A Handbook for Building Beloved Community
Lessons Learned
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2026
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
This handbook is intended both as a personal reflection on the idea and hope of Beloved Community and as a resource for use by nonprofits, churches, and programs in higher education hoping to create inclusive and welcoming communities. The working definition of Beloved Community invoked here is an inclusive, interrelated consciousness based on love, justice, responsibility, shared power, and a respect for all that radically transforms individuals and institutions. It requires both that people work on themselves and on the institutions they inhabit. The term dates back to Josiah Royce, a nineteenth-century theologian, and Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement; it continues to be used in widespread present-day efforts among institutions and organizations seeking to build more inclusive communities. The material includes practical guidelines for fostering Beloved Community, as well as stories and lessons learned from more than thirty-five years of working with various groups.
Endorsements (4)
“More than a valuable handbook and guide, this little volume bears witness to decades of courageous resistance and community building. Timely, inspiring, and practical, this encouraging guide will be a gift to any group trying to meet this historical moment with informed imagination and a shared understanding that everyone does better when everyone does better.”
“Shirley Strong’s A Handbook for Building Beloved Community is an accessible blend of history, wisdom, and decades of frontline experience. Strong connects the inner work of the heart to the structural demands of justice, creating a roadmap for anyone striving for transformation based on shared power and radical inclusion.”
“Shirley Strong challenges us to move beyond surface understanding of social justice work toward recognition of the essential transformations, personal and institutional, that lead to fundamental change. In Martin Luther King’s delineation of Beloved Community, she finds the principles she has built upon in her own work and in the guidance she provides to others. The authenticity with which she shares her story supports the reader as we reflect on our own stories and consider action. Her questions guide, encourage, and challenge us to build a community that will sustain us through these fraught times.”
“This handbook is a great resource for building beloved community through turbulent times in nonviolent ways. It offers actionable guidelines in simple language with examples from the author’s wisdom of experience, along with nuggets from practitioners in the movement to address racism, bigotry, and oppression. This handbook explains the imperative of creating a world that works for all through love, compassion, and courage, and shows us how to get there.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem