Dear Beloveds, 

The success of our movements depends on our capacity to hold a larger vision of what we seek to build, not just what we work to dismantle. Yes, fascism on a wider scale is a real threat–one that many of us did not and do not want to believe is possible. This is not a light thing to hold. And as we engage in collective learning about fascism and how we dismantle the systems of oppression that feed anti-democratic movements, we must also find collective space to imagine and build the world where we all live in the fullness and wholeness of our worth and dignity. 

That has been the beautiful work of our faith and of UU the Vote. We are growing our capacity to imagine a new world and building the skill and will to cultivate it in our institutions, our communities, and in our larger world. 

If we solely focus on blocking or dismantling we reject love, sustainability, and the interdependency that anchor our faith and the very idea of beloved community. I am overwhelmed by how our UU the Vote community has consistently held this essential balance. I believe it is why we continue to grow and welcome new folks into our work. We are not just preparing to fight. We are preparing to win! Thank each of you for joining in and creating a program that embodies the discipline of hope. I hope this is what you find as you engage in the amazing resources and opportunities we have coming out of this year’s General Assembly. 

I believe that we will win! 

In faith,

Nicole Pressley 

Field and Programs Director, UUA Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team

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We hope those of you who attended GA – either virtually or in person – enjoyed your experience. Our staff was grateful for the opportunities to showcase our work for the last year with UU the Vote at our workshop – attended by nearly 1000 people! – as well as our Side With Love Morning Mixer for congregational justice leaders.

If you were a registered attendee, you can find the recordings of all programming here until September 15th. This includes our training, Hope is a Discipline: Creating Narratives for Justice as well as our live workshop UUtheVote: Mapping Our Impact, Charting Our Future. Both recordings will be available publicly after September 15th on the Side With Love website.

We’re especially excited to share the gorgeous visual notes from our UU the Vote workshop (see the gallery at the bottom of this post), created by Phoebe Dubisch, Senior Graphics Editor and Internship Coordinator with Unitarian Universalist Justice Arizona Network (UUJAZ). They so beautifully articulate the joys and lessons from our past work and help us imagine what UU the Vote will be doing in 2024.

Side With Love Morning Mixer

Congregational Justice Leaders: Join Our Online Mixer!

Thursday, July 20th at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT

We know that these times ask a lot of us and that we need one another to stay in the work with hope, joy, impact, and accountability. 

We had the pleasure of gathering with congregational justice leaders while in Pittsburgh, and we’re eager to meet with those who we’re not about to join us in person.

We’re inviting leaders doing the work on the ground and showing up for and with Side With Love to an online mixer so that you can connect with one another, build community across issues, and have some facetime with our staff.

Join us Thursday, July 20th at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT.

Workshop: UUtheVote: Mapping Our Impact, Charting Our Future

Resist, Respond, Reimagine: A Side With Love Rally

Read the three Actions of Immediate Witness passed at GA2023!

• Organizing for Health Equity

• Protect the Dreamers, the Recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) with a Pathway to Permanent Residence

• Stop Cop City

Donate to UPLIFT and UPLIFT Action

We are so grateful that one of the dedicated General Assembly collections was for our programs! If you are able, we’d be grateful for your gift! Support both UPLIFT Action for LGBTQIA+, Gender and Reproductive Justice, our campaign for UUs to take action in support of trans rights and reproductive justice; and UPLIFT Ministries' direct ministry to and with LGBTQIA+ UUs.

In her 2023 Berry Street essay, the Rev. Cecilia Kingman reflects upon the rise of authoritarianism, right-wing ideology, and fascism both within Unitarian Universalism and in the wider world. In this first session, join Rev. Kingman and the Side With Love team for an interactive opportunity to engage with this essay and the kinds of faithful responses it demands on behalf of our UU faith.

PRE-REQUISITE: Watch or read the 2023 Berry Street essay, “My Little Pony Was Right: Reflections on Fascism Without & Within” by the Rev. Cecilia Kingman

• Session 1: July 17 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT

• Session 2: August 14 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT

As UU congregations are increasingly being targeted by right-wing hate, all of our congregations should be prepared to respond to threats with skill and courage while also remaining grounded in our values. In this space for all religious professionals, UUA staff from Congregational Life, LGBTQIA+ & Multicultural Ministries, Safer Congregations, and Side With Love shared observations about trends on the national scale, offered resources for assessing security threats/creating safety plans/discerning and growing risk tolerance, and building connections to fight back against overwhelm, fear, and isolation.

Find our catalog of extensive resources and recommendations at our Responding to Threats page (found under the Programs & Resources menu).

We know we need to focus on climate justice, but where do we start? For many Green Sanctuary Teams, the Justice campaign is the most challenging and also the one with the most room for growth and collaboration.  View the recording for our June community gathering in which we discussed and brainstormed how to enact climate justice in our congregations and communities.

• View the slides

How do you relate to transition? What role has transition played in your life?

Michael
CLF member, incarcerated in WI

I relate to transition as a beneficial force of life, a change to the inner attitudes of your mind to change the outer aspects of your life. Embracing transition has saved me through many hardships. Dying is easy — it’s living that’s hard.

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated WI

I’m a man who welcomes transitions. I embrace transitory moments like a breathe of fresh air. I’ve learned that stagnation causes sickness, boredom, complacency, and above all: a lack of growth.

Imagine if a caterpillar never entered a cocoon? Transitions in my life have been my cocoons. Each time, good or bad, I have learned the hidden meanings of every stage I was forcing myself to develop through.

Poverty, heartbreak, loss, and worse have all given me the resilience to meet my transitions head on without running away. Running away would only temporarily delay the transition instead of get rid of it. I embrace it
all like the rough medicine it is because I know it will empower my greatest self.

The role of transition in my life will always serve as an instant reminder that I’m not done changing into the best version of myself despite what this world may think. I will always make an effort to keep myself in transition. After all, that’s what lets me know that I’m still alive! 

“Transition” has become a byword in the corrections field over recent years. It has come to encompass classes bearing such fanciful titles as “Thinking For A Change,” “Crossroads,” “Men In Transition” and “Ethical Choices.”

Yet, despite these, recidivism rates in the U.S. run from 41–79%. How is this possible?

As a prisoner now in his 32nd year of incarceration, I have taken part in the above named courses and many others and I have come to a conclusion.

Well-intentioned as they may be, transition services for the incarcerated contain wide gaps in content and scope of inmates addressed. Practical knowledge on such everyday mundane activities as navigating the internet, use of a cell phone, Facebook, Google, Twitter or any number of other such taken for granted resources which are totally foreign to most prison inmates.

America’s prison population is aging as well. I, myself, entered prison in 1991 at 31 years of age. Today I am 64. With this aging comes chronic health conditions and the need for transition services beyond job search skills, resume writing, and interview tips. Senior citizen prisoners will not likely be released to pound the pavement looking for a job. I dare say, employers would be reluctant to hire such for the insurance and health liability alone. Factor in the “scarlet letter” of being a convicted felon, and the elderly prisoner being released following a prison term of any length is left virtually with few or no resources.

Classes on applying for Medicare and Medicaid, senior citizen services, health care, opportunities for socialization and even such practical aid as transit services, Uber use, physician and dental appointments, obtaining copies of DOC medical files, housing options, and mental health — all are neglected.

In a recent transition class, a full 50% were above the age of 50, 20% were older than 60, five were over 65 and two were 70 or above. This is a typical demographic in American prisons. Inmates are locked away for lengthy terms to satisfy U.S. injustice and once their care becomes too costly, many are suddenly found “suitable for parole,” quite literally tossing seniors out on the street with a “gate check” and, if lucky, a 30 day supply of any current prescriptions and nothing more.

Who can forget the infamous scene in the film Shawshank Redemption when the elderly prisoner librarian Brooks was suddenly paroled. Having been in prison since before the automobile he was totally lost. He completed suicide.

Keeping prisoners for lengthy terms and providing no transition services to aid in a successful reintegration into society is a moral crime in which everyone is a victim.

Transition by its very definition means to evolve, adapt, and change. With our world’s largest percentage of the incarcerated (20%, while the U.S. is only 4% of the earth’s population), it is paramount, even critical, that the scope of transition be broadened to address the needs of an aging, growing prison population.

Donna
CLF member, incarcerated in CA

My experience has taught me that many adults who seek a new spiritual connection have, like myself, been particularly sensitized to the suffering of the world. Maybe some people have been taught to be sensitive in this way.

Either way, I would like to see us broaden our empathy for each other in beloved community by celebrating the gift of “a sensitized soul.” Whether we were taught it or given it as a result of grief and loss, whether we were given it as neglected or abused children or from social oppression, we have it.

I have spent most of my life begrudging and resenting my experience of a discontented soul and longing for the ease and comfort that privileged conformists appear to have. I realize now, at age 70, what needless suffering I went through by holding onto these resentments. I kept myself in soul-slavery, even though intellectually I was successful and creative. In my late 40s, the rage and terror of my wounded inner child (affected by childhood trauma and my repression of my true feelings) exploded in a violent crime. I went to prison.

After 20 years of recovery from my criminal and addictive survival personality, mental illness, and criminal acting out, I realize that I spent my first 45 years trying to change the world without validating and healing my wounded soul. Looking back I see how my wound was a gift — the gift of motivating me to take my own path in life and not settle for mindless conformity. What I’m trying to say is that celebrating our woundedness as sensitive souls can be a way of deepening beloved community and preventing younger sensitive souls from exploding, like I did. I feel validation of my worth and integrity as a sensitive soul trying to learn to live my ideals and validation of the inner and outer work required to accomplish them that could have gone a long way toward preventing me from living totally “in my head,” as I used to do.

The spiritual journey is counter-cultural in today’s world, yet, I believe, it is our only solution to maintaining our health and sanity in spite of today’s world. Wounded souls and sensitive souls need a community where we can experience unconditional acceptance. This doesn’t mean I agree with everything everyone else in the community does, but it does mean that I don’t judge others, and rather seek to understand and accept that their ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving are meeting their needs at this time. I feel only at the level of unconditional acceptance can we
motivate others by an example to grow. Self-righteousness and judgment only stop growth.

To me, unconditional acceptance is a relationship skill as well as a spiritual attitude. I have learned it in prison. In a communication class, I learned how to reflect others’ emotions as well as the content of what they were saying. We were taught: reflect the emotion first, as in, “it appears that you are sad.” The other person will agree or correct you right away. Once you have emotional rapport, then it is possible to discuss the content openly and creatively. Self-acceptance is also key. If I don’t unconditionally accept myself as imperfect yet growing, I can’t do this with others. Finally, loving boundaries are essential. My unconditionally accepting others is an attitude of validation toward them, not an invitation to hurt or walk all over me. The most loving way I have learned to set boundaries is with “I” statements, as in, “I feel uncomfortable when you talk down to me, please don’t do that anymore.” If it continues, it is essential to walk away when it happens again, to let the other person know you are serious. This, of course, presumes that the other person is mentally healthy and able to understand.

Introducing the “gift of a sensitized soul” into Unitarian Universalist worship and group thinking would, I feel, encourage deeper empathy and unconditional acceptance of each other within our communities.

by Rev. Ashley Horan, Organizing Strategy Director for Side With Love, Unitarian Universalist Association

In 1975, in the wake of the Roe decision, Anne Nicol Gaylor wrote Abortion is a Blessing as an antidote to the already-fervent activism of the radical religious right, working relentlessly to limit and ultimately eliminate the right to legal abortion in the US. In her introduction, she writes:

"The historic, compassionate Supreme Court ruling of Jan. 22, 1973, freed millions of women from sexual servitude and from the dangerous, traumatic search for illegal abortions. This ruling, our country's greatest step forward in social and moral progress since the abolition of slavery, must be protected politically by the activism of individuals who write letters to legislators, attend hearings, visit their Congresspersons, and support groups working to keep abortion safe and legal.

For the past five years I have been in daily contact with women seeking abortions, and I have learned, as I could in no other way, of the tragedies that have been avoided because abortions are available. The stories of the hundreds of women that I have counseled personally, and the thousands of women from all over the country that I have talked to on the phone, have resulted in my clear understanding that abortion is a positive thing, a cure, a blessing.

I have become impatient not only with those religious zealots who tiresomely hiss "Murderers, " but with those apologists who, while granting the right to abortion, insist that somehow a woman must feel guilt and remorse. I have come to suspect that the persons who refer to abortion as "a tragic option, " or "a terrible alternative, " hold allegiance not to women's freedom but to a male-dominated world gone by.

While recognizing that safe, sure contraception is a preferred alternative to abortion, I deal daily with the casualties of our "modern" contraceptive methods, and I recognize reality, that abortion does what contraception does not necessarily do: it works. I am further aware of the rigid, religious prohibitions against contraception of which certain women remain the victims. I know that far too many women in our country find contraception unavailable, especially if they are young or poor. I know that the teen- aged victim of incest can hardly be expected to be practicing contraception. And I have never heard of a rapist who used condoms.

In a sense I have been privileged to see firsthand the great need for abortion, and I have written this book to share my feelings and experiences so that others might come to see why abortion is a blessing, not only for women but for society. It is my hope that those who read this book will join in the effort to keep abortion safe and legal until that idealistic time when education, medical research, and human behavior combine to make abortion obsolete. "

When the Reproductive Justice movement was founded by twelve Black women activists, theologians, and organizers in the 1990s, they argued that the frame of "choice" -- including arguments that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare" made by the (largely white, largely-upper-class feminist) pro-choice and reproductive rights movement -- was irrelevant for many people, particularly Black women, for whom the "choice" to get an abortion was never possible, regardless of legal status, because they could not gain access to abortion care. Instead, they argued, "Reproductive Justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. " Bodily autonomy -- the right to not only make choices about what happens to one's own body, but the resources and support to follow through on those choices and thrive -- is a basic human right, and liberatory in and of itself.

The pro-choice movement has, unfortunately, bought into the frame and the premise set by the radical right. Frequently, liberals have implicitly given credence to the right's false arguments about abortion causing medical and psychological trauma by talking about abortion as a "last resort. " The Reproductive Justice movement teaches us that stigmatization of abortion -- alongside all the societal factors that make every choice in an unwanted pregnancy a difficult one, from a broken healthcare system to religious intolerance to lack of support for parents to poverty to mass incarceration -- are actually what is traumatizing to people who do not want to be pregnant.

Religious people of many traditions have frequently said that because of all this, abortion is indeed a blessing. Access to safe and compassionate medical care, the ability to have agency over one's own body, the dignity of self-determination for oneself and one's family, direct experience and conscience as profound sources of wisdom in living our lives -- all of these are gifts endowed upon every human by the creative force of the universe and the spirit.

To share a bit of my personal story, I myself have had three abortions in the course of creating my family -- two after what are known as "chemical pregnancies, " when an embryo fails to develop and ends in miscarriage, and another that saved my life when I had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured my fallopian tube and almost killed me. Those were three of the most difficult and painful experiences of my life -- and I am incredibly clear that abortion is what allowed me to survive, and to go on to give birth to my youngest child.

My partner openly shares the story of being 15 in 1973, knowing she was queer, and having sex with a boy to "try it out, " and getting pregnant; with the help of a neighbor, she was able to get a safe, newly-legal abortion at a local clinic. She reflects on how the entire trajectory of her life would have been different -- so much harder -- had she not received the blessing of an abortion then. We both celebrate abortion as a blessing that has allowed us and our family to "have life, and have it more abundantly, " to quote the Christian scriptures.

There are so many reasons abortion can be a blessing in someone’s life:

Abortion is a blessing to the person already parenting three children and worrying about how they will buy their groceries if they have one more mouth to feed.

Abortion is a blessing to the person who has never wanted and will never want to be a parent, for whatever constellation of reasons.

Abortion is a blessing to the person whose mental health is dependent on medications that they would have to stop taking to have a baby.

Abortion is a blessing to the person who receives the gut-wrenching news that if they carry their much-wanted pregnancy to term, their child will be born with a medical condition that is incompatible with life, and they would have to experience their child dying in their arms minutes after birth.

Abortion is a blessing for the high schooler who desperately wants to be a parent someday but knows they will be able to give their children a much more stable life and a much more mature parent if they wait until theyre older.

Abortion is a blessing to the person who has just been diagnosed with cancer, and would have to put off life-saving treatment to carry a pregnancy.

Abortion is a blessing to the person who is clear they are done having children, and their energy is devoted to their career or their art or their adolescent kids or taking care of their own aging parents.

Of course people who have abortions experience a wide range of emotions before, during, and after, for a myriad of incredibly complex reasons. There are certainly a very few people who regret abortion afterward (folks the religious right loves to lift up), but the majority of people who experience sorrow, grief, despair, and isolation are mourning not abortion itself, but the circumstances in which the abortion became the right or only decision for them. Violence, abuse, trauma, poverty, instability, racism, ableism -- these are the real causes of despair.

Blessings are not always joyful, but they always support human thriving and freedom. As Rev. Katey Zeh, CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) puts it, What I've learned in talking to people is that abortion can be a blessing. [... ] Abortion can save lives. Abortion can affirm life. Abortion can be a positive parenting decision. So using a word like rare in that context is actually quite harmful to the broader reproductive freedom movement.

As Unitarian Universalists, we believe that every person is endowed with inherent worth and dignity, which means that our bodies and our spirits are sacred -- we are created for thriving, for pleasure, for freedom. And, we believe that all of us are endowed with the twin gifts of agency and conscience, which means that we are born with both free will and the ability to discern, individually and in community, how to use that freedom. In the context of this theological anthropology (what we believe about human nature and our bodies), we absolutely believe that abortion is a blessing because it is one of many many many pathways toward honoring the sacredness of our bodies and helping us create lives of freedom and thriving.

June 2023

Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else. —Tom Stoppard

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The months of May and June often bring transitions related to academic promotions, graduations, and other milestones related to the culmination of years of dedication and hard work.

At this time of year, we often celebrate loved ones as they move from one phase of life into another. We wrap up another year in the school or church calendar, and move into the different pace of life that summer often brings.

Beyond these expected changes, transitions occur in all parts of our lives and often at unpredictable times. How we navigate a wide variety of transitions can reflect our capacity for change.

Transitions that are rooted in celebration are welcomed, and joy is usually inherent in the acknowledgment of weddings, births, and birthdays. The transitions that are more challenging are those that we didn’t anticipate and didn’t ask for. The reality of change may hit us harder when we unexpectedly lose a job, end a marriage or other relation, or when we or someone we love goes through the ultimate transition: that from life to death.

The world around us is in constant transition. Particularly now, in this time of pandemic, climate change, and worsening inequality, change is never-ending. Before the pandemic, more people felt able to have some degree of disconnection from the impacts of modern day life on the planet and how systems of oppression impact the vast majority of beings on the planet. The pandemic has been a flashpoint and a transition for humanity that we are still grappling to understand fully.

We know that the world will never be the same after the past few years. The impacts of oppression and the devastating results of extractive capitalism are harder than ever to ignore. The realities of our changing climate and the stresses of continued inequality are sure to mean more widespread, global transitions are ahead of us. Though many people have always been aware of these realities, some people with privilege still often plead ignorance through their own mental gymnastics and the mistaken belief that we live within a meritocracy. In the short term, privilege may afford some people a better chance at surviving climate chaos and other large global transitions, but the impacts will eventually be felt by everyone.

Amidst the uncertainty of the future and where major global transitions will take us, there are ways we can prepare to weather the coming (literal and figurative) storms as best we can. The tools, practices, and structures of spiritual community have a lot to offer us as we seek to become more resilient within the changes we are already experiencing, and any larger changes to come.

Ultimately, transitions that bring unwelcome change can cause fear and anxiety. This is a completely appropriate response to events that sometimes shake us to the core. Being part of a community and strengthening our connections to one another is part of what grounds us during times of transition. We connect to celebrate, to lament, to find comfort and to know we are loved and not alone. This makes a difference, no matter what type of transition we find ourselves in.

As a faith community without geographical boundaries, the Church of the Larger Fellowship finds ways to invite people into connection and care with each other. We want you to know that you are not alone. While our community does not meet in person in the way that brick and mortar churches do, we offer connection in every way available to us. Being imaginative with how we build community and strengthen relationships is one antidote to the uncertainty of unwelcome transitions and change.

As you navigate transitions in your current life, or anticipate changes to come, always remember: your community is with you. We will always hold your sacredness and belonging, through the many transitions ahead.

 

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs Decision (June 24) overturning Roe v. Wade, Side with Love offered this webinar to highlight reproductive justice and faith organizing on the ground in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Our speakers shared their proactive ongoing work, reactions to the new environment post-Dobbs, and what support and partnership looks like for them. Facilitated by Rev. Ashley Horan, Director of Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team; and Rev. Rob Keithan, Interim Steering Committee Co-Chair of SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity and Minister of Social Justice at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC.

• View the recording

We're especially grateful to guests Beulah Osueke, Deputy Director at New Voices for Reproductive Justice and Elaina Ramsey, Executive Director, Faith Choice Ohio. We recommend that you check out the training events offered by Faith Choice Ohio, especially their training on Self-Managed Abortion. 

For those of you registered for the UUA General Assembly 2023, make sure to log in to the Whova app and check out our Side WIth Love/UPLIFT Action on-demand workshop, “Organizing Your Congregation for Reproductive Justice.” 

REFERENCES FROM OUR CONVERSATION: 

• New Voices for Reproductive Justice (PA) 

• Faith Choice Ohio 

• SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity . Click "Congregations" to learn more about the congregational designation programs and sign up to get more information about the 7-session SACReD curriculum.

• Side With Love’s UPLIFT Action campaign for LGBTQIA+, Gender & Reproductive Justice 

• If you are a registered Florida voter, please sign the petition to put abortion on the ballot!

As UU congregations are increasingly being targeted by right wing hate, we anticipate an uptick in attention and disruptive tactics heading into Pride month. In this informal space for religious professionals, we will share some observations about patterns we're seeing on the national scale, point toward some existing resources for support, identify gaps, and make connections to fight back against overwhelm, fear, and isolation.

This was an informal gathering of religious professionals of many stripes from across the US, and we spent time sharing observations about the national context and emerging patterns among our congregations, offering some resources for congregations as you make plans for security and crisis response, and engaging one another’s experiences, wisdom, and questions to both foster connection and shape future resource and training creation at the UUA. We were grateful for all those who gathered in real time and are happy to share the video and collected links and resources offered yesterday. 

UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE:

• GLAAD Anti-Drag Report

• Unbowed, Proud Boys are planning now for their biggest Pride Month disruptions ever, extremism watchdogs warn

• Fact Sheet: Anti-LGBT+ Mobilization on the Rise in the United States

• The Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial is underway. But the new leadership has moved on from the 2020 election to LGBTQ issues.

• Far right protests targeting the LGBTQ community show a troubling correlation with violent attacks

• How to Stop Neo-Nazis from Crashing Pride Month

SECURITY AND PLANNING RESOURCES

NOTE: Many of these resources recommend or mention involving police or other law enforcement as a part of security responses. Rooted in our UU values and an ethic of aspiring abolitionism that yearns for a world in which policing and systems of punishment are not central to our society, we highly recommend ongoing conversations and praxis to help our UU communities understand safety differently and to move away from depending on law enforcement as our only form of crisis response. And, we recognize that in certain cases – sometimes at the urging of our partners – we do not currently have access to alternative infrastructure and viable safety structures, and therefore must work with police and other law enforcement. We urge UU communities and congregations to think critically and in advance about whether and when to engage with law enforcement, and to take into consideration the ways in which police often make people from targeted communities – especially trans and queer people – inherently more unsafe by their very presence. 

• Protecting Pride, An organizing guide for safely and successfully celebrating LGBTQIA2S+ joy in these times

• “Risk, Courage and Discernment: Spiritual Preparation”, an exercise by Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen

• Facilitation Guide for Congregational Conversations about Risk Discernment. From Side With Love. A guide for engaging congregations/congregations in their discernment of risk when planning action(s).

• Community Power & Resource Mapping: A Guide for Congregations. From Side With Love. A resource guide and assessment tool for supporting congregations in their identifying partnerships when planning actions.

• Southern Poverty Law Center & Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab: Two resources, one for Parents/Caregivers and the other for communities, which lay a foundation for understanding the nature of extremism, dynamics of radicalization, and steps you can take to prevent them from taking root in your community.

• Beginner Safety Planning for Pride Events

• Bard Center for the Study of Hate Releases New Community Guide for Opposing Hate Co-written by Western States Center and Montana Human Rights Network

• CISA Security Self-Assessment for Houses of Worship

• Best Practices for Security Houses of Worship (ASIS)

• ASIS International - Security Resources for Houses of Worship

• SURJ Community Safety Toolkit

• UUA Handbook for Training Manual for Ushers & Greeters

• UUA Safer Congregations Resources

• Anti-Doxing Guide for Activists Facing Attacks

• SPLC’s 10 Ways to Fight Hate

• FEMA/DHS Grants for Non-Profit Security

• Parasol Patrol

• DontCallThePolice.com - resources by city

• UUA Resources on Alternatives to Calling the Police

• Protecting Pride Events from Armed Extremist Activity

• Church Mutual: Ramp Up Your Cybersecurity

• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Security Self-Assessment for Houses of Worship

DEESCALATION & SECURITY TRAININGS:

• DC Peace Team (Unarmed Civilian Protection, Peace & Deescalation Trainings)

• AVADE De-Escalation & Personal Security Training

• Sheepdog Church Security

Imagine it's 2050 and we've achieved all of our wildest hopes for climate justice...what does it look like? The abolitionist movement imagines a future without police and prisons, drawing on deep convictions, faith, imagination, and hope to do so. The climate justice movement is diverse, vibrant, and equally hopeful: but do we UUs have a vision of what a just climate future is? Without a clear vision of a world where all can thrive, we run the risk of prioritizing short-term gains, false solutions, legislative goals disconnected from cultural shifts, and distractions that divide our focus.

Watch the recording of this radical gathering of thinkers for abolitionist visions of climate justice. Facilitated by Side With Love Climate Justice Organizer Rachel Myslivy, the panel will include Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, Ecowomanist theologian and sole candidate for UUA President*; Dr. Rashid Shaikh, director of science emeritus at the Health Effects Institute in Boston and co-convenor of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus on Climate Justice; and Antoinette Scully, Faith-Based National Organizer for the UU Women's Federation. 

* NOTE: This event was sponsored by Side With Love and was not a campaign event

As local governments are wielding extreme power over weak and vulnerable people, we need to be efficient and precise in our efforts to fight back and protect at-risk communities. Oftentimes, those who are in a position to support those who are at risk are not directly impacted by the harms that put them at risk. This can result in wasted energy, time, and resources. In this Skill Up, we will explore how we might ensure that our organizing/strategy efforts are rightly aligned so that impacted communities get what they need and that our energy, time, and resources are most effective.

Skill Ups are our monthly series of trainings on organizing skills to help build our UU the Vote and Side with Love Volunteer Squads and help YOU build stronger teams in your congregation and community. We'll start the session with some spiritual fun and then launch into our training. Find all our past trainings at sidewithlove.org/previous-skill-up-trainings

I love a good post-apocalyptic story.  I grew up on movies like Mad Max,  BladeRunner, and Soylent Green.  When Cli-Fi (Climate Fiction) became a named genre, I was elated to find a host of books curated for my particular weirdness like N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth series, Tatterdemalion by Sylvia Linsteadt, and of course, the life-changing Earthseed series by Octavia Butler.  (I confess, I don’t know if this prepares me for a lifetime working on climate justice or if it just gives me a reference point of “Whew, it’s not that bad, yet.”)  

Our society loves a good story of survival after collapse, but what about a vision where all beings thrive?

It seems easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine a world without fossil fuels.  If we can so creatively imagine collapse, what would it look like if we similarly imagine renewal?  What if climate activists embraced the visionary reimaging we see in the abolition movement?  How can we reimagine a world with no fossil fuels, where clean energy is a human right and all beings thrive?

These are the questions of our times.  

“In order to build the movements capable of transforming our world, we have to do our best to live with one foot in the world we have not yet created…” Aurora Levins Morales

Imagine it's 2050 and we've achieved all of our wildest hopes for climate justice...what does it look like? Do we UUs have a vision of what a just climate future is? Without a clear vision of a world where all can thrive, we run the risk of prioritizing short-term gains, false solutions, legislative goals disconnected from cultural shifts, and distractions that divide our focus. 

