Next Steps
There are dozens of ways we each can involve ourselves in the ongoing work of justice. For you and your community, the choices will depend on your unique circumstances: where you’re located, the justice issues that are currently arising, what organizations are already engaging the struggle, your own skills and tendencies, and so on. We hope that your experience with the UU College of Social Justice, and the work you’ve done through the Study Guide – alone and with your Learning Circle – will help you discern the next steps you feel called to take.
The remaining sessions of our Learning Circle Discussions are crafted to help you and your community gain further clarity, in a process of spiritual centering and discernment called “Saying Yes and Saying No”. We encourage you to follow this structure with your group, either in the course of a single three-hour session or spread out over several meetings.
UUA and UUSC Engagement Opportunities
Our hope is that you will look for ways to engage the struggle for justice both within your own community and far beyond it, recognizing that our lives on an increasingly fragile planet are completely intertwined.
The UUA and UUSC have specific justice priorities they have chosen, based on our denomination’s historic commitment to human rights and on current opportunities. Use the following links to find the most current list of their justice priorities.
- Visit the UUA’s Social Justice page here.
- Take Action with the UUSC here.
- The UUA’s Standing on the Side of Love campaign offers many avenues for action, as well as inspirational news about the many ways our congregations are enacting our faith in the world.
The particular campaigns and initiatives in which we are engaged shift and change with time, but there are always opportunities for your involvement. Often, you’ll be able to find ways to work on these issues on every level: in your own community, at your state capitol, nationally, and even internationally. As you choose your avenues for action, we encourage you to keep in mind the full spectrum of effective justice work: education, service, advocacy, witness, protest, and creating alternative structures that demonstrate our values. Remember to stay centered in your spiritual practice – and hold onto all the ways to weave joy, song, and beauty into what you do!
The more effectively we channel our vision and values toward collective action, the more powerfully we can live out the values of our faith and have a difference in our world. Please keep UUCSJ informed about the ways you find to work for justice, and share with us ways you feel we can support you and this great mandate of our faith.
