SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWSLETTER
Upcoming Events |
| Wednesday, January 14 — |
Interfaith Vigil Organized by New Sanctuary Movement (NSM)
12 Noon, Philadelphia ICE Office, 114 N. 8th Street
Please join our UU sibling First U to bear witness and stand in solidarity with immigrant communities. “Dress warmly and come ready to sing, pray/contemplate, hold in the light our neighbors and community members who have been detained, and call for the radical transformation of ICE agents and officials.”
| Wednesday, January 14 & Tuesday, January 20 — |
Governor Shapiro’s Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs’ Virtual Town Hall: LGBTQ+ Youth - What do you want the Governor to Know?
Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs invites the community to participate in a series of listening sessions. In the last year, the commission has engaged with LGBTQ Pennsylvanians with a variety of listening sessions with LGBT Centers, Gender Affirming Care providers, Rural Trans folks, and more. The needs of Pennsylvanians were brought directly to the Governor’s office.
The sessions are open to Pennsylvanians who identify with LGBTQ+ youth. These sessions are virtual on Microsoft Teams. These conversations are important, and we want to prioritize people with lived experiences on these calls.
Please share with your networks and RSVP
| Friday, January 16 — |
New Sanctuary Movement (NSM) Accompaniment Training Program
For the (Undocumented) Accompaniment Program, NSM asks that volunteers be available at least one day a week, typically between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Please note that accompaniment requests may come on short notice and vary week to week, as we respond to individuals’ needs rather than a fixed schedule.
If you are interested in this training, please contact Laurie D, 215-514-7955, for access to the training link.
| Saturday, January 17 — |
Telling Our Stories: Healing Wounds of Racism, Building Beloved Community. Creating Common Cause,
4th/Final Interactive Session of 4
2 to 4:30pm, St. Alban’s, Newtown Square,
3625 Chapel Rd, Newtown Square, PA 19073
In the 4th of 4 interactive sessions of theater and discussion, participants see themselves in one another’s stories of race and racism as they are brought to life on stage. The final performance will be for everyone to share their stories and experiences of resisting and healing from racism. This performance will also focus on how we all work together, in solidarity, to dismantle systemic racism and White supremacy. Tickets cost $15 per person or $50 for a group of 5 or more. Financial assistance is available. Email diopaarc@gmail.com.
| Sunday, January 18 — |
Community Film Series: Sugarcane
In observance of Martin Luther King Day, please join UUs and others around Philly for this documentary of a groundbreaking investigation into an Indian residential school. This urgent and timely film brings the hidden story of cultural genocide to light while celebrating the resilience of Native people as they work to overcome cycles of intergenerational trauma.
| Monday, January 19 — |
Special ICE Walk & Interfaith Vigil Organized by Sen. Art Haywood
11am - Prayer and singing at the Immigration Court, 900 Market Street11:30am to 12 Noon - Walk to ICE Office (about 4 blocks away) 114 N. 8th Street
12 Noon to 12:30p - Closing remarks and songs
Sen. Art Haywood and interfaith clergy are planning this larger ICE vigil and walk on Martin Luther King Day. A fitting way to pay homage to Dr. King's life and his admonition that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Please attend and encourage members of your congregations and groups to participate.
UUs of Mt. Airy MLK Sponsored Event
Return of Rev. Margaret Ernst, speaking at 1:00 pm at our Congregation on legacies of colonialism and solidarity between movements for liberation.USG MLK “Day” of Service Events
Unitarian Society of Germantown invites us to join their 29th annual Day of Service Event, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of providing service to your community NOW through Monday, January 19, 2026. There are a variety of ways you can participate and make an impact on the 20 organizations and their communities we’re serving this year.Sign up here
| Monday January 19, 1:30pm - 3:00pm — |
The Rev. Margaret Ann Earnst Workshop at UU Mt Airy
"Racism, Materialism, Militarism: Resisting The Three Evils”
Rev. Margaret Ernst (she/they) is a community organizer living on Susquehannock and Lenape land in Lancaster, PA and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She has organized for racial and economic justice in Philadelphia with POWER Interfaith, built sanctuary networks and rapid response against ICE in Tennessee, and is a co-founder of Christians for a Free Palestine.
In the past two years, she has dedicated her life to helping to build CFP, an ecumenical, grassroots, nonviolent movement dedicated to mobilizing Christians across the U.S. to take action in solidarity with Palestinians.
Collectively, CFP seeks to end the genocide in Gaza and ensure a long-lasting, just, and sustainable peace for Palestinians and Israelis. Rev. Margaret will share lessons from her experiences in leadership in CFP, and make connections between combatting White Christian Nationalism, Christian Zionism, and US. Colonialism on Turtle Island. In all these contexts across time, the thread is Christian Supremacy: when religion -- Christianity specifically -- is used as a weapon for empire, conquest, and violence. How can we unite these struggles against Christian supremacy, using the gifts, wisdom, and spiritual practices of our religious and ethical traditions as resources? Join us to find out more.
