Christmas at Park Hills School

School staff warmly welcomed P.K. and Co. as we delivered gifts and groceries for 17 children in families in need at Park Hills School.  They send a heartfelt thank-you to the many, many people who contributed, with money to Share the Plate in November, individual donations, food for the foodbarrel, and with shopping, wrapping, and delivering!  

The Food Barrel once again will be for Total Ministries.   Please watch for those two-for-one specials, and bring one in for the hungry! 

Our Global Issue: Appalachian Mountains and Miners: A Grinch in Appalachia STOLE THE TOYS

 In West Virginia, Wyoming Co. has a long tradition of making Christmas happen for their children. It’s in the middle of coal country, and one of the poorest counties in the nation—this is where our church member, Amber Pennington, grew up.

This year, they raised thousands of dollars for their Christmas Toy fund, and bought toys on sale all year. Then thieves broke into the Toy Fund storage and stole or vandalized most of the toys! So, in spite of all their foresight, they need last minute help. Let’s not let a Grinch steal Christmas!

$6.00 per child – as of Friday, that’s how much has been collected to make up for the loss.   They have a list of 3,000 children referred by the Dept. of Social Services.     Here’s the easiest way to help-   You can write a check and put it in the mail today! Please write your check directly to Wyoming County Toy Fund and mail to L. Dale Stewart, Treasurer; P.O. Box 268, Matheny, WV 24860. 
_______________________________________________
Wednesday evening, while we wrapped presents for children at Park Hills, we brainstormed on what we could do to help.   We came up with three ideas:  spread the word on Facebook; take up a collection at our holiday dinner; and purchase gifts from Amazon to send directly.   We’re getting the word out on FB; some members and friends are sending money in directly; and our holiday dinner collection generated over $300.

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love"   / Hamilton Wright Mabie

A Busy Month!

November & Early December are important times for our Park Hills Partnership! 
Our two November Share the Plate collections went to Christmas for Park Hills.  We have a list of 17 children in need.   Five have been “adopted” by church members.   Over $700 has been donated and will be used for Christmas gifts (clothes and toys) for the remaining 12.  Cynthia Lanier is heading the Christmas Team, all from the choir.

Food Barrel for Park Hills children: We have combined this with the gifts above, and people have been donating heavily to the Food Barrel collections.  This is for Park Hills School families, (above) and focuses on holiday meal items.  We will have a big Aldi’s cloth shopping bag full of food for each family.  Gifts and food will be delivered to the school office Dec. 13th—P.K. is going to need some help with this!

Youth and Social Justice:  This month,  our youth prepared dinner for guests of the Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network (SPIHN) at Fernwood Baptist Church, and then played with the kids while the adults (UU and SPIHN guests) got acquainted.  A good time was had by all—in fact, the youth group has committed to accept this responsibility for this year (once every 10 weeks).  Thursday, Nov. 18th, Megan, Shannon and Mary Bracy participated in the 4th annual Homelessness Vigil with Social Justice with Alice Sutton & Amber Pennington.  

Our Local Issue:  Green Sanctuary: Our application for the free energy assessment has been submitted and may be approved this week.  We hope to get this assessment done and report back by Christmas!  Then all the church members who indicated an interest in the green sanctuary team on the survey will be invited to meet.    You can check out the Green Sanctuary Program info on the UUA website:
http://www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/118741.shtml

Our Global Issue: Appalachia:  Why & How YOU can fight mountaintop mining:   We gave two presentations in October and had an article in the November UNISON. This article gave us ways to support Appalachian people as they fight the destruction of their mountains and valleys.   We have encouraged everyone to send emails and letters to Congress during the lame duck session as well as to the EPA.

Animal Allies:  Newspaper donations have increased and the Animal Allies Team is doing a great job of taking newspapers regularly! 

APPALACHIA RISING/ Supplement to Oct. 31st 9:30 am program

Sample letters you can cut, paste, and personalize to send by snail mail to VIPS…


For lots more info, go to www.ilovemountains.org 

Where to Send Your letters for the EPA
Ask Sec. Salazar and Ms. Jackson to stop mountaintop mining.    Ask President Obama to stop mountaintop mining.

Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460

Secretary Ken Salazar
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
Phone: (202) 208-3100

Sample Letter for Secretary Salazar (and adaptable for EPA Admin. Jackson, modified Dec. 6th:

Dear Secretary Salazar,

I am writing today to ask you to stop mountaintop removal—500 mountaintops destroyed forever, many communities destroyed forever—this is enough and beyond enough! 

Although I don’t live in the Appalachians, they are an important part of my world.   They’re some of the oldest mountains in the world, about 500 million years old, and they are awe-inspiring and revitalizing for all of us who visit them.   But coal companies are destroying them and their unique ecosystems for a few years of cheap profits!

Thank you for doing the right thing so far by preliminarily holding all 79 mountaintop removal valley fill permit applications for further review with the Army Corps. By doing so, the EPA has demonstrated their intention to fulfill a promise to provide science-based oversight which will limit the devastating environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining

We encourage the EPA to use its veto authority to stop all permitting of valley fills associated with strip mining in Appalachia.

According to the EPA's own scientific studies, there are many problems associated with valley fills, which have already buried and polluted nearly 2,000 miles of streams across Appalachia. Randy Pomponio, Director of the EPA's Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division in the Mid-Atlantic Region 3, recently testified to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife about the negative impacts that mountaintop removal and valley fills have on water quality.

The communities, mountains and waterways of Appalachia are depending on you to do your job and protect the environment from the damaging impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining.  


The EPA should also consider the threat of contamination from the “beneficial reuse” of coal ash. Current forms of reuse are not environmentally sustainable methods of recycling. Several scientific studies have confirmed the environmental threats posed by mine filling with coal ash waste. To protect our precious natural resources we must regulate all forms of coal ash disposal, including methods of reuse.

We are willing to pay higher utility bills to stop that and to encourage the development of renewable energy sources.                                          Sincerely, your name

Our Senators

Sen. Lindsey Graham
District Address
101 East Washington Street, Suite 220
Greenville, SC 29601
Phone: 864-250-1417
Fax: 864-250-4322

Sen. Jim DeMint
District Address
105 North Spring Street, Suite 109
Greenville, SC 29601
Phone: 864-233-5366
Fax: 864-271-8901

 SAMPLE LETTER FOR SENATORS:

I am writing to ask you to become a co-sponsor of the Cardin-Alexander "Appalachia Restoration Act" (S 696). This bill is critical for protecting Appalachia's waters from mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountaintop removal involves clear-cutting hardwood forests, blowing up mountaintops, and dumping millions of tons of debris into nearby streams in order to reach coal that lie beneath the surface. Over 500 mountains and over 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been destroyed by in the manner.

But in 2002, the Army Corps of Engineers, without congressional approval, altered its longstanding definition of "fill material" to include mining waste. This change accelerated the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

To correct this, Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have introduced the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) which would help end the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, home to our nation's most diverse forests, the headwaters of the drinking water supply of many eastern cities, and a unique and valuable American culture that has endured for generations.

Please sponsor the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696).
Please support the development of offshore wind power, especially for South Carolina!
Thank you for your attention to this important issue and I look forward to your response.

TO DO MORE:   Contact our representatives and thank them!

 Rep. Bob Inglis
 105 N. Spring St.
Suite 111
Greenville, SC 29601
Phone: (864) 232-1141

Rep. John M. Spratt
201 E. Main Street, Suite 305
Rock Hill, SC 29730
Phone: (803)327-1114

I am writing to thank you for becoming a co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 1310.
As you know, this bill is critical for protecting the nation’s waters from being polluted and buried by waste created during mountaintop removal coal mining.

Passing this legislation would protect all the nation’s rivers, streams, and lakes from being used as garbage dumps for mining waste. It would also help end the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, home to our nation’s most diverse forests and streams, the headwaters of the drinking water supply of many eastern cities, and a unique and valuable American culture that has endured for generations.

Protecting our mountains and rivers is extremely important to me and millions of other Americans. As your constituent, I wanted to thank you for standing up for the values I believe in, and for doing all you can to ensure that the Clean Water Protection Act is passed by the 111th Congress.

I want to ask your support, also, for the development of real clean energy, like offshore wind power, especially for South Carolina!      Thank you.

To Email President Obama: go to  www.whitehouse.gov and click "contact"

We’re Moving Ahead on our Global Issue!

