Social Justice

WUUC Advocates for Social Justice (ASJ)

WUUC’s Advocates for Social Justice (ASJ) work to encourage, support, and coordinate individual and congregational work for human rights, social justice, and environmental responsibility in our local, national, and global communities.  The congregation strives to integrate social justice education, service, and advocacy in our worship services and religious education programs in accord with UU principles and the long tradition of justice work in the Unitarian and Universalist faith traditions.  Membership in WUUC’s justice ministries is an open to all members and friends of WUUC.  For more information, contact the current ASJ Ministries lead Carol Taylor at ctaylor@wuuc.org.

WUUC is a congregational member of JUUstice Washington, the UU state action network for Washington State.  WUUC annually supports the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as well as denominational justice efforts.  The ASJ Coordinating Council sponsors one worship service plate collection every month. The proceeds are donated to a charitable organization or justice advocacy group, with an emphasis on local organizations.

Individual members and friends of WUUC are active in a wide variety of social justice education, service, and advocacy efforts.  People also actively participate in the justice actions sponsored nationally by the Unitarian Universalist Association and in service work through the UUSC organization. We honor these individual commitments to engage in social and environmental justice work.

ASJ Coordinating Council

Justice work at WUUC is organized around several ASJ justice ministries, and each justice ministry is represented on the ASJ Coordinating Council.  The ASJ Coordinating Council helps avoid conflicts in the timing of justice activities at WUUC, allocates funds to the ASJ justice ministries, organizes the monthly ASJ plate collections during the worship service, and organizes an annual Justice Fair to attract new participants to the justice ministries.

Racial Justice

The Racial Justice ministry organizes ongoing and occasional programs of education and engagement in racial justice issues. In 2016, WUUC passed a resolution in support of movements for Black lives.  In 2018, the Board of Trustees approved steps to implement this resolution including a wide variety of on-going programs, book discussion groups, and creation of a fund to aid black students and families in nearby school districts. The Black Students and Families Fund – BSAFF (besafe) is financed through a plate collection each year and by pledges received at the time of that plate collection. Or you can donate to BSAFF online.  For ongoing updates, join the rjtf@wuuc.org email alias.

Eco Connection Task Force

The Eco Connection Task Force advocates to pass legislation and policies that mitigate the impacts of climate change.  Members of the Task Force educate themselves about actions and organizations that have the greatest impact.  In addition, we educate ourselves and our children about the natural world, so we can be informed and committed advocates.  And we practice pragmatic optimism – focusing on positive steps that are being taken and innovative breakthroughs. For ongoing updates, join the ecoconnect@wuuc.org email alias.

Economic Justice

WUUC is involved in several ongoing community service projects.  Most focus on hunger issues, including collections for the Maltby Food Bank, Totes-to-Go (weekend food for needy students at a local elementary school), emergency food supplies through Hopelink, and food packing for Northwest Harvest from time to time.  We also occasionally organize a giving tree for area children in need during the winter holidays.

Economic justice also intersects with our efforts promoting racial justice and environmental justice.

Welcoming Congregation

WUUC is a community that is committed to inclusiveness.  We are welcoming to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.  We are inclusive in our worship, in our programs and our social occasions.  We seek to nurture ongoing dialogue between people of different affectional/sexual orientations and gender identities, and to create deeper trust, understanding and sharing.  We promote justice for all and actively work in both our church and local community to increase understanding and embrace acceptance.  We uplift the first Unitarian Principal – “The inherent worth and dignity of every person.”  WUUC was designated a Welcoming Congregation in 1998 by the Unitarian Universalist Association, and recertified in March, 2024. For ongoing updates, join the wecloming@wuuc.org email alias.

Related WUUC Activities and Potential New Justice Ministries

For nearly 20 years, WUUC has been an active partner with other churches in the Cottage Lake area as a sponsor and organizer of blood drives.  Once every 6 weeks, a local congregation volunteers to host a blood drive in support of the local blood bank.

Each year, the WUUC Justice Fair offers an opportunity for new justice ministries to form.  Potential new justice ministries may be formed, with the help of new volunteers, in the areas of immigration justice, first American Indian Nations collaboration, and voter registration.