TEN WAYS TO BUILD THE BELOVED COMMUNITY

C. Anthony Hunt, D.Min., Ph.D.

One of the strivings of all humanity is for us to become authentic community.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was among those who framed the conception of community in what he termed the Beloved Community.  King asserted that “all life is interrelated.”  This interrelatedness was rooted, for King, in the fundamental belief in the kinship of all persons.  He believed that all life is part of a single process; all persons are sisters and brothers, and that we all have a place in the Beloved Community.  Because all of us are interrelated, one cannot harm another without harming oneself. 

King also intimated that “everyone could be great because everyone could serve.”  In the uncertain times that we find ourselves in as churches and society, as United Methodists, the General Rule of Discipleship continue to point us to the importance of engaging in acts of compassion and justice as means of living out our faith and loving our neighbors.  Making a sincere commitment to community-building and social engagement to serve the causes of promoting peace with justice is how individuals, churches, groups, organizations, institutions and even governments can act to continue to perpetuate the pursuit of Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community.

Here are ten ways that individuals, churches and other organizations can enact with the goal of promoting peace with justice. 

1. Support and develop community-wide plans aimed at expanding economic opportunities for racial-ethnic persons and women specifically in the areas of housing, banking and employment practices.

2. Actively participate in programs that reach out to help those in the most need – the hungry, the homeless and the unemployed.

3. Adopt an inner-city or rural school. Offer your skills where appropriate. Do your part to assure that every inner city and rural young person can look forward to an adequate education.

4. Encourage schools, colleges and universities in your community to include Dr. King’s (and other freedom fighter's) teachings in their curricula and programs.

5. Take specific actions to deal with the problems of drugs, alcohol dependency, teenage pregnancy, and family violence in your community.

6. Become an advocate - and encourage church, political and community leaders to advocate - for the removal of all weapons from our streets, homes and schools.

7. Support causes that promote freedom, justice and peace abroad. Help extend human rights, dignity, health and economic well-being to all persons.

8. Take a stand, and encourage persons in your church and community to actively oppose those groups that promote hatred and violence. Actively and vigilantly oppose racism, homophobia and other forms of xenophobia in our communities.

9. Sponsor and participate in programs that encourage interracial, intercultural and inter-religious goodwill and unity.

10. Read the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church (or another denomination/faith group) and strive to make them an integral part of the faith and life of yourself, your church and community.

© C. Anthony Hunt, Ph.D., 2016