I invite you to tune into Abolitionist Visions of Climate Justice this Thursday, May 25 at 7ET with Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, Ecowomanist theologian and sole candidate for UUA President*; Dr. Rashid Shaikh, director of science emeritus at the Health Effects Institute in Boston and co-convenor of the UU Ministry for Earth Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus on Climate Justice; and Antoinette Scully, National Organizer for the UU Women's Federation. 

Together, these UU leaders will share their own abolitionist vision of climate justice while discussing what it means for UUs to hold these radical visions and what we need to do to realize this flourishing world.  

Following the webinar, Side With Love will host workshops to support UUs to host similar visions of climate justice in our own communities.  These visions can guide our conversations and shape our work to ensure that our movements are building a thriving future for all. 

* NOTE: This event is cosponsored by Side With Love, UU College of Social Justice, UU Ministry for Earth, UUs for Social Justice, and UUs for a Just Economic Community; and is not a campaign event

Yours in community

Rachel Myslivy

Climate Justice Organizer

Are you wondering if Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds can transform your congregation? They can! With 30% direct pay options for churches and nonprofits, IRA funds present a great opportunity for UUs to reduce our carbon footprint while cultivating communities of care and prioritizing climate justice. Even better, the UUA has funding options to help you maximize IRA funds!

In this webinar, join Carey McDonald, UUA Executive Vice President, to learn about how you can leverage UUA funding options with IRA funds for an even bigger impact.

• Watch the presentation on Vimeo

• View the slides

• Federal Funding for Energy at Houses of Worship resource hub from Interfaith Power & Light

• Google Drive folder with resources shared at the meeting

Upcoming Webinars

• Abolitionist Visions for Climate Justice - May 25, 7ET

• Go Green to Get Green: How to get Energy Efficiency Grants for Congregations Webinar - June 1, 5ET

• Green Sanctuary 2030 Orientation - June 7 Green Sanctuary 2030 Orientation, 7ET

• Climate Justice Brainstorm! Green Sanctuary Community Meeting - June 14, 7ET

UUA Funding Opportunities

• UUA Loan and Grant Programs

• Faithify.org

• Chalice Lighter programs: 

  • Central East

  • Southern

  • MidAmerica

  • Pacific Western

Benchmarking resources

• Planning the Energy Future of your Congregation

• Calculating your Carbon Footprint with Russ Outcalt Video at Green Sanctuary Community Meeting

  • Spreadsheet 

• Interfaith Power and Light Cool Congregations Benchmarking resources 

• Energy Star for Congregations 

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• If you’re ready to join the process, please fill out the interest form 

• RSVP for climate justice events

•  Sign up for Green Sanctuary and Climate Justice emails

•  View previous webinars and trainings

Questions?  Email Environment@UUA.org

The Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team is hiring!

Our Democracy Strategist will work with Unitarian Universalist individuals, congregations, and institutions to equip, engage and mobilize them for impactful, values-based pro-democracy organizing. This person will deepen collaborative organizing partnerships with secular and multifaith coalitions and organizations who are working on voting rights, electoral justice, building multi-racial democracy, and fighting authoritarianism and fascism.

If you have 5+ years’ experience with electoral and/or voting rights campaigns at the local, regional, and/or national level, look at the job description and apply!

Democracy Strategist

Title: Democracy Strategist

Location: Open*

Hours/Week: 35, with benefits

Purpose

To equip, engage, and mobilize Unitarian Universalist individuals, congregations, and institutions for impactful, values-based pro-democracy organizing through Side With Love’s campaigns and programs. To maintain and deepen collaborative organizing partnerships with secular and multifaith coalitions and organizations working in the areas of voting rights, electoral justice, building multi-racial democracy and fighting authoritarianism and fascism.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Serves as the lead strategist of the UU the Vote campaign; designs and leads the execution of a national, multi-strategy, hybrid program that engages our base to build power, deepen leadership capacity, and take impactful action in alignment with Unitarian Universalist values and pro-democratic movements for justice. Convenes the SWL team and related UUA partners to execute the strategy.

2. Creates year-round programming that incorporates longer-term democracy organizing with short-term campaign work related to electoral cycles, including primaries, direct democracy campaigns, ballot initiatives and referenda, and general elections.

3. Manages and develops strategic partnerships. Nurtures and serves as primary liaison for partnerships between UU congregations and statewide, regional and national partners within the broader ecosystem of pro-democracy and voting work.

4. Designs accessible, inspiring volunteer recruitment and training strategies that allow UUs with diverse identities, skills, capacities, and passions to meaningfully participate in electoral and pro-democracy work.

5. Identifies strategic opportunities within the democracy and voting rights landscape to mobilize UU communities for concrete, impactful, on-the-ground engagement with non-partisan campaigns in key places. In consultation with the Field Organizing team, identifies and provides direct support to these congregations/communities to develop leadership, grow capacity and skill, and mobilize in support of local and state campaigns and movements.

6. Engages in regular assessment of program effectiveness and impact, including qualitative and quantitative metrics. Provides comprehensive annual analysis and reporting on the overall program.

7. Oversees online programs that support UU the Vote leaders around the country, including coaching, political education, organizing training, and spiritual grounding. In consultation with Field Organizing Team, develops training programs to equip volunteer leaders and congregational teams with the concrete skills needed to develop organizing plans for their own religious communities, and effectively recruit and mobilize fellow congregants to carry out those strategies.

8. Plans and executes in-person and online gatherings to train, coordinate, and mobilize UUs and their partners at critical moments.

9. Supports the use and implementation of voter contact tools and other technologies, such as dialers, mobile apps, and the voter file for UU participants.

10. Stays up-to-date on electoral landscape and provides briefing for UUA staff, UU partners, and congregations.

11. Researches and analyzes electoral and voting rights landscape of target states.

12. Supervises UU the Vote Fellows, interns, and other UU the Vote-specific paid or volunteer staff.

13. Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

This is exempt Grade 12 position (expected hiring range of $62,000-$70,000 depending on experience). Note that qualifications may be met as a result of lived experience, volunteer work, professional experience, and/or formal or informal training. Requirements include:

• Must be able to work independently and be highly self-motivated, demonstrate creative problem-solving and excellent professional judgment, possess resiliency and ability to work in a rapidly changing and fast-paced environment

• 5+ years’ experience with electoral and/or voting rights campaigns at the local, regional, and/or national level

• Experience managing program or organization budgets

• Preferred proficiency with digital tools critical for organizing, such as EveryAction, VAN, Slack, dialers, Google Suite and social media platforms

• Excellent skills in building and maintaining partner and constituent relationships, including strong preference for experience working with faith leaders, congregations, and coalitions

• Commitment to developing organizing strategies and partnerships that align with Unitarian Universalist values and principles.

• Ability to act collaboratively and flexibly as a member of a remote staff team, including proficiency with technologies such as Google docs, Slack, Asana, Zoom, etc.

• Solid verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Proven ability to design and facilitate group experiences (in person and remotely) that engage, educate, and empower participants to deepen their leadership skills and mobilize others to work for justice.

• Deep commitment to countering systems of oppression and leading with intercultural fluency and humility. Worked or lived experience with Black/Indigenous/communities of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, and poor and/or rural communities is of particular value.

• Exceptional oral and written communication skills.

• Ability to travel if and when pandemic conditions allow

• Willingness to work with volunteers whose schedules require convening meetings and events on evenings or weekends.

* Location is open in the continental United States. You should have easy access to a major airport due to the travel requirements of this position.

How to Apply

People with disabilities, people of color, indigenous people, Hispanic/Latinx, and LGBTQ candidates are encouraged to apply. The UUA is committed to developing a diverse and talented staff team. If you are excited about this role, but are unsure whether you meet 100% of the requirements, we encourage you to inquire and/or apply. Send cover letter and résumé—indicating “Democracy Strategist ” in the subject line—via e-mail to careers @ uua.org, via fax to (617) 948-6467, or to Human Resources, UUA, 24 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210. E-mail submissions preferred.

About the UUA

The Unitarian Universalist Association is a progressive religious denomination headquartered in Boston’s waterfront Fort Point Innovation District. Our faith community of more than 1,000 self-governing congregations brings to the world a vision of religious freedom, tolerance, and social justice. Our normal workweek is 35 hours, we pay 80% contribution towards health insurance premiums, 10% towards retirement (after one year), and have generous paid time-off policies.

We are a great place to work and we value diversity. The UUA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to the full inclusion of all. As part of this commitment, the UUA will ensure that applicants and staff with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.

If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (617) 948-4648 or humanresources@uua.org.

Proof of a full course vaccination against COVID-19 is a requirement of employment, in alignment with the UUA's commitments to science and equity, protecting those who are most vulnerable. Medical exemptions are considered upon recommendation from a provider.

Please contact the Office of Human Resources at (617) 948-4648 or humanresources@uua.org. For more information on the UUA, visit us online at UUA.org and uuworld.org.

Support for the Mission and Values of the Association

The Unitarian Universalist Association is a progressive and historic religious denomination. While it is not generally required or expected that an applicant/employee identify as a Unitarian Universalist (UU) or be a member of a UU congregation in order to work at the UUA, all UUA staff members are expected to perform their job duties in accordance with the UUA’s values, principles and mission. In particular the following points, drawn from the Seven UU Principles, are of particular importance for the UUA’s work environment and staff culture:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every human being: We affirm the need for a human-centered workplace that allows our diverse staff to flourish. We also understand that our wider culture and society oppresses and denies human dignity, and we seek to counter the effects of that oppression in our hiring and workplace culture so that each person feels whole and valued.

• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations, and the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all: We speak openly and publicly of our support for social and political issues, including LGBTQ equity, racial justice, climate justice, gender equity, and reproductive justice.

• The interdependent web of existence: We recognize that the liberation of all people is interwoven, and we work to counter patriarchy, white supremacy, colonialism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, environmental exploitation, and other interrelated systems of marginalization.

As part of this commitment, the UUA will ensure that applicants and staff with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Before the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade made abortion legal across the United States, clergy from a wide variety of religious traditions developed a coordinated, skilled, responsive underground network that supported people experiencing "problem pregnancies" to access abortion care from trustworthy doctors and medical professionals. This network of more than 1400 clergy and hundreds of providers -- which included many Unitarian Universalists -- helped hundreds of thousands of people access safe abortions before the Roe decision.

Now, we look back at the Clergy Consultation Service to learn so we can prepare and coordinate to take risks again for reproductive justice. Let's learn our history to plan for our future.

Resources Mentioned

• UPLIFT Action’s Congregational Repro Justice Organizing Resources

• Sexing History Podcast

• Interactive Map of States' Abortion Access Status from Guttmacher

• SACReD: The Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity

• National Network of Abortion Funds 

• News Article: Missouri Clergy Lawsuit Challenging Abortion Ban

• The Lawyering Project

 If you were in the Clergy Consultation Service or were helped by them and want to share your story with Dr. Gillian Frank, please feel free to reach out at gfrank @ princeton.edu. 

Ready to Take Action?

Organize your congregational team to engage with our Reproductive Justice Congregational Organizing Series for Teams 2023. This three-session series includes all the resources and grounding for creating an accountable organizing plan.

Often, when people find out that I was a scientist before becoming a minister, they make assumptions about how my brain works, or about how I must see the world. These assumptions are based in a perception of science as cold, distant, and rational. And while it is true that I bring a certain rational brain to bear on collecting and analyzing data, that skill is reserved for when it is truly needed.

Instead, my science background invites me to see magic and mystery in the world around me. It invites me to wonder at everyday occurrences—to find the special and the sacred in the blooming crocus, the varied songs of the cardinal, the laughter of children, and the storm blowing in from across the river.

My science background invites me to see all of these things as intricately interconnected to all of existence, and to marvel at how complex it all is.

My science background invites me to realize that the depth of that complexity means that it is impossible that humans will ever understand it fully.

Too often, people see science as an attempt to do just that—to understand everything fully. But any good scientist will tell you that every new discovery brings with it a new depth of understanding of what is still not known. Every question answered means two more questions asked. As Physicist John Archibald Wheeler once said, “We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.”

My experience of science is that it asks me to see our world as full of wonder. Full of possibilities for understanding. Full of questions that are exciting to pursue.

Many times as a graduate student in cell biology, I holed myself up in a small, dark room with a very large microscope for hours as I experimented on immune cells taken from lungs.  My experiments examined the movement of those cells, and on testing whether the proteins I studied stimulated those cells to move.

It was amazing and humbling to understand that the things I did on the large scale made those cells move on the microscopic one. There, in that small, dark room, looking at those very tiny cells, I could not help but be overwhelmed by my connection to a vast and unfathomable universe.  I could not help but be filled with a sense of wonder and awe.

In this world away from that microscope room, I also see wonder and awe everywhere.

I want to invite you into this wonder-full way of experiencing the world. This way in which everything is an exciting and sacred thing.

When next you read about a scientific study, I want you to imagine the scientists who produced it. I want you to imagine them in their labs, or field stations, or conference rooms. Imagine them asking questions—lots and lots of questions. Imagine them getting more and more excited by the questions before them. And then imagining them figuring out how they are going to ask those questions in their work. Not how they will answer them—but how they will ask them.

When next you experience something you don’t understand (and for me, that is almost every moment of every day), ask questions about it. Change your questions and see if it changes your experience of that thing. Ask other people what their questions are and see if those questions change your experience. Enter into the world of wonder. It’s a wonderful place.

How do you access a sense of wonder? What does wonder feel like?

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated WI

I remember how excited I always got as a kid at an approaching thunderstorm. It always started with me smelling the charged Earth in the breeze. Then the feel of warm wind mixed with cool. The fast approaching thunder clouds signaled the parade of the oncoming natural light show. Fingers of lightning streaking across the deepening gray sky. Then the reverberating boom of cackling lightning growling down at us small people below. It always made me feel like a spy on Mother Nature’s most active display of beauty. The thrill of such power felt like a roller coaster that never lets you down!

And the softening of the end of the great scene let me feel relieved that I wasn’t set on fire on the spot by a stray bolt of lightning, each time I watched a storm. I was aware of the danger it posed. In nature’s everyday workings is wonder beyond my wildest dreams. A baby bird learning to fly, a car crash avoided in split seconds, a last minute three pointer from my favorite basketball player at the buzzer for the win.

All of these things seem ordinary at first. But when observed, one can easily tell that there is a hint of brilliance hiding in every act. What is there not to find wonder in once one realizes this fact?!

In a recent Quest article titled “Embracing the Living Tradition,” Rev. Dr. Michael Tino shared more about the work of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Article II Study Commission, and the changes they are proposing to our Association’s Bylaws. These changes propose new language for how we articulate the center of this faith tradition, replacing our Principles with seven core Values. We have received numerous responses to that article and the proposed changes, some of which are shared below.

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Gary
CLF Member, incarcerated in NC

Inclusiveness is what drew me to the CLF. At 63, I have explored many faiths, endeavoring To chart a path and find a spiritual home.

I grew up Christian, as a member of the United Methodist Church. Being gay, I knew that the dogma of traditional Christian churches fluctuated from “love the sinner; hate the sin,” to outright abhorrence, considering me an “abomination” in God’s eyes.

Seeking a place, I drifted to the Roman Catholic Church, going from mild disdain to sheer condemnation. Yet, I found a certain measure of comfort in the liturgy and ritual, and a presence of the Divine amidst the incense, prayers and Eucharist. Still, I could not be me.

I joined the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) — the “gay” church. At last, I thought, I have found a place. I became sadly disillusioned when the MCC visitors came to see me only to develop relationships with younger, better looking inmates they asked to be introduced to.

I left the MCC and explored Buddhism, seeking the inner peace so elusive in my life. While Buddhism did offer comfort, I wanted a connection to the Divine.

For 9 years I practiced Wicca. I even attended Wiccan Seminary and became a First Degree Wicca Priest — a Witch. I should also point out that I hold a degree in Pastoral Ministry from Seminary Extension of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Nashville, TN.

I felt “at home” in Wicca, only to be again disenchanted by our Coven’s High Priest, who, contrary to Wicca belief, used our services to lambaste all other faiths and employed foul language to do so.

I briefly explored Humanism, but I fundamentally believe in “God.”

No, not an old bearded white man sitting on a gold throne, smiting all who cross “Him.”

Rather, I believe in the Divine God without sex, without race, who is love.

Then, I discovered the CLF. I can’t say exactly how it happened, to be quite honest. Maybe it was the work of that Divine Creator, who I had prayed to, begged for mercy, help.

It was in Unitarian Universalism that I found that beautiful inclusiveness, that spiritual liberty to embrace those elements of any or no particular faith, and to chart my own path. Here I could embark on my own spiritual journey, unique to me as my DNA.

I can combine the love of Christ, the wisdom of the Buddha, the ritual prayers of Catholicism, the peace of Islam the Mystical qualities of Wicca, and make my own spiritual “vegetable soup” using the very best of all faiths as I continue this beautiful journey called life.

The Article II as described in Quest captures the tradition of Unitarian Universalism as a living faith. UUism is not mired in dogma with an unwillingness to progress as humanity does. Who could doubt that were Christ to be on earth today that he would not avail the use of social media?

As I study the image of the new Article II language, I ponder the meaning of each:

Interdependence: No one is an island. As the Baha’i say, “The world is one nation, mankind its citizens…” We are all neighbors on this tiny blue speck in this great universe.

Equity: We are all equal. There is a sanctity in life. All lives matter. Race, ethnicity, gender, identity, sexual orientation, are of no consequence.

Transformation: Everyone has the capacity to “do good.” There are no “evil” people, only poor choices. All have the spirit of the Divine dwelling within, with the power of this transformation.

Pluralism: Every faith practiced by humanity has worth. Labels are but a device of humans and like race, gender, origin, has. no consequence. There is room at the table for all.

Generosity: It is only in giving that we can experience a taste of the very Divine which we claim to worship. Love one another is, perhaps, the greatest of all commandments. The poor, homeless, sick, aged, imprisoned, orphaned, abused — are not these our fellow humans equally created in the image of the Divine?

Justice: It is indeed sad that America ranks third in human history (behind Hitler’s Nazi regime and Stalinist Russia) to imprison such a huge percentage of its people. The US is but 4% of earth’s population, but this country houses 20% of the world’s incarcerated people. Justice isn’t justice until it is truly justice for all.

So you see, UU embraces the very best of what it means to be human. I, for one, am glad I was somehow led to the altar of acceptance, love, mercy, and a congregation where my past does not define me.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity.

Larry
CLF member, incarcerated in NC

My reaction is simple: I love it. One of the main characteristics of the Unitarian Universalist faith that I felt so strongly about was what I will call “evolution.” This evolution of growth and the ability to honestly and continually re-visit the Association’s bylaws in order to not only stay current but ensure progress is, I believe, a necessity.

Doctrines and dogma have destroyed tons of potential in other organizations who may have otherwise progressed in spiritual growth. It’s sad, but very true. By embracing a living tradition, we are setting a fantastic example, one that I believe that great spiritual teachers such as Buddha, Christ, Muhammad, Moses, etc. would all approve of. I often look to the greats for inspiration, and this bylaw inspires me in and of itself.

In response to whether or not I am interested in learning more about the process and language, I definitely am. Today, I live and breathe spiritual knowledge mainly because of the deep impact it has had not only on my life but on those closest to me. Altruism has become a life-long goal and a driving force in many people’s lives who have been fortunate enough to find organizations just like this one. I thank you all and hope that Unitarian Universalism continues to be a beacon of light in a harsh world.

Prison life has beaten the hell out of me. It has helped me to learn not to be hardheaded, when God is trying to teach me something. For these lessons, I thank God.

Life is a painful struggle, but only the dead need not struggle. For these struggles, I thank God.

Working through the trials and tribulations that have made me stronger, and when that pain mysteriously turns into beauty. For the trials, tribulations, and pain, I thank God.

When I can use my strengths, to help others who are going through what I have endured — for what good is being strong, unless it can be used to help the weak? For those opportunities, I thank God.

Honest friendships, deep conversations, and a good laugh, even in the midst of chaos, I thank God.

The opportunity to focus my energy into making needed changes in my thinking; that even behind these bars, I can make a positive shift in my outlook. For these changes, I thank God.

Food, water, and shelter — for these basic necessities whom so many lack, I thank God.

For getting into shape and living a healthier lifestyle removed from my addictions, I thank God.

For all those who go out of their way, to make things harder than they need to be; For all the inmates who whine and complain about anything and everything;

For all the friends and family who turned their back on me in my darkest hour, and chose hate instead of love, anger instead of compassion, animosity instead of understanding, and rancor instead of forgiveness;

For all the frustrations that come with a life lived inside a concrete jungle on the fringes of society — all of which drove me to do what I didn’t before: give my life to Jesus Christ. For all these people, I thank God.

For this soul-saving intervention that has opened my eyes and heart to the importance of real family, loyal friends, unflinching love, and to the God who made it all.

For all of this, I will forever thank God.

May 2023

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. -Socrates

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Biden promised to be a climate president – yet under his watch, the U.S. continues to be the biggest producer of oil and gas in the world. In the first few years of his term, he approved more lease sales for new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters than Trump. And his administration has approved new oil and gas projects, like the Willow oil drilling project in Alaska and multiple oil and gas export terminals in the Gulf. Global scientists have been abundantly clear – we cannot avoid the very worst impacts of the climate crisis if we allow for any more fossil development.

UUs, it’s time to show up!  

This June, People vs. Fossil Fuels are mobilizing to turn up the heat and make Biden take real climate action – by ending the era of fossil fuels.  Join us for a national week of action  June 8th - 11th 2023 to demand Biden use his executive powers to end the era of fossil fuels and declare a climate emergency! 

With mobilization tools like individual coaching, communication templates, action plans, and more, PvFF and partners are supporting folks to host bold, creative, and disruptive actions to lift up their local fights against oil and gas developments.  

May Mobilization Call

Join Side With Love, UUMFE, and People vs. Fossil Fuels for a conversation about the campaign, distributed actions, and supports available, including coaching and movement chaplaincy for UUs.  This will be an open space for UUs to come together and discuss plans for End the Era of Fossil Fuels Distributed Actions

Hosted by  Side With Love, UU Ministry for Earth, and People vs Fossil Fuels, the webinar included an overview of the campaign, ways you can bring the action into your congregation, and opportunities for Movement Chaplaincy support for UUs engaging in the actions.  

• Watch the recording

• Review the slides

Action Steps:

1. Review the Action Toolkit for planning your action

2. Add your event to the Action Map or join an existing effort in your area https://tinyurl.com/actionmap-EndtheEra

3. If you’re hosting an event, request coaching support from PvFF 

4. Join PvFF Action trainings 

5. RSVP for Movement Chaplaincy with UUMFE to prepare: May 30, 2023 4PT-5MT-6CT-7ET

6. Add Your Event to the Side With Love Action Center so other UUs can find you!

7. Tell us what you did!  Add your action to the Side With Love Story & Report form

8. RSVP for Movement Chaplaincy to debrief: June 15, 2023  4PT-5MT-6CT-7ET

Michael Cohen, Solar United Neighbors, gave an overview on Solar for congregations and share a little about the process the First Unitarian Church of Orlando is going through to consider installing solar with IRA funds.

You can watch the presentation and check out Michael’s Handy Links for UU Congregations on Energy Efficiency & Solar.  

What’s Next?

What next?  Join us in May to learn about how you can leverage UUA funding options with IRA funds for an even bigger impact.  On May 17 at 7ET for Carey McDonald, UUA Executive Vice President, will discuss IRA funds and UUs: Funding Clean Energy and Climate Solutions!  With 30% direct pay options for churches and nonprofits, IRA funds present a great opportunity for UUs to reduce our carbon footprint while cultivating communities of care and prioritizing climate justice. Even better, the UUA has funding options to help you maximize IRA funds! Register Now

About Green Sanctuary 2030

Are you thinking about joining the Green Sanctuary 2030 process?  Come to an orientation to learn more and get started!  Orientations are the first Wednesday of each month at 7ET.  Sign up for these and all Climate Justice events at https://sidewithlove.org/climatejustice.

 

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Find our other climate justice and Green Sanctuary 2030 webinars here.

Everywhere you look the world is on fire! Sometimes you just want to scream at the top of your lungs, “Everything is bad! Do something! AAUGH!!!!” That urgency is real, and also maybe not the best way to communicate about the issues - or to take care of yourself! In our April Skill Up, learn some ways to manage yourself and engage others as you effectively advocate for justice and work for a thriving world for all with Side With Love Climate Justice Organizer Rachel Myslivy.

• View the recording

• View the slides

Put It In Practice!

Skill Up Followup Practice Session

May 1 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT

This Followup to April's Skill Up is a practice session for folks who came to the Skill Up live or have watched the recording. If you did not attend live, please watch the recording prior to this session. Come practice having conversations that effectively engage others and keep you grounded as we together seek to effectively advocate for justice and work for a thriving world for all. Register to join live.

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Register for upcoming Skill Ups and view past ones at sidewithlove.org/skillups.

Happy Earth Week! For environmentalists, the month of April means there’s an event every day of the week - sometimes several! With all of the Earth Day Celebrations, we wanted to pop into your inbox to highlight a few of our favorites.

In collaboration with UU organizations and national partners, Side With Love is here to help you balance the urgent need for political education and mobilization with spiritual nourishment and leadership development. This week, you can nourish your spirits at the Active for Earthcare Service with the UU Ministry for Earth, develop your leadership skills at the Side With Love April Skill Up: Facing the Apocalypse with a Smile with yours truly, educate yourself on Solar 101 + IRA funds with the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, and mobilize with UUs for Social Justice on the Farm Bill, and with People vs. Fossil Fuels to End the Era of Fossil Fuels! Join us!

In community,

Rachel Myslivy

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Spiritual grounding & nourishment

UU Ministry for Earth Earth Day service: April 20 at 5PT - 6MT - 7CT - 8ET

Our faith calls us into relationship with the sacred elements of Earth and to put power in the hands of the many and not the few. This Earth Day, join the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth in meditation, song, and stories to honor nature’s elements and become Active for Earthcare – a call to engage in the face of the climate crisis. This worship structure may be a bit different from what you are used to — lean into it and enjoy the journey!

You can join the service live on April 20th, 8pm EST/7pm CST/6pm MT/5pm PST or use the resources on whatever Sunday works best for your congregation’s worship calendar. Once your congregation is registered, the videos will be sent to you on April 7, 2023. Register today!

Political education

Solar 101 + IRA funds: April 19 at 4PT - 5MT - 6CT - 7ET (90 mins)

Michael Cohen, Solar United Neighbors, will give a quick primer on Solar for congregations and share a little about the process the First Unitarian Church of Orlando is going through to consider installing solar with IRA funds. Join the Green Sanctuary Team meetings for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 7PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion on pressing needs. Register today.

Skill building & leadership development

Facing the Apocalypse with a Smile: April 23 at 1PT - 2MT - 3CT - 4ET

Everywhere you look the world is on fire! Sometimes you just want to scream at the top of your lungs, “Everything is bad! Do something! AAUGH!!!!” That urgency is real, and also maybe not the best way to communicate about the issues - or to take care of yourself! 

Rachel Myslivy, Side with Love Climate Justice Organizer, will help you learn ways to manage yourself and engage others as you effectively advocate for justice and work for a thriving world for all. Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to be lifelong learners, and organizing traditions teach that we need to share what we know for our movements to grow. Our Squad Skill Ups are a monthly series of trainings on organizing skills to help build our UUtheVote and Side with Love Volunteer Squads and help YOU build stronger teams in your congregation and community. Skill Ups occur the 3rd Sunday of most months. Register today.

Take Action

Mobilize with UUSJ to Advocate for the Farm Bill

The Farm Bill presents a critical opportunity to advocate for a climate-smart agricultural sector that advances justice. We want and need a proposal that moves the agricultural sector in a sustainable and regenerative direction. As faith advocates, we have a moral imperative for a greener Farm Bill and kick-start a multi-cycle effort to push the sector and our food systems in the direction of solutions.

• Review UUSJ’s issue Handout

• Send a message using their online letter platform

• Distribute an Action Poster so others can do the same.

• Join virtual Hill Visits with UUSJ: fill out the meeting interest form HERE or email advocacy@uusj.org.

