I was amazed to see
That the appointed scripture reading for today
Is Matthew 25:
When you did unto the least of these,
You did unto me.
Category Archives: Social justice
Reading Changes Lives: Join us in the UCC One Read
This fall, we’re reading the book Hotdogs & Hamburgers as part of the UCC One Read. This great book highlights the issue of adult illiteracy and the church’s response to our neighbors who are struggling to read. We’re joining with our fellow UCC congregations to help through tutoring, advocacy, and being more involved in local schools.
Join us Wednesday nights at 7 for our Bible study to discuss the book with us!
Here is what Beloveds have to say about the book so far:
Continue reading Reading Changes Lives: Join us in the UCC One Read
Feature on Beloved in Birmingham Magazine
“I believed there was a hunger for a church where people could come together across race and economic and religious backgrounds, a place where they all could be told they were precious in the eyes of God…There are not many churches where you’ll have a doctor sitting next to a homeless person sitting next to a college professor sitting next to a schizophrenic.”
Birmingham Magazine wrote a feature on Beloved Community Church. Check it out here!
Human Rights Campaign Faith Forum at Beloved July 22, 2014
By
Published on July 23, 2014 at al.com.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Lauren, 23, stood up in the middle of Beloved Community Church in Avondale on Tuesday night, holding her Bible. “I’m a lesbian,” she said. “I really didn’t want to be gay.”
Continue reading Human Rights Campaign Faith Forum at Beloved July 22, 2014
Across the Tracks: a look at gentrification in Avondale
Three of our Beloveds were recently featured in this short documentary by UAB Media Students focusing on gentrification in our Avondale community.
We hope you’ll watch and perhaps learn something new, or will have your own experiences to share. Please let us know what you think in the comments!
Across the Tracks by Rebecca Graber and Harsh Shah from UAB Documentary on Vimeo.
On shame
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Every Sunday, I tell my flock at Beloved Community Church:
“No matter where you have been, no matter what you have done, no matter what has been done to you, you are still precious in the eyes of God.”
I say this every week because I know that shame keeps so many people from walking into the wide-open arms of a loving God. So many of us have internalized a corrosive shame not only for mistakes we have made and wrong turns we have taken, but for who we are and even for what others have done to us.
People have pointed their fingers at us (ok, even the middle one), shamed us, to the point that we believe the lies they have told us about ourselves. Many of us have internalized a shame for who we are, or for who we are not. Our parents may have convinced us that we just were not enough – not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not strong enough, not giving enough; somehow we failed them when their lives didn’t measure up.
Some hear every day that there is something shameful about who they are as a people. For African-Americans, this dehumanizing public shaming has been codified, enshrined in custom and law, and justified by scripture. If you want to think that this no longer happens, look to last week’s release of a federal Department of Education study documenting that Black children make up about 18 percent of children in preschool programs in schools, but almost half of those who are suspended more than once. Preschoolers are being shamed and internalizing that shame, and it is corrosive to the soul.
But it’s not just race – it’s also about gender. Girls start to see themselves as sex objects as young as 6 years old. They are losing their sense of self-worth as children and it is corrosive to the soul.
Public shaming happens to anyone who loves someone who society or community says they should not love. Certainly same-sex lovers are shamed. So are interracial couples and those who fall in love outside their religion, or tribe, taken literally or metaphorically.
And then there is the victim’s shame – what someone did to you becomes your own shame. The shame of the victim of rape – think of the girls who were tormented to the point of suicide after reporting gang-rape by popular football players.
Think of the shame someone feels when his or her spouse has had an affair – even though s/he has done nothing wrong. Children often internalize shame about their parents’ divorce, unless parents are intentional about reassuring them that it is not their fault. Victims absorb the shame of their own wounds.
Jesus didn’t deal in shame.
When I read the story of “the woman caught in adultery,” as it is commonly called (she was caught practicing adultery all by herself, right?), I think about the pointing of fingers, the public shaming. She was dragged into the public square, surrounded by men ready to stone her to death for her sin. This was what the religious law allowed.
Instead of pointing his finger at this sinful woman or even at judgmental and hypocritical men, Jesus knelt down and used his finger to draw in the sand. Without looking anyone directly in the eye, he said, ‘you who is without sin throw the first stone.’ The men slowly walked away, some dignity and integrity intact.
Instead of pointing his finger at the woman, he stood up and met her eye to eye.
He said to her, “Woman I do not condemn you. I will not shame you.”
He would not throw the first stone. He would not cast shame. He set her free, with the possibility of new life.
It’s tough to resist blame and shame, especially if you have been hurt or threatened. It’s tough to see the image of God in every person.
Sometimes it feels a lot better to point that shaming finger than to do something else with it even if it means drawing in the sand, to keep from pointing it at someone else, causing them to feel shame or blame.
