August 2026
- Helms Jarrell
- Jul 31
- 5 min read
Upcoming Events
***Our meeting location for Aug 2, and Aug 16 will be at The Pauline’s Apothecary Tea Bar at 2326 Arty Ave.
2026 dates: Aug 2, Aug 16- Pride After Party, Sept 13, Sept 27, Oct 4, Oct 18, Nov 1- All Saints/Children’s Blessing, Nov 15, Nov 29. Dec 6, Dec 13, Dec 20. We will return to Marian House at 2916 Parkway Ave on Sept 13.
Throughout this season, we will experiment with social technologies—structured practices that help people connect, listen deeply, learn, and work together. August 2nd's Proclamation and Community Response will involve the practice of Invitation- choosing to take a chance and extending an request to others, engaging people through free choice and personal agency rather than mandate, requirement, or persuasion.
For the next few months, we are going to experiment with adding a time for governance check in to our gatherings. At the end of each gathering, we'll check in on who's doing what for BCC, how it is going, what needs more discussion, etc. We'll start this practice on August 2nd and see how it goes and whether we want to continue it on October 18. We're checking to see if this new way of governance might be the way we'd like to move forward in our refreshed covenant 2027-2029.
Please remember to bring a snack to share at communion each time we gather. Sharing food is a spiritual practice: enjoying the abundance of God and God's community with each other. It is also a very practical element of our time together: children and adults can enjoy a snack, which keeps them nourished and engaged.
And if you have the ability to bring food to add to the Freedom Fridge, a mutual aid pantry at Marian House (2916 Parkway Ave), please do.
The theme for this season is: Wide Open, Well Held: Cultivating a World in which all may Remain Open and Curious while also Setting Healthy Boundaries
The toolkit for this season is linked here.
A note about space: We're still searching for West Side meeting space. Until then, we'll meet at Marian House at QCFT. In July and August, Marian House is turned into a theater for Mixed Metaphors Production. For July and August, we have reserved The Pauline's Tea Bar and Apothecary for our meeting space. 2326 Arty Ave.
BCC folks will attend Mixed Metaphors Production on August 30th at 2:00pm (10 people max) and 3:00pm (10 people max). Gretchen is coordinating tickets and our meet up plan. Stay tuned to more info. Here's a description of the show:
Dauntless: An Ode to 2916 explores how joy fuels resistance and resilience. For the last two years, Mixed Metaphors Productions has partnered with QC Family Tree to create devised, community-based immersive theatre in Charlotte’s Enderly Park. In an era marked by fear, political uncertainty, and widening disparity, joy is often erased particularly for systemically marginalized communities. Dauntless: An Ode to 2916 seeks to reclaim it as a powerful force for sustaining resistance and imagining new possibilities.
Central metaphor: the dandelion; think about how dandelions grow through concrete, reclaim grounds, spread themselves on the wind, help the soil be more fertile for other plants, can be used for games/dye/and food and mark the rebirth of spring.
Mixed Metaphors Productions disrupts narratives of erasure through immersive theatre, art installation, and new oral histories in Charlotte, NC. Together with our community collaborators, we challenge Charlotte’s past, celebrate Charlotte’s present, and imagine a future where every Charlottean is valued.
Leadership at Upcoming Gatherings:
Throughout the summer season, we will be experimenting with different social technologies. A social technology is a structured way of gathering and interacting that helps people communicate, learn, and work together more effectively. It creates conditions for deeper listening, stronger relationships, shared understanding, and meaningful participation within a group. You are invited to offer your leadership by engaging deeply with curiosity and initiative.
Date | Childcare | Social technology |
June 7 | Shelly | Fishbowl |
June 21 | Mattie | Story Circles |
July 5 | none- Funeral for the Empire | Funeral for the Empire |
July 19 | Gretchen | Think, Pair, Share |
August 2 | Chris | Invitation |
August 16 | Pride After Party | Pride After Party |
August 30 | Activation | Activation |
On August 16th, we'll have refreshments and rest after a thrilling (and hot) Pride parade. This less formal gathering will have a short time of reflection on a poem by Michael Quoist and Song lyrics by The Highwomen
Governance
In summer and fall 2026, we will revisit the community’s existing covenant not simply as a document to preserve, but as a living reflection of who we are becoming together. Community members will be invited to actively engage the old covenant by marking
it up, annotating it, questioning it, expanding it, and adapting it in light of present realities and future hopes. Some commitments may feel deeply rooted and worth carrying forward, while others may need to be revised, clarified, or released altogether. This process invites honesty, imagination, and collective ownership, recognizing that healthy
covenantal life requires ongoing reflection and renewal.
Throughout the Summer and Fall seasons, we will work collaboratively to craft a renewed covenant emerging from the old while making space for new wisdom, practices, and commitments to take shape. As participants engage shared experiences, conversations, worship, conflict, care, and collective discernment, we expect new insights and needs to emerge from within the life of the community itself. Together, we will identify the promises, practices, boundaries, and rhythms that feel necessary for
sustaining liberatory, embodied, and trustworthy community life in this season. In this way, the covenant becomes more than a statement of values—it becomes a communal practice of listening, adapting, and intentionally shaping how we belong to one another.
Are you planning on re-covenanting with BCC in January of 2027? Our covenant agreement is for two years. We will craft the covenant together throughout the Fall of 2026. Please speak to Helms or Gretchen about your household’s interest in re-covenanting.
Remember to RSVP
Please remember to RSVP to the attendance text that went out. This helps us know how to prepare and whether to secure childcare. If you did not get the text, please reach out to Shelly Murphy or email hello@belovedcommunityclt.com
Beloved Community School for the Common Good
forming a culture of justice, connection, and collective care.
June-August 2026
This Season's Theme for our School for the Common Good is:
Wide Open, Well Held
Our summer theme, Wide Open, Well Held, invites us to imagine a world where
people can remain openhearted and curious without sacrificing safety, clarity, or
care. Throughout the season, we will practice holding the tension between
openness and protection with intention—resisting both defensiveness and
overexposure, and learning instead how boundaries and connection can coexist.
For our School for the Common Good Activation this season, we’ll all be attending the Mixed Metaphors Production together
Toolkit - Resources to use at home, with family, and in small groups. become a sponsor of the school to receive an all seasons pass to this toolkit or order a season at time. Check out the resource guide for summer 2026 here.
Beloved Community Circles: Information to come.
Ritual Gatherings: Bi-weekly practices of ceremony, creative contemplation, story sharing, and connection rooted in the Christian tradition.
Communications
Ways to stay up to date
Slack is a communication tool that BCC folks use to update each other throughout the week. If you want to join the slack, let Helms know.
If you don’t want to find us on Slack, you can still find updates on our Linktree.
You can also add the Beloved Community Charlotte Google calendar to your calendar.
If someone you know wants to join our belovedcommunityclt email list, email iamhelmsie@gmail.com and she’ll add you to the list.
If you want to schedule some time to connect with Helms, feel free to find a time that works for you using this link: https://calendly.com/helmsjarrell
Comments