Denominational Affairs

From Rev. Terry Sweetser of the UUA: As we look forward to the New Year, many of us are considering our resolutions for 2013. What will yours be? Here are some fun ideas for your New Years resolutions that reflect our seven principles!  

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
   Promise to Stand on the Side of Love by participating in this year's 30 Days of Love. Get your congregation involved by joining in "Share the Love" Sunday!  
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
   Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision and the 50th anniversary of the Unitarian Universalist Association's resolution in support of reproductive choice. Take action by downloading our reproductive justice curriculum or congregational handbook or by lobbying your representatives in congress!
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
   Further your own spiritual growth by participating in a religious education class (perhaps one using the UUA's online religious curricula, Tapestry of Faith). Or find readings, meditations, music, and worship resources on the Worship Web.
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
   Search for your own truth by reading great books about social justice, history, theology, and more from Beacon Press and Skinner House, available through the UUA bookstore.
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
   Come to General Assembly 2013 in Louisville to participate in the business of our Association or particpate in advance by encouraging your congregation to vote in congregational polls.
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
   Promote world community traveling on a service learning trip with the UU College of Social Justice! Registration is still open for upcoming trips to Haiti, Guatemala, and the U.S./Mexico border.
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
   Encourage your congregation to take part in the Green Sanctuary program or visit UUA.org to find resources on social witness for environmental justice

Gifts to the UUA support these resources and programs. You may Donate online

MDD & UUA Events

The first Pacific Western Region meeting is April 26-28, in San Jose, California. Having lived in San Jose, I know it can be beautiful in April. There will be excellent programming, our district business meeting, and a candidate forum for the UUA Moderator candidates. The keynote speaker is Rev. Christine Robinson, senior minister of the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, who has also spoken in our pulpit. Information can be found at www.pwruua.org, or you can click on the Pacific Western Region box on the www.mdduua.orgweb site. UUCSF can send delegates to the business meeting, and we hope we have people interested. If you wish to be a delegate, please let me know. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 438-4382.

Get ready for GA. One of the two candidates for UUA Moderator will be elected at General Assembly in June, in Louisville, Kentucky. I encourage all of you to take a look at the candidates forum that was held last year at General Assembly. It can be found at www.uua.org/ga/past/2012/business/ 20038:shtml. I have personally given my endorsement to Jim Key. I not only know him from serving with him on the District Presidents Association, but having seen two candidates forums thus far, and having spoken directly with each candidate, I find Jim to be the most qualified. I hope you will agree with me and that we will have delegates for General Assembly this year, as well as the Regional Gathering.

Marcia Bowman

‘Justice General Assembly’ 

Justice General Assembly in Phoenix was phenomenal! For any of you who missed the service where the attendees spoke of their experience, suffice it to say that it was transformative and powerful. You will continue to hear from the pulpit and/or the Social Justice Committee of pieces that came out of General Assembly, including the Doctrine of Discovery, the new study action issue of Reproductive Justice, and action items on immigration justice.

If you missed the Justice GA you may still watching several programs on the UUA General Assembly website.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Newsletter for February. 

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a nonsectarian organization that advances human rights and social justice in the United States and around the world. You can find out much more about UUSC on their website and you may sign up to get updates on the programs and actions the service committee sponsors. Check it out. A major program of the UUSC is:

"Choosing Compassionate Consumption"

Pledge to aligning your purchases more closely with your values, affirm that you care about how the goods you buy and services you patronize measure up when it comes to respecting workers' rights.

Because of pledges by members UUSC was able to help our partner the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United) to send a strong message that we will not rest until restaurant workers are paid a decent wage and treated fairly.

ROC-United has spent more than a decade organizing workers in the restaurant industry across lines of race, gender, and class, and today has a presence in 19 cities across the country. There's a unique opportunity for consumers to get involved as never before, to create the demand for restaurants to treat their workers as well as they treat their customers.

If you haven't viewed it already, we recommend watching the Behind the Kitchen Door trailer, and we hope you'll read the book when it's released on February 13, 2013 (in honor of the $2.13 per hour tipped minimum wage). Through this book, and some other exciting multimedia projects, we're inviting you to help us raise the consciousness of communities across the country, to infuse awareness of labor rights into the mainstream.

Since our main policy priority is to raise the tipped minimum wage that has been stuck at $2.13 since 1991 — leaving many restaurant workers, especially women, in poverty — alongside our partners ROC-United and Let Justice Roll, we'll continue to push Congress to give a raise to all minimum-wage workers."