Becoming Beloved Community
The mission of Saint Matthew’s Becoming Beloved Community group is to follow the call of Jesus to restore dignity and autonomy to those deprived of access to sufficient resources to meet their basic needs for physical survival, emotional wellbeing, and human fulfillment. We do this by building personal relationships with members of Saint Matthew’s and the surrounding community, identifying needs and opportunities, collaborating with other faith-based groups, and organizing civic actions to influence public policy. The aim is to become a beloved community of love, justice, truth-telling, and solidarity with those in need.
Come and join us to help make this vision a reality!
Current Projects
BBC convenes “Deepening Community Sessions” at Saint Matthew’s. These sessions provide opportunities for members to connect beyond a superficial level and to better understand the challenges faced by fellow parishioners. Sessions are led by a trained leader, include 6-7 people, last 40 minutes, and are usually held during coffee hour from 10:15 to 10:55 am. BBC members also initiate one-on-one meetings to actively get to know other parishioners better and assess their interests.
Our Saint Matthew’s BBC group actively collaborates with other member congregations of Valley Interfaith Project. VIP is a nonpartisan organization. We currently are working to get elected and appointed city, county, and state government officials to enact policies that increase the supply of affordable housing for seniors, veterans, and workforce. VIP is also working to increase access to mental health services for youth and adults and improve community safety.
BBC members receive leadership and organizing training from Valley Interfaith Project. Members meet with and develop relationships with individual elected officials to advance VIP’s human development agenda. Members also organize civic academy meetings to educate congregations on key issues. We also work with other congregations to organize large scale events to make officials aware of community concerns, ask for their support and collaboration, and hold them accountable.
WAYS YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
Attend BBC meetings to learn about current activities and organize actions. BBC meets monthly, typically the second Monday evening of the month
Participate in VIP training events to learn about relationship building and organizing for public policy change
Participate in ongoing meetings with elected and appointed officials to present our community wellbeing agenda and develop ongoing working relationships
Show up at issue education events (civic academies) and larger actions to demonstrate the degree of community support for wellbeing initiatives
Contact us.
For information on Becoming Beloved Community projects and notice of upcoming meetings and events contact Larry Dumka.