Mobilize to End the Era of Fossil Fuels with People vs. Fossil Fuels

April 19 at 5PT - 6MT - 7CT - 8ET - Register here

The 350 Network Council, Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Organizing Hub, Honor the Earth, and People vs Fossil Fuel partners are co-hosting the Era of Fossil Fuels Mobilization Call on April 19th at 5pm PT/ 8pm ET on Zoom. This call is meant to welcome folks who have been brought into the movement by the Biden Admin’s disastrous decision to approve the Willow project in Alaska and help them plug into the movement to End the Era of Fossil Fuels around the country. This event will inform attendees about the PvFF campaign and our broader strategy–particularly our commitment to climate justice and solidarity with Black and Indigenous leaders who have driven this work for generations.

(Yes, we know this conflicts with our Solar 101 + IRA Funds! You can join Solar 101 first, then hop over to this one!)

Suzelle and Brad have been pen pals for years. They wrote this exploration of imagination together.

Suzelle:  Imagination is human magic. It gives us the power to make mental pictures and feel feelings beyond the input of our senses. It helps us believe, remember, reason, fantasize and solve problems! Imagination misused fuels our fears, but more often it beckons us toward a better life.

I always thought I had a good imagination. I’m a writer, an artist, and a songwriter… But I never imagined I could have a rich, beautiful, loving friendship with somebody like Brad the Dad, a young incarcerated Black man who grew up on the streets in poverty, fear, and violence.

Brad the Dad:  Imagine a child born to a single mother addicted to crack cocaine and alcohol. She has utter disregard for this child; his basic needs are at war with the merciless enemy, crack, and only one desire can be fulfilled. The child loses every time…

There is no father. Often, there are no lights, heat, or hot water; no food or rules; no love, attention, or affection. There’s only crack smoke, empty beer cans, and strange men coming and going day and night. And if the child cries from hunger, he’s fed punches to the face to shut him up.

Imagine a child who wanted to be Superman; who dreamed of being a lawyer or policeman; who dreamed of his mother loving him and his daddy being home. Feel the bite of cold, hard steel around his tiny wrists; the loneliness, fear and sadness of being locked in jail for trying to protect and earn the love of a mother who cursed the day he was born. Honestly, would it surprise anyone if this child answered the call of self-preservation and took to the streets?

Now imagine the surprise of this child grown to adulthood, in a prison cell, watching TV as a crowd of black and white people march through the streets, professing “Black Lives Matter!” I thought it was some kind of a hoax. Frustrated and angry, I asked myself, “Who are these Black Lives everyone claims to matter…?”

Suzelle:  It was my congregation and me that Brad saw on the TV news.  We were marching to fight the dismissal of charges against the police officer who murdered Jay Anderson, Jr., a young black man from our neighborhood.

Brad wrote to me. He asked. “Does my black life matter? Does my son’s black life matter? Or is it just the black lives who are dead that matter?” His question hit my face like a dash of cold water. We began writing back and forth.

Brad the Dad: Throughout the 20 years I’ve been incarcerated, I’ve always imagined myself as something greater than the six-digit number the prison system assigned me. I HAD to imagine in order to survive. I’ve spent more than ten years in solitary confinement, with one stint lasting almost four years straight. Having a vivid imagination and hope is the ONLY way to survive the hole for such a duration. You must be able to live in your mind and work towards something greater for tomorrow. I imagined myself as the most loving and understanding father the world has ever seen, and the most supportive, loving, and loyal husband a wife could ask for. I imagined I was smart; a scholar even, so I studied and read a lot of books. I imagined myself as a Freedom Fighter. Despite the barriers the prison administration placed in front of me, I never ceased to imagine. To believe. To hope.

Suzelle:  I didn’t understand Brad at first. I thought he wanted help from me. I asked a committee of my congregation to assist, but they returned only fear and suspicion. But Brad had imagined something far more powerful than help: he imagined honest conversations, a sharing of laughs and lives, caring support for his son.  In a word, he imagined kinship.  And that is what we now have — Brad and me, my partner, Brad’s wife, his son, and Lynn and Marc — a wonderful couple from my former congregation who wrote to Brad when I could not. We are a circle of kin, companions on life’s path. We love each other; we listen and learn from each other.

Brad the Dad:  I never knew exactly how I would bring my imaginings to fruition, but I always believed I would.  Now I can proudly profess to you that I stand here today as a loving husband of an amazing wife, who has enriched my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined; a supportive father of a wonderful son and step daughter. I am a college scholar with a 3.8 grade point average, and I am a staunch defender of the freedoms and liberties of all people, regardless of age, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. So much love is reciprocated between my great friends Suzelle and Lynn and me, and their partners, whose friendship and support has helped me turn my imagination into reality. We have all dared to hope, believe, and imagine something beyond the boxes of each of our cultural or social demographics. I encourage you to have the courage to do the same.

What role does imagination play in your life?

Michael
CLF Member, incarcerated TX

Imagination has had a major role in my life ever since I was a little boy. My imagination started and grew, from my shoe box full of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra action figures. I’d create story lines, and they’d be my actors for my imaginative movie. To be honest, that carried on until I was 17 years old. At that time, I gave my action figures to my oldest nephew.

Then, I started writing short stories, getting critique and advice from my Reading and English teachers in high school. By 20, I went online to find out how a screenplay is properly written and formatted. After reading a couple of screenplays online, like Die Hard and The Sixth Sense, I started writing my own screenplays.

Every day, I have new ideas and imaginative plots for stories, screenplays, and novels. Being able to go into my world of imagination really helps me to be able to cope and manage a cool mind and time while in prison. Of course, movies, commercials, TV shows, classic literature and novels, really help to spark an idea and let my imagination fly and take me into a place of wonderful, awesome, and potential possibilities. I’d be one lost and crazy individual without my imagination. I’m very thankful for the imagination I have and hope one day, I can use it to help and bless others.

Michael
CLF Member, incarcerated WI

Your mind controls whether you live in a paradise, or hell. Imagination gives us the power to believe, and push the limits. My imagination has granted me ideas, innovation; the natural outcome of creative thinking. The proper use of imagination is to give beauty to the world.

Talib
CLF Member, incarcerated FL

When we’re incarcerated we lose a lot, but one of the main things we lose is our ability to connect to the world. We become very isolated, and we start to forget the world outside this one — our dreams even start to become defined by the parameters of prison. Our interpretation can become distorted through the prism that is prison.

Our imagination plays the vital role of keeping us connected to the outside world.

We use our imagination in a variety of ways: we tell stories about our life before incarceration, or imagine what we’ll be doing upon release. We imagine playing games with our kids, of having intimate moments with loved ones; we use artistic mediums to remember the world as we once saw it, or re-imagine it in a way that renews our connection to it. There is no shortage of inventive ways that those of us in prison use our imagination as a means to feel connected to a world that some of us haven’t seen in decades.

I will tell you the three main ways I use my imagination as a means of connection. First, I am a constant student. I enjoy learning; I love to study philosophy, sociology, and politics. I strive to understand reasons. My love of studying started with myself: I was 20 years old, facing down the rest of my life in prison, and did not understand why. I needed to figure it out. I wanted to know what happened to me that caused me to want to be someone who inflicted pain. This led me down a rabbit hole in which I found some of those answers, and also led to me finding myself, and being able to imagine how I fit in the world.

Next, I am a writer. I write a variety of things, but my passion lies with poetry and short-fiction: this is where I can play with ideas of identity and emotion. Writing helps me to imagine the world in new ways, the type of people that exist in it, and how we’re all connected to it. It allows me to imagine an existence beyond the walls. When I write, I am in a different world — connected to it, not in a prison cell.

Lastly, I use imagination with the people I correspond with. I have been told that I can be quite an inquisitive person, it is only because I desire to know. I’ve spent my entire 20s and almost all of my 30s in prison, and the experiences that people normally have at that age — things that helped them discover themselves — are things I didn’t get. I live somewhat vicariously through others’ stories. I rely on their information when discussing an array of topics, to hypothesize my own likes/dislikes and desires/needs. The more detail, the better I can imagine. It is through those interactions that I can see the world.

My imagination for me, and for others in my position, is about maintaining a connection to other people and the world. It is a necessary component to staying a person, instead of becoming a prisoner.

George
CLF Member, incarcerated FL

Imagination has always played a big role in my life. As kids we often imagine ourselves as superheroes or any other type of fictional hero. As we grow up, so does our imagination. As a teenager, I used to imagine myself as a firefighter or a police officer (still heroes, but more reality based). Now as an incarcerated man, I truly understand the power of a good, strong imagination.

Relaxed thinking is the key to your imagination, and imagination is the key to your power and talent. As an incarcerated man, I have time to think clearly. Once activated, it’s easy to find and focus on your power and talent. For some it’s drawing, and for others it may be writing or story telling. For me it’s all of the above. I tell stories in graphic novel form, so my imagination is always going, even while I sleep. For all people in the free-world or who are incarcerated, if you want to be successful or just happy in life, my advice is to slow down. Close your eyes and let your imagination guide you to your true calling. Blessed be.

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated MD

I have discovered that the most powerful super power in the Universe is the imagination.

Imagination dictates every single thing I do. Many people may be unaware how our imagination creates everything around us. As a lifelong artist I know this to be true. Before I draw, I imagine. Before I sleep, I imagine. Before I awake, I imagine. It is a fact that dreams are mere imagination run wild.

What I do is allow my imagination to combine with the actions that will lead to my revealing the imagined thing simply by not interfering. In Buddhism, this is said to be what Zen is: the mind and actions moving effortlessly in unison.

My imagination gives me inspiration to contribute to a future world where everyone loves one another and shares all of earth’s resources for the good of the whole planet. Those that are using their imagination in the same way will quicken this imagining into physical reality.

If I never learned to just let my imagination live free I would be one of the most miserable people alive. I believe I only exist simply because I imagine it!

A poem by Ultra Vylet.

Would you like to represent the Church of the Larger Fellowship at General Assembly (GA) this summer?

The CLF is entitled to 22 delegates at the UUA’s General Assembly, which will be held both online and in-person in Pittsburgh, PA from June 21-25, 2023. You will be able to attend online or in-person workshops, programs, and worship services. Proof of vaccination for COVID-19 is required to attend in person.

As a delegate you will vote on association business during General Sessions. General Sessions will be held from 2:30-5:30pm ET on 6/22-6/24 and 2:00-4:00pm PT on 6/25.  Delegates should be able to be online or in person to attend the majority of these General Sessions. CLF delegates vote their conscience on matters related to the denomination of Unitarian Universalism, and are responsible for their own expenses. There is no set registration fee for delegates who are attending only for business virtually at General Sessions.

If you’d like to participate in GA 2023 in this role, please fill out the online application here. Visit the UUA’s GA website for details.

April 2023

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. -Gloria Steinem

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UUs have long been part leaders in powerful multifaith movements fighting for trans and queer rights and liberation. Join UPLIFT Action and Side With Love staff for this webinar, lifting up the faithful work UUs are engaging in right now in the context of the wave of hateful legislation and violence against trans and queer people. We'll hear stories from congregations and State Action Networks on the ground, and point toward ways you and your community can take meaningful action.

• View the recording

Speakers included:

• Rev. Erin Walter, Texas UU Justice Ministry

• Rev. Jami Yandle, Texas UU Justice Ministry

• Alex Kapitan, Transforming Hearts Collective

• Rev. Elizabeth Mount, UU Church of Cheyenne, WY

• Congregational Leaders from Tennessee Valley UU Church, Knoxville, TN

• Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina

• DL Helfer, TRUUsT

• Steven Leigh Williams, TRUUsT

• Adrian Ballou, UUA LGBTQ and Multicultural Ministries

• Rev. Ashley Horan, Side With Love

• Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Side With Love UPLIFT Action

Recommended Resources and Tools

• New Resource - Making a Difference With Our Words: Tools to help UUs thwart anti-transgender bills and attacks

• Recording & Resources from “Combatting Anti-Trans Legislation 101 Training” 

• Recording & Resources from “Speak Up for Trans Lives: Spokesperson Training” 

• Transforming Hearts Collective

• TXUUJM & Transforming Hearts Collective Partnerships

• Subscribe to TXUUJM Newsletter

• Host a Children's Diversity & Justice Library

• 2021 Action of Immediate Witness: “Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities”

• Find a Drag Story Hour Chapter near you

• Read the TRUUsT Report 

• UPLIFT Transgender / Nonbinary Monthly Gatherings 

• Trans/Nonbinary UU Pastoral Care Space for Children, Youth, Adults

• Resource Roundup for Advocating For Trans Lives

• Further reading on the UPLIFT Gatherings

• Support Trans UUs in Florida

• Subscribe to UPLIFT Action

• 5 Practices of Welcome Renewal for Congregations

• Connect with Your UU State Action Network

On Monday, three adults and three children were killed at an elementary school in Nashville, TN in a mass shooting that also left the shooter dead. With rage and heartbreak, we acknowledge this horrific act of violence: both the unique, precious lives taken and the all-too-common manner in which this violence was perpetuated.

Our hearts are with the loved ones of those who were killed; with the school and the community who must pick up the shattered pieces in the wake of tragedy; and with all those for whom this latest act of violence will re-expose layers of trauma and grief caused by too many other similar atrocities. 

As a nation, we have developed patterns when it comes to acts of mass gun violence generally (this is the 130th so far in 2023), and school shootings particularly. We now have muscle memory of what it will feel like in the coming days as we watch pundits argue about gun control, assault weapons bans, mental health services, school security, and the Second Amendment. 

And, because the Nashville shooter has been identified as a transgender person, the white nationalist Christian right is already spewing bigotry and fear to further promote their deadly anti-trans and pro-gun agenda. By focusing on the identity of the shooter in this case and ignoring the fact that the vast majority of mass shooters are white cis men, the forces of white nationalist Christianity are working to intentionally distract us from their own culpability in creating the very conditions that enable attacks like this.

This is a moment in which there are significantly more mass shootings in America than days in the calendar year. It is a moment in which physical, legislative, religious, and political attacks against trans and nonbinary people are rampant. And it is a moment in which both gun violence and trans identity and rights are starkly polarized issues being weaponized by politicians while real people die. 

In this cultural context, it is our moral duty to declare that the real threat to the safety of our children and our communities comes from white Christian nationalism, not trans and nonbinary people. Let us be clear: if we truly want all of our children to be safe, we must fight to eradicate the intertwined cultures of gun worship and transphobia that permeate this country. 

In the coming days, we can all find ways to build connection, resist the deadly narratives being spun, and take action. We can sharpen our understanding of the connections between white Christian nationalism, gun violence, and the wave of anti-trans legislation sweeping the country. We can amplify our UU values and counter the deadly narratives of white Christian nationalism by demanding congress pass a nationwide ban on assault weapons, writing a letter to the editor to support and defend trans and nonbinary people, hosting a local event lifting up the ways white Christian nationalism is the true threat to our children, our communities, and our democracy.

To our trans and nonbinary beloveds: as our friends at the Trans Resistance Network noted today, “It is a testament to the inner strength and beauty of transgender people, that despite the overwhelming odds of homelessness, job discrimination, and constant anti-trans bigotry and violence, so many of us continue to persevere, survive, and even thrive. We will not be eradicated or erased.”  Please consider joining our monthly UPLIFT gatherings for trans and nonbinary UUs to build connection, community, and mutual support. Celebrate trans resilience at our upcoming Trans Day of Visibility celebration for trans/nonbinary families, and learn more about the faithful work UUs are doing right now in the context of the current wave of anti-trans violence and legislation. If you are struggling and need crisis support, find a variety of offerings listed on this page (NOTE: scroll to the bottom of the page for links). 

In the midst of all we are up against, we are grateful to be in the struggle together with you, today and for the long haul. 

In faith and solidarity,

The Side With Love Team 

Providing honest, caring, and timely feedback is essential to nurturing trust. That’s why we believe Evaluation is an act of Love.

We need to be able to speak directly and frankly to each other about what we want and need from each other, what we think could be done differently, as well as celebrating our successes. Every time we love one another enough to offer debrief and appreciation, we deepen our relationships and the power of our collective. We can create groups and communities grounded in relationship and trust. Thus, we can meet the justice work of the moment powerfully and nimbly. In this skill-up, you will practice ways to bring debrief culture and loving feedback to your own context.

• Watch the presentation

• View the slides

• Download the handout (with exercises)

Sarah Berel-Harrop, Side with Love Squad and Texas UU Justice Ministry Leader

About Sarah

I'm the Intern Minister at the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry and a seminarian at Meadville Lombard Theological School. I grew up UU in Houston, Texas. During the 2020 election cycle, I became deeply active with UU the Vote and appreciated the leaderful learning culture. I'm passionate about nurturing groups and communities grounded in relationship and trust that offer alternatives to paradigms of domination and control.

Find past and upcoming skill ups here.

This month's Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting, Connecting with State Action Networks on Climate Advocacy, highlighted ways to engage with UU State Action Networks to advocate for policies that reduce emissions at the local, state, and national levels.  Special thanks to Deb Cruz from JUUstice Washington and Rev. Lisa Sampson-Garcia from UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina for leading the conversation! 

UU State Action Networks do powerful justice work across the country, and they offer timely information on actions affecting your community, including: 

• Resources and research on justice issues.

• A community of like-minded folks you can activate for specific events.

• Support and guidance for getting your congregation involved in justice work at the local level.

• Justice-oriented worship services to inspire and inform your congregation.

• Professional development and networking opportunities.

If you’re interested in getting involved with legislative advocacy and justice work that impacts your local community, find the SAN nearest you or consider starting your own!  

What’s Next?

We've got some excellent opportunities for shared learning and mutual supports in our upcoming Green Sanctuary 2030 Community meetings!  RSVP today!

April 19: Solar 101 + IRA Funds!  Michael Cohen, Solar United Neighbors, will give a quick primer on Solar for congregations and share a little about the process the First Unitarian Church of Orlando is going through to consider installing solar with IRA funds.   

May 17: Funding for Congregational Clean Energy & Climate Solutions UUA’s Executive Vice President, Carey McDonald, will share UU-specific funding mechanisms to use in conjunction with the Federal Funding opportunities to advance equitable clean energy and climate justice.  We encourage you to watch the recent webinar on Planning the Energy Future of Your Congregation to prepare for this conversation. 

**We're planning to host peer learning circles to support congregations considering IRA funding for clean energy & Climate solutions.  Email Environment@UUA.org for more info!

June 19: Climate Justice Brainstorm!  For many Green Sanctuary Teams, the Justice campaign is the most challenging and also the one with the most room for growth and collaboration.  Bring your questions and ideas and join the conversation!  

You can RSVP for these and all of our climate justice events at SideWithLove.org/ClimateJustice

March 2023

The best way out is always through. -Robert Frost

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When Rev. Michael Tino reached out to me and asked me to reflect on persistence, I laughed and laughed. The dictionary definition of persistence calls it “an obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.” As a person with ADHD, I am pretty much the opposite of the definition of persistence. My squirrel brain is easily distracted and finds anything new more interesting than something old. I have been known to make to-do lists and then think I have already done the task. I am then surprised that my laundry is still in the bag by the door because I was sure that I had done laundry. I mean, I wrote it down!

This essay is already three days late.

In 2017, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts read a letter from Coretta Scott King into the record on the Senate floor. As she continued to read it, Republican leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told her to stop. After much back and forth, the Republican majority voted to silence her for the remainder of the hearings.

Afterward, McConnell explained himself: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

That line became a full-throated rallying cry for many people. It resonated deeply within a broad U.S. culture that lays out the idea that persistence in the face of opposition is a sign of strength. Warren didn’t take no for an answer. We love that stuff. We read story after feel-good story of the person who tried for years to accomplish their goal and then did, through persistence.

If only we try hard enough, we are told, we will be able to succeed at whatever we put our mind to. Our single-minded commitment will overcome all obstacles. Persisting, someone decided, is something that a person does or does not do. Keep going. Don’t stop. Continue in the face of opposition. Just Do It.

But hand in hand with that idea is the ugly underbelly that if persisting will get us to our goal, then if we don’t accomplish something, it will be our fault for not continuing. Just Do It. And if you don’t do it, it’s your fault.

Nonsense.

Joking aside, there are plenty of things at which I’ve persisted. I have completed complex tasks, essays written, children fed, courses completed, and painted rooms. But I never did them alone. That’s the myth that we persist independently.

I think persistence is not an individual character trait. It’s a group activity, and we should understand it as part of community care.

Persistence is collective. It is in the endurance of actions of those who would not give up on me when I gave up on myself. It’s the support of our family and friends and even strangers. It’s the people who grow our food, even people we pay to help us do those things we cannot accomplish alone. Persistence is in the people who let me sleep on their couch while I commuted from Philly to N.Y. for school. It’s the people who took me in and fed and watered me when my mental health collapsed in on itself. It’s the people who send me cards with stickers in them to remind me I am loved. We move forward together.

Persistence is a group of people moving toward their goals. Taking turns, like geese flying in formation, take turns at the front, at that hardest bit. As a community, we take turns with the things we are best at and alternate our effort at the most challenging activities. We persist collectively in the face of collective opposition.

Wonder what happened to the letter by Coretta Scott King? Senator Jeff Merkley read it into the Senate record. Warren persisted, and then Merkley continued. Someone else completed the task she set out to do.

Persistence is a group activity. All of us persist together, supporting one another when and how we can, accepting the help of others. This group activity is part of how we all get free together.

What is the value of persistence? When have you struggled with it, or felt its benefits?

Michael
CLF Member, incarcerated WI

Persistence drives people to accomplish great things. I have struggled with persistence throughout my life, I put limits on the tasks I take on, and at times, I take on too many tasks. I keep it up, because I can feel the benefits of 90% of my persistence.

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated in MD

Ever since my first incarceration at age 14, I have been meditating with the goal to escape my physical body. I sucked at meditation at first! I would either fall asleep trying to do it, or give up out of boredom. But I had read every book about the subject, so I knew that the goal to escape my body was possible.

One day in 2004 while I spent the summer in solitary confinement, I had read a book that gave me the key I was missing. It said: lay down. Plug your ears and cover your eyes, deprive yourself of all senses. Relax. Breathe easy, don’t concentrate on anything but leaving your body. Once you feel your body begin to feel loose, commit to forcing your consciousness up and out of your forehead, and don’t stop this course, come whatever may. I did this. I felt the looseness as if I were half asleep and half awake. Then came swirling white light in a cyclone type motion behind my eyelids that began to increase more and more as I looked at it and forced my mind upward and outward. Suddenly the swirling light began to make the sound of a tidal wave, like crashing water in my ears. It grew louder and louder as I forced my concentration upward. Without warning my body felt light as a feather, as if I was laying down on the floor of an elevator as it was going up.

This feeling increased until I felt myself being sucked through the cyclone like a wind tunnel. Within seconds I was surrounded by darkness so thick that it felt tangible. I was aware that this experience was real and that I was no longer in my body. I sought to prove it by waving my hand before my eyes. What I saw was an imprint of atoms that made up what was my physical hand. I had no words for this experience other than utter amazement. I saw no up or down, only space.

I became afraid that a guard might come up to my door and think I was unresponsive, so I sought a way to get back in my physical vehicle. There were no sounds to hear, nothing to see. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. Since I felt myself ascending, and I saw the light atoms of what made up my hand, if I pushed myself back down into my body I should be okay.

As I thought this idea, I began to feel myself descending. I kept pushing myself down until I suddenly heard voices, the same waves crashing and swirling white light. I had the feeling of being shocked awake as when someone makes a loud bang and one wakes with their nerves buzzing. Then I could feel the shirt over my eyes and toilet paper balls I used as ear plugs in my ears. I moved my hand before my face and saw only the fabric of my state shirt. I jumped up and screamed, “I did it! I escaped my body for real!” I was absolutely ecstatic with joy.

Were I not persistent, I would never have learned what exists beyond the physical world. My reward was a disillusionment about life and death that only comes from personal experience. Never ever give up!

The purpose of this class is to give the tools necessary to confront deeper issues based in fear.

Students will learn what fear really is and how it applies to them. They will learn that some of the negativity in their lives is based in their own fears, and hopefully begin a journey on a more positive path. Coming to terms with fear can lead to a more positive outlook on life and on people as a whole. This can result in more peace and happiness for the individual negating the need for negative expression (i.e. violence). Confronting one’s unhealthy fears in a positive way can influence genuine change. Students will also learn that some level of fear is natural.

What is fear & how do we master it?

Definition:

1. A feeling of alarm, caused by the expectation of danger, fueled by a basic lack of trust.
2. Anxious concern.

Judging by these definitions, fear can range from not jumping off a cliff because of the fear of being hurt, or buying coffee because you are running out. Fear can motivate you to do something as well as not to do something.

The 5 Universal Fears:

1. Being hurt
2. Hurting others
3. Abandonment
4. Inadequacy
5. Losing ourselves

These are the roots of other fears. Everyone has some level of these fears. It’s okay and natural. When we allow ourselves to act in ways that affect ourselves or others in negative ways, you may be experiencing an unhealthy amount of one or more of these fears. It’s time to confront this within yourself. Let’s break down these fears…

Being Hurt:

In what ways can we be hurt?

• Physically: any way to the body
• Mentally: any way to the mind
• Emotionally: any way to emotions
• Financially: any way dealing with money
• Materially: any way to do with material things
• Spiritually: any way to our sense of spirituality

Looking at this list, which one do you think affects you most?

Hurting Others:

In the same ways we can be hurt, others can also be hurt. Some fear hurting others. There are multiple reasons for this fear, but most are attributed to empathy or fear of consequences for doing so.

Abandonment:

This is in greater or lesser degree the fear of being alone or rejected. This fear can lead to poor relationships, isolation, depression, and bottled up feelings. Remember you cannot have healthy relationships if you have no trust.

People who have an unhealthy amount of this fear may contribute to one or more of these categories:

• People who have never dealt with being alone. People who always were alone or away from key members of their development (i.e. parents).
• People who have been in traumatic situations. Socially under-developed individuals.

Inadequacy:

This is the fear of not being “good enough.” This comes from setting your expectations for yourself too high, or from low self-esteem issues that may have a deeper cause that you need to confront.  Oddly enough, one common way this fear is expressed is defensiveness, though not all defensiveness is caused by this.  Another way this may be expressed is self-defeating attitudes.

Have you ever not done something because you thought you would fail?

Losing Ourselves:

This is the fear of losing our sense of self, how we want to be seen, or what we represent. People who have an unhealthy amount of this fear, may have at one point lived a shallow life with no purpose or direction. Or at another level, live in or worry about the opinions of others too much.

A thought that may go with this fear is, “This is all I have so I have to maintain it.” Some people express this fear with the fear of change.

Have you ever not talked to somebody because they were a “weirdo” and you don’t talk to weirdos?

What fear really boils down to is lack of trust in Yourself, Others, and/or A Higher Power or Greater Power. That being said, it is perfectly normal to have some fear. We would be dead without it. Fear is normal, fear is natural.

Ask yourself this question:

When have any of my fears caused me to act or think in a way that was negative?

When fear becomes that, or False Expectations Appearing Real is when it becomes unhealthy.

Unhealthy fear may affect our judgment and reasoning, it may harm our relationships, and it may affect our spirituality or our sense of purpose.

So how do we balance fear? A way to balance something may be to seek its opposite. There are many schools of thought on the opposite of fear but for the purpose of this lesson see fear as a lack of trust.

If fear is a lack of trust, the first step is to recognize where the lack of trust lies and to take it for what it really is. This does not mean to go around trusting everything!

A lack of trust in self can be helped with a buildup of self esteem.

• Set realistic goals for yourself
• Don’t compare yourself to others
• Learn from mistakes instead of holding them against yourself
• Challenge yourself
• Bask in your achievements, no matter how small
• Force yourself to smile sometimes
• Be honest with yourself

Do not confuse this with ego, which has its roots in self centeredness.

A lack of trust in others is a harder one to balance. First, determine if you are basing this fear off an experience with someone else. Look for another way to assess your relationships.

Trust in relationships is built with honesty and the acts of sharing deep feelings. This often requires you to share your feelings first. Don’t hold others to your own expectations. Learn to appreciate what makes others unique (the world would be boring without it).

A lack of trust in a Higher/Greater power comes with time and development. What’s the difference between a Greater power and a Higher Power?

