|
|
The Beloved Community at The Trees Newsletter
An Episcopal faith community exploring together what a life of faith "outside of a church" may be.
|
|
|
|
1701 Pleasant Green Road, Durham, NC 27705.
Look for the sign by the mailbox. When you arrive, you'll find a winding driveway. We will have signs along the way to direct you to our gatherings. |
|
|
|
THIS WEEK AT THE BELOVED COMMUNITY |
Wednesday, August 6 Thursday, August 7 Sunday, August 10 - Ninth Sunday after Pentecost 3:30 PM - Parents, Families, and Friends of Queer Youth Support Group 3:30 PM - Queer Youth Group 4:45 PM - Gathering and Time for Prayer 5:00 PM - Worship with Eucharist Each week during our worship gathering we will have a lectionary discussion. If you are interested in exploring the lectionary readings ahead of time, we’ve put together a list of resources, including podcasts, websites, and blogs. They are found on our "This Week” page.
6:00 PM - Shared Meal of salad & bread
Keep up with all that's going on with The Beloved Community at The Trees with our online calendar. |
|
1701 Pleasant Green Road, Durham, NC 27705. Look for the sign by the mailbox. When you arrive, you'll find a winding driveway. We will have signs along the way to direct you to our gatherings. |
|
|
Bring a device and save paper: |
At The Beloved Community at The Trees we are committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible. We will have a sign when you enter with a QR code for you to access the order of worship. You can also view the order of worship ahead of time, here. |
|
|
|
Each week at The Beloved Community at The Trees we have a lectionary discussion as part of our time together. If you are interested in preparing ahead of time, below are some links to resources you may enjoy. |
|
|
|
Religious Trauma Recovery Support Group 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Religious trauma occurs when a person’s religious experience is stressful, degrading, dangerous, abusive, or damaging. Traumatic religious experiences may harm or threaten to harm someone’s physical, emotional, mental, sexual, or spiritual health and safety. You are invited to join us as we gather weekly to discuss personal experiences of religious trauma and learn together about healing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parents, Families, & Friends of Queer Youth Support Group
2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, 3:30 - 4:30 PM Meeting this week!
This group is offered for anyone who considers themselves family or friends of a queer youth. The purpose of this group is to explore together what the bible actually says about being queer, how to be supportive family, and how to process your own experiences someone who loves a queer youth. |
|
|
|
The Universal Christ Zoom Book Study Wednesdays from 7:00 - 8:30PM August 6 - August 27 Led by Rev. Phillip Bass
August 6: Chapters 1-4 August 13: Chapters 5-8 August 20: Chapters 9-12 August 27: Chapters 13-17 The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr is a book that explores the idea that God is present in everything, and that Christ is a name for the divine love that is expressed in all things. The book invites readers to consider how God's love is revealed in the world around them, and how they can recognize God's presence in others. |
You can look ahead to what we will be studying in 2025 here.
Below are some other formation opportunities offered locally:
|
|
THE BELOVED COMMUNITY BLOG |
We have a blog! Thank you to Deacon Dan for writing our first blog post. You are invited to read Dan's beautiful reflection on why he's a part of The Beloved Community at The Trees. Be on the lookout for more posts about the life, ministries, and healing taking place at The Beloved Community.
|
5TH SUNDAY OUTREACH - PRIDE MINISTRY |
At The Beloved Community at The Trees, we focus on outreach ministries on each 5th Sunday. The next 5th Sunday falls on August 31. The focus of this 5th Sunday is Durham Pride. As the mission of The Beloved Community is to offer healing ministries for those who have been harmed by the church, having a strong presence at Durham Pride is an important part of our outreach. For this 5th Sunday we are asking that donations be made to our Pride budget. This will help support our booth, handouts, giveaways, etc. If you would like to support this ministry, please include "5th Sunday - Pride Outreach" on your check or electronic donation. You can also make a donation online here. Be sure to select "Fifth Sunday Offering." Thank you! |
The Beloved Community at The Trees has a rich spiritual life and we continually include new practices into our community. We are now praying the Rosary at 4:45pm each Sunday. During this time we will pray for our community, those gathered, those on our prayer list, and our gratitudes. If you've never prayed the Anglican Rosary before, don't worry. We will show you how!
