About the Beloved Community
Our mission is to stand in the prophetic tradition of holy obedience to the Spirit's call. We serve our beloved Church by welcoming all people unconditionally to our table. We celebrate the sacraments with all who seek them and hope that God's grace is felt through our renewed, inclusive, Christ-centered, and Spirit-empowered ministry.
A Little History
A Little History
In early Summer 2021, feeling a little discouraged about the hopes of finding a strong social justice priest in our diocese Eileen began to reflect on what it would be like to work outside the system and invite priests to come and lead a group of us. That is when she became aware of intentional communities like Inclusive Catholic Communities that are usually led by Roman Catholic Women Priests. Her family started to attend Holy Family in Springfield, and after a couple Masses, she received a phone call from Mary Keldermans who encouraged her to prayerfully consider starting a community in CU.
In early Summer 2021, feeling a little discouraged about the hopes of finding a strong social justice priest in our diocese Eileen began to reflect on what it would be like to work outside the system and invite priests to come and lead a group of us. That is when she became aware of intentional communities like Inclusive Catholic Communities that are usually led by Roman Catholic Women Priests. Her family started to attend Holy Family in Springfield, and after a couple Masses, she received a phone call from Mary Keldermans who encouraged her to prayerfully consider starting a community in CU.
The task seemed daunting, but she contacted a handful of friends who she knew were seeking similar things. Three of them attended the ordination of Mary Keldermans who is now Bishop of the Great Water's region of RCWP. They were swept away at the sight of women in vestments (maybe 20 of them) and just as many women who were candidates for the priesthood and there to celebrate. From that experience the conversation continued, and she sent an email out to many of you who are a part of the broader social justice community. Mary offered to celebrate Mass with us and guided us in the early stages of establishing a community. We asked for those who were interested in forming a planning committee to step forward. We had 5 women who did.
The task seemed daunting, but she contacted a handful of friends who she knew were seeking similar things. Three of them attended the ordination of Mary Keldermans who is now Bishop of the Great Water's region of RCWP. They were swept away at the sight of women in vestments (maybe 20 of them) and just as many women who were candidates for the priesthood and there to celebrate. From that experience the conversation continued, and she sent an email out to many of you who are a part of the broader social justice community. Mary offered to celebrate Mass with us and guided us in the early stages of establishing a community. We asked for those who were interested in forming a planning committee to step forward. We had 5 women who did.
Mary encouraged us to create a name as a way of anchoring our efforts. We looked at several options. We considered saints who were particularly attuned to the cause of challenging the church on unjust practices. We considered names that were supportive of women. In our conversation, we determined that we wanted to be about celebrating and supporting the dignity of all. We wanted to push against genderism in the church, but not in such a way that we created a "pro women" stand that would leave men out. So the theme of "beloved" spoke to us. We are a body brought together by our beloved Jesus, and like Jesus, each of us are beloved by God. So that name seemed to work, and Beloved Inclusive Catholic Community came into being.
Mary encouraged us to create a name as a way of anchoring our efforts. We looked at several options. We considered saints who were particularly attuned to the cause of challenging the church on unjust practices. We considered names that were supportive of women. In our conversation, we determined that we wanted to be about celebrating and supporting the dignity of all. We wanted to push against genderism in the church, but not in such a way that we created a "pro women" stand that would leave men out. So the theme of "beloved" spoke to us. We are a body brought together by our beloved Jesus, and like Jesus, each of us are beloved by God. So that name seemed to work, and Beloved Inclusive Catholic Community came into being.