Core Practices for Beloved Community

This resource equips Christians to embody God’s reconciling love in our divided world by grounding unity in the practice of agápē—seeing every person as a beloved image-bearer of God. It introduces a framework of belovedness between God, neighbor, and self, identifies barriers such as distorted views of God and dehumanization of others, and offers practical spiritual exercises to “rehumanize” relationships—including humble curiosity, centering marginalized voices, and loving even those we perceive as enemies. Through daily prayers, news-engagement practices, and a shared litany rooted in the fruit of the Spirit, this resource calls us as Christians to live out a visible, countercultural Christian witness of justice, unity, and peace.

These ideas are being developed in UniteBoston’s Beloved Community Lab curriculum; this teaching, daily practice, and litany may be helpful for leaders in a variety of church or community contexts. We believe it is a critical moment in our cities and country for us to live out God’s calling to be peacemakers and ambassadors of reconciliation in our fractured world.

Our curriculum is in development with a pilot cohort and we will be setting up a landing page for the Beloved Community Lab this spring.