Earth:  Beloved Community

Beloved Community,” (recording and lyrics below).

At the time, I was very new to vocational ministry, having started divinity school and a ministerial position at my church in Greensboro in the fall of 2017 after a first career as a music teacher.  Environmental care had always been important to me – I never littered, I recycled, I tried to bike instead of drive whenever possible, I used reusable grocery bags, etc., but I hadn’t necessarily made it a top priority in my life beyond taking up some basic personal responsibility.  I’m also a little embarrassed to admit that at the time I wrote this song, I was unfamiliar with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s concept of “beloved community.”

 However, that gathering was transformational for me as a person and formational for me as a minister.  I became familiar with Ched Meyers and his concept of “watershed discipleship,” I heard one of the most powerful sermons I had ever experienced from Deb Conrad, I began to learn about the many ways in which environmental care directly intersects with so many other areas of social justice, and I had the opportunity to join the steering committee of the Alliance of Baptists Creation Justice Community, a group that tries to keep creation justice issues at the forefront of the Alliance’s priority list and facilitate the sharing of valuable resources among congregations.

 Since that gathering, I feel that I have begun to live into the song I wrote, as I have done my best to make creation justice one of the main areas of my ministry and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s concept of “beloved community” has been foundational for my development as a minister and as a person.  I am glad to have been able to share this song with several churches who have asked over the past few years and now I’m happy to share it with the Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle group.  I just moved to Raleigh last fall, and I am extremely excited to have connected with this group.  I look forward to continuing to grow with all of you as we do our best to love all of our neighbors by loving and caring for all of creation.

 “Earth: Beloved Community” (click link for a recording) 

Through seasons of drought and seasons of rain
Will we be weakened, or will we sustain?
We will reap just what we sow.
As the heavens drip and the gardens sprout,
The mountains quake and the stones cry out.
Let your rivers of justice flow.

We will treat every neighbor with love and with grace
As we share the same journey through time and through space;
We will care for our planet from the land to the sea,
Connected in creation’s unity, here on
Earth: beloved community.

As the storms, they surge, and the temperatures rise,
And the people in power believe their own lies,
We’ll stay rooted in the vine.
Our love will not fail, compassion won’t cease,
Interconnected as agents of peace,
As our hearts, in you, align.

 We will treat every neighbor with love and with grace
As we share the same journey through time and through space;
We will care for our planet from the land to the sea,
Connected in creation’s unity, here on
Earth: beloved community;
Here on Earth: beloved community.

©Christian McIvor 2018
“Earth: Beloved Community” Song Files (lead sheet, chord sheets, recordings – please feel free to use)