Social Justice
For many the religious life focuses in several directions simultaneously. We come to church for internal reflection, insights, enlightenment, and growth. In religious community, we also seek inspiration for external connections to all life on this planet and to Mother Earth. Each person in our religious communities probably engages in some balance of this dual quest for spiritual growth.
These multiple dimensions of religious life also manifest in congregational identity and congregational engagement. Involvement in justice-making in the world can strongly define and solidify congregational mission and purpose. Persons of liberal faith are called to radical work in the world . We are also called to protect Mother Earth. We engage in outreach grounded in our identities as people of liberal faith. That is, while any justice work in the world is also political or social in nature, it is important to remember the spiritual grounding as we strive to improve the quality of life on this planet. The words of Rev. Richard Gilbert call us to remember that our work in the world is our ‘prophetic imperative.’
Just as the focus of the religious life has an inward and an outward direction, the benefits of social justice work also run in two directions. Obviously justice work benefits people and life beyond the membership of our congregations. In turn, what we sometimes forget is that taking our liberal religious voice into the world also benefits our congregations. Any new endeavors, new activities, new interactions with people which we experience when we go outside our church walls offers the potential to change us. When we come back in, we return a little or a lot different. Therefore, social justice work can be an important part of transitioning ministry. Our presence in the world offers an additional benefit in that we probably interact with persons not part of our congregations, thus spreading the word about Unitarian Universalism throughout our communities and thus attracting visitors to our congregations.
As a transitioning minister, I promote social justice work from the pulpit, encouraging congregants to commit to some outreach on a regular basis. I myself also engage in as many hands-on activities as time and transitioning priorities allow, yet often internal transitioning needs take priority over presence in the civic arena. How much and what type of social and environmental justice work any given congregation can do depends somewhat on its size and also on demographics of the congregation. I hope any congregation I serve has a social action team to spearhead both individual and congregational involvement in outreach.
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The public arena in Lancaster: Protest over Gun Violence 2017; Women's March, Lancaster location 2017
I call each person in our congregations to engage in some social justice outreach on a regular basis, no matter the nature of our contributions: outdoors, on the pavements; or indoors from the comfort of our own computers, there are many ways to support projects. I try to keep congregations informed about current outreach promoted by the UUA: for example, to participate in the current Congregational Study Action Initiative and other projects promoted during General Assembly, or Black Lives Matter, or UU the Vote, critical in this swing state of Pennsylvania where I serve currently. My own particular interests and experience in social justice has been in environmental advocacy and reproductive rights (see photos of Supreme Court rally below), which I engage in as ministry allows: I am currently connected with Reproductive Rights through UUPLAN, the state UU legislative ministry in Pennsylvania. My participation in the UUA Living Legacy Project in Selma, Alabama, in March 2015 (see photos below) was one of the more moving experiences of my life: walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge forever changed my view of life. In the next year or two I also hope to become active in the Death with Dignity movement.
More Public Square in Lancaster: Supporting Lancaster Interfaith Coalition, 2019
White River Clean Up in Muncie, Fall 2021
“For those of us who want to see democracy survive and thrive
- and we are legion -
the heart is where everything begins:
that grounded place in each of us where we can overcome fear,
rediscover that we are members of one another,
and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy
as openings to new life for us and for our nation.”
- Parker Palmer