beloved’s vow


At the heart of the Beloved community is a monastic-like ‘rule of life’ that helps shape our life together, both as individuals and as a community as we follow Jesus.  Our mission can be stated as simply this –

WELCOME + STORY + PRESENCE + GIFT

“Risen Christ, you give us nothing more than we can handle, and all that you call us to you have already accomplished.  We trust in your goodness and strength and, to our surprise, you share it with us.  Amen.

Beloved, remember that it is not for the love of God, as if it was a thing to be achieved, rather it is because of the Love of God freely given, whose name is Jesus Christ, that we devote ourselves to this vow.  Christ is the one who calls you and it is to him that you are now invited to respond.

WELCOME

Will you devote yourself to receiving God’s welcome, the costly inclusion that comes to us in so many surprising and mundane ways?  And will you, in turn, offer welcome to strangers and friends, and work with Church of the Beloved to create a place of radical hospitality?

With the help of God and our community, we will.
STORY

Will you devote yourself to remembering Christ’s story, handed down to us by our ancient community in the Holy Scriptures, in the witness of the Church, in the revealing of creation and in the text that is unfolding in each other?  And will you, in turn, authentically tell your own story when safety and compassion prompts you?

With the help of God and our community, I will.

PRESENCE

Will you devote yourself to celebrating the presence of the Spirit, listening for discernment, hoping for healing and resting in God’s utter acceptance?  And will you, in turn, offer your presence to those the Spirit calls you to in extraordinary friendship, solidarity with suffering, and outrageous freedom?

With the help of God and our community, we will.

GIFT

Will you devote yourself to receiving the gift of the Trinity, the grace of the Incarnate One who gave himself for the world, saving you from your own violence and isolation, and who gives you a name and a calling?  And will you, in turn, with joy and trust, live open-handedly, generously sharing your resources and vocation with your community and the deprived?

With the help of God and our community, we will.
And now, devoting your self to Christ through welcome, story, presence and gift, will you offer courage and grace to your community as they too seek to live out this Beloved’s vow, disarming the shame and hopelessness that tries to convince us that the impossible has happened: that we are separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.  Will you devote yourselves to nurture and maturing of one another in Christ’s love?

With the help of God and our community, we will.”

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