Building the Beloved Community: Taking Action Toward Social Transformation

Many voices in the world today seek to bring peace, but some of those voices seek peace through fear and violence. Those voices view power as having more weapons than others and using threats to maintain the status quo or to hold on to power. But followers of Jesus have seen a better way. We have witnessed the lifegiving good news of God through Jesus’ life, his teachings, and Resurrection. The church, as a community of witnesses to this good news, has been called to engage in the work of Jesus, to live out the incarnation of Jesus, and to offer this good news to the world as partners with God in God’s redemptive work.

Throughout the grand narrative of scripture, the story points toward the redemption of all creation—redemption in which fear, hate, and greed that furthers dehumanization and destruction are overcome by hope, compassion, empathy, and love, so that all will have access to that which leads to the flourishing of life. The result being that war is no more, the evils of racism are no more, and poverty is eliminated. The work is shaping this world to look more like that of the beloved community that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saw as a realistic, tangible, and achievable goal in which all have the opportunity to live and flourish.

Throughout the course of this webinar series, we will talk with leaders who are seeking to live out the vision of the beloved community as they work to engage the community and transform the world. From identifying various spheres of poverty and the systems that perpetuate poverty to discussing what it looks like for the church to live in ways that offer compassion for immediate needs while also working for justice, this series will offer best practices and wisdom so that local church leaders can adapt and apply these practices within their own particular contexts. Our conversations will cover topics ranging from homelessness, health care, economic poverty, and the political order. We will also discuss aspects of empire and its systems and the ways in which God’s good news stands against empire and offers a vision of power redefined as life-giving love. We will talk about how the church is engaged in this work at the local level.

Each hour-long session will offer a time for learning along with a time for questions. Our hope is that each session will offer something that you can begin practicing in your own community, something that can help shape your understanding of the world, or a practice that can help you deepen your relationship with God and those in your neighborhood.

Building the Beloved Community begins Thursday, March 17!

NOTE: Registration for this webinar series is now closed.