The Dearly Beloved

After learning that Third Presbyterian has a manse where the minister usually lives, Nan imagines making a home for her, James, and their future children. She is uncertain about living in New York and desires a community, so she asks James to claim the manse. Meanwhile, Lily enjoys the vast, metropolitan landscape of New York and enjoys her and Charles’s apartment. She takes joy in teaching at the New School and going out with her fellow faculty members, who share her disdain for religion. She feels a kinship with them and decides that she does not want to live near the church.

The two couples meet for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Lily rejects Nan’s attempts to be friends because she doesn’t want to open up to others. While Charles and James talk to parishioners, Nan congratulates her on her teaching job, and Lily thanks her. However, Nan can see that Lily is rejecting her. When Charles and James return, Lily asks about everyone’s calling. James wants to change the subject to a topic like social justice, but Lily insists that he talk about his call. James says that he does not have one, while Charles and Nan insist that he does.

Lily asks about their worst experiences. James talks about his father getting drunk, while Nan avoids talking about her miscarriage and says her life has been good. Lily then says her parents died in a car accident, and Nan expresses sympathy. She asks Lily if they were religious and assumes that it helped her. Lily says that it did not help her because she does not believe in God and does not go to church. When Charles says that Lily did not mean to offend her, Lily says she did. They leave, and Charles becomes angry with Lily for her behavior. Lily tells him that she is not a good friend for Nan. Charles then realizes that he needs to let her be herself. Later on, Charles and James discuss their and their wives’ faiths, as well as their uncertainties about their jobs.

Nan bakes Lily a coffee cake, but Charles returns the Tupperware with no response from Lily. They meet again, and Lily attends church as a favor to Charles to make up for her behavior. They sit together, and Nan asks for the manse. Lily tells her she does not want it.

Charles and James settle into their work, with Charles becoming a good listener but James disliking hearing complaints. Charles starts a series of sermons about doubt, its consequences, and how to tackle it, which are popular with the congregation. He and Lily grow more distant, but seeing Lily so happy and enthusiastic with her teaching job makes him unable to stay angry at her. After James and Nan move into the manse, Nan makes it a home, starts gardening, and creates a routine. She then decides that she wants a role in the church and starts responding to complaints and questions in the church. She bridges the gap between the church members Sebastian brought in and the other congregants, bringing the church success. The music director, Dr. Rose, then puts her in charge of the junior choir after hearing about her singing and piano skills. She is unfamiliar with the role but takes on the task. She loves the job and brings joy to the children and their parents. This makes her melancholy about her inability to have her own children.

James explores New York City and, angry about how dire so many people’s situations are, starts funding various causes. James’s dissatisfaction and anger worry Nan, but he feels a conviction to help others. Jane Atlas permits him to use the third floor for his funds, which he uses to start social outreach meetings, many of which are for advocacy groups. These initially help, but soon the involvement of a feminist group brings controversy. Nan notices Lily attending the feminist group, appearing happy, and making friends.

Lily starts protesting the Vietnam War and advocating for integration, which makes Charles proud but takes him by surprise. He starts hearing complaints about James’s progressive stances and the challenge it poses to the church’s status quo. Charles defends him but worries about the church’s reaction.

The feminist group has a council regarding abortion, where some voice support and a woman retells a vivid story of her dangerous illegal abortion. This triggers Nan’s trauma from her miscarriage, causing her to leave immediately and run into James’s office. He asks her what is wrong and apologizes before comforting her. Lily leaves the council when it is over and voices her respect for James, which makes Nan secretly angry. Jane Atlas tells James that he needs to be careful or else the church’s standing will suffer. He realizes that Jane is right and realizes how it is affecting Nan. Charles confronts him, but James asserts that he does not want to tell his church only what they want to hear. Charles tries to get James to understand the congregants’ perspectives, but James is more interested in fixing the world. Charles concludes that James lacks the emphasis on forgiveness and appears to be focused on service and conviction. James apologizes, but a man walks out, making him frustrated. After the sermon, James expresses his frustration with the congregants’ preference for stories rather than action.

Charles jokingly talks about disliking David Elliott to cheer up James. Later, James asks Jane what Sebastian preached about and does not like the answer. Jane admits that she dislikes that he had to censor himself and encourages Charles and James to preach in their own ways but keep the church satisfied. Charles defends James’s beliefs and his belief in social change, which concerns Alan Oxman.

The following week, James preaches about the war and how it is antithetical to faith despite Charles’s warning. This puts them both on thin ice with the committee, which encourages them to tone down their sermons.

In the fallout of James’s incendiary sermon, Nan and Jane stage an intervention. Nan tells James that they will visit her ill father for six weeks and that Charles will preach about scriptural history for the next six Sundays. Then they will return, and James will hold office hours and do social outreach for the remainder of Charles’s sermon series. Nan also arranges for Lily to attend those weeks. Charles calls about Nan’s visit, and Nan explains to Lily that she needs to be at church and coffee hour to keep Charles and James from getting fired. To Nan’s surprise, Lily accepts.

Charles enjoys preaching with Lily in the audience, while James secretly finds himself resenting Nan for keeping him from defending himself. He does not talk to her on the train ride but finds himself unable to stay angry, seeing her happy with her family and friends. He admires Nan’s father’s preaching, and her father tells him that he needs to earn the congregation’s trust and give grace to everyone—even those with whom James disagrees. He realizes that he must be a better minister for Nan and laments his impulsiveness, but Nan is understanding. Lily is happy when the last Sunday approaches; she loves Charles’s intellect but laments the effect religion has on their life together. She also admits that Nan is a capable woman despite her dislike of her.

Nan then miscarries again and feels distressed over God not giving her a child. She begs God to help her accept not having a child, but this does not work. Later, Lily learns that she is pregnant, and she tells Nan as she goes to Charles’s office. Lily is shocked and unhappy, not wanting to lose her job. Nan quietly cries over the news that God gave Lily a child but not her.

Charles is overjoyed by the news of Lily’s pregnancy, especially after learning that she is having twins. Meanwhile, James loves the manse but notices Nan falling into a deep depression following her miscarriage, temporarily leaving the junior choir, and giving her community duties to Jane. Nan is angry at God for her infertility and for Lily’s pregnancy because she thinks Lily is undeserving. Worried, James sends Jane to help her. Jane gives Nan whiskey and has her take a bath and eat before taking her to a knitting group. Nan begins knitting and soon bonds with them.

Lily accepts Charles’s happiness but feels distressed by the twins’ movements. She starts thinking about her parents and finds that her pregnancy is bringing back her grief for them. She meets with her colleagues at the end of the school term but realizes they are cold and indifferent like her; she does not want to be that way with her children. She fears the care and grief that will come with having children.

Lily has a rough pregnancy and doubts Charles when he assures her that their children will be okay. He decides to buy a brownstone with church funds, but Lily expresses concern about its proximity to the church. Charles mentions that there is a garden, which interests Lily. They explore the house, and she realizes that she has been wandering because she felt unable to put faith in anything since her parents’ death. She has an epiphany that she now has two people coming into her life, giving her a chance not to be lonely. She thanks Charles, and he knows he has finally gotten access to her full self.

James secretly starts calling doctors to treat his and Nan’s fertility issues. James starts giving safer sermons for Nan’s sake but soon starts looking for a cause. Nan then decides to plan a baby shower for Lily, getting the knitting group to help. They get and make gifts and tell James, who eventually tells Charles. However, Charles tells them on the day of the shower that Lily cannot come because she is sick. Jane comforts Nan by having the women open the gifts in Lily absence.