A Greater power is anything greater than you alone (i.e. an organization, authority member, or a cause/idea). For those who have a Higher power, this comes with building your relationship with your higher power.

The same effort that goes into your other relationships should go into developing your relationship with your greater or higher power.

Become part of a greater purpose. You already have taken the first step. Build upon your knowledge on various subjects.

Keep an emphasis on the question of “why” when searching within yourself. This is only the surface of fear but it does give you a starting point. Remember that this takes time.

To all members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist:

Per Article VII, Sections 1 and 2, of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Bylaws, the 50th Annual Meeting will be held via video/telephone conference call and screen sharing on Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 7:00PM EDT. Link to RSVP for Zoom link.

We will be distributing materials electronically to all CLF members for whom we have a current email address, and posting the documents to our website. All incarcerated members will automatically receive paper copies of the materials along with postage-paid ballots to return. Others may request hard copies mailed to you by sending back the form on the final page of this issue of Quest, or calling the CLF office at 617-948-6150.

All those who have access to the Internet or phone are encouraged to join our meeting via Zoom and participate in the discussion. Meeting materials will include absentee ballots for those unable to attend in person.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

• Report on highlights of CLF activities and finances
• Vote for the following leadership positions (see nominations from Nominating Committee in the packet):
  • Elect three members to 3-year terms on the board of directors,
  • Elect one member to 1-year term on the board of directors to fill a term vacated before the term was finished,
  • Elect one member to a 3-year term on the nominating committee,
  • Elect a clerk and treasurer for one year

We will elect a moderator from among members present to preside at the meeting.

Aisha Ansano, Board Chair

While I wish I had something pretty or pithy to observe about spring in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m mostly thinking about the amount of live programming blossoming right in front of us. Through partnership with congregations, individual UUs, and our UU State Action Networks, we’re all able to “take shifts for the revolution,” as Rev. Ashley Horan says. I see the evidence of that daily in the stories and updates from around the country of UUs and other people of faith and conscience who are fighting for our trans beloved and who are fiercely resisting legislative attacks on climate, decriminalization, and trans children and families. (If you haven’t yet, read the beautiful op-ed by Rev. Sara LaWall from Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, ID about why her faith demands she protect and affirm her trans child.)

This month, we have opportunities for faithful and faith-filled actions for justice and rejuvenation. Please share in your congregation and community. 

In faith and solidarity,

Audra Friend

Digital Communications, Data, and Technology Specialist

Side With Love 

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Wednesday, March 15, 2023 7 -  8:30 PM ET / 6 CT / 5 MT / 4 PT

Connecting with State Action Networks on Climate Advocacy

Online

UU State Action Networks do powerful justice work across the country. How can your congregation engage with your State Action Network on climate justice advocacy and actions? Join Deb Cruz and Rev. Lisa Sampson Garcia to learn more! --- Join the Green Sanctuary Team meetings for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 8PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion on pressing needs. Register here.

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Sunday, March 19, 2023 4 - 5:30pm ET / 3 CT / 2 MT / 1 PT 

Skill Up: Evaluation is an Act of Love

Online

In this skill-up, you will practice ways to bring debrief culture and loving feedback to your own context. We need to be able to speak directly and frankly to each other about what we want and need from each other, what we think could be done differently, as well as celebrating our successes. Every time we love one another enough to offer debrief and appreciation, we deepen our relationships and the power of our collective. We can create groups and communities grounded in relationship and trust. Thus, we can meet the justice work of the moment powerfully and nimbly. Register here.

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Wednesday, March 22, 2023 8 -  9:30 PM ET / 7 CT / 6 MT / 5 PT

The Body Politic: Faithful UUs Showing up for Trans Justice

Online

UUs have long been part leaders in powerful multifaith movements fighting for trans and queer rights and liberation. Join UPLIFT Action and Side With Love staff for this webinar, lifting up the faithful work UUs are engaging in right now in the context of the wave of hateful legislation and violence against trans and queer people. We'll hear stories from congregations and State Action Networks on the ground, and point toward ways you and your community can take meaningful action. Register here.

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Thursday, March 23, 2023 7:30 -  8:30 PM ET / 6:30 CT / 5:30 MT / 4:30 PT

Faithful Grounding

Online

Join our Side with Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad for an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love. Come drink in the music, meditation, play, and prayer. We end with a Connection Cafe for those who wish to talk together. Show up as you are, whatever is in your heart, and with your camera on or off as you need. Register here.

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Friday, March 31st at 8pm ET / 7 CT / 6 MT / 5 PT

UUA Trans Day of Visibility Virtual Party for Trans/Nonbinary Families

Online

As legislators pass harmful laws in states all across the country and as people of faith and no-faith fight back, we want to remind transgender/nonbinary families that they are not alone. Register here.

As Unitarian Universalists we believe that every body is sacred. This will be a time of reflection, celebration, and renewal as we prepare for what is and whatever is coming our way.

*NOTE: This space is intentionally multi-generational. It is open to and welcoming of trans/nonbinary elders as well as children, youth, and young adults. Standard UUA online safety measures apply to ensure all people under 18 are able to attend. We're glad to have you here! 

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Saturday, April through Monday, April 3

Intergenerational Spring Seminar: Demilitarization & Abolition: Resist Policing and Empire

Online and in-person, Minneapolis, MN

This year's UU@UN Intergenerational Spring Seminar has the theme of “Demilitarization & Abolition: Resist Policing and Empire,” and takes place both in-person in Minneapolis and online April 1-3.

As an intergenerational event, Youth are especially encouraged to attend!

Militarized policing is a dire problem both in the U.S. and globally, and this year's Seminar aims to help us increase our understanding of abolition and equip ourselves with skills to take action. Our keynote will be given by Andrea Ritchie, co-author of No More Police, and other programming will offer a mix of workshops, worship, and debrief. 

Registration is tiered with a free, no-cost option for those who need it! Learn more and register here.

On February 21, 2023, Side With Love Create Climate Justice, Interfaith Power & Light, and others hosted a webinar on Planning the Energy Future of Your Congregation. 

Learn about the importance of benchmarking your facilities’ energy use to shape your congregation’s plan to cut energy costs and care for our sacred Earth. This is the first step to making a plan to take advantage of federal funding, like the Inflation Reduction Act. Presenters include: Jerry Lawson, National Manager of EPA’s Energy Star for Small Businesses and Congregations; Sarah Paulos, Interfaith Power & Light’s Cool Congregations Program Director and Tom Hackley from People’s Church of Kalamazoo, MI. This webinar is part of a series hosted by Interfaith Power & Light and our faith partners.

• watch the Recording,

• review the Resources, and

• RSVP for upcoming events!

Big kudos to the People's Church of Kalamazoo Michigan, a UU Society, for sharing their journey to Net Zero!  If you were there live, you probably noticed how many UUs were in attendance!  Go team! 

Are you an energy wonk with a knack for navigating federal policy?  Do you love helping others brainstorm opportunities for clean energy upgrades?  Or maybe you're just really excited about the IRA and other federal funding opportunities for equitable decarbonization?  We're looking for a few good UUs to support shared learning around federal opportunities to fund the clean energy transition. Email Environment@UUA.org for more information.

led by experienced facilitators Rev. Cathy Rion Starr, Side with Love Leadership Development Specialist; and Elisse Ghitelman, Side with Love Squad Leader

• View the Skill up on Vimeo

• Skill Up Slide Deck - includes all the links & resources shared Sunday and those below 

• Chat thread from the training

• How to Facilitate Meetings the NO Magic way – 350.org – really solid & simple guide

• 350.org Online Training Monster Manual – Slide Deck Template with a lot of great online activities (See more Facilitation resources from 350.org)

•  Meetings that Work – UUA from 2005 – lots of good stuff, even though some is outdated

More Tools: 

• Building Safety In a Group – Training for Change Handout

• Sequencing Activities in a Workshop – Training for Change handout

•  Liberating Structures - an app & website with lots of exercises/tools for conversation

• Public Speaking & Facilitation workshop YOU can lead with your folks

CFJ's Facilitation Tips (from Californians For Justice, where Rev. Cathy got their organizing training)

 Welcoming and Warming up Participants

• Make people feel welcomed. Go up to people you don’t know, talk, make sure no one feels left out or alone – help cliques break up. 

• Pick an effective icebreaker. Get people to loosen up, and interact with each other. Re-seat people and mix up groups so they get to know each other.

• Do a team building activity. This gets people involved together in a group activity and creates the importance of group teamwork. Debrief and reflect! 

Setting the tone

• Lively facilitation.  You have to convey your own energy and commitment for the topic that you are facilitation so others feel it too.

• Speak clearly and loudly. So that everyone can hear. 

• Pace your presentation so that it is not rushed. Give participants time to absorb and think about it so that they have time to ask questions before you move on.  

• Set agreements and stick to them! Use agreements to keep people on track. You can set agreements at the beginning of the session. 

Encourage participation and listening

• Reinforce participation. Look at participants when they speak. Nod in agreement. Smile! 

• Keep order. If there are many people that want to speak, say & write their names down in a “stack” & call them to speak in order. 

• Diversify speakers. Make sure that the order you choose has a balance of men, women, people of color, youth speaking, etc. Make sure you are valuing a diversity of opinions.

• Make sure people can hear each other.  Ask a participant who is speaking quietly to speak up . Say things like “Did everyone hear that? 

• Make sure that participants respond to each other’s comments. Keeps the participants responding to each other rather than to just the facilitator.

• Call for a go-around. If you want to make sure everyone has a chance to speak to the topic, call for a “go-around” to have each participant speak, or pass 

Presentation and Move it Forward Tips

• Use visual aides to help clarify points and make things more interesting. Write legibly and large and make sure everyone can see it.

• Summarize main points to move discussion forward. After everyone has spoken, pause and summarize the main points so that people have a clear idea of what has been said. 

• Find the proposal. The facilitator’s job is to “find” the proposal – to pull together ideas and present it to the group.

• Keep comments to the point. If someone brings up an issue that doesn’t relate to the topic, respectfully ask them to hold that point, or “park it” for later discussion. 

• Create Next Steps: never let anyone leave the meeting before reaffirming the commitments (sign ups) they have made.

Thanks to Cal Ball, Paige Bacon, Barb Rodman, Lora Powell-Haney, and Wendy Weirick for volunteering with our Squads to make our training smooth.  

Future Skill Ups

Mar 19 - Evaluation is an Act of Love Apr 23 - Facing the Apocalypse With a Smile

When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. – John Lewis

 Today would have been John Lewis’ 83rd birthday. Millions of people have been inspired by Lewis’ courageous commitment to racial justice and electoral justice. Along with other people of faith and conscience like James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, John Lewis is a spiritual elder and ancestor who invites us to side with love rather than fear. 

Last year, hundreds of UU congregations and individual UUs worked tirelessly ahead of the 2022 election, which helped us reach more than 2 million voters during a time when voter suppression was strong. Inspired by Lewis’ famous quote – Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. –  UU the Vote debuted Good Trouble Congregations, an ambitious effort for congregations to support democracy in their communities with the following goals:

• Average 20 postcards or letters per member

• Average 200 text messages per member

• Average 20 calls per member

• Average 20 doorknocks per member

• Reach 20 percent volunteer engagement

• Average 2 newly registered voters per member

• At least 2 congregants are line warmers, poll workers, or poll watchers

We are delighted and thrilled to announce the congregations who fulfilled 4 or more of the above criteria to become Good Trouble Congregations.

• Aiken Unitarian Universalist Church (SC)

• All Souls Church Unitarian (DC) 

• All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation (CO)

• Bay de Noc UU Fellowship (MI)

• Borderlands UU (AZ)

• Chalice UU Fellowship of the Conejo Valley (CA)

• Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church (GA)

• High Plains Church Unitarian Universalist (CO)

• Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church (WI)

• Unitarian Society of New Haven (CT)

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Surprise (AZ)

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg (SC)

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester (MA)

• Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica (CA)

• Unitarian Universalist Community of the Mountains (CA)

• Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport (CT)

• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick (MD)

• Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady (NY)

• Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington (MI)

• UU Congregation of Caldwell County (NC)

• UU Congregation of Phoenix (AZ)

• UU Fellowship of Marshfield (WI)

• UU Westside Congregation (NM)

• Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation (AZ)

Join us on February 28 at 7:00pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT for the Good Trouble Congregation Celebration. Come hear from partners, President Susan Frederick-Gray and keynote speaker Tiffany Flowers from The Frontline.  There will be a special recognition ceremony for congregations as well as folks who served as poll workers and Election Defenders. 

RSVP for the Good Trouble Congregation Celebration on February 28th!

It's an exciting time to be a climate activist.  After years of fighting for federal support for equitable clean energy, we're seeing historic investments with enormous potential.  For UUs, who have been leaders in the faith climate movement, now's our time to shine.  Think big.  Think systems.  Think resilience.  Think love.  Think of all the ways our congregations can be hubs of climate resilience and community care.    

How can we build our capacity as UUs to faithfully respond to these opportunities?  What would our communities look like if clean energy was a human right and all people could thrive?  With trainings on benchmarking and UU-specific funding strategies and leadership opportunities, we're skilling up to rise to the challenge! 

At the same time, we can't let our guard down in the fight for a future without fossil fuels that honors the interdependent web of existence and the inherent worth and dignity of all.  Join the movement to Stop Cop City with a week of Solidarity Actions - February 19-26.  Make the connections between Stop Cop City and the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline with a teach-in hosted by Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR).  Advocate for those impacted by the catastrophic environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.   

When it comes to climate justice, we need to multitask.  With multiple, overlapping crises - healthcare, attacks on trans lives, housing inequality, racial injustice, threats to our democracy, and climate disruption everywhere we look, we need intersectional solutions informed by the lived experiences of those most impacted.  How can we do this when our volunteers are overextended, budgets are tight, and the problems are so complex?  Join other UUs transforming their congregations through climate justice.  Green Sanctuary 2030 (GS2030) provides a flexible, manageable, and impactful process to transform our congregations through climate justice. GS2030 teams come together for shared learning and mutual supports on topics like Young Adult Engagement, Collaborating on State Advocacy, and more.   

Together, we can advance a just and equitable transition to a fossil fuel free future where clean energy is a human right and all communities thrive.   

Join us! 

In community,

 Rachel Myslivy

Climate Justice Organizer

UUA Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team

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Webinar: Young Adults in UU Congregations: Not Just Committee Members!

Come learn from Zoe Johnston, UU Young Adults for Climate Justice, about ways to engage young adults in your congregation, especially with your Green Sanctuary 2030 and other climate justice organizing.

How do we get young adults involved?  Where do we find them? 

How do we support them? View the presentation.

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How can UUs access federal funding for solar or energy efficiency projects? 

With Justice 40, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)  there are so many opportunities for our congregations to be leaders in the transition to a just and equitable clean energy future!  There are opportunities for individuals, buildings, communities, and state/county/city level advocacy.  The UUA is partnering with Interfaith Power and Light, the Energy, Environment, and Study Institute and others to help UUs learn about and access these funds.  

• Watch the recording of Federal Funding for Energy Work at Houses of Worship

• RSVP for Planning the Energy Future of your Congregation on Tuesday, February 21 at 7ET

• Learn about UU-specific funding opportunities to leverage with federal funds for clean energy projects on Wednesday, April 19 at 7ET

• Stay tuned for future webinars and learning opportunities!

Are you an energy wonk with a knack for navigating federal policy?  Do you love helping others brainstorm opportunities for clean energy upgrades?  Or maybe you're just really excited about the IRA and other federal funding opportunities for equitable decarbonization? 

We're looking for a few good UUs to skill up our congregations on these amazing opportunities! 

Volunteer to help support shared learning and facilitate an emerging peer learning circle around federal opportunities to fund the clean energy transition.  Ready to jump in?  Email Environment@UUA.org!

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Get to know the new Green Sanctuary!

Are you thinking about joining the Green Sanctuary 2030 community?  GS2030 offers UU congregations a flexible, manageable, and impactful process to transform our congregations through climate justice.  GS2030 teams engage in four intersecting campaigns to advance climate justice, congregational transformation, adaptation and resilience, and mitigation.   

We hold GS2030 Orientations on the first Wednesday of the month and Community Meetings on the Third Wednesday of the month, both meetings are at 7ET.  Come together for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice! 

You can RSVP for these and all of our climate justice events at SideWithLove.org/ClimateJustice!

Come learn from Zoe Johnston, UU Young Adults for Climate Justice, about ways to engage young adults in your congregation, especially with your Green Sanctuary 2030 and other climate justice organizing.

How do we get young adults involved?  Where do we find them? 

How do we support them? 

In this Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting, we learned from Zoe Johnston with UU Young Adults for Climate Justice about ways to engage young adults in our congregations, especially with Green Sanctuary 2030 and other climate justice organizing.  

• View the webinar

• Download the slides

Zoe shared some helpful framing for effective YA leadership, including: 

• Timing:  hold meetings outside of school and work hours

• Accessibility: hold meetings on Zoom or in physically accessible spaces

• Focus:  the work of your group speaks to the lived experiences and material reality of young adults

• Dynamics:  Name any possible power dynamics that are play. When we are transparent, we can build deeper trust.

• Value the presence, input, and perspective of young adults!

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Join the Green Sanctuary Team meetings for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 8PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion on pressing needs. Find past meetings and register for upcoming ones at sidewithlove.org/climatejustice

Dr. Cornell West famously said, "Justice is what Love looks like in public."

At Side with Love, Justice is our primary focus. And we know that in order to keep showing up with our Love in public, we need to ground ourselves in love -- of ourselves and others. Will you join me in our Faithful Grounding to practice love next Thursday?

Beloved, do you find yourself in need of grounding in the love that allows you to act for justice?

I invite you to join me at this month's Side with Love Faithful Grounding Hour: an hour of spiritual sustenance and grounding with others organizing on the side of love hosted by our Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad.

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Faithful Grounding Hour

A MONTHLY GATHERING FOR SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

Thursday, February 23

4:30 PT / 5:30 MT / 6:30 CT / 7:30 ET

Sign Me Up

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Faithful Grounding begins with brief worship led by Rev. Kristina church and ends with a Connection Cafe for those who wish to talk together. Show up as you are, whatever is in your heart, and with your camera on or off as you need. This is a live, dynamic (and unrecorded) monthly gathering on the 4th Thursday of each month. Join us!

If you can't make it, or want more, our 30 Days of Love recordings are available to help nourish your spirit and give gratitude and affirmation.

May we, together, help Love flourish in private and in public.

With love and care,

Side with Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad

I came to activism late in life after retiring from a career in music and then technology.  I didn't know anything except that I wanted to do something to contribute to making the world more equitable for all.  Armed only with my lofty goals, I reached out to folx in the UU community, a little intimidated but willing to learn.  I was met with welcome, patience, humor and support by some extraordinary folx that had been doing this work for years.   

Now I coordinate Side With Love’s Skill Up Series, our monthly trainings on organizing skills to help YOU build stronger teams in your congregation and community.  When I think about our Skill Ups, they mirror my experience:  welcoming, fun, and educational offerings to help all of us get to a higher level in this work that we cherish of harnessing love’s power to stop oppression.

Will you join us this semester?

This Spring, our Skill Up Theme is "How to Talk About Hard Things.”  You are heartily invited to attend these very informative and rich workshops that not only cover high-level concepts but also offer practical guidance and hands-on practice. Each topic will be delivered by experts and long-time organizers with special knowledge and experience presenting:

• Feb 19 - Facilitation: Leading Gatherings with Grace and Impact, led by experienced facilitators Rev. Cathy Rion Starr, Side with Love Leadership Development Specialist; and Elisse Ghitelman, Side with Love Squad Leader 

• Mar 19 - Evaluation is an Act of Love, led by Sarah Berel-Harrop, Side with Love Squad and Texas UU Justice Ministry Leader

• Apr 23 - Facing the Apocalypse With a Smile, led by Rachel Myslivy, Side with Love Climate Justice Organizer  

• May 21 - What Do Impacted Communities Need - How Would I Know? Led by Rev. Michael Crumpler, UUA LGBTQ and Multicultural Programs Director 

All Skill Ups run 90 minutes starting at 4 ET • 3 CT • 2 MT • 1 PT 

These topics cover some of the most daunting challenges that we face going out in the world to do this work.  How can I design and hold really fun and impactful meetings - even when the subject matter is hard?  How do I give my colleagues feedback in a way that is loving and builds us up?  How in the world can I talk about climate change without sounding all doom and gloom?  How can I know what impacted folx really need before even thinking about how to engage?   

Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to be lifelong learners, and organizing traditions teach that we need to share what we know for our movements to grow.  We begin each session with grounding from our Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad volunteers and then dive into the training content.    

Our Skill Ups are our invitation into a regular practice of learning together.  Join us for one or all of these wonderful workshops! 

Will you join us this Sunday?

You can view and sign up for the events at sidewithlove.org/skillups.  We post all of our Skill Up recordings, slides and worksheets there too – so browse our Skill Up Library for more resources!  

We look forward to seeing you as we come together to learn and be energized!

In faith, love & learning,

 

Cal Ball

Side with Love Squad Skill Ups Coordinator

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Cal joined the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco in 2020 and since then, has worked as a squad volunteer with Side With Love supporting voting rights and voter mobilization initiatives through the UU the Vote campaign.  In his career, Cal worked as a professional musician and producer.  He was a staff songwriter for EMI Music Publishing and recorded albums for Atlantic, Universal Music Group, and Curb Records. Prior to his retirement, Cal also worked for a variety of technology companies in the California Bay Area.

We are delighted and honored to announce The Frontline’s Campain Director Tiffany Flowers will be the Keynote speaker for our Good Trouble Congregations Celebration on Tuesday, February 28 at 7pm ET/4pm PT.

She will join Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray and other special guests, including our Good Trouble Congregations!

The Frontline was our lead partner in training crucial Election Defenders in 2020 and 2022, and is a powerful coalition made up of  Working Families Organization, Working Families Party, United We Dream Action, and by the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project. 

RSVP Now

“Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” Late Rep. John Lewis’ words call on us to find the moral courage to build democracy and society where all of us can thrive. It calls on us to be uncomfortable, to take risks, to engage our communities and face injustice with prophetic imagination and action.

From phonebanks, talking to neighbors, and showing up at the polls and drop boxes to protect voter access, the stories and activities of our UU the Vote community has been inspiring. On February 28, let us share those stories, celebrate our work, and prepare for the work ahead. Join us on February 28 at 7:00pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT for the Good Trouble Celebration.

I'm In!

Beloveds,

In their recently-released draft of the new Article II of our UUA bylaws, the Article II Commission writes, “The purpose of the Unitarian Universalist Association is to actively engage its members in the transformation of the world through liberating Love.” I’ve heard many folks ask, “What do we mean by ‘liberating Love?’” The A2C writes:

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.

At its core, the work of Side With Love is to be a hub for connection, growth, nourishment and action that allows Unitarian Universalists and our partners to live out our values in the world. Together, we deepen our political analysis, sharpen our skills, articulate our theological grounding, and mobilize our communities to build a world in which all of us are free and thriving. 

And – we are so aware that the work of transforming the world through liberating love is something that started long before any of us was born, and that will carry on long after we have become the ancestors of memory. The work is shared, and it is unending – as the oft-quoted truism of Rabbi Tafron in the Jewish Mishnah text Pirkei Avot goes, “You are not required to finish the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” 

We hope, then, that you have found some nourishment for the long-haul work of liberation during these 30 Days of Love. We have been so blessed by the weekly offerings from this diverse group of bold, loving, faithful religious leaders. We hope as you’ve taken moments to drink in these blessings and practices and prayers and stories, you have felt as wrapped in love and as buoyed by feeling the web of connections that exist among us as we have. Please feel free to keep coming back to these resources throughout the year ahead – use them to start your day in your own spiritual practice, to provide grounding to your group before the meeting or workshop, or as an offering in communal worship. 

This week, we offer you a few final gifts: a prayer from Rev. Sofía Betancourt, a body practice from Rev. Leela Sinha, and a grounding meditation from Rev. Lynn Gardner . May they bless and fortify you. 

Beloveds, we are so grateful to be in the work of love and liberation together with you. Thank you for all the faithful ways you show up throughout the year, struggling for justice and blessing the world with care, hope, and love. 

May we all be transformed by liberating Love. 

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Ashley Horan

Side With Love Organizing Strategy Director

“Where do we find that space of connecting, of belonging. Really, that space  where there is no other.”  — bell hooks

Connection is a lifeline. To extend oneself, to belong to something larger. Inviting a conversation outside of one’s head or examining an internal relationship, perhaps to bring it into a state of balance.

That internal state of balance is one of the underlying losses during the pandemic that is rising to the surface for some of us as we emerge—in whatever ways we do, don’t or can’t emerge—from these last three years. There’s a yearning for a long-promised return to “normal” even when we know there is no normal and that what society has called “normal” was problematic, full of injustices and oppressive systems that continue to hurt so many of us.

Living through a time when our lives depended on our distance from one another and when breathing in the same space together could be deadly, some of us were able to question, “How can I possibly find safety and still have a sense of connection?” And some of us didn’t have the ability or choice to be safely distanced. At no time in recent history have we been so in need of connection and so uncertain about the means or the consequences of such contact.

Now, many of us are having to relearn how to connect and who to connect with. Even before we reach out to other people, we may have to go through a process of considering how connected or disconnected we are with ourselves. We’re, at once, catching up with and reinventing our lives and the process can be overwhelming. Even in writing this, we are feeling the challenges of reintegrating into some kind of new rhythm. We are bridging our own gap between what was and what is now, who we were and who we are becoming to meet this new reality. And we’ve needed a lot of patience and compassion, trust and love, both for ourselves and for each other, so that we can help create whatever happens next, personally and societally.

We’ve weathered our own losses and made dramatic changes to what we do in the world. And, like a snake shedding its skin, this new layer is still tender as we grow into it.

As songwriters, we connect best to ourselves and to the world through our music. What keeps us most rooted to the larger community is that we’re activist songwriters. Our job is to listen closely to people’s stories, especially stories that are silenced or obscured by dominant culture, and amplify those stories through songs that invite you to close your eyes and sink into a steady rhythm, shed a tear for a story of someone you’ve never even met, shout down an injustice or celebrate in joyful harmony.

Music creates a web of connection. It suspends a moment in time for us to get a closer look at what’s really going on, what we feel in our hearts and in our bodies: the loss, the pain, the power of what’s possible when we join together to create change. The song can reveal for us how we’re all connected in a moment in time. What things in our lives have we done that led to that moment. And what things have we not done that led us here. What needs have we paid attention to and what needs have we not.

In March of 2020, we started leading a weekly songwriting class that is still ongoing. We began the class so that we would have some source of income when all our gigs disappeared but we have found that it went much further than that, keeping us connected to our own writing as we pass on what we’ve learned over our decades of writing songs and giving our students an opportunity to hone and strengthen their skills, an expanding exploration into themselves—what they care about, what they love, what makes them laugh, what brings them comfort. We also started a weekly Sunday online gathering that included teaching our songs, inviting guest artists to teach theirs and joining together for monthly concerts. (The videos are archived on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page.) These gatherings lasted until the end of 2022 and were a touchstone for people—including some who were isolated because of health concerns, disability or geography—a place they could come every week, make friends and be in community. It was a touchstone for us, too, because it provided us with a routine for doing music and being part of and caring for a community. While we miss those gatherings, the demands of planning for and performing in person again require more of our time.

Writing, singing, performing with and to an audience has all shifted in these times but the power of music and song to connect us remains strong. Music super charges connection. The message goes deeper when it’s carried in a tender or powerful melody. It spreads farther as we carry these songs, sometimes through many years of our lives. As the CLF community knows well, people can still sing together, with the music physically vibrating in them and from them, helping to create a moment of sanctuary, even if our surroundings are not a sanctuary or a moment of collective power and unity, even when we are singing from our own separate spaces. May we each find that place of connection, of belonging. That space where there is no other.

How do you cultivate and sustain friendship? What role does friendship play in your life?

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated in MD

This may sound ridiculous to some people but, I didn’t know what actual friendship was until I got sentenced to Life Without Parole. When I found all of my known family and the people I considered friends fleeing my side, I felt devastated. I felt betrayed, neglected, rejected, lied to, and despised by everyone that I ever knew who said they loved me.

