Our Community

Covenant

Signed January 2023

We covenant to…

Celebrate and honor our interdependence within and responsibility to God’s abundant creation
Gather regularly for worship, building community, and joining in the struggle for justice.
Care for the spiritual and material needs of our fellow BCC members and the poor and oppressed within the larger community
Antiracist practice, full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ peoples, and continuing to learn how to undo oppression in and around us.
Affirm the varied gifts of each member.
Revise and revisit this covenant every two years, renewing membership with BCC at that time. [Jan 2025]

Our Story

May 2021

When We First Met

Our first meeting was on Memorial Day weekend in May of 2021. Melissa Florer-Bixler, pastor of Raleigh Mennonite Church brought us together at QC Family Tree for a time of worship, discussion, and a meal. Folks came with a variety of interests and curiosities: peace church, radical justice, activism, healing from evangelicalism, shared leadership, and creativity.

2022

Our First Full Year

For a full year, we primarily met outdoors at QC Family Tree. In the summer of 2021, Rally Charlotte opened the doors of the Ophelia Garmon Brown Center where we continue to meet presently. Alongside our rhythm of gathering for worship and community building, we have had the opportunity to experiment with practices of liturgical direct action, activism, and community engagement.

Year Two

We celebrated two years of meeting together on June 4th, 2023. This year, we grew in number, found solutions to childcare needs, and gathered for several community building events. We took time to focus on several justice issues throughout a series of meetings, reading groups, and cohorts. Justice themes of year two: Climate Justice, Abolition, Decolonization. Several guest proclaimers and creatives contributed their voices: de'Angelo DIA, Tommy Allgood, Stephanie Vander Lugt, Michael Haynes, Malu Fairley-Collins, Dawn Anthony. Beloved Community Charlotte partnered with QC Family Tree and the Charlotte Justice Conference to start the Praxis Collective- a collective of folks who are interested in and/ or practicing Christian faith-rooted social justice within Charlotte. For more information about the Praxis Collective, click here.

Leadership

Each Beloved Community members commit to taking the initiative to offer pastoral and spiritual care for one another and our community. We will collectively analyze our individual and collective experiences and needs to strategize for taking collective action toward justice. We affirm the varied gifts of each member.

Our Organizing Pastor is Rev. Helms Jarrell. You can read more about Helms here..

Partnerships

Beloved Community Charlotte’s accountability and community partners are the Alliance of Baptists, QC Family Tree, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).