For the seventh summer in a row, Hopedale’s Social Justice Committee is planning June and July Sunday services. Our format is a little less formal than usual, and we’ll be changing things up from week to week. But the focus is always on the integration of Hopedale’s appreciation of the seasons as they intersect with social justice agendas and local opportunities.
Welcoming Congregation
The Hopedale UU Community was recognized by the UUA as a Welcoming Congregation in the fall of 2007. We are indeed grateful to Members Robert Bell and Amy Lamborg for assisting the Congregation throughout the process.
Welcoming Congregations who publicly and successfully welcome bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people have the following qualities:
- Includes and address the needs of b/g/l/t persons at every level of congregational life—in worship, in programs, in social occasions, and in rites of passage—welcoming not only their presence, but the gifts and particularities of their lives as well.
- Assumes the presence of b/g/l/t people and celebrates this diversity by having inclusive language and content in their worship.
- Fully incorporates the experiences of b/g/l/t persons throughout all programs, including religious education.
- Includes an affirmation and nondiscrimination clause in our by-laws and other official documents affecting all dimensions of congregational life, including membership, hiring practices, and the calling of religious professionals.
- Engages in outreach into the b/g/l/t community in its advertising and by actively supporting b/g/l/t affirmative groups.
- Offers congregational and ministerial support for union and memorial services for b/g/l/t persons, and for celebrations of…family definitions.
- Celebrates the lives of all people and welcomes same-sex couples, recognizing their committed relationships, and equally affirms displays of caring and affections without regard to sexual orientation.
- Seeks to nurture ongoing dialogue between bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and heterosexual persons and to create deeper trust and sharing.
- Encourages the presence of a chapter of Interweave.
- Affirms and celebrates b/g/l/t issues and history during the church year.
- Attends to legislative developments and works to promote justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society.
- Speaks out when the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people are at stake.
- Celebrates the lives of all people and their ways of expressing their love for each other.
Cincinnati Pride Events and Interfaith Pride Service
The SJC participates in the Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival (details to be announced). Every year, a Cincinnati church hosts an Interfaith Pride Service, This special event celebrates the blessings our LGBTQA brothers and sisters bring to our community. There are many exciting events taking place during Pride Week. Visit http://www.cincinnatipride.org to see the latest list of events.
Pastor Ennis Tait from the Church of the Living God discussed the importance of outreach at the street level to address violence. Project Ceasefire has been successful in teaching conflict resolution in three schools, but Cincinnati is reluctant to provide funding long term to interventions.
Stephen Johnson-Grove presented OJPC ‘s efforts to impact policy by framing reform in terms of promoting the health of thecommunity and police officers. The workshop focused on Cincinnati, but could provide some direction for Butler County.
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Ethical Eating
Resolution of the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community:
- WHEREAS “Ethical Eating” was selected at General Assembly in 2008 to be the Congregational Study/Action Issue for 2008-2012; and
- WHEREAS the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community believes that the Hopedale Community benefits from our association with and enactment of the priorities of the Unitarian Universalist Association; and
- WHEREAS the Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community is proud of our status as a Green Sanctuary, and strives to enact that status in as many of our programs as possible; and
- WHEREAS the Board perceives that the Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community has considerable resources that we could devote to enacting the spirit of “Ethical Eating”, as defined by the UUA CSAI and by our Community; and
- WHEREAS the Board perceives that such a venture could be an important mechanism for turning our congregation’s vision outward, helping to meet significant needs in the Oxford and Hamilton areas, and reinforcing a social justice orientation to our identity in local communities;
- BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community encourages our congregation to make enactment of the Congregational Study/Action Issue “Ethical Eating” a significant focus of our activities for at least the period April 2009- June 2010. This would include appointment of a Task Force to coordinate Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community efforts. We would encourage “Ethical Eating” to be taken up as a significant focus, perhaps one of several, during Sunday services, by adult and children’s Religious Education, by the Green Sanctuary committee, and by our Social Action committee.
Respectfully authored by Ann Fuehrer and passed by the HUUC Board in March 2009.
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