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Administrative Office Hours

Wednesday: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursday: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
Friday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Email the Office
or phone 215-247-2561.

If you need to reach Desi
you can call or text her on her
cell at 267-595-3250 - 24/7.

Minister's Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday by Appointment

Email the Minister
or phone 806-786-9733.

Social Justice News and Events

March 9 through 23 —

Heeding God's Call (To End Gun Violence) T-Shirt Memorial

The “Heeding God’s Call” T-shirt Memorial* to those killed by gun violence in Philadelphia will be displayed on the lawn of UUs of Mt. Airy from March 9-23. A short consecration/dedication service was held Saturday March 9, after the display has been installed. Molly D and Deb G want to thank those terrific folks who signed up to help install this most moving and significant memorial.
*Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence” seeks to energize the American faith community and actively seek an end to gun violence through public witness and policy advocacy. Contact Deb G, 412-600-9400

Monday, March 18 —

Reparations Coordinating Group Meeting

March 18, 7pm Worship Zoom

This group is preparing a work plan to pull together the various strands of our reparations, repair and healing work in relation to Black, Indigenous and other People of Color. The groups is open to all. Contact Craig S.

Tuesday, March 19 —

Meeting to Plan Future Film/Speaker Events Tues., March 19, 5:30pm, Justice Council Zoom - Topics: Mt Airy - Welcoming, Inclusive Community for All?, Reparations, and Neurodiversity

We are planning to hold several film and speaker events in the coming year following on our successful gathering to view the Coalition for Natives and Allies' film and learn from CNA members. Plans are shaping up for one or two short Reparations documentaries (for one event) with a couple of speakers.

In addition, plans have begun to hold a film showing and conversation on the history and current challenges of creating a welcoming and inclusive community where all can thrive in East Mt. Airy. The event will include a showing of "Neighbor Ladies", a film about the community's fight against racial "block busting" in East Mt Airy in the 1960s, and a video produced by the Mt Airy Neighborhood Diversity Initiative (MANDI) on current challenges facing Mt Airy as a whole. These will be followed by a conversation between Pat DeBrady, long-time member of UUs of Mt Airy and active community member in the

formation of East Mt Airy Neighbors (EMAN), and Linda Bell, long-time resident of East Mt Airy and President of the Board of EMAN, discussing how East Mt Airy has evolved from the 1960s to the present and what lies ahead.

We have a suggestion for a speaker in the area of Neurodiversity, but not yet a specific film, which could be a possible topic for an event later in 2024. Let Bruce or Louise know if you have a suggestion of a film.

If you would like to help schedule or plan any of these, please join us on Tuesday, March 19, at 5:30pm, on the Justice Council Zoom. Contact: Bruce at 215-688-8747 or Anam if you have other suggested films, speakers, or topics, or if you would like to assist in planning and carrying out the events in any way. UU Mt. Airy (Philadelphia) is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Sunday, March 24 —

Reflections on “Ceasefire NOW: Teach-In,
Peace Walk and Vigil, March 24

Five members of UUs of Mt Airy participated in the March 8th Teach-In, Peace Walk and Vigil sponsored by Fridays @ Fetterman’s and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The event, attended by around 200 people was held at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House and culminated with a vigil at the Philadelphia office of Senator John Fetterman where a weekly vigil is held every week by the Fridays @ Fetterman’s coalition of groups.

(Pictured left to right: Sukey Blanc, Sam Kuttab, Terry Rumsey & Robin Lasersohn, Co-Coordinators, Fridays @ Fetterman's Weekly Peace Vigil and Lewis Webb, U.S. Peacebuilding Director

Sukey Blanc , a Jew active in “If Not Now” and Sam Kuttab, a Palestinian-American Christian and member of Friends of Sabeel North America, spoke as representatives of the Prayers for Peace Alliance of Philadelphia. They shared their hearts, experience and knowledge. We all heard their passionate call for all to be involved in the ever growing international movement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The Prayers for Peace Alliance has collected over 200 signatures of area pastors, Imams and Rabbis, including Rev. McKinley Sims, on a petition calling on “our elected representatives…to seek an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and pursue through diplomatic means the release of hostages (and political prisoners) and a future based upon peace, justice and equal rights for all people in the Holy Land.” To learn more about the Alliance, and the petition is at this link.
Read more...

Tuesday, April 2 —

Justice Book Discussion Tuesday, April 2 @ 7:30pm on Zoom
My Grandmother's Hands

We will continue our discussion of My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, by Resmaa Menakem. The book explores how racial and other forms of trauma are planted in the body and can be carried forward thorough generations and that he writes of the ways this trauma occurs in white bodies as well as the bodies of black and other people of color and how people can work through these embodied traumas. Rev. McKinley will be helping to facilitate the conversation, which could be challenging for some people. We will be discussing the third quarter of the book, pages 137-235, at this session, with more to follow later. Anyone with an interest in this topic is invited to take part, whether you have ever attended a Justice Council meeting or not!

