Be Courageous

In our Baptismal vows, we are called to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” And we respond, “I will, with God’s help.” This is a challenging promise. It takes great courage to live into this Baptismal promise. The Episcopal Church has made a long-term commitment to work toward Becoming the Beloved Community. It is a challenging commitment and takes great courage. 

In our time, there are wonderful examples of individuals answering God’s call to work for the common good, for the Beloved Community. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s courage enlivened a movement that resulted in the Voting Rights Act and the Equal Rights Amendment…and cost him his life. In The Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, former Presiding Bishop, has shown courageous leadership to address racism in the church and in our society by reminding us to walk in Jesus’s Way of Love, and work toward building the Beloved Community. Our current Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Sean Rowe, said at the Fall 2025 Sacred Ground online kickoff this year that “dismantling racism is at the center of God’s call to us as Episcopalians.”

In the Diocese of Northern California, there are clergy and laity who accepted the call to be courageous, to make a difference in their churches and communities. This collection shares 15 of these stories. Where are you being called to be courageous?