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Become involved with a project that has caught your passion: whether it's Green Sanctuary, Gift-Based Ministry, as a worship associate, leading a covenant group, or something entirely different, your congregation needs your involvement in order to benefit from your unique talents and gifts!

Become a religious educator. Whether you are working with children, youth, young adults, or adults, this work can be deeply fulfilling and fun!

Offer to become a lay leader in your congregation. Talk to your nominating committee. If your congregation's in search for new professional leadership, think about whether you might contribute in new and exciting ways to that venture.

Witness your faith in the company of others, on behalf of your congregation. Seek out connections with other religious groups who share similar values. Help carry the message -- beyond your congregation -- that makes clear Unitarian Universalism's values and voice in this challenging world.

Become a delegate to your UUA District's meetings. You'll learn new skills, develop a sense of Unitarian Universalism that extends beyond your own congregation, and help nurture the vitality of our faith in your district.

Don't wait to be asked: contact your congregation's Nominating Committee and tell them you're willing to serve. They'll be glad to hear from you!

- from the UUA

Social Justice News and Events

Justice Council

In September we had our third and final discussion of The 1619 Project. We had a first discussion (Chapters 1, 2, & 9) of the UUA Common Read, Mistakes & Miracles (lessons learned about congregations’ work with antiracism) in October, and have a second planned for Tuesday, November 29, at 7:30 (see the newsletter for the Zoom). We will probably then have one final discussion of that book, and plan to start on An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz after that in the new year.

With the leadership of Craig S and Tim S, we had many activities for voter registration and engagement for the recent crucial midterm elections, in coordination with POWER, UU Justice PA, and UU the Vote. At the September Flea Market, many of us circulated to encourage people to register to vote. On October 8, as part of the TPUC weekend that we hosted, Tim led a voter engagement workshop to help other congregations get involved in this work. On October 11, we had an in-person potluck and phonebank with the help of POWER, and many in our congregation participated in other

phone banks, post card writing, neighborhood canvassing, and other activities. Thankfully, our efforts bore great fruit! Our country managed to make a move back further in the direction of democracy and UU values than was being predicted originally!

In the area of Reparations, we have formed a UUs of Mt. Airy Reparations/History work group that has met a couple of times to research our congregation’s history with respect to racial justice. During the October 8 TPUC meeting that we hosted, there were two excellent presentations by the head Archivist at Meadville Lombard UU Seminary – a general look at the archives, and a workshop on doing research like we want to do. The next meeting is planned for Wednesday, November 30, at 7:30 on Zoom. See the newsletter for details.

The Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs is doing a pilot training related to Reparations with the Truth-Telling Project, that could be a model for the rest of the country. It is happening January 9-12, 10am-5pm, and we expect to have 5 congregation members who will be participating. Stay tuned!

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 PJ, Portia H, Cathy My, Anam OE, Fern C, Domita Sl, Mary L, (with Rev. McKinley and Intern Minister Shaie Dively ex-officio).

Now that our Congregational Covenant work came to a conclusion at our May Congregational Meeting, we are now following up on our Widening the Circle conversations from January to June of last year. The Radical Hospitality group has met a couple of times, and the Board will be considering some proposals for how we structure ourselves in a more inclusive way. The next meeting will be on Thursday, December 15, at 7:30 via Zoom. The Inclusive Decision-Making group also had a number of meetings, and will have a proposal to present to the congregation about adopting the Modified Consensus process in the new year. This will kick off our detialed re-examination of our bylaws, policies, procedures, and practices from this perspective. Look in the weekly newsletter for dates, times, and Zoom links of specific gatherings as they get scheduled, and participate!

We are considering getting involved again with the updated Beloved Conversations 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 have done the program that corresponds to Within when Cathy Ellis and Maria McCabe were here. Others can sign up for the national online program that starts in March (you can sign up as a congregational group, or mix with others nationally), to then be able to participate in the Among program as a congregation in 2023-24, and Beyond the year after that. See Bruce or Mary L if you would like more details, or Google “Beloved Conversations”.

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

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