In this abject abandonment I held on to one sacred truth: “I still love me!” I was the only friend I actually ever had regardless of who rode with me through my hard times or smiled alongside me on the ones that were good! And as long as that love resided in me, the people who were truly meant to be in my life would damn sure show up. Why? Because I never gave up on myself. Friendship means never giving up on a friend.

It took me hitting absolute rock bottom to learn that that’s where I’d find all the true friends I would ever need in this world! When I felt that I “lost” all these people I previously knew, the truth is that I realized that I never “had” them. Learning how to be my own best friend prepared me for being another person’s best friend, not to be quick to judge them in their circumstances, how do I know what I would do if the shoe were on the other foot? Be honest but understanding, not laying out ones faults but helping them through them. And above this, love them for loving you! Not to seek to use them for personal gain, or violate their privacy when you feel inadequate. In doing this, a Twin-Like bond will appear and the communication will always continue to improve. Friendship is a word made up of Friend and a Ship. If two Friends work together there will always be Smoooooooth Sailing!

“We are writing this in pencil, not etching it in stone.”  — from the Article II Study Commission Report 1/17/23

One of the defining characteristics of our Unitarian Universalist faith is that ours is a “living tradition.” We do not etch our faith in stone precisely because we hold sacred that it must change. It must adapt to new challenges, it must meet new understandings, and it must evolve based on new experiences and connections.

This change includes our most central language as well, which is why our Association’s Bylaws mandate regular reviews of Article II of the UUA Bylaws, better known as the Principles, Sources, and Purposes of Unitarian Universalism.

The current version of how we articulate the center of Unitarian Universalism is the seven Principles. Those principles were introduced to us in 1985, and were a significant change from the concepts that preceded them. Their passage was not without disagreement, some of which was rooted in a love for the 1961 language.

In mid-January 2023, the commission that has been faithfully working for the past two years released their proposal for an Article II that leads our faith into the future. Most dramatically, it replaces our Principles with seven core Values, each of which comes with a charge to each of us, expressed as a covenant.

The values are centered on Love, named as a spiritual discipline that holds us together, and are named as Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity. There’s even a beautiful graphic representation of them in the report. There are more words, of course. And most of what we love about our current Principles lives on in some version in our Covenant.

Of course, this is the central document for the Unitarian Universalist Association, centered in the United States. It is not the guiding force for UU congregations outside of our Association—including non-UUA member congregations elsewhere in our world. It remains to be seen how this understanding of Unitarian Universalism might ripple out and be transformed as it meets the realities of other cultural understandings of our faith. I hope it changes as it does so. It’s a living tradition, after all.

I hope that CLF members will read the report and reflect on this new way of understanding our Unitarian Universalist faith. Delegates to the 2023 UUA General Assembly will vote on a final version of this proposal in June. We will likely hold engagement sessions over the next few months as materials come available to do so. Keep your email open for such announcements.

A little girl said to her make-believe best of friends:
“Today, I shall light a white candle.
No wait, maybe a green one, or
Perhaps an orange and a red.
There are so many to choose from —
Why not one of each color?
Yea! That will do,” and so she told her make-believe best
of friends,
“We shall see
A white light
A green light
A red light
A brown light
A black light, and even a
Blue light, and let’s not forget,
An orange light.”
And so she lit one of each —
Only to find that the rainbow of colors
She had hoped for, got lost somewhere in the dark.
Should she cry and wait for Mom to come
To help her look for the rainbow of color lights?
Her make-believe best of friends said,
“Wait, call no one. Look, do you see?
All the tiny flames, their heat and their light
Are the same, and just as bright.”
Even the space which separates one candle and the other
Can not change the sameness.
Oneness was born in the mind of the child.
Colors like skin and like many dresses were only robes
Which neither added nor subtracted anything from the flames of the chalice.

Colors are stronger than light:
They blind the darkened mind
From seeing the same flame in one, as in the other,
Including the reflection of “mine.”

Would you like to represent the Church of the Larger Fellowship at General Assembly (GA) this summer?

The CLF is entitled to 22 delegates at the UUA’s General Assembly, which will be held both online and in-person in Pittsburgh, PA from June 21-25, 2023. You will be able to attend online or in-person workshops, programs, and worship services.

Proof of vaccination for COVID-19 is required to attend in person. As a delegate you will vote on association business during General Sessions. General Sessions will be held from 2:30-5:30pm ET on 6/22-6/24 and 2:00-4:00pm PT on 6/25. Delegates should be able to be online or in person to attend the majority of these General Sessions. CLF delegates vote their conscience on matters related to the denomination of Unitarian Universalism, and are responsible for their own expenses. There is no registration fee for delegates who are attending only for business virtually at General Sessions.

If you’d like to participate in GA 2023 in this role, please fill out the online application. Visit the UUA’s GA website for details.

In January, Climate Justice Organizer Rachel Myslivy hosted the Green Sanctuary 2030 Celebration. The event spotlighted the amazing work UUs are doing through the Green Sanctuary 2030 program.

We heard from about twenty Green Sanctuary 2030 congregations on their successes, challenges, and everything in between.  It was inspiring and exciting to hear all of the great things happening in our congregations.  Thank you all for your excellent work!

Did you miss the celebration?  Or wish you would’ve taken notes on that one awesome presentation?  You’re in luck! 

You can watch the recording of the Green Sanctuary 2030 Celebration or review the slides.  Get inspired!

Join the GS2030 Community!

Each month, we hold Green Sanctuary 2030 Orientations on the first Wednesday of each month and GS2030 Community Meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at 4PT-5MT-6CT-7ET.  You can RSVP for these events and all Side With Love Climate Justice events at SideWithLove.org/ClimateJustice

I hope to see you all for our next GS2030 Community Meeting on Wednesday, February 15 when Zoe Johnston with UU Young Adults for Climate Justice will help us all understand how to engage young adults in your Green Sanctuary work.  RSVP today for Young Adults in UU Congregations:  More than Just Committee Members!

New to Green Sanctuary 2030?

Join our next Green Sanctuary Orientation on March 1 to learn how to transform your congregation through climate justice!  

By Jeff Milchen

Reverend DC Fortune and Sara Phinney Kelley, Director of Religious Growth and Learning at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania, were looking for inspiration as they brainstormed developing a multigenerational, interactive service preceding Martin Luther King Day this year. They discussed incorporating New Year’s resolutions into the sermon but sought to find a way to make the discussion something that would involve UU justice priorities and stick with participants, rather than just spark momentary ideas.

The resulting project had an unlikely source of inspiration: a 1972 Playboy magazine interview with Buckminster Fuller, the architect, inventor, and philosopher (among other roles). Fuller compared the challenge of steering an ocean liner to bending the arc of history toward justice. Rudders on these ocean vessels extend several stories in height and weigh many tons, so moving them directly would require huge amounts of force and fuel.

But the invention of trim tabs—basically small plates attached to the rudder—solved this challenge. When the ship's captain turns a steering wheel, it slightly rotates these small plates, which disrupts the water pressure just enough to enable the giant rudder to move easily.

As individuals, Fuller explains, few of us have the power to move the rudder on societal injustices directly, but we can disrupt the status quo in small ways that facilitate much larger movements. Fuller believed in this concept so deeply that his gravestone and adjacent plaque were inscribed “Call Me Trimtab” upon his death in 1983.

In preparing the service for the Susquehanna Valley UU, Fortune and Kelley seized upon a Fuller invention, the geodesic dome. Fuller conceived the domes as a lightweight, inexpensive, and energy-efficient home design, though numerous drawbacks ultimately precluded mass adoption. Combining the geodesic model with the idea of trim tabs, Fortune and Kelley imagined building a complete geodesic sphere, not as a shelter, but as a physical expression of individuals' resolutions for ways in which they will positively impact issues they care deeply about. It would be a way to engage folks physically as well as intellectually.

After finding an online calculator to provide the needed number and dimensions of triangles for the five-foot diameter sphere, Fortune purchased light plywood and zip ties, cut the triangles, and drilled holes for connections. For the engineers and geometry fans out there, the dome required a combination of 60 isosceles and 20 equilateral triangles, as shown in the photo below, and used five sheets of plywood.

Fortune recalls, “we had the good sense to do a trial run” of their plan before the service and realized constructing the sphere would take much longer than the course of the service. Fortune, Kelley, and volunteers built the sphere prior to the service and rolled it into the sanctuary. Each congregant was asked to pick one of more than 100 triangular pieces of paper and write a particular justice issue, a hurt of the world that needed to be addressed but that just felt too big for them, and write it in the middle of the triangle. An array of choices for paper and marker colors added to the appeal. Though Fortune and Kelley had kids in mind, Fortune noted, “Omigod--adults fight over marker colors more than kids!” 

Participants then were asked to place in each corner of their triangle one small “trim tab” action they would take to help make a small difference on their priority issue. Everyone proceeded to stick their ideas and resolutions onto one of the triangles on the sphere, which will remain in place until after the conclusion of the annual 30 Days of Love campaign, another inspiration for the sermon and activity. Kelley says they also made it easy for remote participants, who simply typed their issue and trim tab ideas into the chat box for on-site volunteers to add.  

“We’ve been striving to make services more interactive,” said Kelley, but expressed concern about how the activity would be received. “Universally, people said this was fun and interesting,” said Kelley. Many senior congregants mentioned their enthusiasm for seeing kids involved in the service. All who missed the MLK weekend service are invited to add their ideas to the sphere through mid-February and subsequent sermons by Fortune and lay leaders reference the concerns and resolutions it contains.

Once it’s removed from the sanctuary, Kelley will inventory the ideas congregants placed and she believes the record will provide valuable guidance for decisions about which justice issues the congregation tackles collectively. Climate Justice is one oft-cited concern and Kelley mentioned they now are exploring UUA’s Green Sanctuary program. Kelley also mentioned how many young people cited capitalism and excessive wealth disparities as a concern. Many congregants’ resolutions included speaking out more and immersing themself in material presenting issues from the perspective of oppressed people.

Fortune shared an interesting observation from the dome construction process, noting, “the dome was totally unstable when it was almost done.” Not until the 80th and final piece was connected did the sphere have the structural integrity to cohere when moved.

You can watch or listen to Rev. Fortune’s MLK Day service on YouTube.

The climate crisis isn’t happening in a vacuum. With attacks on Black lives, trans kids, and reproductive justice all in the face of increasing fascism and white supremacy, rampant gun violence, and ongoing pandemic, sometimes it feels like tragedy is everywhere all the time.

And yet, so is love. So is courage. So is resilience.

Side With Love Climate Justice Organizer Rachel Myslivy’s reflection for this week considers the way Resilience is found in our work for justice, including climate justice.

Later, she writes: “The strength of “what if” is what helps us continue in this work. And so, what is our resilient, loving way?”

This week’s offerings for 30 Days of Love includes pieces we hope bolster, strengthen, and encourage our collective resilience: a blessing by Rev. Leah Ongiri, a body practice by QuianaDenae Perkins, a new Time for All Ages by Yvette Salinas, a prayer by Rev. Terri Burnor, and another grounding practice by Lora Powell-Haney. We hope these continue to nurture you.

We are heading into our final week of 30 Days of Love, but we still wish to celebrate and honor all of the individuals, families, religious professionals, partners, and communities that embody our values and work for justice and liberation year-round. Join us for these two amazing events that promise to fill you with joy and, we hope, feel like a big hug from us to you.

Nourish’s Dinner Church Worship Service for 30 Days of Love

Sunday, February 12, 2023, 7:00 PM -  9:00 PM ET

In this challenging time, let your souls rest as you experience powerful, embodied worship and connection. Join the Revs. Emily Conger & Aisha Ansano of Nourish for a worship service to hold your tender heart, offer you respite, and nourish you in body and in spirit. 

In our time together, we'll join in embodied ritual, music, small group discussions, & opportunities to name the challenges we face and to bless one another. We invite you to bring a chalice and at least a bite of food, a warm drink, or your whole meal (real or imaginary). 

Beloveds, a place is set for you - come feed your body and spirit! 

The first 25 confirmed registrants will receive a SnackMagic gift card for this event from Side With Love -- a hug from us to you!
Nourish's Dinner Church worship services feed bodies and spirits through food and ritual. Nourish leverages the ancient spiritual technology of connection through gathering around a table and adapts it for modern contexts. You can learn more at nourishuu.org.

Register Now

Celebration of UU the Vote Good Trouble Congregations!

Tuesday, February 28, 2023 7:00 PM -  8:00 PM ET

Despite widespread attempts at voter suppression and election subversion, UU individuals and congregations around the US collectively reached over 2 million voters last year. Hundreds served as poll workers and election officials, and our partnerships and values won critical ballot measures all over the country.

We are excited to honor and celebrate the work, partnerships and moral courage of our community who got into #GoodTrouble in 2022. Let’s come together to honor our collective work, share powerful stories, and call down joy as we move into the work ahead.

Register Now

In this week’s reflection, Side With Love Field and Programs Director Nicole Pressley writes:

Cornell West famously reminds us that justice is what love looks like in public. As Unitarian Universalists, our work for justice is an expression of deep belief that all people are worthy of love and liberation. Today, that work often looks like resisting the criminalization of people’s identities, their bodies, and their communities. 

In recent years, this has looked like Unitarian Universalists supporting people seeking, aiding, and performing abortions in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and Kentucky when abortion has been criminalized. We’ve raised money to bail out Black mothers and Water Protectors. We’ve supported ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana in Oregon and Colorado, and paid off fines so returning citizens can vote in Florida. 

As a strategy, decriminalization sets us on course to heal, to be held accountable, and to be fully human with one another. Decriminalization cultivates the conditions for wider and deeper transformation. 

Decriminalization is a crucial response to the horrors of the prison industrial complex – the web of forces including the legal system, policing and law enforcement, and mass incarceration whose main goal is the oppression of many for the benefit of a few. Increasingly, our laws make it a crime to be fully human – to be homeless, to seek and provide healthcare, to ask for asylum or to migrate, to be Black or brown, to honor our children’s evolving genders, to teach the real history of this nation. In the US, the criminal-legal systems collude to diminish the power and autonomy of the body politic, whether by disenfranchising entire communities through mass incarceration and voter suppression, or literally wiping people out of existence through both death sentences  and extra-judicial killing. 

But decriminalization isn’t only about policy wins; it is about the victory of literally being with our people once again.

The theme of our third week of 30 Days of Love explores the intersection of Healing and Decriminalization. We have moving offerings that we hope will educate, inspire, and refuel you as you explore what it means to heal communities and families. We have a prayer from Rev. Jason Lydon, a blessing by Rev. Kierstin Homblette Allen, a body practice from Rev. Sky Williams-Tao, a grounding meditation from Side With Love Fun and Nourishment Squad Member Lora Powell-Haney, as well as a Time for All Ages story by Erica Shadowsong. Find all of these here.

For generations, UUs have been jailed for our conscience in resisting systems of oppression. As our tradition becomes more justice oriented, rates of UU arrests are on the rise. How does our conscience also call us to be there for those whose bodies are on the line?

Learn how UUs are building capacity to support and share the load in the face of mass arrest. Find out more about how to organize support for those who are arrested and jailed as a conscientious form of protest. Join our virtual training on February 7 at 4pm - 5:30pm PT / 7pm - 8:30pm ET. Presenters: Rev. Karen Van Fossan, Antoinette Scully, Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs, and friends.

Register Now

UUs have been engaged in social change efforts, including nonviolent civil disobedience, for many generations. Today, it seems that UUs who resist injustice are being arrested and detained at increasing rates. This is due, in part, to an enhanced partnership between corporations and the state in criminalizing dissent.

The sustainability of UU activism, as well as the sustainability of UU activists, well may depend upon the capacity of UU entities to provide a spectrum of support for those at the frontlines.

Learn more & download the toolkit

“Grounding ourselves into a deep gratitude for the miracle of our bodies - however they look, move, and interact with the world around us - includes not only a celebration of our individual physical beings, but also a deep reverence for the intimacy of our connections. After all, our bodies do not exist in a vacuum - we physically interact with countless structures, systems, and communities each day that impact, and are impacted by, our flesh, bones, and spirit. For some of us, these interactions are predominantly empowering moments of welcome and respect. And for some of us, we encounter confusion, denial, and outright rejection as our norm.

As Unitarian Universalists, we have historically embraced the breadth of our lived experiences of the world as a faithful teacher, crossing the permeable barrier between sacred and profane to deepen our embodiment of liberating and life-affirming holy truths.”

from Rev. Ranwa Hammamy’s Reflection on Embodiment

Our second week of 30 Days of Love feature resources focus on the intersections between the spiritual theme of embodiment and Side With Love’s work on LGBTQIA+, Gender & Reproductive Justice. Offerings this week include a blessing from Julica Hermann de la Fuente, a Time for All Ages from Rayla Mattson, a prayer from Adrian L. H. Graham, a body practice from Leika Lewis-Cornwell, and a grounding movement meditation from Canedy of our Fund and Spiritual Nourishment Squad. Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Side With Love Congregational Justice Organizer, opens with a reflection on this week’s theme. See all of this week’s fantastic resources at our website.

Faith leaders and congregants are expanding their abortion-rights curriculum, partnering with clinics and abortion funds, and ramping up spiritual counseling services for pregnant people who want abortions.

For that reason, we are back again with our transformative three-part Reproductive Justice Congregational Organizing Series.  

This work is not new. It is part of a long history where people of faith work to protect reproductive freedom. For this series, we are strategically identifying teams within congregations to be part of a mobilization strategy to support abortion care networks. In many of our religious traditions, our sacred texts always depict sacred people who resist unjust laws to do justice and to show kindness and compassion to our fellow people. It’s now on us to be the next chapter in history books. We hope that you would consider joining us, once more, and participate with other members of your congregation in our upcoming series.  

Whether you have participated in this series before or are new to reproductive justice organizing, we hope you will join us! Please recruit your congregational team/group and make sure your teammates register for the series by the morning of 1/27/23.   

Reproductive Justice Congregational Organizing Series for Teams

Sundays January 29th, February 12th, & February 26th from  4pm - 6pm ET / 3 CT / 2 MT / 1 PT

Participation in all 3 sessions is required. 

• Register for Session 1

• Register for Session 2

• Register for Session 3

As we digest the impact of the fall of Roe v Wade, we know that there will be a huge need for local organizing, resource sharing, and collective action as abortion becomes criminalized in various places. By signing up for this three-part series, you are committing to being a part of organizing a TEAM in your congregation that will organize the congregation for specific action(s) in support of abortion access and Reproductive Justice in your community. Everyone who signs up for this series is expected to bring at least one other person from their congregation, with whom you will apply the learning from these sessions immediately in your own context. Facilitated by Rev. Ranwa Hammamy and Charity Howard of the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team.   

Session 1: The Role of Faith Communities in a Post-Roe World : With SCOTUS overturning Roe, what are faith communities that support Reproductive Justice called to do? We will explore the range of possible responses, and help you make a plan to begin organizing your team, your congregation, and your community.

Session 2: Discerning Risk, Accessing Courage: To work effectively in solidarity with movements, faith communities need to be clear about our capacity, our commitments, and our boundaries. We will talk about levels of risk associated with various kinds of congregational organizing for reproductive justice after abortion is criminalized, and provide tools to map your congregation's resources and risk tolerance so that your community is prepared to respond quickly and clearly to opportunities for action.   

Session 3: Making an Organizing Plan: Using the learning from sessions 1 & 2 about which actions your faith community/congregation is prepared to take, we will talk about how to create a work plan and strategy for your particular congregational context.

Whether you are in a state where abortion has been criminalized, or a state to which people will come seeking abortion care, there is a role for all of us–and all our congregations–to play, starting right now. The fight is far from over, but we’re grateful to be in it for the long haul with you.

“The Clearing”

Do not try to save

the whole world

or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create

a clearing

in the dense forest

of your life

and wait there

patiently,

until the song

that is your life

falls into your own cupped hands

and you recognize and greet it.

Only then will you know

how to give yourself to this world

so worthy of rescue.

–Martha Postlethwaite

Happy 2023, Beloveds, and welcome to 30 Days of Love, Side With Love’s annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice! 

Having recently marked both the Winter Solstice and Gregorian New Year, this is a period of pause and contemplation – a time to reflect upon what has been, take stock of what is, and dream about what could be. And as we do so, both individually and collectively, we are all aware of how hard it is to be human in these times: to maintain hope for a just and sustainable future in the face of all the broken systems that surround us, to muster compassion for one another in the midst of extreme polarization, to find the energy to keep fighting for liberation when our bodies and our spirits often feel so depleted. 

At its core, the work of Side With Love is to build communities of relationship and power that tap into the power of Love to both sustain and free people. Through our many programs and campaigns, we invite UU individuals, congregations, organizations, and movement partners to collectively ground our spirits, grow our skills, and act for justice. And, we are keenly aware that the world we are fighting for is literally and metaphorically on fire – which often means that we struggle to find the time to cultivate the practices and seek the spiritual nourishment that will sustain us in our long-haul work for justice. We too often are compelled to address  the urgent at the expense of the important. 

In that context, this year’s 30 Days of Love is an offering to our whole community – a love letter, a warm hug, a spiritual balm for all of the individuals, families, religious professionals, partners and communities that embody our values and work for justice and liberation year round. It is an invitation to slow down, to create that “clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently,” as the poet Martha Postlethwaite writes. 

Each week will be grounded in a spiritual theme overlapping with one of Side With Love’s intersectional justice priorities, and will feature an array of offerings to help nourish your spirit and give gratitude and affirmation. We invite you to engage with and share these resources as part of your daily spiritual practice, around the family dinner table, in communal worship, in committee meetings – however feels useful to you and your community. Read more about this year’s weekly themes and the kinds of resources you can expect. 

This first week of 30 Days of Love, our resources focus on the intersections between the spiritual theme of Interdependence and Side With Love’s work on Democracy, Voting Rights, and Electoral Justice. We are delighted to offer you a blessing from the Rev. Duncan Teague, a Time for All Ages from JeKaren Olaoya, a body practice from Katie Resendiz, a prayer from the Rev. Wendy Bartel, a grounding practice from Canedy and our Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad, and a reflection on the week’s themes by the Rev. Ashley Horan. See all of this week’s fantastic resources at our website.

Do you want to get a text when we update each week? You'll only receive five texts, which will arrive on a Monday after 12pm ET. If you're interested, text 'days of love'  (without the quote marks) to 866-533-1494. You can quit getting updates anytime by replying STOP.

January 2023

Nobody’s free until everybody’s free. –Fannie Lou Hamer

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In 2019 the Rev. Bill Sinkford and the wonderful staff at First Unitarian Portland invited me to join them for “Seminary for a Day,” when we reflected together on how our inherited liberal tradition is accountable to the theological work of liberation. Such transformation is central to the promise I find in our living tradition. I rarely speak of liberal theology in isolation unless specifically asked to do so. This conversation, this accountability, and this transformation are why I consistently draw on my understanding of our liberal and liberating faith. So what does that ask of us in this season where we are working together on expressing our highest values in community?

Recently the Rev. Dennis McCarty in his blog “Thoughts from a Gentle Atheist,” reminded us of the central values of Unitarian Universalism. He writes, “The worthiness of the human condition is one… investigation, research, and intellectual growth is another. Openness to change produced by that intellectual investigation and research is a crucial third.” This promise is described in the current language of Article II as “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” and in the latest proposed draft for a revised Article II as both a promise to “collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically,” as well as “learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” The human worthiness that Rev. McCarty highlights is beautifully reflected across both versions, and both call us to the work of justice.

Latin American liberation theologies often speak of a preferential option for the poor, but also for a range of inequities in our living. The “preferential option” teaches that God themself, the work of the Church writ large, our values, and our wisdom are centered on those most impacted by systemic oppression. Traditionally one might say that if we want to know God, we need to live in solidarity with those facing the injustices of poverty and class oppression.

Unitarian Universalists might say that we are most able to co-create the All-Embracing Love that our tradition teaches us when we center those most impacted by long established systems of injustice. We save one another, and remake the sacredness of the world, through prioritizing what is truly needed for that remaking. Anything less drives us away from our faithful living.

Today’s Unitarian Universalism asks us to re-engage the largest questions of our living in the service of liberation. I want a Unitarian Universalism that troubles the waters of what we mean by freedom, just as the Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison Reed asked of us quite some time ago. I want a Unitarian Universalism that offers up its power and authority in the service of justice, and embraces new learning and surprise as sacred offerings. This especially when our beloveds directly impacted by injustice over generations somehow still welcome us when we show up in the spirit of lamentation, regret, determination, and a deeply invested discipline of hopefulness that together we might yet survive.

My hard-won hopefulness, as Ecowomanist scholar the Rev. Dr. Melanie Harris would call it, is that many of you might want to build a Unitarian Universalism together that is humble, that demands little from those who have been made to sacrifice much, and that prioritizes its commitments to faithful living even when we don’t quite know how to make our way. That is the Unitarian Universalism that I believe in. Right now, I think it is on a journey from liberal to liberation. And I am orienting myself toward the day when those words have new and fully empowered meanings in the world.

What does liberation mean to you? What does it feel like, and how do you access it?

Russell
CLF Member, incarcerated in MD

I often hold deep discussions over the tier between me and my Brothers in Chains. The object is always to get each other to share what we’ve learned from life and insights we’ve gleaned while doing time.

Often this leads to arguments, but for the most part it leads to self discoveries. When I find myself learning something unexpected from a brother I feel elated at the new information. Especially when it destroys a long held belief of mine that is ultimately wrong.

This is liberation to me. A changed view. A new realization, some witty information I’m made aware of, or simply something I’ve deduced via the open conversation that leads me to a feeling of evolving and getting closer to a certain truth. Often, these revelations come simply because I don’t look for them, but keep an open mind. It is often said that liberation can not be obtained in its actual form in physical life. I have discovered this to be a lie.

Liberation is anything that frees you from your current state of ignorance. We alone can prevent our own liberation. I strive to be liberated in my everyday affairs!

The following is adapted from a sermon that Aisha gave in CLF online worship on Nov. 6, 2022.

A few years ago, I was having a conversation with a friend about learning to love myself fully, especially my body. I was jokingly explaining that I never learned to dress myself in a way that was truly flattering to my body type. She explained that the problem wasn’t that I didn’t know, it was that I was conditioned through marketing to think fashion looked a certain way and only on certain bodies. Primarily what looks good on thin, white women — and those things simply didn’t look good on me.

She suggested I follow plus sized, Black women on social media. She sent me invitations to gorgeous Black models and activists who I continue to follow.

As their posts showed up in my feed, I was able to expand my notion of what is beautiful and as time went on, I was able to see myself through a more expansive and generous lens.

These fashionistas are unapologetic, fierce and simply beautiful.

One of the people I found myself in awe of was Leah Vernon, a Black Woman whose posts continue to expand my imagination with regards to fashion, because she does not exist in a prescribed paradigm. She is the author of a new book, Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim.

Through Leah’s posts and those of Black leaders like, Sonia Renee Taylor, Ijeoma Oluo, Jessamyn Stanely and adrienne maree brown, among others, I was able to change my perception of beauty through changing the default of what I was exposed to throughout my entire life.

Through a friend’s recommendation, I was able to challenge assumptions I held about myself and about beauty for my entire life. This has helped me experience beauty differently and in a much more liberated and loving way, for myself and others.

This brings me to an email the CLF received a while back about the assumptions the writer seemed to hold. The person, who is not incarcerated, wrote to us asking why they seemed to be getting the “prison ministry version of Quest.” They said that, though they support work with incarcerated people, it is not their work, and they have no interest in being a part of that ministry — they would simply like to get the traditional version of Quest.

Over two long email responses, I told this CLF member that as we center liberation at the CLF, we care about giving opportunities for all to grow an awareness that extends beyond an intellectual understanding that there are “people in prison.” For those of us who are not experiencing incarceration, reading the thoughts and feelings of those who are is powerful. I invited this member to consider the possibility that they have something to learn and be moved by something written by someone whose words you may not otherwise be exposed to, and emphasized that the Worthy Now Prison Ministry is not separate from the ministry of the CLF. We are one entity and one congregation that centers Unitarian Universalist values of community care.

This exchange and the response of this person to the changes in Quest, a publication that for decades centered primarily on the words of ordained clergy, had me thinking about assumptions being made about others.

We are a faith community that does not promise heaven or hell. In essence, we are trying to figure it out. Why are we here? What does it all mean? How do we navigate this beautiful, scary, joyful and painful thing we call life?

