UUA Washington Office: A Social Justice Resource

For the Rev. Art Vaeni, the week he spent in the UUA's Washington office for Faith in Action was a valuable opportunity to learn about urban issues that aren't a part of his daily life in rural New Hampshire.

For Lawrence Egbert, a Baltimore UU, volunteering in the office one day a week gives him a chance to promote social justice and share ideas with other congregations.

For Margaret Misch, an activist at The Community Church of Chapel Hill, UU, in North Carolina, the office was a place to get information quickly when she needed a peace and justice display for a table at the State Fair.

The Washington office is an important resource for congregational social justice committees. The three-person office, headed by the Rev. Meg Riley, is the "voice of the UUA" in Washington. Its purposes include influencing Congress and the Administration, promoting interfaith cooperation, keeping congregations informed about justice issues, and encouraging them in greater efforts.

"Rather than complaining about the world, we want to encourage people to do something about it," says Riley. "Our strength is our congregations in terms of activism and influence. As long as we're just three people in an office, Congress could care less about us. But when they hear from our congregations, that's when we have clout."

Staff members besides Riley are Theresa Kashin, office administrator, and Rob Cavenaugh, legislative director. Here are services the office provides:

• An online collection of social justice information
• Current information on legislation
• Background on specific issues
• Social justice workshops at UUA district events
• Response to phone and e-mail queries about specific issues, as time permits
• Legislative briefings such as the one the office will hold on Feb. 22 and 23, 2001 as part of "Convo," the Interweave annual conference, being held in Arlington, VA, just outside Washington. These briefings are open to others as well.
• An e-mail alert list for those who want to know when an issue is "hot."

Riley hopes more congregations will use the office's online resources. "Since we only have three staff members and an occasional intern or volunteer, we are trying to serve as many constituents as possible with limited resources," she says. "While we just don't have time to consult with every social justice committee in long telephone conversations, we can create resources online which those same UUs can access and use as they see fit."

The office's online information currently includes papers on topics such as raising money for social action, dealing with news media on advocacy issues, dos and don'ts for effective social action, nurturing a ministry of activism, preparing to testify on justice issues, involving youth and young adults in social justice, and spirituality and social justice.

The office also collects documents and articles on social justice issues from congregations and shares them with other congregations. For instance, the office has a file of information sent in by UU social justice activists in Washington and Oregon after the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last year.

"We find that congregations are most inspired by hearing from each other," Riley says. "My hope is that social justice committees will download these articles and have discussions about them."

Other online data include sermons on social justice topics, GA social justice resolutions, information about upcoming conferences, and links to other social justice pages. You can also check your congressperson's voting record on specific issues, or write to her or him.

Riley said the office hopes to accommodate more volunteers and interns next year, becoming more of a training center. The office offers $1,000 monthly stipends to interns. Internships are generally a semester or summer long, to accommodate the schedules of college students, but other arrangements can also be made. There are also unpaid internships of two months or more. Most volunteers are young adults and retirees.

Egbert and his wife, Ellen Barfield, of First UU Church, Baltimore, have been one-day-a-week volunteers in the office for at least three years. He is a semi-retired physician and Barfield is a full-time peace activist. "A lot of what my life is about fits with what this office does," says Egbert, who also volunteers with Doctors Without Borders. "It's given me a way to help educate individual social activists and parish ministers about the various moral issues that come up. And you get ideas here and take them home and vice versa."

Vaeni, minister of the Starr King UU Fellowship, Plymouth, NH (123 members), uses information he gained several years ago during his week in the office in sermons and as inspiration, he says. "The benefit to me has more to do with seeing what was going on in that setting and the ways people were handling particular issues than learning about any particular techniques. It gave me a perspective I didn't have before."

Riley, director of the office for four years, spends much of her time with interfaith work. "Other denominations often ask us to join in their ventures. Much of what we do involves reaching out into the larger world." She frequently preaches about why social justice is an important part of faith and encourages congregations not to marginalize their social justice committees. "It shouldn't just be an add-on. It should be central to worship and to religious education."

Contact the Washington office at uuawo@aol.com. The phone is (202) 296-4672, ext. 10.

A UUA-sponsored e-mail list, JUST-UUS, focuses on social issues. To subscribe go to http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/just-uus.