Sunday, April 14 —

Justice Council Meeting

Sunday, April 14, 1:15pm
in Hale Lounge and on Worship Zoom.

Contact: Co-Chairs Laurie D, 215-514-7955, or Craig S, 412-760-6478

Tuesday, May 7 —

End Gun Violence: PA Advocacy Day

Wednesday, May 8 —

Rally: A Budget Worth Fighting For

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UUA Condemns Violence Against Gaza, Urges Immediate
and Total Ceasefire By UUA Administration

From February 14, 2024
This statement was developed by the Office of the President and other senior national staff of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), grounded in the values of Unitarian Universalism and in conversation with previous resolutions, statements, and actions passed by General Assembly, the UUA’s democratically-elected governing body.

There are crystallizing moments in the course of history when, in spite of the differences that exist among us, our common reverence for life demands that we speak with moral courage and clarity on the side of love. As people of faith and conviction, Unitarian Universalists share a belief that every human life is sacred, endowed with worth and dignity from the moment of birth, with no person more deserving of freedom and flourishing than any other. Our living tradition has long maintained that the only hells that exist are those that we

create for one another, here on earth. We are watching in real time as the people of Gaza exist in a human-made hell that grows more unimaginable every day. At this point, 28,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed and nearly 70,000 have been injured by Israeli attacks in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israeli citizens on October 7. The medical infrastructure in Gaza has been decimated, and the Israeli government continues to prevent humanitarian aid, including food and water, from reaching refugees. And this week, the Netanyahu administration has announced the forced evacuation and ground invasion of Rafah, where 1.3 million displaced Palestinians have set up a massive tent city as a last refuge. The UUA first joined the call for a ceasefire on October 17, rooted in our historic positions as an organization; nearly four months later, this situation could not be more urgent.

Updated Land Acknowledgement

Mary L continues to evolve our Land Acknowledgement intending for it to be a living document and subject to future revisions as we continue our work. Here is the most recent version:

Our building sits on the traditional, unceded Lenape Lands of Lenapehoking. As many of us are settlers, immigrants, or descendants of those forcefully brought to this continent, we, the members of UUs of Mt. Airy, must recognize and never forget this reality.

Our congregation’s livelihood and history are a part of the colonization of Lenape territory, which includes all of present day New Jersey, northern Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and southeastern New York.

The translation of Lenape is ‘Original People’. While, presently, the majority of the Lenape are located in Oklahoma, with both the federally recognized Delaware Nation and the Delaware Tribe of Indians, we are their neighbors. We will work to continue to honor and be in relation with our neighbors, both historical and current, and we will strive to be good stewards of this land.

We are committed to continuing to educate ourselves on issues of cultural competency, colonization and oppression.

We are committed to supporting a community food pantry to address local food insecurity. We are planning a community garden and natural sanctuary on this land to deepen our connection to the earth and with our neighbors

Justice Council Report

This report covers the Justice Council (JC) activities from September, 2023 through February, 2024, so it is packed with multiple projects and initiatives that Council members have been busy discussing and carrying out over this period.

A central theme for the JC over the past year has been reconnecting UUs of MA with our local community while continuing to explore and respond to the systemic and society-wide issues in which our congregation and surrounding community are embedded. In September, the Justice Council decided to focus its Change for Change (C4C) giving selections primarily on local community-based organization led by and primarily serving African Americans which mirrors the criteria developed for a possible Community Partnership that we explored over the Spring and Summer.

Since September, the congregation has given as much as $400 a month to the following organizations: Mt Airy Community Fridge and Pantry; Germantown-based EMIR (Every Murder is Real); UU Justice PA, contributing to its annual fundraising goal; the Museum of Indian Culture, Allentown, PA, in appreciation for their assistance in revising our Land

Acknowledgment to the Lenape in this region as well as serving as an ongoing resource for the Lenape and other Indigenous people in PA; Face to Face, serving low income families and individuals in Germantown; and East Mount Airy Neighbors (EMAN) which represents and serves our immediate neighborhood and was formed in the early 1970s partly at inspiration of our pastor at the time, Rev. Rudi Gelsey.

The Mt Airy Community Fridge and Pantry has continued to expand its reach in serving people in the community and around the city who are experiencing food insecurity. The pantry was conceived of and is co-managed by UUs of MA member, Courtney H, and her friend, Nicole W, a life-long East Mt Airy resident. Over the past year, the Pantry has expanded from providing 1,500 lbs. to over 7,000 lbs of food per week!! It has done this through partnering with almost a dozen dedicated food suppliers in the area and with the assistance of community and congregation members who have made pick-ups and deliveries of produce and other food products, helped organize and clean-up the Fridge and Pantry area and contributed dry goods that people     to continue reading...

