are called by scripture, by our Baptismal Covenant, by the Church, and by our human need for wholeness and communities of love to seek Beloved Community.
What does the Episcopal Church say?
“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.”
Becoming Beloved Community Vision document (English) and Spanish
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.
Race and racial inequality affects all aspects of daily life: healthcare, education, work and income, and legal status. 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.
How does it affect people?
Racial inequality relies on unjust power structures. These structures mean people without power find difficulty living 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.
Words can call up biases, create defensiveness, and cause people to simply shut down–the opposite of what we need as we seek to become beloved community. Following are definitions of some frequently used words and phrases that can help us speak a common language.
Racism: Individual- and group-level processes and structures that are implicated in the reproduction of racial inequality (Clair and Denis Sociology on Racism). Systemic racism occurs when these structures or processes are carried out by groups with power, such as governments, businesses or schools.
Bias: Conscious or unconscious prejudice against an individual or group based on their identity.
White privilege: Inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice. What is White Privilege, Really? seeks to define the term through a discussion of its history and implications.
White fragility: The defensiveness of white people, stemming from emotions like anger, fear, and guilt, that manifests itself in behaviors such as argumentation and silence, thereby preventing meaningful dialogue.
Racial reconciliation: The spiritual practice of seeking loving, liberating, and life-giving relationship with God and one another, and striving to heal and transform injustice and brokenness in ourselves, our communities, institutions, and society.
Social justice: Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
In his memoir No Future Without Forgiveness, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes people with ubuntu: People with ubuntu are those who “understand that they belong in a greater whole and are diminished when others are diminished or humiliated or tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.” How can individuals strive to have ubuntu and participate in the work of racial reconciliation?
In the article 4 Steps White People Can Take Towards Racial Reconciliation, the following process is laid out:
- Awareness/Recognition: Be aware that the playing field is not level.
- Listen/Immerse: Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. We can learn a lot by listening to and immersing ourselves in cultures different from our own.
- Risk and Relationship: It’s okay to hurt and be hurt. Be open to friendship with people who look different than you.
- Risk and Structures: Caring about people means caring about the situations they’re in. Become an ally. The role of an ally is not to give handouts to victims of racism in a paternalistic sense, but rather to speak out against systems of oppression and to challenge other majority culture people to do the same.
Commit
The first step in supporting this work is to acknowledge that we have not yet achieved racial reconciliation and to commit to building beloved community. We recommend creating a vision and forming a leadership team. Take small steps, reassess, and keep going.
The Litany for Repentance and Commissioning for the Ministry of Justice and Reconciliation can be used to commit to and begin this work.
Continue to pray for reconciliation and for the needs of people impacted by racial oppression. Race and Prayer: Collected Voices, Many Dreams by Malcolm Boyd and Bishop Chester Talton is a collection of poems, prayers, and prose that give voice to the damage caused by prejudice and hate, as well as the hope found in working toward reconciliation and healing. Find the complete description and reviews of the book on the Church Publishing website >
Sometimes it takes disruption and loss to break us open and call us home to God. It’s not surprising that a global pandemic and once-in-a-generation reckoning with white supremacy—on top of decades of systemic decline—have spurred Christians everywhere to ask who we are, why God placed us here and what difference that makes to the world.
The Church Cracked Open by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers
In this critical yet loving book, the author explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way.
The Church Cracked Open: Disruption, Decline and New Hope for Beloved Community (Church Publishing 2021) invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation.
What is the history of racial inequity? What stories have you been telling yourself about race? How has racism been present in your community, your state, the Church? Education is the opportunity to correct misperceptions, understand complexities, and learn different points of view.
Consider forming a book group to discuss the complex issues surrounding racial oppression. We especially recommend the following books (in order of increasing complexity):
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- Seeing My Skin: A Story of Wrestling with Whiteness, Peter Jarrett-Schell >
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Time of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander >
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson >
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree, James H. Cone >
We especially recommend the following resources:
For fresh, inspiring perspectives about race in America and how to build beloved community: Living into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America, edited by Dr. Catherine Meeks, uses a series of essays from various authors to look at the state of dismantling racism in the U.S. today. Themes include reasons for past failures to achieve racial reconciliation, the need to honor rage and grief as part of the healing process, the meaning of white privilege, and what blacks must do to forward the work of reconciliation. This is a good resource for individuals and small groups looking for an honest depiction of racial inequality and the ongoing work of reconciliation. Catherine says, “The work of dismantling racism is most effective when engaged as spiritual formation. It is ongoing in the same way that keeping spiritual disciples of prayer, silence, and Bible study might embraced. It requires patience because it cannot be done in a short period of time.”
