Seeking Justice for Children:
Putting Our Faith into Action

The Children's Defense Fund Children's Sabbath is a time for people of all faiths to stand together so that we can stand by children. Initiated and coordinated by the Children's Defense Fund , this year's Sabbath's theme is "Putting our Faith into Action to Seek Justice for Children."

Many congregations will celebrate the Children's Sabbath through worship services, social action or special activities. Some will be held on the October date and others will be held at other times during the church year. Endorsed by the UUA and UU Service Committee, The Children's Sabbath calls us to pause and deeply consider, "How are our children? Are we putting children first?" and to then let our answers guide our actions as people of faith.

So, how are our children? According to the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) in the United States of America, each day:

• Over 2,300 babies are born into poverty
• Over 2,000 babies are born without health insurance
• Over 1,100 babies are born to teen mothers
• Over 2,400 children are confirmed as abused or neglected
• Over 2,700 high school students drop out
• Over 4,200 children are arrested
• 8 Children or teens are killed by firearms
• 5 Children or teens commit suicide

Our children are suffering. There is unequal access to the resources to meet their basic human needs for food, clothing, shelter, belonging, health care and education. Our children are not being put first and the inequalities are life threatening. And now is the time to act.

Marion Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund and a Beacon Press author writes, "Katrina ripped the blinders of denial off on the chronic quiet invisible tsunami of poverty that afflicts 37 million Americans, including 13 million children.  People were forced to see what poverty looked like on the clear pictures on their television screens:  families who didn't have enough money to own a car or have a credit card or enough cash to pay for another way out of the hurricane's path, families left stranded without food, water, or shelter when the storm came." As people of faith, we cannot turn away.

With problems so big and systemic, how can we put children first? We must start by claiming the care and keep of our children as an essential moral act and public good. And then we must simply go forward, taking steps big and small—personal, local and global—together. Celebrate the Children's Sabbath in Unitarian Universalist communities by taking action:

• Engage in advocacy.
• Put children in the center of congregation life for worship, social action or intergenerational activities.
• Don't look away from inequalities; instead dig deeper, find meaning, locate points of action, and take steps together.

Let our faith guide us, our communities embolden us, and our unwavering commitment to care with justice, give us courage to set our hearts and hands to work for all our children. Let this be our prayer.

In faith,

Tracey L. Hurd, Ph.D.
Children's and Families Programs Director

Lifespan Faith Development staff group
Unitarian Universalist Association

For further information:

• Observing Children's Sabbath: Education Activities and Advocacy
• UU Worship Resources and Reflections
• How are the Children?

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100