Light refreshments available. Program runs about 90 minutes.
Part of "Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk: UU Justice Weekend"
| Saturday, January 24: 1-3pm — |
| Tuesday, January 27 — |
Northwest Immigration Network (N-WIN) Meeting
3:30pm St. Martin in the Fields, 8000 St. Martins Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118
| Sunday, February 1 — |
Power Philadelphia City-Wide Assembly on Affordability
3:30-6:30pm
Join POWER Philadelphia and 40+ congregations for an assembly of people of faith concerned with affordability and cost of living in our city. We are organizing to build relationships, meet with elected officials, discuss solutions, and strategize as to how we will build people power to make our city work for us.
| Wednesday, February 4 — |
An Evening with Gili Getz - Israeli-American Photojournalist and Peace Activist …Recommended by Voices from the Heart
Congregation Mishkan Shalom, 4101 Freeland Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19128
Pre-Registration Required
Suggested Donation: $18 to $108
| Every Monday Morning — |
Prayer Vigil at ICE Field Headquarters
PA Senator Art Haywood + Community Partners
Join PA State Senator Art Haywood and community partners in a prayer
vigil at ICE Field Headquarters on Monday mornings. The vigils are intended
to bring public awareness to the cruelty of ICE raids, detentions, and
deportations. These vigils are a “Call to Conscience,” and are peaceful, prayer
-centered gatherings, not acts of civil disobedience. Participants will engage
in readings, prayers, and singing. All are welcome.
| Weekly on Wednesdays — |
We the People Wednesdays is a weekly event combining community singing, educational presentations about threats to our democracy, and successes in fighting those threats, along with simple actions anyone can take to stand against tyranny. Join in at 5:3pm every Wednesday at 6900 Stenton Avenue, Mt. Airy.
We the People Website | Email | Instagram | Facebook
| First Monday of Each Month — |
Action Hour Mondays on Zoom
Join us for “Action Hour Mondays,” held on the first Monday of each month from noon to 1:00pm on Zoom: where “our community and advocacy partners come together to advance justice in the Commonwealth and experience the joy and power of community.”News & Information |
LGBTQIA+ Justice Is UU Justice — Help Us Meet the Moment
As Unitarian Universalists, our commitment to the dignity and worth of every person calls us to act beyond our congregations — especially when LGBTQIA+ communities face increasing threats to safety, rights, and belonging. UUJusticePA is our statewide justice ministry, advocating in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania to defend LGBTQIA+ dignity, oppose discriminatory legislation, and advance inclusive, life-affirming public policy.As the year comes to a close, we invite you to Meet the Moment with a year-end gift that helps sustain this essential work into 2026.
There are many worthy causes this season.
If you want to support justice work rooted in UU values — and active right here in Pennsylvania — we invite you to give.
Make a year-end gift: bit.ly/UUJPADonate
Together, we can ensure love, dignity, and justice remain visible and defended in the public square.
Join us in supporting UUJusticePA’s “Meet the Moment” Annual Fund Drive. Your gift helps strengthen our statewide advocacy, protect voting rights, promote compassionate public policy, and ensures that UU values — compassion, justice, and love — ripple across Pennsylvania. Thank you for helping keep our UU advocacy arm strong in PA. Make a gift of any size today
UUJME Chapter Summarizes Its Activities in Report to Congregation
In a brief update designed to keep the congregation abreast of its
activities in September and October, the UUsMA/Justice Council
Chapter of Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
(UUJME) has posted a report on the Justice Council page of the
church’s website. The report covers the Empty Cups ritual alongside
UUsMA’s Water Communion in September to bring attention to the
UUJME Chapter Summarizes Its Activities in Report to Congregation
denial of water to Palestinians by the Netanyahu regime and discusses recent and upcoming programs.
To read the entire report, click here.
URDC Helps to Rebuild a Family’s Life
Urban Resources Development Council (URDC), the congregation’s September Change4Change recipient, has set up a GoFundMe page to support repairs to the home of Nicole L, an East Oak Lane single mom whose house was destroyed by a fire that spread from a neighbor’s house 2 years ago. Nicole and her family are housed in shelter facilities. URDC, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Face to Face Germantown, and volunteers will repair the roof, upstairs bedrooms, kitchen, foyer, and living room. Follow the link above to support the repair effort.
Justice Council Reveals Its New Mission Statement
Completing the process of identifying its focus and priorities that began with a congregation-wide retreat in January, UUs of Mt. Airy’s Justice Council has revealed its new mission statement. The statement, which will help to guide Justice Council programs and activities, follows below:“Unitarian Universalists of Mt. Airy are committed to anti-racism and anti-oppression and broader social justice* efforts to create systems and structures that help everyone thrive and be whole.
