Social Action Opportunities

Check this page periodically for opportunities to serve others. If you have an opportunity to list, please contact our Social Action Coordinator Andrew Taylor.

Unitarian Universalist Statewide Forum on Immigrant Rights
Arlington Street Church, UU, in Boston from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Speakers from immigrant and immigrant rights organizations: Centro Presente and MA Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice. The award-winning 20 min. documentary “Detained” about the New Bedford ICE raid (Immigration & Custom Enforcement) will be shown.

Learn about Welcoming Massachusetts initiative, the New Sanctuary Movement, moratorium on ICE raids, immigration reform and what you and your congregation can do.

A Latino lunch will be provided. RSVP to Audra Friend; be sure to include the name of your congregation and your town/city and put “ Immigrant Rights Forum” in the subject line.

Gulf Coast Volunteers for the Long Haul
Helping people in the Gulf Coast region rebuild their homes, their neighborhoods, their communities and their lives for as long as it takes.

Upcoming trips for college students and adults
• Friday, May 16 to Friday, May 23: Come early and work on a KaBoom playground for our friends at the Sarah T. Reed Elementary School in a one-day build on Saturday, May 17
• Or, Monday, May 19 to Sunday, May 25 if you cannot come on May 16
• August 24 to August 30 .
• October 12 to October 18 (Columbus Day week)
• December 7 to December 13

Visit the group's new Web site.

A Sermon and Story Contest
Promise the Children announces a new and unique sermon-story contest. Three prizes will be awarded this year at General Assembly. One for a sermon given by an adult; the second for a sermon or portion of a sermon given by a youth or young adult under age 21; and the third for a children’s story or children’s sermon given during a Sunday service or children’s worship.

We are especially interested in those sermons or stories that—Encourage a Unitarian Universalist voice in the public arena in support of all children and youth; Relate issues of treatment of children to issues of poverty, race and class; Call upon our UU values in support of all children and youth; and/or Suggest ways that congregations and individuals can offer hope and opportunity to our nation's children and youth, highlighting both advocacy and service. Sermon entries should bring to life the mission of Promise the Children and/or highlight the critical importance of our current campaign to increase equity in public education.

Awards: $300 for the adult sermon (over 21 years), $100 for a young adult or youth sermon, and $100 for the children’s story.

Eligibility: The sermon must have been delivered during a Unitarian Universalist service to adults or young people before May 15, 2008. Sermons or presentations at services and workshops at summer conference centers, District meetings, etc. will also be considered. Ordained clergy, lay preachers and presentations by young adults and youth are eligible for these awards. We encourage seminarians to submit their sermons and also young adults and youth (under 21 years) to submit their presentations.

Submissions: Entries must be postmarked by May 20, 2008, and mailed to Promise the Children, 58 Winter Street, Nahant, MA 01908 or by email to rkr@promisethechildrenuu.org. Include a cover sheet with your entry including your name and contact information, as well as the date and the name of the congregation or location in which the sermon was presented. As much identifying information as possible should be removed from the body of the entry itself.

For more information visit www.promisethechildrenuu.org.

The William Ellery Channing School Partnership Project
Coordinated by Rev. Cheryl Rubin Lloyd

The William Ellery Channing Elementary School (K-5) in Hyde Park needs your support!

The William Ellery Channing School Partnership Project is working to improve English-language skills and meet other educational needs of the school. We work in close relationship with the teachers and students of the school to make a difference in their lives.

The school’s principal requested UU tutors and the Rev. John Buehrens, minister of the Needham church, initiated a multi-congregational project.

If you would like to join these efforts and enter in relationship with your wider community, contact Cheryl Lloyd at 617-244-3226 or email her.

To download and print Cheryl Lloyd's list of books to donate to the project, click this link.