October 2025 - Monthly Newsletter
- Helms Jarrell
- Oct 1
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
AT A GLANCE
Upcoming Events
Gathering Dates
2025 BCC worship gathering dates: Oct 5 & 19, Nov 2, 16, 30, Dec 7, 14, & 21
Save the Date: Nov 2
All Saints Day and Children's Blessing
On November 2nd, we will celebrate the saints who inspire us. Their examples of wisdom and love help us to know how to work toward the kind of liberating future we imagine. We will take the time on this day to bless all of our children, especially our newest and youngest community members. Feast days are full of food, friends, and creative elements, so get ready to celebrate.
Here's where you come in....each person will have an opportunity to bring a word from an ancestor or saint to share with the children. This so-called "word" does not have to be actual words at all. It could be a token, activity, gesture, or momento...something that expresses the wisdom and love of the saint/ancestor that you wan to share with the children. (And the rest of us too.)
Here's how it'll go:
Each person who would like to will prepare something to share with the group in this format:
One of my favorite ancestors/saints (human or non-human) is......
I love this ancestor/saint because....
I brought this to help you remember them....(distribute the story, momento, picture, words, activity)
May this ancestor/saint be an inspiration to you.
Here's what I need from you: Please let me know if you will bring a word from an ancestor to share with the children. You can email me, text, or comment in the slack.
Save the date: November 11th-
Song and Salve: Music and Practices for the Soul and the City
Join the Carolina Music Social Club for an immersive community experience where music meets medicine-making — nurturing both the heart and the body. Song and Salve invites you into a shared circle of sound, story, and creation.
Together, we’ll breathe deeply, sing boldly, and explore the songs that have carried us — from lullabies and anthems to chants of protest and empowerment. Through improvised harmonies, collective songwriting, and the weaving of new verses into beloved tunes, we’ll discover how music connects us across generations and struggles.
Alongside the music, we’ll engage in the age-old art of crafting healing salves, learning from the plants that thrive around us. Guided by knowledge of native herbs, you’ll explore their protective and restorative properties — and create a balm to carry home as a reminder of the day’s shared care.
Bring the songs you remember from your family, your community, or your own life’s journey. Bring the remedies passed down through stories or experience. Together, we’ll create something that lingers — in voice, in body, and in spirit.
Come for the song, stay for the salve —
and leave with your hands, heart, and city a little more whole.
This event is co-sponsored by Beloved Community Charlotte and QC Family Tree.
Community Life
Leadership at Gatherings:
Here’s the list of who’s leading what through December 2025.*** If you need to switch leadership with someone or let folks know you’ll be absent, the document should be editable. And here’s a guidesheet for preparing to lead Creative Contemplation or Community Response/Prayers for the People. For the fall season, folks who are assigned these roles can use the field guide as a prompt. There is not as much pre-planning during this time.
Oct 19: Helms leads music.
Nov 2: Murphy's lead music.
Childcare:
Oct 19: Chris Murphy
Nov 2: No childcare, everyone together.
Governance
The next Governance meeting is scheduled for Nov 12th via zoom at 7:00pmHere’s the link: https://commonchange.zoom.us/j/7046546546
Here’s our Governance meeting agenda:
Check in
Debrief how the activation went, in terms of BCC leadership/hosting.
Looking ahead at 2026 calendar.
Working group updates
Comms
Justice praxis
Visitors
Budget/finance
Childcare
Misc
UCC grant status
Space updates
Close
Remember to RSVP
Please remember to RSVP to the Google Calendar Invite for BCC Gatherings so that we can make proper childcare arrangements.
QC Family Tree & Praxis Updates
The following are a list of opportunities, organized by QC Family Tree, for you to engage in justice action in our city.
Here’s a link to QCFT Rhizome Coalition announcements.
There’s so much going on with QC Family Tree right now. Are you following QCFT’s social media? Do you get the monthly emails? Please reach out to Helms if you need help signing up for this information.
Beloved Community School for the Common Good
forming a culture of justice, connection, and collective care.
Fall Season: September- Nov 23, 2025
Wayfinding: Wisdom for Action in the Public Square
What can we learn from our ancestors, the earth, and our traditions to help us build a better future?
How can we use stories, art, and our own experiences to tell the truth about what’s wrong and imagine what’s possible?
How can we use art, actions, and community events to stand up against injustice?
What does it look like to show care and fairness in our communities through public efforts?
Tentative Activation
Carolina Social Music Club facilitates a pop up concert/choir- talking about the background and influence of their songs, their cultural and spiritual lineage (human and More-than- human) They lead folks through singing and crafting a playlist/book of songs that can be used on the streets in protest, public actions, press conferences, etc.
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. Here’s a link to a pdf of our Field Guide for this season of the School for the Common Good. In it, you’ll find all sorts of DIY resources.
There's also a webpage dedicated to the Field Guide here.
Beloved Community Circles: Chris and Shelly have volunteered to host the circle this season. Stay tuned for time and date coming soon.
Ritual Gatherings: Bi-weekly practices of ceremony, creative contemplation, story sharing, and connection rooted in the Christian tradition at Ophelia Garmon Brown Community Center, 2647 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208, from 5pm - 7pm.
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
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