The Mission of our Justice Council is to empower our congregation to identify justice* issues for evaluation, prioritization, and action, and to hold ourselves responsible for the outcomes of our work. We strive to build partnerships with our neighbors to dismantle the systems at the root of societal injustice and to build Beloved Community meeting urgent human needs in our community.
To ground our social justice work, we will strive to trust and listen to the voices of those who have been and continue to be harmed by injustice. We will value and follow their guidance on our path to healing actions and hold ourselves responsible to them.
Our work is rooted in UU spirituality, principles, and values".
* Social Justice issues including: economic equality, reproductive rights, LGBTQiA rights, climate justice and human rights for all.
Change for Change Guidelines, Nomination Process, and Form:
Revised 12/3/24 (CS)
Guidelines: We will select organizations led by and primarily serving Black, Indigenous and other People of Color
(BIPOC) in our surrounding community* as well as periodic, special projects from UUA associated
organizations, such as Side with Love, UU Service Committee, UUTheVote and UU Ministry for the
Earth, that reflect our congregational values and interests in promoting justice.* Community defined as Germantown, Mt. Airy and other NW Philadelphia neighborhoods.
Complete the form below as part of nominating an organization for an upcoming month’s Change for Change (C4C) offering and submit to Justice Council (JC) co-chairs. Their names are listed under the "Justice Council" link near the bottom of this webpage. They will share it with JC members a week prior to the next monthly JC meeting.
- For the C4C Newsletter description write a draft of no more than 150 words. Include a reference to who the agency serves, which NW Philly neighborhoods it serves and the organization’s website. See prior UUsMA newsletters for a model of this.
- Provide a draft C4C offering description based on the newsletter description to be used in Sunday worship Order of Service (OOS) bulletin and the slide projected on the sanctuary screen during the Offering. Length: approximately 75 words.
- Indicate that you have confirmed with the agency is a tax exempt, 501-c-3 agency or has a tax exempt fiscal agent or sponsoring organization
- Provide organization contact name and the person and mailing address that UUsMAs bank will send a check for the month’s C4C contributions,
- Finally, please explain briefly why you submitted this organization for our C4C financial support and ways UUsMA members can possibly volunteer with or otherwise support or participate in the organizations work.
Reparations Town Hall Meeting Documents
(December 13, 2024) Following a social justice themed worship service Members of our congregation who have been focusing on issues related to Reparations shared their past and ongoing work in this area. Thanks to everyone who presented and who attended the meeting. We will continue to document our work as it continues. For those interested in work on reparations who were unable to attend the meeting, here are some resources that frame the congregation’s work from before its founding in 1820 to the present.
- Timeline of our congregation and related congregations and organizations from about 1800.
- 2-page short summary of our history with respect to racial justice
- Updated long summary of our history with regard to racial justice. Many thanks to member Jim W for amending the historical record.
- Building a Culture of Reparations — Cynthia B
Resources for Getting Through
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and several of its affiliated groups offer newsletters and action alerts specifically to keep UUs interested in social justice work informed on the issues of the day and individual and collective actions that one can take. Listed below are several UU, and other, affiliates and links to learn more about their work.- Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice (UUSJ):
UU Advocacy in the Nation’s Capital “With the active participation of our individual and congregational members, UUSJ works to help our Federal Government adhere to the practice of democracy and the dignity of all people—and other principles that we UUs hold dear. Today, our work is more important than ever to defend our democracy through advocating for fair elections; for racial, economic, and environmental justice; and stand as allies with marginalized and disfranchised people.” Sign up for monthly newsletter and action alerts.
- Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME):
Founded in 1971, UUJME is a UUA-related social justice organization of education and advocacy siding with love with the people of Palestine-Israel. UUJME “work(s) within the Unitarian Universalist community to educate and mobilize individuals, congregations, and denominational leaders to recognize and counter inequality and injustice in Palestine-Israel and to support our allies in the global justice and anti-oppression movements. Sign up for e-news and alerts.
- UUJusticePA :
“UUJusticePA is working for real change for real people. Our members help sustain the fight for justice for all in Pennsylvania. We hope you’ll consider joining or donating today. We also invite you to sign up for our FREE email list, which will provide you with Action Alerts, social justice news, and other vital information — at NO cost.” Get on our FREE Email List
- Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC):
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization advancing human rights together with an international community of grassroots partners and advocates. We focus our work on intersecting roots of injustice to defend rights at risk due to criminalization and systemic oppression of people based on their identity. We support self-determination and defend the rights of people displaced due to climate, conflict or economic hardships; and we respond to humanitarian crises as partners with people whose access to aid is most limited.
- American Friends Service Committee (AFSC):
AFSC works for a just, peaceful, and sustainable world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. We join with people and partners worldwide to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light of each person, AFSC works with people of all faiths and backgrounds to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace.