For understanding how dehumanizing others is used to support structures of power: Less than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others by David Livingstone Smith explores the way people have created a hierarchy of value and dehumanized their fellow humans to rob them of their worth. Read the NPR author interview >
For an understanding of how to reconcile the message of Jesus and violence towards blacks: The Cross and the Lynching Tree by theologian James Cone explores the symbols of the cross and the lynching tree and their interconnection in the history of African American people. From Goodreads: “Both the cross and the lynching tree represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning. While the lynching tree symbolized white power and black death, the cross symbolizes divine power and black life, God overcoming the power of sin and death. For African Americans, the image of Jesus, hung on a tree to die, powerfully grounded their faith that God was with them, even in the suffering of the lynching era.”
For a deeper understanding of white privilege: In Seeing My Skin: A Story of Wrestling with Whiteness author Peter Jarrett-Schell looks at the way Whiteness has distorted his perceptions, relationships, and sense of self. He challenges readers to look at the role of race in their own lives and the stakes we have in dismantling racism.
For a look at the way white fragility limits dialogue: In White Fragility antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
For a new perspective on the history of the slave trade in the United States: The film Traces of the Trade tells the story of Producer and Director Katrina Browne’s slave-trading forefathers and debunks the myth that the South is solely responsible for slavery. Browne and her family members explore the history and geography of their past and pose the question of what spiritual and material repair of the past might look like.
For an inspiring story of the fight for human rights and racial equality. Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom tells about Mandela’s work as president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa’s antiapartheid movement, and his role in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule.
For a look at injustice in our criminal justice system and our ability to make a difference. In Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson tells the story of a young man sentenced to die for a crime he didn’t commit and Stevenson’s transformative journey on his behalf toward justice and mercy.
Courses for Cultivating Awareness and Understanding of Indigenous People and Land Justice
Toward Right Relationship – Friends Peace Teams
The Land Is Not Our Own (JustFaith Series)
Land Justice Futures
Contact Indigenous Allies for a warm hand off to these and other organizations that offer educational and action oriented materials.
Additional Resources
How to Become an Ally to Indigenous People seeks to help people understand the history and culture of native people, our impact as settlers, and ways we can support and protect indigenous people from the ongoing destruction of their land.
Becoming Conscious and Well with Dr. Catherine Meeks is a three-part series that focuses on the need for individuals to know themselves and to do their inner work in order to be able to engage effectively in the work of race justice and healing. The series includes videos of Dr. Meeks and questions for reflection. For more information, contact Tracy Methe or Elizabeth Cervasio.
ChurchNext offers five courses to help individuals and groups understand the work of race justice:
- Spirituality and Racial Justice with Michael Curry, available in For Individualsand For Groups formats
- Whiteness and Racial Justice with Kelly Brown Douglas, available in For Individuals and For Groups formats
- Reparation and Racial Justice with Jennifer Harvey, available in For Individuals and For Groups formats
- Theology and Racial Justice with J. Kameron Carter, available in For Individuals and For Groups formats
- Racism and Racial Justice with Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, available in For Individuals and For Groups formats
The Episcopal Church website has curated an extensive list of books, articles, and websites that can be explored by individuals, study groups, and ministry leadership. View resources >
Sacred Ground Webinars: Find out about past and future webinars, including a free one-hour downloadable recording of the informational webinar that provides an introduction to and overview of Sacred Ground. Congregations around the Episcopal Church in Colorado have engaged in Sacred Ground training for several years. For questions about upcoming dialogue circles, please contact Missioner Tracy Methe.
The Soul2Soul Sisters website provides a broad spectrum of resources on the many facets of racism. Included are links to organizations working to end it.
In response to violence across the United States, Virginia Theological Seminary offers Resources For Adult Formation With An Emphasis On Race And Diversity.
Worship and Prayer
Worship unites us and helps empower us for the work of reconciliation. Consider incorporating Prayers for Reconciliation and Justice into your Sunday worship.
Welcoming Others
Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other, and the Spirit of Transformation by Stephanie Spellers is a guide for congregations wanting to move behind inclusivity to a place where “welcoming ‘The Other’ is taken seriously and where engaging god’s mission becomes more than just a catch-phrase.”
