| | Dear Friend, What do you see when you imagine a world with love at the center? For the past year, we have been returning to this question as we examine the roots of our call to justice, and the impact we know Unitarian Universalism can have on our world. And the Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California – YOUR Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California – is committed to living out our impact to the fullest extent. We are not only here to help you fight against injustice - we are also here to support you create the world we are fighting for. This year has been an exciting period of transition and possibility. When Rev. Ranwa Hammamy began their service as UUJMCA’s Executive Director in January, we were already offering year-round education, advocacy, and witness opportunities for Unitarian Universalists across the state of California. Under Rev. Ranwa’s leadership, we have continued to create spaces for UU and UU-aligned justice makers to connect, collaborate, and deepen their faith as we move together towards collective liberation. | | | | In the face of hateful rhetoric and racism at the national level, we have continued to fight for love, equity, and welcome in our state, and we have made an impact. | | Working alongside our partners in immigrant and immigration justice, UUJMCA and UUs around California advocated for much needed legislation at the Capitol. With your support, we were able to achieve the passage of Assembly Bill 32 – which will end the use of private prisons in the state by January 2028, moving us a step closer to ending mass incarceration and detention in California. And we remain committed to continuing to work as accountable partners in advancing justice through legislative advocacy and witness, with over 40 UUs participating in this year’s Immigrant Day at the Capitol alongside the California Immigrant Policy Center, and forging new relationships with organizers at the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Our relationships with these and other organizations keeps Unitarian Universalists responsibly-engaged in immigrant-led, statewide advocacy to achieve #Health4All and to get #ICEOutOfCalifornia. | | | | Our work to support California UUs to be trained, effective, inspiring, and connected justice leaders has also grown. This year, we not only continued but expanded our Regional Justice Training Program, providing California UUs with opportunities to connect, collaborate, and create in Davis, Ventura, San Diego County, and Orange County. This year’s trainings included a new Friday evening dinner and spiritual grounding opportunity, where attendees were invited to imagine together what it would look like to have a "world with love at the center." In partnership with organizers from Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services & Education and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, UUJMCA led over 100 Unitarian Universalists in connecting not only to what we are fighting against, but also more collaboratively and deeply connecting us to the world that we are fighting for. With these trainings, California UUs learned an expanded definition of justice ministry, recognizing the range of “justice superpowers” they and their communities already bring to the table as they cultivate sustainable and engaged grassroots leadership. | | | | 2019 also saw the seventh UUJMCA Justice Leadership Summit at Camp de Bennville Pines, this year titled “Turning the Tides.” Nearly 50 Unitarian Universalists came together for three and a half days, building community, strengthening our resilience, and reconnecting our faith to our work for justice. With workshops on topics such as artivism, accountable partnerships, young adult leadership, ancestors in justice, as well as daily worships, "Turning the Tides" was one of our most powerful leadership summits yet! | |  | The impact of this gathering was so significant, we are bringing back "Turning the Tides" August 2-6, 2020! Save the date for this intergenerational and family-friendly justice immersion, in collaboration with the UU Justice Arizona Network and the UUA's #UUtheVote Campaign! | | | | | | Our UUBorders program continues to take UUs on a justice journey around immigration issues from the other side of the border, connecting with impacted communities and learning ways to take action back home. In the spring of 2020, we are excited to embark on a new partnership with the Starr King School for the Ministry, supporting an immersion course for seminarians on the realities of forced migration, led by Starr King faculty and UUJMCA staff. | |  | | And we are excited to share that out of the connected community cultivated at our Justice Leadership Summit and Regional Justice Trainings, we have a new Climate Justice Action Team! Led by volunteers like you, the team is committed to raising the public presence of UUs in California organizing for climate and environmental justice. The momentum behind our climate justice ministry grew this fall, when over 60 UUs attended UUJMCA's Climate Justice Summit in October. As we continue to honor the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a morally responsible part, we remain committed to our partnerships with directly-impacted communities who are calling on all of us to share the work of our collective liberation. You can learn more and connect with this growing team today! | | | | And now we have the opportunity to live into our mission more deeply, by expanding and supporting the leadership of young adults engaged in faith-rooted justice. | | | | This August, we hired Mx. Maddie Tuning to serve as the Coordinator for our revived Spiritual Activists Leading Together (SALT) program, which provides mentorship, leadership development, and faith-rooted organizing support to young adults in an accessible, yearlong program. Maddie has a strong background in UU community-building and organizing in youth spaces, and we are excited to have them lead the revival of the SALT program. With your financial support, we plan to begin our next SALT group in the Fall of 2020. You can learn more about the SALT Program and get interested young adults connected by visiting uujmca.org/SALT or emailing us. | | | | Our mission is critical, and our work makes a world of difference. | | From our beginnings organizing for marriage equality and the Human Right to Water, to our latest efforts to achieve #Health4All and to #AbolishICE – UUJMCA has played a powerful, essential, and reliable role in bringing a faith-rooted voice to the work of justice in California. We know the immense power that an uprising of UUs can have. That is why at all of our programs this year, we reminded ourselves that the love of Unitarian Universalism doesn't just resist oppression. The love of Unitarian Universalism also creates liberation. | | | | UUJMCA is known as a visible and credible partner in justice – we show when we are called upon and bring a faith-rooted commitment to justice. Whether through lobby days, witness events, testimonies before boards and commissions or through coordinated petition and outreach efforts, UUJMCA is a trusted and accountable leader in the movement to transform our world. | | Help us continue that leadership. Help us continue that transformation. | | UUJMCA is committed to creating collaborative, collective, and accountable justice rooted in our UU values. But we cannot do it without your support. Your faithful act of financial support is essential to that vision of a statewide uprising of Unitarian Universalists. Your faithful act of financial support will strengthen and sustain the grassroots power that California UUs already have in the state, by helping us connect and collaborate more effectively. Will you please make an end of year, tax-deductible gift to support the UU Justice Ministry of California? We are entering a phase of possibility and growth in our organization – with new programming, volunteers, and staff leadership. As President of UUJMCA, I have great hopes for the future of this world and the work this organization can do to make those hopes a reality. We need your support to get our work for collective liberation in 2020 off to a great start. The vast majority of our funding comes from Unitarian Universalists like you – faithful individuals who know that love must transform our world. | | | | Your donation – yesterday, today, and tomorrow – makes a difference. Your support matters. Thank you for being part of the UUJMCA family and for answering the call to create collective liberation – in California and our world. | | | | In faith, justice, and gratitude Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford, Board President UU Justice Ministry of California | | | | | | | | 1731 Howe Ave | Sacramento, California 95825
Question? Email us at info@uujmca.org or call 9164410018 | | | | | | | | | | | |