I don’t have answers to these questions and the hard truth is no one really does with any degree of accuracy. No one is an expert at being human, not even faith leaders.

What we can offer as faith leaders is a place to grapple with the questions and create a container that invites into an expansive and loving way of being.

Faith leaders receive training to become either ordained, credentialed, or lay leaders in order to have a shared understanding of the container we are creating. Faith leadership is not a science, it is where those given the sacred charge of ministry (in all its forms) choose to be in an accountable relationship with the members of the congregation and in many ways an accountable relationship to UUism itself. I center UU values in how I approach my faith leadership, a leadership rooted in religious education.

Revelation is not sealed, and as part of the search for truth and meaning, learning from those most impacted by oppression is a crucial way to learn the ways we need to do better and love more as we work to dismantle systems that actively cause harm.

When the three of us, the current Lead Ministry Team, started our leadership of the CLF, one of the aspects of this ministry we knew we wanted to transform was that of Quest and how this publication can more faithfully serve all of our members, both incarcerated and free world.  The three of us were in agreement that Quest can both include reflections and sermons from faith leaders and our members, both incarcerated and those that are “free.”

In the email I referenced earlier, this CLF member took exception to being called a “free world member.” In retrospect, I realize that this person is accidentally correct to take exception to this term.

As Fannie Lou Hammer said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”

Every day in the U.S., it is painfully clear how those in power who want to affirm white supremacy and patriarchy are doing all they can to make sure no one is truly free. The rights of half the population have been taken away with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. There are hundreds of anti-trans bills across the United States and there are people running for office in the U.S. that are running on platforms of intentional disenfranchisement of those with target identities. While the CLF is based in the U.S, the results of policies enacted by the U.S. government impact people all over the world.

It is more important than ever that those of us in faith leadership positions center the voices of those most cruelly impacted by the systems of oppression that harm us all.

However, those with privileged identities have been deceived into believing they are separate and somehow protected from oppression. This is a lie. Humans are inextricably connected and the destinies of the most powerful are tied to the most marginalized, history has demonstrated this over and over.

Countries with wealth disparities like the ones we have now in the United States do not last, and in fact topple.

We have an opportunity to save ourselves by caring for each other and learning from each other by being open to the reflections from those who are most in harm’s way. Not only Black people, but also indigenous people, trans people, immigrants, those with seen and unseen disabilities, but also learning from people who are incarcerated, most holding some or all of the identities I just listed.

Let us embrace the opportunity to be nourished and impacted by the reflections of people we may never meet in person, but whose lives matter.

I want to share with you the words of Joseph, an incarcerated UU and CLF member. Joseph shared their reflection of the idea of sacrifice. They write:

The value of sacrifice is relative. Without sacrifice, I would not be here living life as I know it. If my mother hadn’t sacrificed her time and put her dreams on hold, then she wouldn’t have been able to raise me so lovingly. She was 20 years old, barely an adult and I feel certain I wasn’t planned. She probably had many other plans. Maybe traveling, concentrating on school. I thank mom for her sacrifice, it was very valuable to me.

Some sacrifices seem small to us but can be very valuable to the recipient. Perhaps you sacrifice some time once a week to go visit a nursing home. If you have spare time, you would normally watch TV or spend it on the internet, you could make a sacrifice that is of little value to you, but could be of enormous value to the nursing home resident who has no family.

Our sacrifices are offering to the group soul of humanity. No matter how small or large, if it does good for one, it is good for all. Depending on my commitment and intention, my sacrifice doesn’t have to be public. When things are done without my attachment to the result, they are more pure and powerful. Some sacrifice all their lives, in order that others may live. Some make small sacrifices of that social awkwardness to overcome that to share a kind word with a stranger. No matter how small a good thing is, it is still good.

In sharing their reflections in Quest, incarcerated CLF members — people who have had their freedom taken away — are now giving the gift of their presence and reflections.

It is incumbent upon those of us with more privilege to examine our assumptions and do what we can to learn from those most impacted by this cruel and harmful system we call the United States. It is incumbent upon us to center love, community, compassion and liberation.

May we be humble in how we receive and move through this faith community and the world.

Last night, I awakened
from a dream
I dreamed of an America
in which those sworn to protect
and serve, abused and killed instead
An America whose hunger turned barbed
wire into shredded wheat and
stomachs became caskets
An America where masks were discarded
and grown men hid under sheets
as they stormed halls of democracy
An America who forgot her history
her polls claiming hate was history
an animal extinct like polar ice caps
An America in which no one escaped the
brutality of law and order ran amok
or escaped the massacre in a nightclub
or massage parlor
or a high school
or a supermarket
An America that claimed there were “good” Nazis
but… didn’t Uncle Sam go to war
to stop the goose-stepping in ‘44?
An America where a wall grew in a
land that once told a foreign leader
to “tear down this wall”
An America where hatemongers
quoted the words of Dr. King
and you are no longer safe in a church
An America whose Statue of Liberty
was silenced, her torch gone cold
the ashes our new mascara
An America whose populace quaked
slouching towards a coming apocalypse
Was it just a dream?

Gary
CLF member, incarcerated in SC

For our communities to thrive in a fossil-free dream world, we must have robust, equitable clean energy systems that center justice and the lived experiences of those on the front lines of climate change. Focusing on clean energy as a human right elevates just and equitable clean energy strategies like energy justice, energy democracy, community solar, energy efficiency, and more. As many of our congregations are gearing up to apply for Federal funding for clean energy projects, it’s important that we embrace a visionary and prophetic approach that ensures a clean energy future for all - no sacrifice zones! Stay tuned in 2023 as we dig into these issues to help UUs decarbonize our communities, not just our sanctuaries!

UU Ministry For Earth is hosting a special Solstice celebration December 21 that invites us all to pause, reflect, and honor all that life brings. Register here to join.

Transforming our congregations into clean energy hubs

We need to dramatically reduce emissions by 2030 to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet. It’s critical that we do this work in a way that prioritizes justice. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 44% by 2030. With funds for churches and nonprofits to implement clean energy projects, the IRA is a great opportunity for UUs to reduce our carbon footprint while cultivating communities of care. Now is the time to think big and broad as we consider these clean energy projects in our communities.

How can UU congregations transform to clean energy hubs or centers of community care? Think big!

• Pair solar with energy storage to offer our buildings as community resilience shelters during severe weather or other emergencies causing power outages.

• Energy efficiency upgrades in our buildings improve air quality, community health, wellness, and resilience, all while saving money and reducing emissions. Empower the energy wonks in your congregation to work with lower-income housing groups or neighborhood associations to increase energy efficiency in your community.

• Installing solar or energy efficiency upgrades on our buildings reduces emissions AND saves money we can redirect toward our justice work. Ultimately, these projects generate economic development and jobs, strengthen communities, and create community wealth.

• As our UU teams become experts on the opportunities (we all will, right?), we can partner with other churches or nonprofits in our community to share the knowledge, learn together, and expand access to clean energy.

We’re here to help!

The UUA is partnering with Interfaith Power and Light, Environment and Energy Study Institute, and the United Church of Christ to develop a series of workshops for congregations throughout 2023. Watch the recording of the Federal Funding Resources for Nonprofits & Houses of Worship Briefing today, and sign up for our Climate Justice updates so you don’t miss a beat - and encourage your friends to as well!

Get your congregation ready!

• Form (or revitalize!) your Green Team, and launch Green Sanctuary 2030 in your congregation. GS2030 will help you form a balanced approach to climate action, ensuring justice is at the center. Get a good team inspired and ready to go - with regular support from our monthly community meetings that are open to anyone working on congregational transformation through climate justice.

• Join our Green Sanctuary 2030 Celebration on January 19th to honor the decades of work invested by our congregations and make the commitment to climate justice by 2030!

• Benchmark your building

• Get an energy audit from your utility (often they are free)

Resources from the webinar:

• Recording

• Presentation slides

• Native land digital map

• IPL federal resources website

• IPL federal resources spreadsheet

• Cool Congregations website

• DOE Energy Efficiency Materials Pilot Program for Nonprofits

• Sign up for email notifications from DOE

• DOE program RFI (where to submit comments by Dec. 22)

• Zoom chat

• ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

Side With Love is thrilled to announce 30 Days of Love 2023! Our annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice, 30 Days of Love will go from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 16) through Valentine’s Day (February 14).

This year’s 30 Days of Love is a gift to our whole community: a love letter, a warm hug, a spiritual balm for all of the individuals, families, religious professionals, partners and communities that embody our values and work for justice and liberation year round. Each week will feature a spiritual theme overlapping with one of Side With Love’s intersectional justice priorities, and we'll share an array of offerings to help nourish your spirit and give gratitude and affirmation.

WEEK 1 (January 16-22): Interdependence :: Democracy & Electoral Justice

WEEK 2 (January 23-29): Embodiment :: LGBTQIA+, Gender & Reproductive Justice

WEEK 3 (January 30 - February 5): Healing :: Decriminalization

WEEK 4 (February 6-12): Resilience :: Climate Justice

BONUS DAYS (February 13-14): Blessings :: Liberatory Intersections 

Each week, you can expect to receive several different kinds of offerings, each from a different voice within Unitarian Universalism. Each week’s resources will be published by 12pm ET every Monday:

• A weekly Side With Love message, grounded in personal story and offered on our blog and via email and socials, reflecting on the week’s spiritual and justice issue themes

• A Time for All Ages grounded in the week’s theme, presented in video and written form, available for free use in your congregation this week or any week it works for you

• A video of Body Practice, suitable for all ages and with attention paid to accessibility for people of varying abilities

• A thematic Prayer, available for use in both video and text formats

• A thematic Blessing, available for use in both video and text formats

• A Grounding Practice to offer at the beginning of gatherings or meetings from our Side WIth Love Fun & Spiritual Nourishment Squad, available for use in video and facilitator guide formats

We offer these resources knowing various people will use them in a range of ways. Individuals may take a quick break during their lunch hour to watch a video blessing or read the week’s prayer; religious educators might use the Time for All Ages in worship, or encourage teachers to start their classes with the Body Practice; families might start a family meal reading one of the written reflections and then engaging in conversation; Board members and committee chairs might use the Grounding Practice to kick of that week’s meeting agenda. Please note that while we are not offering a full worship service as a part of 30 Days of Love this year, we hope that many of these weekly resources can be useful in your worship planning now and throughout the liturgical year. 

However you use these resources, we are proud to bring you the love and wisdom of some of our most compelling UU voices, and are thankful for this annual opportunity to collectively nourish our spirits and love each other up for the long haul. 

In 2012, Minnesota become the first state in the nation to defeat an anti-gay marriage bill – a massive campaign and a watershed victory, won in large part by progressive religious folks having one-to-one conversations about their values with tens of thousands of people across the state. When Karen and I moved to Minneapolis in 2014, however, the new availability of marriage to queer folks meant that if we didn’t choose to get legally married, I (and our soon-to-be-born second child) couldn’t access health coverage through my partner’s job, along with many other legal protections and benefits available only through state-sanctioned marriage.  

Karen and I were clear that our covenant was between ourselves and the Holy – not the State. We would not have chosen to participate in the institution of legal marriage if we felt like we had a choice. While it was wildly unfair that the benefits conferred upon married people weren’t available to so many of our beloveds for an array of reasons, we also knew that refusing to protect ourselves and our children on pure principle would not bend the arc toward justice. So, on a lunch break on a November Tuesday, when I was 37 weeks pregnant, we had a perfunctory wedding in front of a judge at the Minneapolis courthouse and signed the paperwork making our union legitimate in the eyes of the law. 

The following summer, infant child in tow, we were at UUA General Assembly the day the Supreme Court announced their decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, making “marriage equality” the law of the land. Unitarian Universalists had been on the frontlines of this issue for years, and the decision was received by the several thousand UUs gathered in the Portland Convention Center with utter jubilation. While I celebrated alongside my siblings in faith – especially the gay and lesbian elders for whom this victory was profoundly significant – I also remember thinking, “What would be possible if Unitarian Universalists gave as much energy, money, and organizing to other struggles for justice as we have for marriage equality?” 

What I feared back then was that we as UUs–like many liberal advocacy groups at that time– would receive the Obergefell decision as an indicator that the work for LGBTQ+ justice was over; that our organizing energy would dissipate, instead of charging forward to organize for protection and rights and safety and freedom for trans people, BIPOC communities, disabled folks, people in a variety of family configurations–everyone who wouldn’t benefit equally from “marriage equality.” 

I’m thankful that since 2015, UU support for LGBTQ+ liberation hasn’t disappeared. We’ve watched the growth of powerful queer and trans leadership within UUism. We’ve deepened our congregational work through the Five Practices of Welcome Renewal program. Congregations and State Action Networks have shown up powerfully at school board meetings and legislatures to fight against laws criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare and teaching about sexuality and gender in schools. Our recent launch of Side With Love’s UPLIFT Action campaign for LGBTQ+, Gender & Reproductive Justice is a testament to what we have built together, and the power of our faithful action to declare that every body is sacred. Given the attacks on queer and trans people occurring everywhere from courtrooms to city council chambers to nightclubs, it’s a good thing we continue to grow our capacity to stay in the struggle for the long haul. 

The Respect for Marriage Act is not a victory for LGBTQ liberation – at best, it is harm reduction for a few that leaves the most vulnerable among us behind. Although the mainstream media continues to note that this is “groundbreaking bipartisan legislation,” lawmakers agreed to profound concessions in order to get the bill passed. In effect, this bill will only ensure that should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell, state and federal governments will be obligated to recognize existing legal marriages. The bill makes it clear that neither churches nor non-profits (like adoption agencies) will face any consequences for denying the legitimacy of same-sex marriages. And just for good measure, the bill reaffirms that legal marriage is defined as the union between two people, explicitly leaving out poly relationships. As one commentator put it, “They’re throwing us crumbs because they can’t serve us safety and dignity.” 

Frankly, I’m furious we’re still fighting about marriage at all – that we continue to live in a society in which access to basic human rights and freedoms is doled out via an institution that has never been accessible to all people. I’m furious that progressive movements have poured – and will now likely keep pouring – our energy, our resources, our capacity, and our strategy into the struggle for so-called “marriage equality,” which provides safety and access to so few people. And I’m irate that even if we’re able to protect “equal marriage,” we will still have to keep fighting for financial stability, citizenship, healthcare, recognition of familial structures, and more for entire populations of disabled people, undocumented folks, BIPOC communities, poor people, and people whose primary familial relationships happen not to be a romantic relationship between two people. As many noted warriors for queer and trans liberation have noted, marriage will never set us free.

So what comes next? We get very clear that the fight for marriage rights is not the same as the fight for trans and queer liberation. We sharpen our analysis on disability justice, immigration justice, racial justice, gender justice, capitalism, white Christian nationalism – all the systems that prevent so many members of our communities from accessing the safety and stability that marriage purports to offer. We redouble our organizing for a more just immigration system; for universal healthcare; for life-affirming legislation that protects and affirms queer and trans people regardless of who they happen to be in state-sanctioned relationship with. 

To Side With Love means to fight for collective liberation for queer and trans people for the long haul.

In the coming months, we will offer several opportunities to learn, reflect, and take action together. If you haven’t yet, please sign up here to receive updates about our UPLIFT Action campaign for LGBTQ+, Gender, and Reproductive Justice. We’re grateful to be in the struggle with you, beloveds, taking our shifts to get each and every one of us free. 

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Ashley Horan

Side With Love Organizing Strategy Director

Side With Love is partnering with Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) and the Energy and Environmental Study Institute (EESI) to host a briefing to learn about the benefits included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that can help houses of worship do energy work on their facilities. 

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the most sweeping clean energy and climate legislation in history. With clean energy tax credits for wind and solar, electric vehicles, energy efficiency, heat pumps, and more, the IRA sets a course to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 44% by 2030, while saving thousands of lives, creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs, investing in environmental justice, and reducing energy bills for working families across the country.  Although it’s not perfect, the IRA presents an historic opportunity for climate action.   

The IRA opens the way for non-profits and houses of worship to access clean energy funds and tax credits.  UU Congregations can now leverage federal funds for energy and resiliency improvements.  This is a critical time for people of faith to reduce the impact of our congregational facilities through the federal funding opportunities.   

Additionally, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides the Department of Energy with $50 million over five years for an "energy efficiency materials pilot program" for nonprofit organizations. This new program will provide grants of up to $200,000 to nonprofits to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities.  

Join Interfaith Power & Light, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the United Church of Christ, and the Unitarian Universalist Association for a briefing on Federal Funding Resources for Nonprofits and Houses of Worship on December 8 at 4pm ET/1pm PT.  Learn how to prepare to apply for Energy Efficiency Materials Pilot Program grants for your congregation’s energy efficiency work.

Register Now

Additional resources:

Green Sanctuary 2030: Mobilizing for Climate Justice

Join fellow UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice.  Climate justice calls us to reduce the emissions that cause climate change, adapt to changing climate conditions, and increase resilience to worsening climate impacts through congregational transformation and community engagement. We must balance the urgency of the climate crisis with the need to center justice in our actions. Opening our minds and hearts to learn and collaborate with communities most impacted will ensure a just transition to a clean energy future where all can thrive.

Join the Green Sanctuary community!

• Introduce yourself to Green Sanctuary staff and volunteers by emailing UUA_GreenSanctuary@UUA.org.

• Engage in the Green Sanctuary Process

• Subscribe to the Green Sanctuary Email List

Come together for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 7ET - 6CT - 5MT - 4PT. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion on pressing needs.  

• Green Sanctuary 2030 Celebration

January 18, 2023 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM CT

online

The Green Sanctuary 2030 Celebration will spotlight the amazing work UUs are doing through the GS2030 program. Active Green Sanctuary congregations will share their successes, challenges, and ideas. Come to learn, leave inspired! All are welcome!

Faith Community Resource Spreadsheet

IPL has created this faith community resource spreadsheet to help houses of worship identify federal grant and tax credit opportunities that are available.  Federal agencies are still in the process of developing the guidance and programs for the Inflation Reduction Act. This IPL resource document will be updated as new program guidance becomes available. 

IPL’s Cool Congregations Calculator 

Now is a great time to benchmark your buildings – line up 12 months of utility bills, find out the construction date of your building, track occupancy rates, and use IPL’s Cool Congregations Calculator to learn more about your congregation’s carbon footprint. 

November 2022

We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community. —Dorothy Day

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Our theme for the month of November is comunidad // community. In honor of that bilingual theme and the Spanish-speaking members of our CLF family, some parts of this issue of Quest are in both English and Spanish. Would you like to see more Spanish language content from the CLF? Please write to us with your thoughts, we would love to hear from you! As always, we’re so grateful to be in community with you.

Nuestro tema para el mes de noviembre es comunidad // community. En honor a este tema bilingüe y a los miembros de habla hispana de nuestra familia CLF, algunas partes de esta edición de Quest están en inglés y en español. ¿Les gustaría ver más contenido en español de CLF?  Escríbanos por favor con sus pensamientos, ¡nos encantaría saber de ustedes! Como siempre, estamos muy agradecidos de estar en comunidad con ustedes.

Our hearts break open for the pain of the world. For the pain of our planet, whose delicate balance has come undone, and for all her creatures. For mudslides and floods, for rising seas and melting ice, for storms and droughts.

Our hearts break open for the pain of nations. For the cries of war, for the brutality of despots and dictators. For bombs and guns, trained on enemies whose hearts beat the same as ours. For leaders whose greed goes unchecked while their people starve, whose anger defies reason and ignores compassion.

Our hearts break open for the pain of communities. For hatred that marches down the street, and for history that has not yet been relegated to the past. For acts of terror that leave blood in their wake, for cries for help that go unanswered, for every time those sworn to protect instead inflict harm, for the brutality of our carceral state.

Our hearts break open for the pain in our homes. For sickness and death, for abuse and its aftermath. For those we desperately want to help but cannot. For relationships that require constant work, and for the anger that erupts to signal yet more work is needed. For children who struggle to keep up, bodies that no longer do what we want them to, and siblings who lose sight of what is most precious. Our hearts break open for the everyday pain that being connected and vulnerable brings to us.

Our hearts break open for the pain in our hearts. For the mistakes we’re still beating ourselves up over. For the imperfections we have yet to embrace. For relationships we have lost and fear are irreconcilable, amends we have yet to make with those we have hurt, and the unfinished business of forgiving ourselves. Our hearts break open for life.

If you care about the world, your heart breaks open on a regular basis. If you care about another person, your heart breaks open on a regular basis. This business we call life, it breaks our hearts open wide. Again and again. And as our hearts break open, we have an opportunity to put them back together differently—to put them back together connected to one another.

Juana Bordas, in her book Salsa, Soul, and Spirit, challenges us to move from “I” to “we,” from the individualism rampant in modern-day European and Euro-American society to a collectivism found in Native American, Latino, African, and African-American communities. As Bordas writes from her own experience, “Latinos cherish belonging, group benefit, mutuality, and reciprocity. Interdependency, cooperation, and mutual assistance are the norm.”

Forming real relationships in community means engaging in the vulnerability of exposing our hearts to the world. And it means finding ways to engage in healing our hearts together—as one community, as a “we” instead of simply a collection of individuals. Forming real community means finding ways of mutuality and connection.

Beloved, you are not alone. You are part of a “we” that extends beyond your understanding. Let us knit our hearts together in community and commit ourselves to mutuality, curiosity, reciprocity, and cooperation.

//

Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor del mundo. Por el dolor de nuestro planeta, cuyo delicado equilibrio se ha roto, y por todas sus criaturas. Por avalanchas de barro e inundaciones, por el aumento del nivel del mar y el derretimiento del hielo, por tormentas y sequías.

Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor de las naciones. Por los gritos de guerra, por la brutalidad de déspotas y dictadores. Por bombas y cañones dirigidos a enemigos cuyos corazones laten igual que el nuestro. Por líderes cuya codicia crece incontrolable mientras su gente se muere de hambre, y cuya ira desafía la razón e ignora la compasión.

Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor de las comunidades. Por el odio que marcha calle abajo, y por la historia que aún no ha quedado relegada en el pasado. Por los actos de terror que dejan sangre a su paso, por los gritos de auxilio que quedan sin respuesta, por cada vez que los que juraron protegernos hacen daño, por la brutalidad de nuestro estado carcelario.

Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor en nuestros hogares. Por la enfermedad y la muerte, por el abuso y sus secuelas. Por aquellos que queremos ayudar desesperadamente pero no podemos. Por las relaciones que requieren un trabajo constante, y por la ira que estalla para indicar que se necesita más trabajo. Por los niños que luchan para no quedarse atrás, por los cuerpos que ya no hacen lo que queremos que hagan y por los hermanos que pierden de vista lo más preciado. Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor cotidiano que nos causa el estar conectados y vulnerables.

Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por el dolor en nuestros corazones. Por los errores por los que todavía nos estamos castigando. Por las imperfecciones que aún tenemos que aceptar. Por las relaciones que hemos perdido y que tememos son irreconciliables, por las enmiendas que aún tenemos que hacer con aquellos a quienes hemos lastimado y la tarea pendiente de perdonarnos a nosotros mismos. Nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren por la vida.

Si te preocupas por el mundo, tu corazón se rompe y se abre regularmente. Si te preocupas por otra persona, tu corazón se rompe y se abre regularmente. Este asunto que llamamos vida, nos rompe y abre el corazón de par en par. Una y otra vez. Y a medida que nuestros corazones se rompen y se abren, tenemos la oportunidad de volver a unirlos de manera diferente, de volver a unirlos conectados con otros corazones.

Juana Bordas, en su libro Salsa, Alma y Espíritu, nos desafía a pasar del “yo” al “nosotros,” del individualismo desenfrenado de la sociedad europea y euroamericana de hoy en día a un colectivismo que se encuentra en los nativos americanos, los latinos, las comunidades africanas y afroamericanas. Según escribe Bordas a partir de su propia experiencia, “los latinos valoran la pertenencia, el beneficio grupal, la colaboración y la reciprocidad. La interdependencia, la cooperación y la asistencia mutua son la norma.”

Formar relaciones reales en comunidad significa comprometerse con la vulnerabilidad de exponer nuestros corazones al mundo. Y significa encontrar formas de participar juntos en la sanación de nuestros corazones, como una comunidad, como un “nosotros”, en lugar de simplemente una colección de individuos. Formar una comunidad real significa encontrar formas de reciprocidad y conexión.

Amados, no están solos. Son parte de un “nosotros” que se extiende más allá de su comprensión. Unamos nuestros corazones en comunidad y comprometámonos con la colaboración, la curiosidad, la reciprocidad y la cooperación.

Who makes up your community? What role does community play in your life?

On Community

Talib (Anthony)
CLF Member, incarcerated in IL

My community consists of two parts: 1) my fellow prisoners, and 2) those who correspond, speak on the phone, or visit. Each plays a necessary role helping me to maintain some semblance of mental and physical stability.

I’ve been incarcerated for almost 17 years, and if it wasn’t for my community I don’t believe that I’d be here writing this for you. They have been there in my loneliest moments, my rock bottom, and have talked me back from the edge.

The first part of my community that I’d like to talk about is my fellow prisoners. There are guys who I’ve known for over a decade, living day-in and day-out with them; they know me better than my own family does. There is your cellmate: when you live in a bathroom with another person for years, you can’t help but develop a bond with them. You eat together, sleep around them, celebrate birthdays and holidays together, and when you’re going through hard times, that’s who you share them with. You are at your most vulnerable around them.

Beyond the cellmate, you also develop a familial bond with those around you. When you do so much time, you are living a life, and when you have people that do that much time with you, they become your family — you end up sharing big life moments together. When a brother of mine became a grandfather, he shared that with me. He got off the phone and called out to me, beaming, “Talib, my daughter just had a kid. I’m a grandpa!”

There were years that I went without anyone because my family and friends on the outside had abandoned me to live their own lives. I had nothing coming in, no one to help, and I had to rely only on my own devices. I had to build a community of people around me in here who helped when I needed it the most: they supported my business, they would cook and send me something to eat, and if I was in desperate need, all I had to do was ask them for help.

A quick anecdote that puts it into perspective: my last night in a maximum security prison, my property was packed up, so I had nothing, and the cellhouse had already gone to commissary that day. My friends and neighbors all contributed food items and snacks, and they cooked burritos to celebrate my transfer to a medium security prison. They even threw me a going away party.

Now, I’d like to speak on the second part of my community: those who correspond with me, speak on the phone, or visit from the outside. I’d like to speak directly to those who are reading this who write to individuals in prison — you are so important. You are our connection to a world outside of this one, and sometimes a connection to a community that some of us have never known.

I know that it may not always seem like it, or maybe you have a pen pal who asks for so much that it seems they are taking advantage of you, but remember that you may be the most important connection that person has. Imagine that you have been starving for years, barely surviving on scraps, and then someone comes to you with a plate of doughnuts. Are you going to take just one and nibble on it? No, you’re probably going to devour as many as you can before the plate gets taken away. As a pen pal on the outside, you may be the first person who’s cared about them in a long time.

Sending books, magazines, and anything else; taking the time to write or answer the phone; and caring about our wellbeing all goes a long way in making us feel connected to the outside world. We lean on you out there. We do not have the means to connect to the world, nor the resources to obtain the means — you are that.

Human beings are social in nature, and community is key to our survival. It is no different for those of us who are in prison. We lose so much when we’re incarcerated, so we turn to connection and community to survive, mentally and physically. My community has helped me to make it through.

I appreciate all those in my community, inside and out. You’re the reason that I’m able to write this.

Correctional Community

Gary
CLF member, incarcerated in SC

Prison is a microcosm of the larger society. You will find individuals from virtually every walk of life serving time. I have met former doctors, dentists, attorneys, police officers, airline pilots, business owners, ministers and people from all aspects of society. Just as in every community.

Rare, however, is that sense of community behind these walls. Prison often acts to separate and even isolate individuals in a “me versus the rest of the world” mentality. Feelings of having to constantly be “on guard” and being unable to extend trust and friendship for fear of being taken as “weak” is bred into the atmosphere.

The foundation of any community is trust. Attributes of community are a sense of responsibility and unity. Overcoming the despair and sense of isolation requires the willingness to step out in faith, extend oneself, and become vulnerable.

