Dear friends,

As many may have seen, the Beloved in the Desert Episcopal Service Corps program, headed by Mtr. Taylor Devine, is having its first ever Zoom Fundraiser-Celebration-Auction extravaganza tomorrow, Friday, March 18 from 6:00 - 7:30 PM.

(To register for this blessed event, click here).

“Why,” you might be asking yourself, “should I register for such an event?” Or more accurately you may be pondering, “Why am I being told this in a Daily Bread, which is to reflect on the scriptures and not advertise such things!”

Astute you are, and weaving this into the scripture shall I yet do!

In today’s Epistle, St. Paul uses sexuality as a means of denoting the importance of to whom we are bound, and in what ways we are bound, to other people. I imagine him grouchily muttering, annoyed, as though he has said this a thousand times, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Cor. 6:15a) and, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

St. Paul is hammering home the indwelling of God’s spirit in each of us as Divine Image Bearers, and that we are to live embodied lives reflecting the love of God. And this is a major component of the story, the ethics, the hope, and the reality of the Beloved in the Desert program here at St. Philip’s.

These young adults, who become colloquially known as The Beloveds, come together from across the country to live deeply in community (our God is Triune, and They are One essence, and yet exist in a Divine Community simultaneously as Three person); The Beloveds come to live simply and serve at non-profits throughout Tucson, seeking justice (serving as our Lord Jesus Christ did to those around Him); The Beloveds come to pray together each week, several times a day, that God may work through them and shape them and that their lives may better reflect the glory of God (as St. Paul says above, “therefore glorify God in your body.”)

The Beloveds live in community, serve the community, and pray as a community for the community. Is this not a group of individuals who reach deeply into the very heart of what St. Paul is exhorting us to live as? Living embodied lives reflecting the very love of God to one another and outward, shining, emanating into our communities?

I reckon that it certainly is what St. Paul is exhorting us to live as, indeed!

So! I hope to see many of you at the Zoom blessed extravaganza to learn about the astounding work that this program has accomplished for the glory of God in Tucson since its inception in 2019 - working hard throughout the span of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yours in Christ,

Alex Swain
For more information about Beloved in the Desert, click here. To support this ministry financially, click this link and select “Give to Outreach: Beloved in the Desert.”

Alex was a member of the first cohort of Beloved in the Desert (‘19-’20). He now works at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, serves as President of the Southern Arizona Volunteer Management Association, serves on the Vestry of St. Philip’s, and works closely with Mtr. Taylor and the Beloved program. He is a postulant in the Diocese of Arizona and will attend Virginia Theological Seminary in the Fall of 2022.