But what abundant life we are promised when we learn to cease the pointing of the finger, the casting of shame.
-Rev. Angie Wright
Lenten reflection from Callie Greer: to forgive or to be held hostage?
On MLK Sunday, Callie Greer preached at Beloved, sharing her story of unimaginable hurt and loss, and forgiving the unforgiveable. Her sermon title was “To Forgive or Not To Forgive: Holding Yourself Hostage.” She forgave the young man who shot her son to death, in part to set her own soul free. She forgave the man who sexually abused her daughter and herself, nursing him in her own home to the end of his life. She inspired all of us to forgive the many petty grudges we hold.
For those of you who had the chance to meet Callie, you know that she has an outspoken spirit and caring heart and impacts everyone she comes into contact with. She has no problem speaking her mind and telling you exactly where she stands on any issue. You know when she is in the room. She is a rare and remarkable being. Her life has been a constant uphill battle. She has suffered much loss, heartache, trials, and tribulations. But through it all, she has proven herself to be a woman of faith, strength, courage and perseverance. Despite her personal challenges, she is constantly fighting for the rights of others, in particular for a new constitution for the state of Alabama.
Last Saturday, Callie lost her young daughter Venus to a four-year battle with cancer. Not completely healed from the loss of her son, Mercury, to senseless gun violence several years ago, Callie must now lay to rest her daughter, Venus.
Tari Williams on Greater Birmingham Ministries’ staff writes:
Callie and her family are holding up remarkably well. But, Venus’s battle with cancer is a truly sad and heart-wrenching testament about the need for healthcare reform. Venus knew she was sick long before the doctors discovered her cancer. Because she had no healthcare coverage, when she initially started having chest pains, shortness of breath and other seemingly minor but lingering ailments she could not explain, she went to the emergency room. She was sent home a total of five times over the course of about 18 months because she and her symptoms were not taken seriously. Each time, she was given a quick cursory exam and sent home. By the sixth time, she showed up in the emergency room with pain radiating through the right side of her body, difficulty breathing, and a significant loss of weight because she was unable to keep food down. She had made up her mind that she was not going to leave the ER until someone gave her some real answers. She demanded to be taken seriously. Once she explained to the doctor her symptoms, how many times she had been to the ER and he saw the fear and determination in her eyes, a more comprehensive exam was done and further tests ordered. Cancer had already placed a firm stake on her body. Diagnosed with breast cancer, Venus weighing less than 100lbs., handled a right breast mastectomy, radiation treatments and chemotherapy like a trained Navy Seal. Venus actually won her battle with breast cancer. But, less than one year later, the cancer came back and began attacking several areas of her body one by one, with the last being her brain. Callie was by her side every step of the way.
Callie and her family need your prayers and support. Please allow her the time and space she needs to grieve and make final preparations. Feel free to contact Tari or Angie at GBM with any questions: (205) 326 – 6821.
Callie and her family are in need of help with funeral expenses — at her young age,who would think that Venus would need burial or life insurance? If you would like to help, you can make checks to Beloved Community Church (Callie Greer in the memo line). You can also drop off any personal notes and/or cards.
Gracias a Dios
Eighty people stand in a circle outside a church in Northport. Arms crossed, hands clasped. Latino, black, white. Invited to share their vision for a beautiful Alabama, voices ring out. Dignity, dignidad. Life without fear, vivir sin miedo. Peace, faith, strength to stay in the struggle. Repeal of HB 56. No more tearing families apart. A multicultural, multilingual Alabama. The ability to lead our people. Courage, valor.
People who daily are labeled illegal are now labeled Leaders.
People who’ve been told time and again it’s time to leave know now it’s time to lead.
People who’ve been told to move know now it’s time for a movement.
Men in work shirts, university professors, mothers and grandmothers, college students, civil rights icons, teenagers and children, all calling out their vision for a beautiful Alabama. In a moment of quiet, a Latina child calls out, Roll Tide! Everyone laughs, but I think we all feel the painful irony. That’s just how deeply rooted in Alabama our immigrant neighbors are, and yet the intent of Alabama’s new immigration law is to force them to leave or to live here in fear.
Roll Tide? Oh yes, the tide is turning in Alabama, and it will not be turned back. We are One family, One Alabama. Brown, black and white, in Alabama, of all places. HB56 is bringing us together. It’s a miracle. The kingdom of God is at hand. God is doing a new thing, can you not behold it? Thanks be to God. Gracias a Dios.
-Rev. Angie, 2013
Standing on Holy Ground
Walking from Selma to Montgomery, thousands of people from all over the country. Old folks on canes and in wheelchairs, children in strollers, college students with boundless energy.