Here at MacDougall C.I. in South Carolina there exists this sense of community. The Men Achieving Character or MAC Unit is built upon the community mind orientation to foster a prosocial environment, accountability, spiritual growth, and responsibility to each other and ourselves. Acceptance, zero-tolerance for violence or conduct degrading to humanity for oneself is enforced.

This bond is unique. It acts to reverse all the negativity so often found behind the wire and replace it with a spirit of community. Built upon teamwork, a positive mental attitude, and social responsibility, one is typically greeted by others with a smile and “good morning”; there are random acts of kindness and generosity, and an environment that encourages development of skills leading to a successful transition back into the larger society.

Acceptance, tolerance, kindness, a spirit of unity: all these are vital components of my community here.

“Where two or more are gathered
There I am also…”
(Adapted from Matthew 18:20)

In a recent conversation with other religious professionals at Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) Fall Con—the annual conference for religious educators—Aisha Hauser, one of our CLF lead ministers,  invited us to name what gives us joy and what sustains us in these difficult times that feel like a slow-moving apocalypse. Some of us named family, and some of us named fun hobbies; what became clear in that conversation was that communal joy, and the sharing of it, was a key ingredient to gaining resilience in these challenging times. Community gives us strength and amplifies joy. Knowing that we are part of something larger than ourselves can be comforting, it can help us feel less buffeted by the challenges of our lives.

The Church of the Larger Fellowship is just that: a great community of communities made up of people connected and committed to reminding each other that we are more together, that we can take turns at the resistance, that cultivating and growing communal joy is part of what helps us stay stronger and focused on the collective liberation and transformation of all.

One of the tasks of the Nominating Committee is to help our community leadership stay fresh and strong. The Nom Com knows that the lead ministry team and staff of our church need the energy and joy and enthusiasm of leaders to co-create our future. Does CLF help you grow your joy and keep your eyes on the prize? Would you like to join leadership teams to continue to work for liberation and transformation at church?

Nominating is seeking individuals who are actively involved in our congregation to assist how we engage in ministry, leadership, and governance together. Specifically, we are looking for individuals to serve on Nominating who are committed to matching peoples’ gifts with opportunities to contribute and who understand the role of Nominating in widening the circle of care and leadership on Nominating and the Board.

We are also seeking individuals to serve on the Board who are deeply rooted in Unitarian Universalism. The Board and Nom Com are explicitly seeking ways to incorporate CLF members with personal or familial experience with incarceration, as we continue the journey of involving incarcerated and recently incarcerated members in leadership opportunities.

Please let us know if you or someone you know is interested in this way of investing in our community. Email nominating@clfuu.org with the subject “Board/Committee Interest” and let us know if you would like to learn more about leadership opportunities at CLF, or if you think someone in your circles would be an excellent person to recruit.  Thank you!

//

En una conversación reciente con otros profesionales religiosos en la reunión anual de Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA)—la asociación de directores liberales de educación religiosa—Aisha Hauser, miembra del equipo líder de CLF, nos invitó a nombrar lo que nos da alegría y nos ayuda a sobrellevar estos tiempos tan difíciles. Algunos de nosotros nombramos actividades creativas, y otros nombramos la importancia de nuestras familias; lo que quedó muy claro en nuestra conversación es que la alegría comunal, y el poder compartirla, es un ingrediente fundamental para generar resiliencia en estos tiempos de apocalipsis lenta.

La Iglesia de la Gran Comunidad es exactamente eso: una gran comunidad compuesta de otras comunidades más pequeñas, todas con personas conectadas y comprometidas a recordarnos los unos a los otros que juntos somos más, que podemos tomar turnos en la resistencia, que al cultivar y crecer la alegría comunal estamos ayudándonos a mantener la fuerza y el enfoque hacia la liberación y la transformación de todas las personas y todas las instituciones.

Una de las tareas del Comité de Nombramiento es ayudar a mantener un liderazgo comunal que es fuerte y vital. El Com Nom (nuestra abreviación cariñosa) sabe que el equipo líder y el personal que trabaja en nuestra iglesia necesitan la alegría y la energía y el entusiasmo de nuestros muchos líderes en esta gran comunidad, para co-crear nuestro futuro. ¿Te ayuda esta Iglesia de la Gran Comunidad a crecer tu alegría y mantener tu compromiso a la liberación? ¿Te gustaría unirte a los equipos de liderazgo que también están comprometidos a este cambio?

El Comité de Nombramiento busca a individuos que ya son activos en nuestra gran comunidad y que quieren asistir en nuestros esfuerzos de ministerio, gobernancia y cambio. Específicamente, buscamos a gente que tiene la habilidad de aparear los dones naturales de las personas con oportunidades para contribuir, y que entienden que este comité juega un papel importante al crecer el círculo de cuidado y atención en nuestra comunidad.

También buscamos a individuos que les interesa ofrecer sus habilidades en la Junta Directiva, y que ya tienen una profunda conexión al Universalismo Unitario. La Junta Directiva y el Comité de Nombramiento están conduciendo una búsqueda explícita de miembros de la Iglesia de la Gran Comunidad que tienen experiencia directa (en persona o en familia cercana) con el sistema de encarcelamiento. Deseamos seguir explorando oportunidades de liderazgo en particular para esos miembros.

Déjenos saber si tú o algún conocido tiene/n interés en este tipo de contribución a nuestra comunidad. Manda un email a nominating@clfuu.org con el tema “Interés en la Junta Directiva/Comité” y haznos saber a quien debemos invitar, o si quieres recibir más información.  ¡Gracias!

The CLF Nominating Committee: Michele Grove, Gail Forsyth-Vail, Debra Gray Boyd, and Julica Hermann de la Fuente

This evening, we are still processing the mass murder at Club Q in Colorado Springs overnight even as we commemorate all the trans beloveds whose lives have been stolen on this Trans Day of Remembrance. Tonight, we are reminded yet again of the violence that lies at the core of white Christian nationalism, whether in the form of guns aimed at our queer and trans beloveds, or legislation designed to criminalize our very existence. We at Side With Love will continue to fight for a world in which all bodies are treated as sacred; to join our UPLIFT Action campaign for LGBTQ+, Gender & Reproductive Justice, click here. 

To our beloved trans and queer family,

If your heart is broken, we weep with you. 

May you sense how fiercely you are held in love.

If your fists are frozen in rage, we scream our fury alongside you. 

May you be warmed by the white-hot heat of our righteous solidarity.

If your stomach drops with terror, we tremble with you. 

May you feel the strength of the safety we wrap around one another.

If your bones are weary, we sink down next to you. 

May deep rest be the companion of your grief.

And, beloveds, remember:

All of us–

the high femmes, the faeries, the twinks, the gender transgressors, the panromantics,

the dykes, the bears, the studs, the butches, the homos, the androgynes, 

the aces, the demibois, the zaddies, the graysexuals, the baby queers – 

all the delicious, unexpected, gorgeously beloved incarnations of us – 

we are made from stardust and and leather and honey 

and Love.

Even on the todays, 

the mornings when mourning our dead and fearing for our lives 

is the metallic aftertaste on our tongues:

We still dance because the surging electric life force 

that loved us into being and that pulses through our veins 

is too powerful to stay inert and unmoving. 

How could we be still?

We still sing because the defiant hymns of our ancestors 

reverberate in the tiniest interstices between our cells. 

How can we keep from singing?

We still congregate because like root systems and constellations and watersheds,

the molecules of our being only make sense 

when we are intertwined and inseparable 

and powerfully free in our interdependence. 

How could we do other than to claim and choose each other, every day?

We dance our resistance.

We sing our belovedness.

We gather each other up 

and we do not let go.

As is our vow, today and all days:

we will mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living.

And all the while, we will repeat this truth

Til it is lodged in our bones and

And undisputed anywhere:

We were meant for life, for abundance, for freedom.

We were made for joy.

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Ashley Horan

Side With Love Organizing Strategy Director

Thank you so much for signing up for “Community Conversation”, the third and final workshop in our series on “Climate Resilience through Disaster Response & Community Care”. Whether you attended in real-time or plan to watch the recording later, we are grateful for your commitment to building communities of care in the face of climate disasters.

• View the recording

Recording and materials for Session 1

Recording and materials for Session 2

Next Steps

How can we continue to grow community around climate disaster preparedness and response?  What do UUs need to foster communities of care in the face of climate change?  How can we work together to cultivate thriving communities?  

Tell us what you need! 

Thank you for engaging in one or more of the workshops on Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care.  We’ve loved learning alongside UUs across the country on ways we can make our communities stronger and more resilient.  For our final workshop in the series, we want to hear from you! 

How can we support your Climate Disaster Response and Community Care initiatives?

Please let us know what you learned from the workshops, what challenges you're facing as you organize climate disaster response in your congregation, and - most importantly - how we can help!  The Side With Love Team is here for you.  Tell us what you need!

We have all sorts of ideas: We could host regional meetings!  We could organize gatherings around climate disaster topics like fire or floods!  We can put together more resources!  The possibilities are endless!  Tell us what would be most impactful to your work on these issues.  Help us build this work together!

Please let us know what you need by filling out this brief survey. 

When we launched UPLIFT Action, it was a sacred declaration that our bodies are worthy of protection and love.  We reminded ourselves that the movements for LGBTQ+ Justice, Gender Justice, and Reproductive Justice are all rooted in a deep reverence for every person’s right and access to bodily autonomy.  We celebrated that our communities are so much stronger and more joyous when we resist together, create for and with each other, and refuse to let anyone convince us that only one of us can win at a time.  

Tuesday night, we experienced the complex mix of joy, relief, and anguish that comes from faithfully upholding the truth that our liberation is necessarily collective.  Our bodies - our worth -  were on the ballot in several ways.  From statewide propositions preserving or denying the right to reproductive autonomy and freedom, to candidates who have openly declared their hatred for transgender and queer people, to ballot initiatives deciding whether or not slavery should still be allowed in prisons - this midterm election both buoyed and attacked our shared struggles for our bodies and lives.

We also know that this year is by no means the first time the sacred right to bodily autonomy, and the inherent right to be seen and treated as human, has been on the ballot.  What we are witnessing this year is inextricably tied to a centuries-long system and collection of structures designed explicitly to control and criminalize black and brown bodies, disabled bodies, bodies with addictions and mental illness, femme and female bodies - any bodies that do not “fit” into a colonialist, white supremacist, cisheteropatriarchal, and Christian supremacist definition of what is right or worthy.  Nor is this the first time our bodies - queer, transgender, and/or potentially capable of supporting pregnancy - have been reduced to the pawns of political manipulation and plays for power.

The reality we are surviving and persevering through is that our bodies have always been subject to literal, political, and spiritual policing.  The fullness of humanity has never been fully respected or revered by the laws and institutions we continue to challenge and reshape.  This year’s midterm elections include the latest efforts to deny the sacredness of communities and individuals who challenge a narrow, oppressive, and violently evil ideal of what is good.

But within our centuries-long struggle there is a genuine blessing - our growing presence and power.  As our movement consistently expands our understanding of who is being denied their humanity, we are also expanding our vision of what true bodily autonomy entails.  The collective liberation that our Unitarian Universalist faith tells us is not only possible but necessary offers a nourishing balm that continues to bring more hearts and souls to our movements.

This midterm election, we witnessed how our struggles and visions are capable of bringing us closer to that liberated world our bodies need.  Building on our summer victory in Kansas, pro-choice advocates won decisively in all five state initiatives on abortion.  Michigan, Vermont and California voters embedded reproductive freedom within their state constitutions, while the people of Montana and Kentucky defeated anti-choice measures.  These ongoing, democratically-shaped outcomes protecting the legality of abortion are an undeniable statement that bodily autonomy is majority value.  We as a people are growing in our recognition that the policing of our bodies is a violation of their worth, and are changing our laws and institutions as a result. 

We also witnessed that there is more struggling and visioning ahead.  We know that some of the candidates who have won their races are inciting and codifying violence against transgender and non-binary people, particularly among our youth.  We know that we will continue to face those values that are so counter to our understanding of welcome and care, and that it will at times be exhausting and terrifying.  But we also know that our shared struggle, our faithful vision, will continue to grow in power and numbers as it always has.

As my colleague, UU the Vote Campaign Manager JaZahn Hicks recently wrote: “As we have seen so clearly time and time again, there is value in the work of faithful organizing. We are not tied to a radical political ideology but an ideology of radical love and faith. [Our work] has always been prophetic and not partisan.”

Let’s bask in this radical love and faith, beloveds, so we are strengthened, supported, and inspired to remember that our – and every – body is sacred.

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Justice Organizer

Side With Love

In order to achieve climate justice, we need significant policy shifts supported by powerful grassroots organizing. We must pressure governments for meaningful climate action, while advancing climate solutions in our communities to ensure that all people can thrive.  We also need time to regroup, unlearn, and learn anew.  With all of this in mind, we invite you to engage in one or all of the exciting climate justice opportunities this month.  You could start by joining the final workshop in our Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care series on Tuesday, November 15 at 7 ET, or zoom in to get the latest updates on COP 27 Activities with the UUMFE Daily Discussions on COP27.  Last, but not least, we invite you to Rethink Thanksgiving.

Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care:  Community Conversation

Climate disasters impact our communities - how can UUs be prepared? This is the third workshop in our series which includes Assessing Climate Impacts & Making Connections, Mobilizing for Action, and finally, Community Conversation, which takes place on Tuesday, November 15 at 7ET.  Connect with other UUs to discuss the issues and identify opportunities for learning, reflection, and action with Side With Love. 

COP27

The Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a critical annual convening where the 198 Parties of the UN who signed the Convention on Climate Change meet to negotiate multilateral responses to climate change.  The UUA, UUSC, and UUMFE send delegates to COP to represent our UU values.  

COP27 will be held from 6-18 November 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh.  The UUA is approved to send observers from civil society to COP 27 through the UU Service Committee (UUSC) and UUA at the UN Office and will elevate these key priorities:

1.  Ensure the active & meaningful participation of civil society from the global south.

2.  Protect the human rights of civil society and their freedom of expression

3.  Act swiftly to address the issue of climate-forced displacement (see the UU Joint Statement on Climate-forced Displacement, Human Rights, and Community Resilience).

     a.  Mitigation

     b.  Loss & Damage

     c.  Adaptation & Resilience

     d.  Climate Finance (see Take Action with UUSJ below)

For background, check out UUSC’s What is COP27 and Why Does It Matter?, watch COP 27 Events Live & On Demand via YouTube, or join UUMFE Daily Discussions on COP27 with Doris Marlin and Dr. Bill McPherson that will happen periodically through December 7.

Rethinking Thanksgiving

Indigenous solidarity is an essential part of the struggle for racial and environmental justice. It is critical that we deepen our commitment to Indigenous Sovereignty in ourselves and in our movements, take collective action towards land rematriation and support efforts to ensure a just and sustainable existence for all of our future generations.

Join American Indian Law Alliance, NDNCollective, Tonatierra, Sogorea Te Land Trust and the Indigenous Solidarity Network (made up of SURJ, Resource Generation and Catalyst Project) for “Rethinking Thanksgiving: From Land Acknowledgement to LANDBACK” on Sunday, November 20 at 1pm PT/4pm ET. This webinar is an invitation to interrogate so-called Thanksgiving, and move beyond the myths of America's history with Indigenous People on Turtle Island.

Register for the webinar here: bit.ly/rethinkingthanksgiving2022

From tar sands pipelines across Turtle Island to Arctic oil and gas drilling, Indigenous campaigns of resistance continue to lead the way in protecting future generations against the destruction of sacred lands and waterways.

Moving into a deeper understanding of how colonialism is embedded into our frameworks and systems builds our capacity to be better allies to Indigenous Peoples. In this webinar, we will hear from the frontlines of Indigenous efforts to resist violence and colonization fueled by the current extractive economic system and gather ways to further and deepen solidarity with Indigenous resistance including land rematriation.

Live Captioning, ASL and Spanish interpretation will be available on the call. Fill out this form https://forms.gle/zwK4cAsy3wYkBWvi8 for questions about accessibility.

Thank you so much for signing up for the “Mobilizing for Action,” the second workshop in our series on “Climate Resilience through Disaster Response & Community Care”.  Whether you were able to attend in real-time or plan to watch the recording later, we are grateful for your commitment to building communities of care in the face of climate disasters.   

Next steps:  

1. Make sure you RSVP for the third and final workshop in this series: Community Conversations on November 15.  We encourage you to invite 1 or 2 more people from your congregation to attend, so we can continue to grow our community of support!

2. Check out the  Climate Disaster Response for UUs Guide.  This guide is chock full of tools and resources to help individuals and congregations to Assess Climate Impacts and Mobilize for Action.  Every community is different, and climate impacts will vary at the hyper-local level.  Some neighborhoods may be devastated by a hurricane while others experience only minor impacts.  Adequate preparation and response for climate disasters must center the lived experiences and impacts of climate disasters on those most at risk.  We’ve paired tools for each section to help you think through every step of the process.

3. Join the conversation!  If you are looking for another place to connect with others working on climate justice, join us on the Side With Love Slack Channel.  You can join at this link:  http://bit.ly/SideWithLoveSlack. Check out the #climate-justice-general or #climate-justice-green-sanctuary channels to find your people! 

4. Tell us what you’re doing and what you need!  We’d love to hear how your congregation is preparing for climate disasters and how we can help!  Please email RMyslivy@UUA.org and let us know!

Resources & Materials from Session 2

Linked below are materials & resources from our October 25 session on “Mobilizing for Action.” These resources and more can be found in the UUA Climate Disaster Prep Google Drive Folder.

• Climate Disaster Preparedness Guide for UUs 

• Climate Disaster Response for UUs Materials & Resources

• Assessing Climate Impacts & Mobilizing for Action Worksheet - gdoc - doc - pdf

• Case Study-  gdoc - doc - pdf 

• Reflections: Case Study to Reality  - gdoc - doc - pdf

• Assessing Climate Impacts Graphic Worksheet - pdf

• Climate Disaster Congregational Asset Mapping Tool - pdf & gdoc

In addition, you can access a copy of the slides or watch the recordings from previous workshops at the links below:

September 27 slides - recording

October 25 slides - recording 

We invite you to share this recording and these resources with others in your congregation as you explore how to incorporate what was discussed into your own efforts to support your community through any experiences of climate disaster. Consider consulting with key congregational leadership to complete your Congregational Asset Map, or begin to identify who in your broader community has the most direct knowledge and experience of the climate threats in your area. 

If you have any other questions or ideas for how we can support your organizing for climate justice in the face of climate disasters, please email us at Environment@UUA.org. We want to hear from you about what kind of gatherings, workshops, or coaching will help you live your UU values to the fullest in community

 

We look forward to seeing you again on November 15!

 

In faith & justice, 

Rachel Myslivy Rev. Ranwa Hammamy

Climate Justice Organizer Congregational Justice Organizer

Side with Love Side With Love

If you pay attention to climate issues, you know that not a day goes by without at least one major headline, whether it's a hurricane, wildfire, political posturing, or new technology; climate is in the news. I'll tell you that my heart has been heavy this past week or so because of a headline I saw explaining that animal populations have declined almost 70% since 1970.

One of my mentors used to say that focusing on climate change is too small and sustainability isn’t enough.  We also have to think about species extinction, environmental justice, and the many other intersecting social and environmental justice issues.

As for sustainability not being enough: You don't want your marriage to be sustainable; you want it to flourish!

So even as I've been mourning the loss of all of the blessed, beautiful creatures, I've been holding in my mind and heart all of the blessed, beautiful creatures who remain, who make our world the beautiful, blessed place that it is. I’ve been trying to visualize the creatures I love flourishing - the manatees, blue whales, black-footed ferrets, wolves, American burying beetles (I have a soft spot for decomposers), Mead's Milkweed, California Redwoods, and all the others….flourishing. Our world, flourishing.

We know that we are losing so, so much, and so many precious beings, and we must balance that knowledge with a vision of a thriving, flourishing community filled with radical hope and grounded action. As Mariame Kaba said, “Hope is a Discipline.” We can do this together.  What is the creature, being, or place that you most want to save, that gives you hope when your heart is weary? What will you fight hardest to save?

I invite you to take a moment as you read this to think about the beings that you love, the places that make your heart sing, the things you will fight to save.  If you have time, check out this beautiful, challenging, and inspiring video of the UN Climate Summit Poem "Dear Matafele Peinem"  Every time I watch it, it fills me with wonder, fear,  joy, sadness, anger, and hope -  all of the emotions I need to commit again, every day, to climate action.  

In our hearts, all climate activists hold the goal of making the world a better place, making it different, and making it so we all thrive. David Graeber says, "The ultimate, hidden truth of the world, is that it is something we make, and could just as easily make differently."  How can we make our world differently, together, so all beings thrive?  

Here’s one idea:  VOTE FOR CLIMATE.  Did you know that people who prioritize climate tend to skip midterm elections?  There are millions of people who prioritize climate but don’t vote.  I know that many of us have been disappointed by the glacial pace of climate change policy.  I know we’ve been frustrated that politicians say they’ll act on climate, then we see little change.  I know it’s hard to keep trusting in a system that has not adequately responded to the crisis.  Believe me, I know.  AND STILL, we need to turn out every climate voter this November.   Let’s come together this fall to make our world differently, so all beings thrive.  

In community,

Rachel

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Rachel Myslivy is Side With Love’s Climate Justice Organizer. Get updates from Create Climate Justice by subscribing here.

October 2022

“When you go in search of honey, you must expect to be stung by bees.” -Joseph Joubert

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Down the cliffs to the black sand of the Pa’iloa beach, and right on the shore, was an opening. Not a comfortable one for me. It was just big enough to fit my body, but I had to bend down and contort myself a bit to make my way through it. Once inside and able to stand, I realized I was in a small lava tube that sat right at the shoreline of the beach. It was absolutely stunning. Black rocks wide enough to sit on and black sand everywhere, all as a result of lava flows hundreds of years before. An opening to the ocean let the Pacific in, waves crashing and settling right at my feet.

I won’t lie. It was scary. I’m not a swimmer. Those classes I took 30 years ago, without a lot of access to pools and large bodies of water in my everyday life, mean very little to me now. And so the idea that I was even in this tiny space with water coming in and out made me question myself. It was pretty and everything, but it seemed dangerous. A large swell could fill this little cave with water at any moment, and I’d be left with very few options to protect myself beyond trusting my body or mind to do what they need to do to get me out. Before I knew it, I was already in a space of worry and regret that I’d even bothered to go in.

But the word ‘trust’ stirred me in ways I wasn’t expecting. I was reminded of a book I’d been reading off an on over the last year called Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. In it, she offers these words about surrender:

And what happens if we just let go? Like dolphins who beach themselves on shore to eat, and trust the tide to bring them back into the water… What would it take to tune in with our environment enough to be in flow with the Earth, instead of in struggle against it.

As I began to reflect on the immediacy of my worry and lack of trust, and Alexis’ hopes for our surrender in her incredible book, I noticed my body start to settle into the moment. My breathing slowed. I started listening to the water and the sounds the waves made at different points of contact with the rocks and the walls of the lava tube I was finally able to sit down and rest in. I sat on one of those rocks for a long time, watching the water and feeling the waves as they ebbed and flowed. Truthfully, it was a lot to take in all at once. And it was okay that it turned out to be simultaneously tranquil and still a bit terrifying in the place where the waves and the land met.

Isn’t it not unlike the place where many of us find ourselves in our work of belonging and meaning-making?

Be well, dear ones.

What is the value of sacrifice? What are its downsides?

JASON
CLF Member, incarcerated in IL

Being in an institution, sacrifice takes on different meanings. Are you sacrificing time to help someone? Are you sacrificing your favorite food to save your money so that you can contribute to your religious service meal? Are you sacrificing your spot so someone else can experience something they haven’t, that you have?

Sacrifice becomes more personalized when you don’t have that much to begin with. So the value of sacrifice changes as well.

As an elder in the Wiccan service here, there have been times that guys from the service have called me out to the yard or out to a group room to have me help them. Knowing this is a possibility, I am happy to help, though not always right when I’m being asked. The sacrifice for me is knowing that there may be times I’ll be asked for help and even though I’m doing something else at the time, unless it’s something like legal work or something else equally serious, I will sacrifice what I’m doing to help my brethren.

Of course, the downside as shown above is the interruption of whatever I was doing. It can also mean loss of personal time that I might need to unwind from the stresses and pressures of being in an institution.

I used sacrificing a favorite food to save money to contribute to a service meal as an example. Some guys walk a delicate balance of what they buy off commissary and the very few things they eat from the dietary. So to have to sacrifice their commissary to contribute to a religious meal becomes a big deal. It then becomes a question of whether they are putting their health at risk just to contribute to a meal­—and for some that sacrifice is still worth it.

JOSEPH
CLF Member, incarcerated in NC

The value of sacrifice is relative. Without sacrifice, I would not be living life as I know it. If my mother hadn’t sacrificed her time and put her dreams on hold, then she wouldn’t have been able to raise me so lovingly. She was 20 years old when I was born, barely an adult, and I feel certain that I wasn’t planned. She probably held many other plans, like traveling and concentrating on school, before I came along. I thank my mother for her sacrifice — it was very valuable to me.

Some sacrifices seem small to us but can be very valuable to the recipient. Perhaps you sacrifice some time once a week to go visit a nursing home. If you have spare time, time you would normally spend watching TV or on the internet, you could make a sacrifice that is of little value to you, but could be of enormous value to the nursing home resident who has no family.

Our sacrifices are offerings to the group soul of humanity. No matter how small or large, if it does good for one, it is good for all. Depending on my commitment and intention, my sacrifice doesn’t have to be public. When things are done without my attachment to the result, they are more pure and powerful. Some sacrifice everything their whole lives so that others may live. Some make small sacrifices of their social awkwardness to share a kind word with a stranger. No matter how small a good thing is, it is still good.

LIAM
CLF Member, incarcerated in SC

For me, the act of sacrifice is allowing myself to feel the loss or absence of something that I took for granted. The immediate downside is that I no longer have the specific thing, but that feeling, like so many others, is temporary. The feeling that I get when I receive that missing thing is joy — pure, undiluted happiness. When I remember that cycle, I can learn to enjoy and cherish parts of my life more.

Most Sunday evenings, members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship with internet access gather for an online worship service. We are exploring ways to bring the spirit of those services to our many members who do not have regular internet access. The following is an abbreviated outline of a CLF worship service that can be read through or shared out loud in a gathering. Please feel free to make it your own, adding whatever music, ritual elements, and readings are most meaningful to you.

Opening Words & Chalice Lighting

We light our flaming chalice and enter into our worship service together with these words from CLF Learning Fellow, JeKaren Olaoya:

We light this chalice
As we come together
To center love
To create community
To honor the world we live in

Sharing of Joys & Sorrows

Every time we gather, we share what is most present in our lives. Whether you are arriving to this service full of excitement or with a heavy heart, take a moment to name that which you are carrying. You may write your joy or sorrow down, or share out loud with those in your gathering. We know that every joy shared is multiplied, and every sorrow shared is halved.

We hold these joys and sorrows with you, and say in response:

May we all be held in the heart of love

Sermon

Rev. Dr. Michael Tino; Lead Ministry Team, Church of the Larger Fellowship

Sixteenth century Jewish mystic Isaac Luria told a story of creation in which God, in order to make room to create the world, stored divine light in earthen vessels. Some of these jars broke, and the light that they stored scattered with the broken pieces of clay.

In Luria’s account of creation, the goal of humankind was to gather the divinity scattered with these shards, and to separate this sacred light from the sharp, jagged pieces of brokenness. Luria named this goal tikkun olam, the repair of the world.

Over the years, this calling has evolved into an understanding that the sacredness of our world is broken—torn apart by violence, oppression, injustice, and hatred—and that it is up to humanity to fix that brokenness in order to live up to our covenant with God.

Our Unitarian Universalist forebears saw this brokenness as well, and through the years handed down to us a religion that calls upon us to participate in the healing of creation.

Many of our Unitarian, Universalist, and UU ancestors have written about the calling of our faith to participate in the healing of relationships, including our relationship with the ultimate, about our calling to participate in the creation of liberation and justice, about our calling to participate in dismantling systems of oppression that divide humanity in part by assigning power to identity.

I feel like that’s something you hear a lot from us, from me. And while I could go on at length about it, today I want to go in a slightly different direction for this month in which we are focusing on healing: you are part of the world. We are each part of the world.

