Tuesday, my family went from calm to crisis. My youngest cousin, mother of two boys aged 7 and 9, was admitted to the hospital with severe anemia, a hemoglobin of 6 gm and dropping! Two surgeries later, she had received a total of eleven pints of blood, plus platelets, and a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer. As I waited at home, I was thankful that I could donate blood and had given recently. Ironically, her younger brother, praying in the hospital waiting room, couldn't help her by giving blood. He is in a long term monogamous gay relationship, and according to the guidelines recommended by the Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and the other professional groups most knowledgeable about the safety of our blood supply, he should be allowed to give blood. However, the FDA has ignored advances in medical science and still discriminates against gay men in their blood donation policy. For the benefit of all those who need blood, as well as my cousin Allan and all the other gay men who would like to give blood, think about making a stop at the Piedmont Blood Center on Main Street during your holiday shopping! No apt needed, takes about an hour. /Social Concerns chair, Alice Sutton
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dec. 1, 2009. Changing the Way We Do Social Justice
Present: Alice Sutton (chair), Don Rollins (interim minister), members Abby Fowler, Teretha Fowler, PK Weiss, Launa Blackburn and Ed Wilde, and guest Jinx Jenkins
We briefly discussed December issues at the end of the meeting:
*Launa and P.K. are coordinating Christmas at Park Hills for particular children who need gifts. P.K. is looking for volunteers for lunch duty on Dec. 11th so teachers can enjoy a holiday lunch. She has sent this notice to the Happenings. Anyone can volunteer for this, whether or not they have previously been at Park Hills.
*We are assisting Merike Tamm in her Book Fair, Dec. 6th, which will include books for Park Hills students.
*Dec. 17th Thursday Eve SPIHN (Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network) dinner is coming up at Fernwood Baptist Church. Our committee members will provide the dinner this time for 3 mothers and their 8 children between 2 and 10 years old: Alice (chili), Abby (bread, salad), Launa (dessert) and also Jinx (fruit salad) (did I miss someone?). We can meet at our church at 5:00 with our dishes, and Alice will deliver them to Fernwood Baptist. We don’t need to bring drinks. Launa and her brother will be overnight hosts, so Launa can bring her dessert direct to Fernwood Baptist. We will look for another covenant group or small group for the next dinner, in February.
*We voted unanimously to recommend to the Board that 100% of the Christmas Eve collection go to Total Ministries to support their many programs. Alice will send an email to Karen Mitchell asking her to bring this to the Board’s attention (done).
*The second Sunday in January, ShareThePlate will be collected for Park Hills School.
*In early January, we will survey the congregation with ideas for ShareThePlate for Feb-April only, with a handout in the bulletin as well as the Happenings and Unison. (Launa, this should be very easy because the congregation is already familiar with the concept.) Beginning in May, we will be implementing the new plan, which may, or may not, include ShareThePlate.
We have a To Do List: we each need to give some thought to the 3 local issues and 3 global issues (discussed in workshop) and email initial ideas to Alice (Ed has already sent his--Thanks, Ed!)
Workshop Topic: Changing the Way We Do Social Justice
*We voted again unanimously to adopt this new model for Social Concerns.
Here is most of Don’s outline with my notes on what we talked about as we went through it.
PROPOSED “GARDINER” MODEL /Don Rollins December 2009
“A summary of the model Don encountered several years ago, as part of a UUA-sponsored, social justice program. (tweaked here and there)
The primary goals are:
1. To engage the greater congregation in designing, delivering and assessing its justice programming.
2. To give direction and focus to the committee(s) charged to lead the congregation in its justice ministries.
3. To better utilize justice resources – human, financial or otherwise.
4. To allow for, but minimize, any additional areas of emphasis related to justice work.
The Model:
1. Justice work is divided into two broad categories: Local and Global.
Local issues are those that have to do with the immediate area, and may or may not involve partnership with an agency or another congregation. Examples: food pantries; soup kitchens; shelters; Habitat for Humanity.
Currently, almost everything we are doing at UUSC is on the local level
Global issues are those that involve the congregation in efforts that are outside its “parish”.
Examples: slave trafficking; women and children affected by war; climate change; Amnesty International.
2. The Committee identifies three possible issues for each of the two categories (six, total), complete with a short plan for each issue. Plans should include estimated necessary resources and responsibilities.
3. An educational plan is designed and implemented at least six weeks in advance of the next Annual Meeting (or otherwise duly called congregational meeting), describing the new model, any related bylaw amendment proposals, six identified issues and plans for each.
NOTES: the social concerns committee decides on three issues in each group and spends several months educating the congregation in these issues. This can be done with 10:00 classes in depth, perhaps two issues at each, also with info in happenings, unison, bulletin, and on Social Concerns bulletin board. We also discussed the need to change our committee name to Social Justice committee, in keeping with including the global perspective. This can also be presented on and voted on at the Annual Meeting or earlier called meeting, at this point projected for ~April (maybe). This educational process helps get more people involved in the issues on different levels.
4. Committee members attend 2010 Annual Meeting (or other duly called meeting) prepared to present and explain the new model.
5. The congregation votes, in accordance with the legal processes, to make any necessary bylaw changes. NOTES: only a majority of members present is needed for approval.
6. The congregation votes to identify two areas of focus, one, local and the other, global.
NOTES: This includes presenting a BUDGET needed for each proposal, which would be included in the proposal, so the congregation votes on the budget.
The same issue can be chosen for both local and global. We had some discussion over the length of each campaign, one year vs. two years, whether one year was enough time, vs. the excitement value of a new issue every year. We will think about this and revisit it at our January meeting. Committee members will also brainstorm about possible issues and email their ideas to Alice.
7. The Committee begins it work, complete with means of assessment and progress reports.
NOTES: The selection of new issues is a good time for new committee members to join. If work is not completed within the 12 months, the committee may continue somewhat beyond that point, but reports to the church as appropriate through the year and at the conclusion of the year. There could be a spin-off subcommittee for the issue.
8. The Committee, beginning in April of that church year, prepares the justice proposal for the congregation’s new justice plan.
NOTES: The Social Justice committee would, again, choose 3 issues for global and 3 issues for local, educate the congregation, and present for a vote at the Annual Meeting in spring 2011.
