Call for Participation – Justice Activists!
The Social/Environmental Justice Committee (SEJC) and Covenant of Beloved Community need your support and participation. BUF’s Social and Environmental Justice Committee is looking for several volunteers to help increase BUF’s justice capacity and engagement. The Beloved Community needs new leadership and programming folks to monitor BUF’s implementation of the Covenant for Beloved Community by making BUF a truly inclusive and non-oppressive congregation.
Social and Environmental Justice. SEJC is looking for individuals who would be willing sit on the executive committee whose main function is to coordinate SEJC business and program meetings (3 times a year) and fill officer positions such as Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, etc. We have a situation where the same individuals have been filling these roles for years and we’d like to see some new faces and fresh ideas in our leadership.
Many of our current teams and positions need more people to participate in team activities. More detailed descriptions of these efforts can be found on BUF’s website at https://wp.buf.org/justice/. Our current positions and teams include:
- SEJC Executive Committee
- Special Collections (establish coordinate monthly special collections for the year)
- Fair Trade (Fair Trade sales on Sundays and at other events)
- Black Lives Matter
- Environmental Justice (we especially need a BUF rep to the Multifaith Network for Climate Justice)
- Humanitas
- Immigrant Rights (we especially need a liaison with Bellingham’s Immigration Advisory Board. Mialee Jose
- once held the position, but has left the area and left this
- spot vacant. This is critical as the City Council is proposing the IAB project be paused/suspended).
- Interfaith Coalition
- Interweave (LGBTQAI+)
- Native American Connections Committee
- Refugee Resettlement
There is always room to add new teams and projects as well, so if your justice passion is not represented here, let me know and we’ll see how you can start up at team here at BUF or connect you with other congregations, groups and organizations.
Covenant for Beloved Community.
Using the core text of the then-proposed 8th Principle, the Covenant for Beloved Community was passed by congregational vote and the text of the resolution is here: https://wp.buf.org/covenant-of-beloved-community/and the Covenant reads as follows:
We, a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
Initially there was a team that worked with various teams and committees throughout BUF to evaluate their efforts and identify areas that continued to support (intentionally and unintentionally) non-inclusive oppressive process, attitudes and practices including racism, sexism, agism, homophobia and other forms of marginalization. Several key leaders have moved on and we need folks to provide support to the congregation as it moves forward. Some functions include providing updates to the whole congregation on BUF’s actions under the Covenant and assist teams and committees draft and implement plans and goals.
More background info on the Covenant of Beloved Community is here: https://wp.buf.org/about-us/beloved-community/
Contact Deb Cruz, Ministry Action Team Coordinator and Community Beyond BUF lead, at dwcruz@comcast.net if you have any questions.
