Glimpses of
Beloved M
By Larry Hovis CBFNC Executive Coordinator
Community
any years ago when I was in college, our student group from First, Raleigh took a spring break mission trip to New York City where we participated in all kinds of ministries. One day a group of us worked at a ministry center in a drug-infested, crime-ridden area on Manhattan’s lower East Side. We were asked to do two things: clean up the trash from an area that was being renovated and lead a prayer luncheon. We performed our clean-up duties with diligence and devotion. As the noon hour approached, the prayer luncheon participants started arriving. We were more than a little surprised as we began to realize that this was a prayer luncheon for the homeless. Once we got over our initial shock, we went on with our prayer service. One of the students played the guitar and led us all in singing a variety of hymns and choruses. I presented a brief devotional message. Then, we shared prayer requests, which in some ways weren’t all that different from what we were used to hearing back home. But in other ways they were very different: not only prayers for the sick, but prayers that friends would be able to obtain medicine and medical care; not only prayers for families, but prayers for children and parents whom they hadn’t seen in a long time; not only prayers for spiritual needs, but prayers for basic physical needs like food and clothing and shelter. It was an quite an eye-opening experience for our group of middle-class college students from North Carolina! After worship, we all shared a simple lunch meal together: soup, crackers and some kind of colored liquid that I think was Kool-Aid. We did not segregate ourselves but intentionally sat among and between our homeless guests. We talked, laughed and enjoyed fellowship with each other. It wasn’t the most elegant meal I had ever experienced, but as we humbled ourselves and broke bread with people who were very different from us, I noticed a strange taste. What was it? And then I figured it out. It was a little taste of the beloved community.
Fast forward three decades. In the summer of 2012, I travelled to Canada for a glimpse at what the future church might look like. The Canadian Baptists I met were no longer under the delusion that they live in a culture dominated by a Christian worldview. They didn’t pretend that the average Canadian understands what church is or feels the need to be a member of a congregation. They were learning to view their own
communities in much the same way missionaries view the places around the world in which they serve. While in Canada, I had the privilege of preaching in Bromley Road Baptist Church in Ottawa (where Marc and Kim Wyatt were members at the time). This historically Anglo church and its buildings looked and felt much like our CBF churches in North Carolina. However, in worship that Sunday, in addition to those who had traditionally been part of that church, there were also significant numbers of persons of color, particularly Haitian and Karen immigrants. These newcomers were welcomed, embraced and integrated into the congregation in every way and were breathing new life into that old, established church. Ten years ago in Canada it appeared to me that there were two kinds of Canadian Baptist churches. The first kind mourned the loss of a past where they were the centers of their communities and attracted many folks “like them” (white Baptists) to their services and ministries. They were declining rapidly and in some cases closing their doors. The second kind, like Bromley Road, were learning to embrace their neighbors from around the world. Those churches now have a bright future, but it looks very different from the past. What was true in Canada a decade ago is becoming a reality for us in NC. By 2030, if trends are not reversed, a significant number of churches will cease to exist. For many churches, survival will depend on their ability to reach a different kind of population and not just see them as targets for outreach ministries, but actually to incorporate them into the life of the congregation. In short, they will learn to cultivate a new form of beloved community. According to the King Center, this term “beloved community” was first coined in the early days of the 20th century by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce. It was popularized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and appeared often in his sermons and writings. In Facing the Challenge of a New Age, King states, “But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community.” Jesus described this kind of beloved community in the parable of the Great Banquet found in Luke 14. A wealthy person throws a lavish party. The invitation goes out first to those who are most like the host. They make excuses as to why they can’t come. He then invites a second group, folks who are a little more distant but there is still room for See “Glimpses of Beloved Community” on page 4. Summer 2021 | 3
