Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Weaving the Web

May 24, 2009
Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern

How can I help? Part II: Church as grassroots

In this series I’m engaging the question: What can I do — and what can we do as a congregation — that will really make a difference in the world?

When, in the charter for the new Action Council, the Board described the criteria for a UUCPA social justice task force, a key element was that the task forces engage the wider congregation. In putting that language into my first draft, I was seeking to avoid the dynamic in which small groups devoted to justice, peace, and sustainability become proxies for the congregation. Social change is for everyone. Not everyone is going to be an activist on every issue; some won’t be activists on any; but we all need to take part in some way. We need ways to make a difference that are small in commitment but real in effect.

So one job of the task forces — and the Action Council that supports and oversees them — is to create those opportunities. Things like sign a petition. Show up at a demonstration or a public meeting. Sign up to be listened to in a listening campaign. Put a sign on your corner lot. Call an official.

Some of the small things you can do to make a difference, thanks to the organizing by the Task Forces and other UUCPA groups:

• As it says in the article “Looking Upstream: Public Funding of Elections” elsewhere in this edition of the Bulletin, you can join the California Clean Money Campaign or go to the Action Council Table to sign up for the campaign’s e-newsletter.

• Just getting information isn’t usually enough, but it’s what inspires us to act. In the case of UUCPA’s Ridding the World of Nuclear Weapons Task Force, knowing the facts is a key piece of the effort. In the 1980s, there was a groundswell of citizen activism for nuclear disarmament, but few political leaders joined it. But twenty years later, the politicians are sticking their necks out for disarmament — and they need to know that the people (that’s us!) are informed and paying attention. So go to one of their terrific events. Coming up on May 27: Martin Hellman giving a lecture that will make you jump to your feet to take action.

• The next step is advocacy. All those groups that send you e-mail updates urge you to e-mail your representative about this and call the governor about that because it really works. So when you go to an educational event, put your name on that signup sheet, and sign that petition on the back table.

• Let people know you’re an ally of LGBT people by putting a rainbow sticker on your nametag (the Welcoming Congregation Task Force will have stickers shortly, and you’ll be hearing encouragement from them to take one). This Task Force, which just brought the very funny “Queer on Their Feet” show to UUCPA, is also looking into bringing speakers and/or films, which will give you lots of opportunities to do something without attending monthly committee meetings: take tickets at the door, send out publicity, pick up a speaker at the airport …

• Take a class. The Green Sanctuary Committee and Welcoming Congregation Task Force are two action groups that frequently offer programs through Adult Religious Education. Check them out!

You and I and every one of us are the grassroots, and as Malvina Reynolds said, “God bless the grass.”

They roll the concrete over it to try and keep it back.
The concrete gets tired of what it has to do,
It breaks and it buckles and the grass grows through.

— Blessings,
Amy