If you are unable to join us, but would like to pray the rosary prayer, you can find it here. |
|
|
The Beloved Community at the Trees will hold our first Spiritual Retreat from Thursday, September 18 - Saturday, September 20. We will spend our time at the Cedar Cross Retreat Center in Louisburg, NC. This will be an opportunity to explore spiritual practices individually and in community, worship together, pray together, and time for quiet reflection. You do not have to attend all days or stay overnight to participate. Join us as you are able. All are welcome!
Tentative Schedule: (THESE DATES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED) Thursday evening - Settling in, dinner, evening prayer, games and hanging out. Friday - 3 meals, morning prayer, exploring spiritual practices, evening prayer, time to explore the grounds, hike, journal, etc. Saturday morning - Breakfast, exploring spiritual practices, walking Eucharist through "The Way of Jesus" trail. Depart midday.
Registration is not required, but is appreciated. This will help with meal planning. If you would like to attend the retreat, please let us know by registering here.
|
Do you know any high school aged youth who identify as part of the queer community? If so, please share the news of our Queer Youth Group. This group meets on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of each month at 3:30 PM. All youth who wish to be in community with other queer youth, who may be curious about queer theology, and/or who just want a safe place to be themselves are invited. |
Are you curious about the Bible? Or wondering what the stories are all about? Maybe you are feeling lost in our lectionary discussions? Or, perhaps you just want to dig deeper into Scripture.
Bible Project is a great resource for anyone who desires to understand the bible more fully. This site has great videos that explain the books of the bible and offer some historical, social, and political context for a deeper understanding.
If you'd like to prepare for this week's lectionary discussion, you may find the following videos helpful:
|
During our weekly worship gathering, we set aside time to remember those who are in our prayers. It is our practice to name them individually and to remember them communally. In addition to this practice, we will be adding an ongoing prayer list to our order of worship for those who appreciate having the names recorded for their prayer practices between worship gatherings. If you would like to add yourself or someone else to the prayer list, please contact us at welcome@belovedcommunitydurham.org. You are welcome to share as much or as little as you feel comfortable. Only the person's first name will be included in the order of worship.
This week we remember Anthony, Gregory, Maureen, Paul, and Patty. |
As we are starting to form a community, we are hoping to put together a directory to make contacting one another outside of our gatherings easier. If you would like to be included in the directory, please send your preferred name, email address, phone number, pronouns, mailing address, and a photo (or whatever combination you are comfortable with) to welcome@belovedcommunitydurham.org. We have a few of our community already in the directory. A copy of the directory can be found on our website. |
We rely on your gifts to offer the ministries of The Beloved Community. Although we strive to keep our overhead low, we do face financial responsibility. Your financial donations support our weekly meals, our formation opportunities, supplies for our healing ministries and worship, etc. If you would like to contribute to the ministries of The Beloved Community you can do so via cash or check donation, as well as through PayPal.
Check donations can be mailed to: The Beloved Community at The Trees 1701 Pleasant Green Road Durham, NC 27705
PayPal Donations: PayPal donations can be made using the QR code or link below: You can donate directly through the PayPal site here. |
ChurchTrac Donations: You may make a donation directly into our account through ChurchTrac. Donations made through ChurchTrac can be done via credit/debit card or an ACH bank transfer. You can visit ChurchTrac here or use the QR code below. |
We are grateful for our sending parish, The Church of the Nativity, Raleigh. Nativity supported The Beloved Community through prayer, shared ministries, and financial oversight for our first year.
We are grateful for the use of The Trees, graciously provided to us at no cost by St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham. We also give thanks to St. Philip’s for the gift of flowers. Each Sunday, St. Philip’s shares their flowers with The Beloved Community so that we too may enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
We also acknowledge that we gathering on the ancestral territory of the Eno, the Tuscarora, the Occaneechi, and others. |
1701 Pleasant Green Road
Durham, NC 27705
USA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