Recognizing and Remembering with a Land Acknowledgment
A land acknowledgment is truth-telling about what happened in our homeland years ago and how it affects the way we live today. A recognition of the Indigenous tribal people whose home was the land we now occupy. By doing so we remember them and begin to ask questions about what happened to them and why. A confession of how our church contributed to, or was complicit in, the process of colonization of the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. An admission that while we are not responsible for what our ancestors did in the past, we are responsible for what we do today, knowing that the colonization process is still in place, and the effects of it are still felt by Indigenous people. An invitation to right relationship with Indigenous tribal people, particularly if the people still reside in the region. A recognition that Indigenous people currently live in all areas of this country, even if we do not see them. They are still here. A call to stand with Indigenous people in their myriad struggles to recover from the effects of genocide and enforced assimilation into the dominant society. An honoring of Indigenous people for their resilience, faithfulness, wisdom, and respect for the Earth and all of creation. A call to us to learn from their example. Read the land acknowledgement read at Annual Diocesan Convention 2023:
Welcome to The Episcopal Church in Colorado’s 137th Annual Convention. As we prepare for what the Spirit has for us this weekend, we take a moment to acknowledge that the land on which we live and gather is the traditional territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations. We recognize the Indigenous people who once lived on this land and support the resilience and strength of their descendants living among us today.
We also acknowledge our complicity in the egregious acts of colonization, boarding schools, and genocide that have caused lasting intergenerational trauma. We commit to support the groups which are working toward healing in relationship with Indigenous people. We further commit 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.
Why is it important to have one? Why is a commitment part of it? For non-Indigenous communities, land acknowledgment is a powerful way of showing respect and honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which we work and live. Acknowledgment is a simple way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and inviting the truth.
Indigenous Peoples have a special relationship with the land on which they have lived for generations, sometimes for tens of thousands of years. They possess crucial knowledge about how to manage natural resources sustainably and act as guardians or custodians of the land for the next generations.
Our commitment to concrete actions that represent our intentions Is especially important in light of the nearly 400 treaties signed by the United States and Native American tribes, virtually all of which were broken. Otherwise a land acknowledgement could be considered empty words by Natives and thus further damage the relationship.
Who wrote this one? This land acknowledgement was written by Indigenous Allies in collaboration with People of the Sacred Land. If you’d like to write your own, contact Indigenous Allies
Who can help us write one? Look at the Land Acknowledgement Guide
Indigenous Allies can walk you through the process.If you’d like to write your own, contact Indigenous Allies
Keeping the Conversation Going
A leadership team within your church can focus and guide the work of your congregation and encourage others. We recommend thoroughly exploring the Becoming Beloved Community resources as well as engaging your leadership in a Dismantling Racism Course. Following are workshops, practices, and curricula for carrying out the work of racial reconciliation.
Racism Through the Lens of White Privilege: A Spiritual Conquest (workshop)
A spiritual quest is the longing to become our true selves. This longing requires us to look deep within for hidden or rejected parts of ourselves. It is not comfortable to discover we are not who we thought we were. This is what happened to Rev. Jane E. Vennard when she came face to face with her white privilege. The purpose of this workshop is to explore white privilege as a way to know ourselves more fully and to explore racism with integrity.
Becoming Beloved Community
Becoming Beloved Community…Where You Are “is not a curriculum to be taught and completed, but a life-long way of being that promotes and helps us become Beloved Community.” The process is made up of four interwoven practices that invite reflection and action. Symbolically represented by a labyrinth, individuals and congregations can move from one to the next and back again:
- Telling the Truth: What racial/cultural/ethnic groups are in our church? Who have we excluded or included?
- Proclaiming the Dream: How has our city/town/area participated in racial injustice or healing over time? What’s happening today? What is our dream for Beloved Community? What behaviors and practices foster it?
- Practicing the Way: How will we grow as reconcilers, healers, and justice-bearers? What activities, practices, learning and experiences would (trans)form us? How will we share stories and grow relationship?
- Repairing the Breach: What institutions and systems bear the signs of racial injustice? How will we participate in the repair, restoration and healing of people, institutions and systems?
Each practice includes a recommended list of resources that can be explored in adult forums and study groups. For information about dialogue circles in the Episcopal Church in Colorado, contact Missioner Tracy Methe.
Dismantling Racism
The Diocese of Atlanta has developed the course Dismantling Racism, which is offered to diocesan and congregational leaders committed to bringing this work to their dioceses. Workshops are offered in the Diocese of Georgia, and workshop leaders are available to travel to Colorado. A version of Dismantling Racism is also available to youth leaders. It is made up of six lessons: Introduction and Covenant; God, the Artist; History of Racism in America: How we Got Here; White Privilege, Internalized Oppression; and Repentance, Healing, and Reconciliation. Youth leaders wishing to use the course with their youth must first participate in the Dismantling Racism adult curriculum and complete the youth course.
If you are interested in participating in a workshop in Colorado, please contact the formation team.
Soul 2 Soul Sisters
Soul 2 Soul Sisters calls itself “a fiercely faith-based, Black Womxn-led, racial justice organization focused on Black healing and Black liberation.” Soul 2 Soul provides resources for ending anti-black racism.
Youth
- Use the film The Hate U Give, based on the best-selling book of the same name, to talk about racial injustice and Whiteness. The Hate U Give Discussion Guide >