Beloved Community Church

Last Sunday I attended a Sunday service at Beloved Community Church. My history with religion is basically none. As I said in my first blog post, Uruguayans are very private about their religious beliefs. Most of them are atheists, and those who are religious are probably Catholic. My mother's family is Catholic, but they never really discussed it. I never attended any services with them. I had very little understanding of what religion or God even were. It seemed strange and mystical and something I shouldn't bring up in conversation. 


The first mass I recall attending was a wedding.I was in awe of everything around me and too afraid to move a muscle. Finally they began to offer the eucharist and people lined up to receive it. I knew I was witnessing a powerful ritual, and suddenly wanted to be a part of it. I leapt out of my seat to join the growing line. My grandmother, giggling beside me, pulled me back and told me to sit down. I later learned that I could not take part in the ceremony, but only watch, because I was not baptized.


From then on, religion and church seemed like something out of reach. I accepted my grandmother's reason very readily. Since I had so little understanding of what baptism even was, I assumed that it was simply not for me. After all, if it had been for me, surely I would've been baptized. I respect and agree with my parent's decision to raise me the way they did in regards to religion. What they couldn't have anticipated, however, is that upon moving to the bible belt, I was going to be an extreme oddity.


Since then I have attended many different kinds of religious services with friends. I always viewed everything before me with respect and reverence, but always through the eyes of an outsider. I doubt that I ever returned to the same place of worship twice. What I experienced at Beloved Community Church was altogether different.


For starters, there was none of the usual gilded ceilings or marble columns of my previous experiences. No depictions of a dying Christ that I always found unsettling. Beloved Community is a simple brick building with two stories. The lower level has the feeling of a good friend's living room, inviting, welcoming, downright cozy. The sanctuary upstairs is elegant and sports a stained-glass window that reads "Beloved." I felt the usual quiet that came over me at the start of any service and sat down to observe.


How could I have expected to end up participating for the first time in my life? All the members welcomed me with open arms, offered to pray for me, were genuinely interested in me as a person. The music was celebratory, joyous, and spirited. The band plays jazz, r&b, even contemporary pop songs. With all my fear of singing in public, I may even have joined in quietly. The sermon was challenging and beautifully delivered by Reverend Angie Wright. 


When she offered the eucharist, this time I knew what to do. People lined up and one by one were told that they were loved. I continued to sit, as if my grandmother was beside me guiding. The members began to notice that I was not standing up, that I wasn't going to join them. They beckoned me to come and share bread with them. I sheepishly admitted that I could not because I was not baptized. Rapidly they made me realize that it didn't matter, that I was welcome anyway. I joined in timidly and dipped my bread into the cup of wine and was told that I was loved. And I believed it. It was simply moving.


Later I had the chance to interview Reverend Wright and ask her some of the questions that had come to me during the service.

Me: What makes Beloved Community Church different from other Christian churches?

Rev. Wright: Beloved Community is a church that "celebrates all people as precious children of God" -- not only welcomes and celebrates but also ordains, includes in leadership -- poor, not poor, housed, homeless, mentally stable and ill, physically able and disabled, gay and straight -- part of a denomination (United Church of Christ) that ordained women in the 1800's, gay person the in 1970's, were the core group who freed the Amistad slaves. In other words, it has a strong social justice history.

It is non-dogmatic and non-creedal -- you don't have to endorse a set of beliefs to be considered a Christian, you just have to be seeking a deeper relationship with God and trying to "walk in the ways of Jesus." 

We don't "believe in the Bible,"  that's idol worship, but rather the Bible is authoritative for us, we see it as one way that God is revealed to us and that in the person of Jesus God is best seen and made known to us.

Me: What is your favorite ritual or ceremony that is performed at Beloved? Why?

Rev. Wright: Regular sunday worship is my favorite because that's when the community comes together to share journey, joys, sorrows, become more deeply bonded in what we believe we are called to do and be as a church; we sing, pray, laugh, cry, eat, tell stories; it's one hour that is as full of every aspect of life imaginable.

I also love baptism because it's a time when the church as a community makes a solemn vow to be the spiritual family for the person being baptized, forever, no matter what -- no matter what that person does or doesn't do, no matter what happens, the community binds itself to that person -- baptism is often understood as just being about the child/person and family, maybe  godparents, but for us, it's about the church community too, and  its a very happy occasion. I also love weddings.

Me: Do you find it difficult or challenging to be inclusive of every belief system in your sermons?

Rev. Wright: I don't try to be inclusive of every belief system because many belief systems are hateful, etc.  I don't try to include every religious tradition in my sermons, if that's what you mean, because we are a Christian church.  However, I don't believe that Christianity is the only way, I'm always respectful of other religions and I often say that God is large enough to receive all of us.  I do try to honor all people created by God, and believe we all are created by the same God, and that all religions are created by humans, so no religion has full knowledge, every religion has flaws, every religion has history of both liberation and oppression, and I have no problem at all owning up to that.  

 

Me: Have you encountered any animosity toward your church because of its liberal teachings? (Having a female minister, type of music played, multi-cultural members)

Rev. Wright: There has been occasional animosity because I am female, divorced, in a biracial relationship, not a "born-again" Christian, have gay members, don't read the Bible fundamentalistly (probably not a word) as if "every word is the inerrant word of God."  There are times that we have been taken advantage of because our members are generous beyond measure.  Also some people are afraid because we are in the inner-city, and have people who are "different" like homeless or mentally ill -- but that is the joy of it all.

I left the service feeling very happy to have experienced this sense of community and love. It seemed this group of people really embodied everything that I admire about the Christian faith. I highly recommend this church to anyone interested as you will be welcomed and embraced as part of a beloved community.