If we are to understand ourselves as part of the world and simultaneously commit ourselves to healing the world, we must see healing ourselves and others as part of that process.

Jewish feminist new-age storyteller and cancer survivor Deena Metzger writes about this connection.  Metzger understands the healing of the self—be it from diseases of the body or wounds of the soul—as integrally connected to the healing of our society as a whole.  While Metzger’s writing is concerned primarily with the physical healing of the self, it also addresses wounds of the soul–wounds of the spirit. She writes:

In my mind, there is a direct relationship between the healing of my body and the healing of the world. Where healing and peacemaking are one, they are the bridge between individual healing and the healing of the community. I do not ask for my healing without committing entirely to the healing of the other as the small possibilities of the healing of the world are sacred gifts extended to me as well. The world’s body. My body. The same. This is the very nature of healing.

Our Unitarian Universalist faith asks us to heal the world. It asks us to attend to the brokenness in our systems and our society. And it asks us to attend to the brokenness in ourselves, and the brokenness in our midst.

We each, every one of us, know something of brokenness. We have experienced it ourselves, we have witnessed it in others. And every one of us, know something of healing, of wholeness, even if that knowledge is hidden deep within our hearts under layers of scar tissue. Each of us has received negative messages of some sort about ourselves. Messages that make us question our self-worth, our inherent dignity.

Some of these messages are in the form of abuse, and out of respect for the diverse trauma histories in our community I want to name that and create a space for you to do what you need to do in order to protect yourself from the re-emergence of your trauma.

It is a sad reality that too often our brokenness comes from people who were supposed to love us, who were supposed to care for us, who were supposed to protect us. Too often, our brokenness comes from institutions—especially religious institutions—that were supposed to heal us, and instead they hurt us deeply.

I received those messages as well—messages that I was not worthy of respect and love because of who I was. I am thankful that they didn’t come from those closest to me, but they were present all around me. I internalized them. They broke me.

As a teenager, I didn’t know how to deal with that brokenness. I tried pretending I was someone I was not—that didn’t work. Ultimately, I rejected religion categorically because so many of the messages about my sexuality came from religious figures. I convinced myself that I would never find wholeness in a religious community, that all religion had to be avoided.

That led to more brokenness—deep within, I had a yearning for spirituality. A yearning for connection to something greater than myself. I had a yearning for a communal expression of our call to love and liberation, for a theological grounding to my justice work.

It wasn’t until I was a young adult that I learned that there was a religious tradition that preached love and acceptance, a tradition that insisted on the inherent worth and dignity of every person, a tradition that encouraged spiritual journeys and didn’t insist on a narrow theology.

Unitarian Universalism helped me heal some of the broken places within me. It helped me overcome the negative messages I had received about myself by teaching me that I was beautiful, that I was loved, that I was a bearer of the divine within me just as all people are. Slowly, the people I met who lived these values in the world again and again helped me put back together the pieces of me that had been broken off and hidden out of self-protection.

Our Unitarian Universalist religious community can be a place of healing for you as well.

In the context of religious community, we can come to recognize and name our brokenness.  We can also come to recognize and name our inherent worth and dignity. We can create communities of love to work on our healing—together. We can begin the process of healing. We can put together our own pieces of the jar holding the divine light within us.

Here you are loved.
Here you are whole.
Here you are holy.
Here your worth is affirmed.
May the love you find in this
community be a healing balm
to your soul.

Closing Words & Chalice Extinguishing

We extinguish our flaming chalice and close our worship service with these words from CLF Learning Fellow, JeKaren Olaoya:

We extinguish this chalice
As we depart this space
But never in our hearts
We carry the flame within

We are so excited to organize with Unitarian Universalists like you who are committed to promoting LGBTQIA+, Gender, and Reproductive Justice.  With the sacred right to bodily autonomy being attacked on multiple fronts, our presence as people of faith is critical to lives all around the country.  Fueled by the joy that is this prophetic and powerful community, it’s time for all of us to take action together!  You can find more opportunities to learn & act together at the Side With Love Action Center, but here are some highlights from our launch party from October 13, 2022.

• View the webinar

• View the slides

Don’t forget to sign up for the UPLIFT Action Newsletter so you can continue to get more updates about ways to connect and take action together!

QUUer the Vote

With the 2022 Election season ending in 24 days, it is time for us to QUUer the Vote and make sure all of us have the right to say what happens to our own bodies.  With reproductive freedom on the ballot in multiple states, making sure people vote our values is crucial to our collective access to bodily autonomy. 

• Friday, October 14 Phonebank to Detroiters with MUUSJN & Michigan United to support the Reproductive Freedom for All Act

• Monday, October 24 SURJ Phonebank to Kentucky Voters to Prevent the Constitutional Abortion Ban

• Weekly Monday UU the Vote Text Banks to Michigan to support the Reproductive Freedom For All Act

Learn & Organize in Your Congregation for Reproductive Justice

The movement for reproductive justice is rooted in bodily autonomy for ANY BODY that can become pregnant and/or parent a child.  Abortion access is part of the work, but it’s not the only way our bodies and lives are being restricted in our reproductive journeys.  Learn more and mobilize within your congregation by participating in one or both of these upcoming trainings!

• SACReD Reproductive Dignity Curriculum Training for Congregations (10/23 or 11/9) 

• Congregational Reproductive Justice Training for Teams (Two-Part Series)

  • Part 1 (11/13)

  • Part 2 (12/4)

Phone Bank with the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey

In just a few days, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Trans Latin@ Coalition, Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, and National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliancewill lauch the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey (USTS).  The USTS is the largest survey of trans people in the United States, collecting data that will inform media, educators, policymakers, and the general public, on issues critical to trans lives and experiences.  Help be part of this crucial project that covers topics such as health, employment, income, the criminal justice system and more. Learn more here and sign up to phone bank with the USTS starting October 19!

UPLIFT Monthly Trans/Non-Binary Gathering Space

Join the UPLIFT monthly gatherings focused on trans, nonbinary, and other not (completely or at all) cis UUs.  Join us to connect with other trans/nonbinary UUs and co-create support and community across our faith.  All you need to bring is yourself (and other trans/nonbinary friends, if you’d like)!  

These gatherings focus on getting to know each other and on sharing our collective dreams, ideas, and talents for this space.  Expansive definitions of trans, nonbinary, and UU all apply.  If you are interested in this space, and you aren’t cisgender, it’s a space for you.

NOTE: This space is intentionally multi-generational.  It is open to and welcoming of trans/nonbinary elders as well as children, youth, and young adults.  Standard UUA online safety measures apply to ensure all people under 18 are able to attend.  We're glad to have you here!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the amazing presentation on Engaging Marginalized Communities with Rev. Ranwa Hammamy at the last Green Sanctuary Team Meeting. If you missed it, you can watch the video of the meeting here and download the slides here.

Green Sanctuary Team Meetings

Come together for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 8PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion.

• 10/19/22 - Congregational Engagement on Climate Justice with Michael Hughes, UU Fellowship of Corvallis, OR

• 11/16/22 -  Blueprint for Climate Action Teams - Mary Rodgers, Phil Webster, & Kenneth Crandell, UU Congregation of Columbia

• No meeting in December

Earlier this month, Side With Love Congregational Justice Organizer Rev. Ranwa Hammamy wrote: “When our congregations are truly rooted in our Unitarian Universalist values, the work of collective liberation naturally follows. We know that as spiritual leaders and ministers within our congregations, you are shaping communities that, each and every day, strive to deepen their commitment to our faith’s values and calls.”

This ministry has never been more crucial, and we are grateful to be partners with you in this work. In service of justice and liberation, we share some upcoming events we hope will fortify, inspire, and encourage you and your community to live into the hope and courage of our faith.

UPLIFT Action Launch Party: Every Body Is Sacred!

October 13 at 5pm PT / 6pm MT / 7pm CT / 8pm ET

Join Side With Love for the official launch of our latest organizing campaign, UPLIFT Action! This new campaign focuses on reproductive, gender, and LGBTQIA+ justice. Together we'll honor the sacred importance of bodily autonomy with several of our partners and UUs from around the country who are faithfully organizing for every sacred body. Register at bit.ly/UpliftActionLaunchParty. 

Meeting the Moment Political Education Series

October 9, October 23, and November 6 at 4:30pm ET

We are in a critical moment in our country and in our democracy and we’re fulfilling an essential role as trusted messengers to voters all across the country about all things voting.

Not feeling well-versed in electoral matters, though? Introducing Meeting the Moment, a political education series! Join UU the Vote for in-depth conversations on civics, faith-based organizing, and getting out the vote in a fun and engaging way! UU the Vote Campaign Manager JaZahn Hicks will be leading these interactive learning experiences for anyone who wants to be able to talk about the importance of voting, how to discuss ballots and voter guides, and what the various terms related to democracy and voting are. Register for one or all the sessions here.

• Sunday, October 9: Civics 101

• Sunday, October 23: Faith as an Organizing Tool, with special guest Rev. Ashley Horan, UUA Side With Love Organizing Strategy Director

• Sunday, November 6: Getting out the Vote, with special guest Angela Miller, Executive Director of Center for Common Ground

Climate Disaster Preparedness for UUs

October 25 and November 15 at 4pm PT / 5pm MT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET

Over the next three months, we will be holding a Climate Disaster Response series geared towards congregations committed to responding to the needs of their broader communities in times of crisis and disaster. Our approach with this series is honest and full of care: we know that climate disaster impacts all of us in different ways, so how can we face that reality with a prepared understanding of our relationship, responsibility, and power to support those who are most impacted? 

From grounding ourselves in the climate risks most prevalent in our communities, to developing plans of action, to staying in conversation with our faith peers, this series turns the overwhelming nature of climate disaster into a better known and collectively addressable entity. Rooted in the belief that shared knowledge and faith are essential to Beloved Community, this series will provide the climate activists and teams in your congregation with essential tools to build a climate disaster preparedness plan that lifts up the best of Unitarian Universalism in your community. 

If you missed our first session, you can watch it and start the homework before joining us for the next session:

• Tuesday, October 25: Mobilizing for Action (7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT)

• Tuesday, November 15: Community conversation (7pm ET / 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT)

Thank you so much for signing up for the first webinar of our “Climate Resilience through Disaster Response & Community Care” series at Side With Love. Whether you were able to attend in real-time or plan to watch the recording later, we are grateful for your commitment to building communities of care in the face of climate disasters. 

Resources & Materials from Session 1

Linked below are materials & resources from our September 27 session on “Assessing Climate Impacts & Making Connections.” Please note that most of these can be found in the UUA Climate Disaster Prep Google Drive Folder, in both PDF & Google Doc formats.

• Climate Disaster Preparedness Guide for UUs 

• Climate Disaster Response for UUs Materials & Resources

• Climate Disaster Congregational Asset Mapping Tool - pdf & gdoc

• Case Study (Part 1) - pdf & gdoc

• Assessing Climate Impacts Worksheet - pdf & gdoc

• Assessing Climate Impacts Graphic Worksheet - pdf

• Climate Disaster Response Reflections Worksheet - pdf & gdoc

In addition, you can access a copy of the slide presentation from our September 27 webinar/workshop here, and watch the recording of the entire workshop here. 

Next Steps

We invite you to share this recording and these resources with others in your congregation as you explore how to incorporate what was discussed into your own efforts to support your community through any experiences of climate disaster. Consider consulting with key congregational leadership to complete your Congregational Asset Map, or begin to identify who in your broader community has the most direct knowledge and experience of the climate threats in your area. 

We also encourage you to share your reflections on your process with us, by sharing your copy of the “CDR/Climate Disaster Response Reflections” worksheet that you may have begun working in during the September 27 webinar. Sharing or emailing a copy to Rachel Myslivy at RMyslivy@uua.org will help us understand & better meet your needs, both as an attendee and as a climate organizer in your congregation. 

We also want to remind you to register for the second part of this series, Mobilizing for Action, which will be held on Tuesday, October 25 at 7pm ET/  6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT. We encourage you to invite 1 or 2 more people from your congregation to attend, so we can continue to grow our community of support!

And if you are looking for for another place to connect with others working on climate justice, join us on the the Side With Love Slack Channel.  You can join at this link:  http://bit.ly/SideWithLoveSlack. Check out the #climate-justice-general or #climate-justice-green-sanctuary channels to find your people! 

If you have any other questions or ideas for how we can support your organizing for climate justice in the face of climate disasters, please email us at Environment@UUA.org. We want to hear from you about what kind of gatherings, workshops, or coaching will help you live your UU values to the fullest in community

We look forward to seeing you again on October 25 & November 15!

In faith & justice, 

Rachel Myslivy Rev. Ranwa Hammamy

Climate Justice Organizer Congregational Justice Organizer

Side with Love Side With Love

Every Body Is Sacred!

Join Side With Love for the official launch of our latest organizing campaign, UPLIFT Action! This virtual event will be held on Thursday, October 13th at 5pm PT / 6pm MT / 7pm CT / 8pm MT.

Register at https://bit.ly/UpliftActionLaunchParty.

We'll be honoring the sacred importance of bodily autonomy with several of our partners and Unitarian Universalists from around the country who are faithfully organizing for LGBTQIA+, Gender, and Reproductive Justice. Come be a part of this special event where we proclaim "Every Body is Sacred!" and celebrate the inherent worth and dignity of every person and launch ourselves into action!

Redlined communities or “sacrifice zones” also bear the highest energy burdens in the country, with low-income communities spending three times more of their income on energy costs. I’m sure these percentages are much higher now as energy costs have skyrocketed in the past year.

Urban heat islands plus high energy burdens plus poor air quality combine to increase incidents of violence and mental health crises in redlined communities, which leads to increased incarceration and criminalization of people of color. In short, it's impossible to separate struggles for climate justice and racial justice, because they are so deeply intertwined both here in the US and across the globe.

As part of the deal to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Senators Manchin and Schumer have introduced a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects in September. Thursday was a huge day in the fight against the dirty pipeline deal being pushed by Senator Manchin. This bill would force approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, fast-track other fossil fuel projects, and undermine environmental protections and community review.

Will you join us in taking action to Stop Manchin’s Dirty Deal?

We need to be as loud as possible over the next four days and demand that every member of Congress oppose this dirty deal.

Please take 60 seconds right now and call your U.S. Senator! Dial 888-997-5380 and tell them to oppose Manchin's pipeline deal.

The People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition has released a toolkit to #BlockTheDeal, including supported actions to call or send a letter to your member of Congress and amplify this Toolkit for action.

Workshop: Engaging Marginalized Communities

Thanks to Rev. Ranwa Hammamy for their presentation on Engaging Marginalized Communities in the Green Sanctuary Team Meeting. If you missed it, you can watch the video of the meeting here!

Take (and share!) the Climate Justice Voter Pledge!

Confronting climate change requires electing officials and enacting policies at every level, which means everyone who cares deeply about climate and environmental justice must turn out to the polls. To respond to the climate crisis we must take individual and community action! Share the UU Climate Justice Voter Pledge: https://SideWithLove.org/ClimateJusticeVoterPledge

Tell Congress to Pass The Environmental Justice For All Act

The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a significant step toward greater investment in clean energy. Unfortunately, some provisions of the IRA may stimulate fossil fuel production and worsen pollution in areas already saturated by heavy industry. As part of the compromise that allowed the bill to go forward, Senator Manchin is now proposing loosening procedural protections around energy projects, making it even harder for affected communities to have a voice in approving these projects, many of which inflict environmental harm on communities of color. It is, therefore, more necessary than ever for Congress to pass the Environmental Justice for All Act, introduced in both the Senate and House and recently passed by the House Natural Resources Committee. Email congress: Environmental Justice for All!

Join the Side With Love Slack community!

Connect with others working on climate justice through the Side With Love Slack Channel. You can join at this link. Check out the #climate-justice-general or #climate-justice-green-sanctuary to find your people!

Upcoming Events

Climate Resilience through Disaster Response and Community Care

Climate disasters impact our communities - how can UUs be prepared? Join this series of workshops with activities to help you identify the climate risks, understand who is most at risk and how your community will be impacted. From there, make a plan to prepare for and respond to climate disasters in your neighborhood.

This workshop is part of a series. Sessions: All sessions are 90 minutes long and begin at 7pm ET/ 6pm CT / 5pm MT / 4pm PT

• 9/27/2022 - Assessing climate impacts and making connections

• 10/25/2022 - Mobilizing for action

• 11/15/2022 - Community conversation

Green Sanctuary Team Meetings

Come together for shared learning and mutual support with other UUs working on congregational transformation through climate justice on the third Wednesday of the month at 8PM ET. Each meeting includes a short presentation on a climate justice topic, followed by open discussion.

• 10/19/22 - Congregational Engagement on Climate Justice with Michael Hughes, UU Fellowship of Corvallis, OR

• 11/16/22 - Blueprint for Climate Action Teams - Mary Rodgers, Phil Webster, & Kenneth Crandell, UU Congregation of Columbia

• No meeting in December

Green Sanctuary Orientation & Office Hours

Interested in transforming your congregation through climate justice? Join this orientation to get a better understanding of the Green Sanctuary program and learn how your congregation can engage. Office hours are held on the first Wednesday of the month from 7-8PM Eastern Time.

• No meeting in October

• 11/2/22 - Green Sanctuary Orientation & Office Hours

All Climate Events can be found at sidewithlove.org/climatejustice

The following sermon was originally given at the service to formally install our Lead Ministry Team in their role as ministers of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, which took place on June 25, 2022, during UUA General Assembly in Portland, OR. 

Hello beloveds! What a joy to be here with you all this morning, celebrating the installation of the Lead Ministry Team of the Church of the Larger Fellowship! And what an honor to be asked to share a reflection with you all on this joyful occasion.

I have served on the Board of the Church of the Larger Fellowship for the past 4 years. I served as the Board liaison to the nominating committee, and on the search committee, and am now the President of the Board. And yet: when I was asked by the nominating committee if I would consider joining the Board, I was pretty sure I was going to say no.

I didn’t know much about the CLF at the time, and I didn’t think that I had the time or energy to serve on the Board. I was already feeling a little overwhelmed by all of my other commitments, and I had never served on a Board before, and I just didn’t think it was for me. I knew I would have to give something else up to do this work fully, that I didn’t want to say yes and then only serve half-heartedly. And so, I went into the conversation ready to say no.

I am so grateful that instead, I said yes.

I said yes because I learned what the CLF has been, is now, and can be. I said yes because my wildest dreams for Unitarian Universalism, my deepest hopes of what is possible for this faith, seemed possible because of the CLF. I said yes because I believe that the Church of the Larger Fellowship can help lead us to liberation. It is already doing so. I said yes because the CLF says yes — to justice, to radical welcome, to liberation. I said yes because there was really no other answer.

The Church of the Larger Fellowship has always held space in our denomination for folks on the margins— from our beginnings as a “correspondence church” for geographically isolated Unitarians to today, when over half our membership is incarcerated Unitarian Universalists, and many religious professionals, BIPOC UUs, and geographically- or otherwise-isolated UUs find their spiritual home here. The CLF has been, and continues to be, a place of radical welcome, a congregation that believes in the power of liberation and the potential of Unitarian Universalism to forge a way to that liberation. The CLF is a congregation that continually draws the margins toward the center, that invites us all to think about what is possible and how we might make it come true. The CLF is a place for big dreams and for trying new things, a place where there is so much space and excitement for innovation and experimentation.

The CLF has proclaimed, over and over, that the way we’ve always done things need not be the only way, and then forged ahead to make it so. Can we serve incarcerated Unitarian Universalists with love and dignity, in a system and a world that tries to convince them they have and deserve neither? Yes. Can we engage UUism and the questions of the moment through an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural lens? Yes. Can we call as the leadership of the largest UU congregation a collaborative team of religious professionals that break expectations? Yes. Can we do difficult, sometimes uncomfortable work with love, knowing that liberation is possible and that we can help make it so? Yes. Yes we can.

Cole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet who created the “Black Liturgies” project on Instagram. In her recent book This Here Flesh, Arthur Riley uses stories from her life to reflect on questions of spirituality and liberation. In a chapter entitled “Dignity,” she writes the following:

Our liberation begins with the irrevocable belief that we are worthy to be liberated, that we are worthy of a life that does not degrade us but honors our whole selves. When you believe in your dignity, or at least someone else does, it becomes more difficult to remain content with the bondage with which you have become so acquainted. You begin to wonder what you were meant for.

So, beloveds: what were we meant for? The wildest dreams of our spiritual ancestors could not have brought us here, and our wildest dreams may never take us where we need to be, but we are going to keep dreaming anyway, keep growing and shifting and trying again. We have a theological mandate for liberation, for worthiness, for honoring our true selves. We believe in our own dignity, and the dignity of others.

We are meant for liberation, for joy, for celebration. We are meant for justice, for compassion, for community. We—Unitarian Universalists, the Church of the Larger Fellowship, our free world and incarcerated and global members—we are meant for all of this, and more. So let us live into it, let us make these moves, let us believe deeply in liberation and act as though we do.

Aisha, Christina, Michael: the search committee chose you, the Board affirmed you, and today the members of the CLF install you, as our Lead Ministry Team, all because we trust your dreams for the future of this congregation and this denomination. This is a time for big dreams, for throwing open our arms and saying come, you have a place here.

But we cannot simply celebrate your dreams and leave you to fulfill them. We will follow your lead, yes, but we — members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, and Unitarian Universalists throughout the denomination — we are also going to do this work alongside you. We must — that is the only way it can get done. Not because we don’t trust you to get it done — if I trusted any three people to make it happen, it surely would be the three of you — but because the work of liberation is collaborative, and is going to take all of us to fulfill it. Liberation is the work of community, of relationship, of coming together.

So beloveds — lead ministry team, CLF members, Unitarian Universalists — this is our time. Let us meet this moment, collaborate, and take a giant leap into together the belief that liberation is necessary, and possible, and that we all have a role to play.

Let’s create a world of justice and liberation now, together.

May it be so.

How do you cultivate awe and wonder in your life?

JOSEPH
CLF Member, incarcerated in NC

How do I cultivate awe and wonder in my life? These are actually byproducts of daily observations of my surroundings, and doing a mental or physical gratitude checklist. If I remain mindful of the many blessings and miracles of seemingly ordinary life, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

For instance, every person, animal, insect, plant, mineral, atom, and subatomic particle has a purpose. That is an awesome wonder. Also, looking into the daytime sky, one sees the clouds floating by on the sun, giving life and warmth. And at night, we see the stars and the moon, luna in all her glory. How can we view these things without being awestruck? Even though at the moment I am deprived of these experiences, I still have the vivid memories that can not be taken away, and they will suffice until I am released and able to soak in the day and night sky without restriction.

Think about the human body and all its functions. The breath, the heartbeat, the blood stream. What a truly awesome, wondrous creation. Think about the miracle of the moment, right now, breathing, blood flow, consciousness, the mind, thoughts, memories, life. The knower that witnesses these things. The awesome power of love and compassion that can destroy hate and violence.

When I mentally or physically write a gratitude list, I feel wonder that I am even still alive to write it. I am in awe and wonder that I received this chance to start over, and enjoy the things in life that I had forgotten I enjoyed.

I pray that I will continue to be content with what I have right now, and have the desire and enthusiasm to keep doing the next right thing, making the next right choice.

ULTRA-Violet
CLF Member, incarcerated in FL

Awe here goes. How do I cultivate it? To prepare land for the praising of crops. To not only prepare the land that is my soul, for the production, experience and recurrence of awe, but to also both improve upon and develop by careful attention, training and study, a life which is awestruck.

Hmm… That’s an awesome question. An awfully intriguing notion; I find myself compelled to contemplation, of which I shall here expound upon. Awe here goes.

Homage, spectacular wonder and a smidge of fear, simultaneously felt in one moment or experience. That’s awe.

I think back to when I was a child. When this kaleidoscope of an emotion was more frequent, more common, yet no less powerful, yet no less enchanting.

We grow up and lose something, don’t we? We forget how to play with reckless abandon. Our imaginations lose their zeal. Our sense of wonder abates.

Why?? How??

Questions I pray liberate your mind and soul, should you find your answers.

As a child I knew. The world (contemporary society) tried to teach me otherwise, but I refused. My spirit rebuked their soul siphoning psychologically crippling delusional doctrine.

As an adult, my path of enlightenment which taught me to “empty thy cup,” has only strengthened my resolve. Preserving the purity, in which awe has so firmly taken its roots.

I still play in the mound of snow left by the plow trucks on the side of the road like a 5-year-old child (pretend bad guy sound effects and all).

After much theological, theoretical and politically correct intellectual discourse, I still imagine what could be, with awe for its potential fruition.

I daydream absurdities, fantasies and abstractions. So vividly creating alternate dimensions, to which I teleport often.

My cup ever empty, I wonder still of aliens, of outer space, of why they say animals don’t have free will. I wonder how orangutans figured out how to make boats and go fishing (yes! Orangutans make boats and go fishing). Did they learn from us or did we learn from them? I wonder how scientists and zoologists figured out that dolphins recognize their reflection.

I ponder why in this age of scientific advancements, where astrophysicists and astronomers can tell us of distant galaxies, suns and planets; their orbit, chemical and elemental composition, temperature and weather conditions and every minute details literally down to the core.

But I can’t go online or to the library and get a surface picture of the terrain of a single planet in this solar system (and I don’t mean the computer generated photos NASA loves to so factitiously parade). Yes, how could one not wonder…

Thus I prepare the land that is my soul for the resurrection of awe. To both improve upon and diligently develop, an existence which is auspiciously awestruck.

With homage, spectacular wonder and a smidge of fear, I stand at the cusp of a rabbit hold called life. And with honor strong, un-defiled amazement and a bit of fright, I smile like a child and dive headlong, awe here goes awe right.

One of the spiritual joys a religious professional receives is their installation to the congregation to which they’ve been called. Michael, Aisha, and I were called to be your Lead Ministry Team in 2020 and immediately knew that we wanted our installation to be at General Assembly (GA), not just because it is one of the only opportunities for CLF members to be together in person, but also to be able to share the spirit of our collaborative ministry leadership. Happily, June 2022 saw us with the first fully hybrid virtual/in-person GA in Portland.

We invited a team of worship leaders to dream with us about an installation around the topic of “A Theological Mandate of Liberation.” Saying yes to our invitation were:

Sermon: Rev. Aisha Ansano, CLF Board Chair

Music Director: Francisco Ruiz, Director of Music UU Long Beach

Chalice Lighting: CLF Board of Directors

Embodied Movement: Rev. Jessica Star Rockers, former CLF Learning Fellow

Voices of the Congregation: Lecretia Williams, Rev. Erien Babcock, and Rev. Dr. Althea Smith, CLF Learning Fellows reading the words of incarcerated UUs

Presentation of Stoles: Julica Hermann de la Fuente, CLF Board member

For those who have internet access, a video recording of the installation can be found here. We were moved to laughter and tears throughout the service. We appreciated how every celebrant wove our unique religious professional identities throughout the service. The embodied ritual gave us roots and wings and the music was FIRE!

 

 

An installation gives the called religious community an opportunity to reflect on itself and its future. We hope this installation gives you a sense of our shared calling to ministry and our shared Theological Mandate of Liberation. To quote our sermonator Rev. Ansano quoting Cole Arthur Riley, writer and poet:

Our liberation begins with the irrevocable belief that we are worthy to be liberated, that we are worthy of a life that does not degrade us but honors our whole selves. When you believe in your dignity, or at least someone else does, it becomes more difficult to remain content with the bondage with which you have become so acquainted. You begin to wonder what you were meant for.

 

 

Timothy
CLF member, incarcerated in NY

I was walking in the yard.
He looked like a mob enforcer — probably because he was.
I’d seen him often, fierce and intimidating. We never spoke.
He was looking up. I turned to see a rainbow.
“You have to search for beauty. There is none here in prison.”
“Is that a double rainbow forming?”
“Yes, they are rare.”
“Gorgeous.”
We watched with reverence. It faded away too soon.
“As a kid I’d run out after a rain to look for a rainbow.”
“Did you find many?”
“No. Almost never. But I kept trying.”
“Looking for beauty is always worthwhile.”
We continued talking.
Sharing awe made us humble,
dissolving barriers,
allowing us to act like old friends.
It was beautiful.