Whites, Blacks, Latinos. They crossed the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where once-peaceful marchers were beaten and clubbed by men whose duty was to enforce the law, where the same marchers came back singing, ‘ain’t nobody gonna turn us around’ and marched all the way to Montgomery.
This year thousands came, crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and made that same five day pilgrimage to Montgomery.
They came because they had been there.
They came because they wished they had been there.
They came because they don’t want to go back there again.
They came because of HB56.
They came because they felt called to do something about a mean spirit set loose in our country. A mean spirit that wants to turn back the times, to go back to “the good old days” that weren’t so good for people without privilege. A mean spirit that once denied access to voting booths and lunch counters and water fountains, that still denies full access to justice and dignity to people with certain pigment, and that now seeks to deny access to people without papers.
And so they marched. They whispered, “We are standing on holy ground, walking in holy footsteps.” Walking in the footsteps of people who 47 years ago marched this same road to overturn the tables of injustice, like Jesus did when he overturned the tables in the Temple.
Standing on holy ground: When Moses stood on holy ground, God told him to take off his shoes. As soon as he did, God gave him his marching orders: go to Egypt, and set my people free!
Walking in holy footsteps: as soon as the disciples dropped their nets to follow Jesus, he gave them their marching orders: If you want to be my disciple, pick up the cross and follow me.
Walking in holy footsteps, standing on holy ground. Marching orders seem to follow. You are standing on holy ground, My Beloveds, not just when you enter the sanctuary of the church but every time your foot touches the earth, because every speck of dirt that God ever created is holy.
So what about walking in holy footsteps? Remember when you were a child at the beach, running behind someone much larger than you, trying to stay in their footsteps, leaping from footstep to footstep quickly before the next wave washed the footstep away, running without looking up because their legs were so much longer than yours? Trying not to make your own footprints, trying not to miss a step, not caring where they were going, just not wanting them to end?
It’s time to look up, time to pay attention. Whose footsteps are you walking in? Consciously or not, we are all walking in someone’s. Are they the ones you really want to follow? And where are those footsteps taking you? Is it really where you want to go? Standing on holy ground, check. Walking in holy footsteps, check. It must be time to take off your shoes, drop your nets, and get ready for your marching orders.
-Rev. Angie
Reflections on Beloved’s 12th Year
Dear Beloveds,
In the last year, we have been transformed by abrupt changes in the world around us. First, tornados blasted through our lives on April 27. Immediately we struck out to the homes of our members, and to the homes of strangers, helping to remove debris and to listen to the stories of loss and mystery. In the aftermath, we discovered that we were not alone in responding – sister UCC churches from around the country have come to live with us, a week at a time, to work in the driving Alabama sun, rebuilding homes for those who lost their homes. They, and we, and the lives of people whose homes are being rebuilt, are being transformed.
Many of us have been transformed by a different kind of disaster, Alabama’s immigration law, HB 56, which passed the Alabama legislature days after the April 27 tornadoes. We stepped out of our known world and entered into the lives of people affected the law, and we have been changed. We have had potluck suppers with young people and their parents who brought them here as infants. We have hosted many planning sessions for those opposing the laws. We have joined hands at vigils and rallies with other faith communities around the state standing against any law that dehumanizes our brothers and sisters. A number of us did different kinds of work, but I would say that it has been the relationships that were most transformative.
And now as we look around us, we see that our community is being transformed. When we held our first worship service in 2000, every building around us was in shambles. It looked like downtown Baghdad. We were warned that buying a building in Avondale was a bad investment; the value could only go down. Many people were afraid to come to Avondale for church, and to be honest, on a dark night it did seem quite scary. We renovated our dilapidated “little building” next door, now named the Brown Building after Beloved Marty Brown, which was one step in transformation of the neighborhood. Now there are new businesses popping up all around us! We took a chance on Avondale because there was a place for everybody here. Part of our work, as people of faith called to care for the least of these, is to help ensure that there will still be a place for everyone, as the process of transformation unfolds.
There were many other transformational moments in the last year, some I know about and many that I don’t. Our Spoken Word events are always the best thing happening in Birmingham (possibly short of worship on Sunday nights!) Watching our beautiful children grow. The way that you take care of one another. The joy you take in feeding the hungry and housing homeless families. The way we can feel our spirits rise when we sing with our Beloved Community Orchestra, or listen to LeNard and David sing ‘Guide My Steps.’
Transformation is what the Spirit of God does. We don’t get to decide when, or how, or what it will look like. We just open our minds. We open our hearts. We open our doors. And invite the Spirit to do with us as the Spirit will. That’s what we have done for 12 years. I know I have been transformed, and am ready for more. What about you?
-Rev. Angie Wright
Summer 2012
