Social Justice Council Meeting, 9/17/19

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Attending: Betty Van Gheluwe, Rob Ham, Marni Odermann, Don Stepich, Tess Veto, Jim Bigelow
Agenda:

  • Opening words from Satyana’s Principles of Spiritual Activism, courtesy of Sue Philley
    • Transformation of motivation
      • from anger/fear/despair to compassion/love/purpose
    • Non-attachment to outcomes
    • Integrity in means and ends
      • Integrity is your protection
    • Don’t demonize your adversaries
      • love thy enemy or at least have compassion for them
    • Your work is for the world, not for you
  • Review Building Bridges for Social Justice workshop
    • Evaluations —  good to very good
    • What worked, what could be improved.
      • tight on time for what we wanted to do
      • do this annually, perhaps even twice yearly
        • August is good
        • Feb would be great 
        • decided to have 2 workshops,
          • dates in August & Feb not set.
      • Missed the pride team
      • Would be nice to have grub hub
        • Shari Tish could be much too busy, perhaps somebody else on the team could come.
      • Would be nice to have someone from ebt which is a manifestation of a larger food justice area.  Would like to have someone who’s part of the council with a focus on food justice. 
  • develop a yearly plan & priorities
    • reviewed the Social Justice Calendar that came out of the Building Bridges for Social Justice workshop
      • Jim added dates for Social Justice Council activities
        • Fall social justice resolution vote
        • Spring Plate Partner nomination and voting
    • planning in the spring for a fall social justice workshop
      • kick off this in the Feb sj workshop
    • Dec 17th social justice soiree 
      • reserve $80, and make it a pot luck as it was last year
    • Social Justice Fair on a Sunday service
      • Tess, would like it to be after the SJC has pruned the list of nominees and before the voting
      • Tess will  see if a service is already planned and get it on our calendar
  • discuss a budget for year for the 2019-2020 program year
    • Request by Climate Action Team for funds for a banner, $200?
      • request withdrawn 
    • Refugee & Immigration: $210
      • Supporting the Refugee/Immigrant Ministry’s scholarships for Immigration Celebration Day – $60 
      • $150 for Immigration Celebration day speaker
    • This year’s budget is approx $850
      • $640 available after accounting for funds already allocated
        • reserve $80 for a December Social Justice appreciation party
      • keep grants under 100
        • approximately 6 or 7 grants available 
  • discuss moving the standing meeting to 4th Tuesday of the month
    • moving the standing meeting to the first Tuesday of the month.
    • Keep the December party on the 17th.
  • Resolutions and fall voting
    • Racial Justice Ministry’s Social Justice Resolution on Dismantling Racism
      • passed by voice vote
    • Social Justice Resolution on Public Education, Religious Liberty, the Separation of Church and State and Reproductive Justice
      • This is not focused enough and does not capture the social justice energy of the congregation
      • widthdrawn
    • Refugee and Immigrants Ministry working on resolution to address the humanitarian, amoral, and possibly illegal handling of central american refugee at the southern US border.
      • They have set Oct 8 as their deadline for complete 
    • timeline: 
      • June – August:  develop a resolution in response to things such as timely issues, UUA statements of conscience and discussions at the GA.
      • September: work with the Social Justice Council to get agreement on    purpose, scope, wording and intent of the resolution, 
      • Oct 8 -27: alert people who are concerned and want to discuss
      • October 27, 1pm : Social Justice Council hosts a congregation wide discussion    
        • October 1st meeting will work out the logistics
      • November: Final wording of  resolution(s) is delivered to the Board
      • December: Two weeks of absentee balloting on the resolutions
  • Round Table
    • Tess — Rev Sara wants us to know about and hopefully attend the Collective Thriving Conference – Re-imagining communities where everyone is valued, everyone is safe, and everyone can thrive.  Dec 4 -5 at BSU.
    • Racial Justice Ministry
      • busy mapping out the program year
    • Refugee/Immigrant Ministry
      • Immigration Celebration Day this Sunday. 
      • Asylum seekers have put in an $8,000 grant request to the UUA Funding
    • Climate Action Team
      • Youth Climate Strike aFriday the 20th and continuing efforts through out the year
    • Pride 
      • the pride team is in flux
      • hope to get team together in Oct. and revitalize efforts
  • Next meeting: Oct 1, 2019 at 6pm, location TBD
  • Closing words:As we leave this place, we carry forth the common dream:  Homes and schools where children thrive,  Neighborhoods that are safe and clean,  An economy where no one is expendable,  A beloved community where rich and poor alike have access to the     opportunity for a dignified and productive life,Turning our thoughts toward charity, Our hearts toward justice, And our hands toward the work of peace.