I don’t read the Bible.  To be honest, a lot of it doesn’t make sense to me.  When Reverend Angie explains Bible passages from within her own understanding and shared experiences, I can begin to understand some of it. 

My mother, Haruko, born and raised in Okinawa, Japan, has been a Southern Baptist evangelical Christian for the past thirty-five years or so.  She holds regular Bible study classes for Okinawan and Japanese women in her home.  Until I became a member of Beloved Community Church, my mother and I would have constant arguments about whether or not I was a Christian or believed that Jesus Christ was personal Lord and Savior.  

I don’t have the same certainty about Jesus Christ being my personal Lord and Savior as my mother does, but I do believe that God and the spirit of Jesus Christ is within me and every other person and being that walks, flies, crawls and grows on this planet. 

The church my mother has attended for over thirty years is predominantly white.  No matter how many of her Japanese-Okinawan friends that she brings in to attend, it is and will always be a Southern Baptist Church with a predominantly conservative white congregation.  

Beloved Community Church offers me sacred space, gathering, communion, reflection whether or not I show up for church service.  I feel I can be myself and offer whatever I can to help and be part of the congregation and community.   

Beloved Community Church 
A Beacon of Hope that Shines in Every Direction  

Matthew 5: 13 – 16  
13: You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its salt be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.”  14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.”  15:  “Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house”  16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”


Sincerely, 
Neko Linda