Reflection: Power Interfaith Statewide Convention

Power Interfaith* held its first statewide convention this past Monday, February 19 at the Presidential Caterers in Norristown, PA under the banner “Roadmap for Justice 2024”. A five member “delegation” from UUs of Mt. Airy attended: Laurie D, Fern C, Anne A, Deb G and Craig S (also pictured, Antonio H, the new POWER NW Cluster Community Organizer) along with approximately 500 attendees from over a hundred congregations across the state representing many faiths, and a strong showing from other PA UU communities.

Power’s 2024 PA legislative priorities, A Roadmap for Justice, include full funding of the Basic Education Funding through the new funding formula mandated by the PA Commonwealth Court increased funding for Whole Home Repair program, enacting laws to support solar power grant programs for schools, addressing public transit funding crises, promoting police accountability and non-police crises response teams, raising state minimum wage to $15/hour and ending wage preemption law which prevents local governments from enacting their own minimum wage standards, as well as increased state funding for public transit services to prevent SEPTA from closing down the vital Chestnut Hill West RR line as well as cut-backs in the Chestnut Hill East RR line and the Route 23 bus routes which is a lifeline for NW working people.

The Power leadership team invited PA State representatives Matthew Bradford (PA House Majority Leader) and Peter Schweyer (Chair, House Education Committee) to field prepared questions from Power members focusing on these policy priorities. The #1 priority in 2024 for the PA House Democratic Caucus is full public education funding, and the reps stated their full support for Power’s education legislative priorities. The Representatives advise us to “get out of our echo chambers” talk to folks from areas of the state, particularly more rural areas, represented by Republicans to persuade them that it is in their interest to support fully funding public schools, more affordable and sustainable housing and other programs needed by their communities. They further challenged us to ”go TO the fight” and closed with “Politics is the business of the possible”.

The Power team is also organizing to counteract the divisive policies and rhetoric of White Christian Nationalism and supporting democracy by protecting voting rights and expanding voting accessibility.

POWER leaders advise us that voting is the beginning of the democratic process and we must continue the work by holding our electeds accountable for their stated platforms and promises! More info to come on how to get/stay involved!

*POWER is a multi-racial, multi-faith grassroots coalition founded in 2011 empowered by Pennsylvanians committed to organizing for racial and economic justice on a livable planet. See https://www.powerinterfaith.org

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8th Principle Team Update

The 8th Principle that we adopted in 2017 is: “Journeying toward spiritual wholeness by building a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions”. Our congregation was the first in the country to adopt it, but at this moment, over 250 have now adopted it (out of about 1000), and that number was only about 30 a couple of years ago!

Our 8th Principle Team is Bruce P-J, Portia H, Cathy M, Anam O-E, Fern C, Domita S, and Mary L, (with Rev. McKinley and Ministerial Intern Shaie Dively ex-officio).

Since last spring, we have been participating in the updated Beloved Conversations Virtual program out of the Meadville Lombard UU seminary on small-group ministry related to antiracism. There are three stages of this new version: Within (individual work), Among (congregational level), and Beyond (community level). Many in our congregation did the program that corresponds to Within when Kathy Ellis and Maria McCabe were here around 8 years ago. 16 members and friends participated in the national online program last spring (we signed up as a congregational, and have 3 pods that meet in person, one for people of color and the other two for whites). A similar number of us are participating

in the Among program as a congregation in 2023-25. We have had a number of meetings with our Among Coach, JeKaren Olaoya, have written a covenant for our work together, and are just starting with content related to trauma in individuals and congregations. These meetings will continue roughly twice a month during the church year, both this year and next. The Among program is an excellent structure for us to follow up on our Widening the Circle conversations from January to June of 2021, and will initially include an assessment of our evolution as an antiracist organization. This will guide us in our detailed re-examination of our bylaws, policies, procedures, and practices from this perspective. We will also continue our exploration of implementing Radical Hospitality and leadership development into the way we do hospitality.

Rev. McKinley, Intern Minister Shaie Dively, and our Worship Associates have been having roughly monthly worship services about the proposed Article II to the national Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) bylaws which will be voted on to replace the current Principles and Sources. The Article II revision was sparked by our congregation proposing the 8th Principle as a Responsive Resolution at the UUA General Assembly in 2017. The spirit and wording are largely inspired by the 8th Principle. In January we had a conversation about the proposed Article II after coffee hour.


Following, are several links important to our congregation's Social Justice program:

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