Social Justice at UUSF
Commitment to social justice is central to Unitarian-Universalism. Seven Principles guide our faith and compel us to act with the belief that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. Denominationally, our justice efforts include education for the congregation or the community, service, advocacy, witnessing, and community organizing.
HOW WE CHOOSE WHERE TO FOCUS OUR ATTENTION
In a world filled with injustice—with individuals and groups denied basic human rights and opportunities because of their race, their income status, their gender, their sexual orientation, their age, their religious or political beliefs, where they live, or other factors—how do we choose where to focus our attention and efforts? At UUSF, our choices come about through the interplay of three factors:
01
Our ministerial team and lay leadership highlight and promote areas of focus based on what we see in the wider community and world and what we hear from our congregants.
02
Congregants, either singly or in a group, adopt an issue that holds personal meaning, begin working on it, and draw the broader congregation in.
03
Others in the local community ask for our help.
Major Areas of Focus
What we work on, where we devote our time and resources, shifts over time. Currently, much of our work falls into three buckets, with some overlap among the buckets.
Other Social Justice Work at UUSF
1
Share the Plate
Each Sunday, fifty percent of the non-pledge collections at our church are donated to a local, regional or global non-profit organization, selected on a monthly basis, that does work in keeping with our UU Principles.
2
SouthCoast Progressive Voices
SCPV is an occasional speaker series addressing local, regional, and national issues of broad public interest to educate and prompt action. Sessions are either in person or online. SCPV events are always publicized in church communications and on our UUSF Facebook page.
3
Citizens for Economic Justice
CEJ, a group comprised of congregants and others, partners with other organizations, like American Promise, to address a widening gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” in American society and the role of unfettered big money in American politics.
5
Holiday Hope
At Christmastime, the church annually helps one or more needy families, often in conjunction with the New Bedford office of Child and Family Services, Inc. Congregants purchase gifts for family members from a “wish list” as a way of brightening their holiday season. This is an intergenerational project that involves the children and youth of the church in sorting and wrapping presents.
6
Immigrant Support
We are committed to working with our immigrant neighbors, especially those who are undocumented or seeking formal asylum.
We have recently committed to sponsoring a local family’s bid to gain CAM parole status. The U.S. CAM refugee and parole program provides certain qualified children who are nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as certain family members of those children, an opportunity to apply for refugee status.
Community Partners
As a medium-sized congregation, we find that our efforts can be most impactful when we work in partnerships with others. The list below captures several community partners we’ve worked with, or whose messages we’ve amplified, in recent years. Because our work brings us into many local orbits, this list is not intended to be exhaustive.
Community Economic Development Center
Episcopal City Mission
Climate Reality Project
The LGBTQ+ Network
Coalition for Social Justice
YWACA SouthCoast
