Becoming Beloved Community
Mission Statement
Following Christ’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves and living into our Baptismal Covenant to respect the dignity of every human being, St. James’s Becoming Beloved Community (BBC) Ministry works to promote racial justice and understanding within our parish and in the communities we serve.
The Diocesan and National Context
We are guided by the commitments of the national church and the Diocese of Virginia. In 2017, the Episcopal Church announced a “path” (specifically not a “program”), Becoming Beloved Community: The Episcopal Church’s Long-Term Commitment to Racial Healing, Reconciliation and Justice. The path has four parts:
Tell the truth.
Proclaim the dream.
Practice the way of love.
Repair the breach.
Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry requested that “Episcopalians study and commit to” this initiative and said, “There is no doubt that Beloved Community, healing, justice, and reconciliation are at the heart of Jesus’ movement in this world.”
Recent Context
We have contributed to racial justice with:
Extensive history of race relations at St. James’s.
Previous activities under the guidance of the former “Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee” at St. James’s.
Support of the ‘Monument and George Floyd’ events (e.g. display of the vestry-approved banners in support of racial reconciliation).
Launch of the Sacred Ground series of 11 group studies completed by some 90 parishioners.
Continuing service activities.
Related activities of other partner organizations.
Our Principles
We are committed to the ministry of Becoming Beloved Community.
The members have the standing and the resources to pursue this work. We welcome partners.
Many activities of the Church contribute to racial justice; we seek to do more.
Our Goals
To raise awareness and understanding of the importance of living out racial justice in our church, our community and the world.
To educate parish members about St. James’s role in the history of racism, including completing the relevant history of St. James’s.
To empower St. James’s to be a church at work in the world, giving witness to the priority of racial justice and equity in all our ministries.
To celebrate ministry accomplishments that uplift all people.
To collaborate with other ministries at St. James’s that serve disenfranchised populations and whose work also addresses racial justice.
To partner with other similarly committed faith communities to enhance racial and social justice in our community.
To be uniters (“repairers of the breach”), always connecting our work to the Gospel of Jesus.
Becoming Beloved Community Committee:
Jennifer Pollard, 2025-26 Coordinator
Judy Philpott
Melinda Davis
Andy Bennett
Jane Dowrick
Gigi Redmond
Nancy Warman
Suzanne Hall
Mary Lou Lee
Susan Bain
Alice Tousignant
Becoming Beloved Community History Team:
Andy Bennett
Jane Dowrick
Mary Lou Lee
Linda Owens
Alice Tousignant, Coordinator
Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground was launched in 2019 by The Episcopal Church and was inaugurated at St. James’s in Fall 2020. BBC is proud to share that Sacred Ground is back with another 11-part free online series starting on Tuesday, March 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This Spring’s online series will be facilitated by Pam Goggins and Joni Albrecht.
All subsequent classes will be at the same time, but on Wednesdays (March 18 through August 11).
Sacred Ground is a film and readings-based dialogue on race, grounded in faith. Built around a powerful curriculum that focuses on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) American histories as they intersect with European American histories.
Participants are invited to peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day—grounded in our call to faith, hope, and love. For more information from the Episcopal Church, click here.
What We’ve Uncovered
This project had four parts coinciding with the nation’s racial history.
Part 1, Slavery through the Civil War, 1835-1865
Click here.Part II, Reconstruction and Post Reconstruction, 1865 – 1900, researched and written by the BBC History Team listed below.
Click here.Part III, Jim Crow to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, 1900 – 1960, researched and written by a volunteer from St. Paul’s, Anne Hayes, who was one of the researchers for St. Paul’s history.
Click here.Part IV, 1960 to Present, video below from presentation during Adult Formation on Sunday, October 19, 2025.
Click here.
All the researchers and writers are volunteers; none are historians. Parts I, II, and III contain facts and information documented from books such as Not Hearers Only and Blind Spots, as well as from Vestry minutes, Diocesan records, newspapers, the census, and many other sources.