Global Issue- Appalachia: Jinx, Amber, and Alice spent Sept 25-27th in Washington, D.C., for a mobilization to fight mountaintop removal.  Go to http://crooksandliars.com/matt-osborne/appalachia-risesby-sitting-down
for an article & great video of the march, really showing the crowd, the arrests, & interviews with the leaders of this movement.  About a thousand people were there, perhaps a third from coal-mining states, the rest from all over, just people who care intensely about the Appalachian people and mountains! Way over half were college-age, and even some high school students-- it's great to see this fire and determination in our American youth. We are inspired and challenged by them, as well as by the older mountain people who have been fighting against mountaintop removal for twenty years!   We're looking forward to sharing this experience with everyone at UUCS at a 10:00 Sunday program in October.  This also inspires us to look for ways to fight mountaintop mining in our community.  Please put the event below on your calender & let us know if you would like to join us for the free workshop at Greer City Hall to connect with like-minded (but more traditionally religious) folks.

Creation Care Workshop Sunday October 24, 2010, 2-6 pm
“There is a movement in the upstate to meld together several national initiatives relating to the care of God’s creation.  Info at www.creationcare.org and www.interfaithpowerandlight.org.”  We can carpool (after Sunday lunch) to Greer City Hall, 301 E. Poinsett St. Greer, SC 29651.   To register on your own, email Shelley Robbins at srobbins@upstateforever.org   (they want a headcount so they have enough material & snacks for all.)

Local Issue: Green Sanctuary:   We have a one-page survey available from committee members and on the Social Justice table in the Fellowship Hall.   Please grab one & fill it out--  we really need your input!  You can return it to a committee member or to the big box on the Social Justice table.

We filled the Food Barrel again, helping the hungry in our community.   A warm THANK YOU to all who contributed!  Let’s do it again, and help out those struggling during these very tough times.   Here’s an idea from Total Ministries’ Ann Jones:  “whenever there is a sale where you buy a product and get a second item for 1 cent, buy it and put the second one in a bag for TOTAL.  The bag fills up quickly and you don’t feel a pinch on your grocery bill.”  What a great idea!   Try it & let’s see how fast we can fill that barrel again! 

Park Hills School:  The congregation collected $137 to help students in need with school uniforms for the new year.  Looking ahead, our November 14th Share The Plate collection will be for Christmas gifts for children in need at PHS.  Cynthia Lanier will head the PHS Christmas Team:  Susan Brown, Jeraldine Mack, Bonnie Lee Mizelle & Ruth Stanton.  They will purchase gifts, wrap, and deliver them to the school before the Christmas break.  If you’d like to join the team, catch Cynthia at church or let us know by email.  It should be fun, so don’t miss out!

For more info on any or all of the above (and to take action!), email socialjustice@uucs.org

Learn More About Mountaintop Strip Mining

Call it mountaintop removal, or mountain murder-- these pictures will make your blood boil!  For more info on the movement to stop mountaintop strip mining, look at

www.ilovemountains.org/take_action/campaigns/mountains/browse/67049f4cd070e32135bfbd0bf12bf95f

Our August meeting was packed with plans!

Park Hills School Partnership: After several years of dedicated work, Launa Blackburn has stepped down as Park Hills (PH) Coordinator.   Volunteers are needed to take on some of those responsibilities.   Launa did a tremendous amount, and we are not looking for someone to take on “the whole thing.”  To volunteer in the classroom, lunchroom, etc., ask P.K. for further information or contact PH parent-volunteer liaison Jackie Miller:  jmmiller@spart7.org   Our September 12th Share the Plate collection will go to Park Hills to purchase needed uniforms  (these are not expensive school uniforms, but still beyond the means of some families).

Cynthia Lanier will head the Park Hills Christmas Team which will purchase gifts, wrap, and deliver them to the school before the Christmas break.    She needs some dedicated shoppers to assist her—if this is up your alley, catch her at church or let us know by email: suttonak@charter.net  She would like to have her team in place by the end of September.  It should be fun, so don’t miss out!

Where is the Park Hills Box?   Waiting for a good man or woman to take it on—email Alice at suttonak@charter.net  if you would like to do this.  


Our Global Issue: Appalachia
We discussed the upcoming "Appalachia Rising," a mass mobilization in Washington, DC, September 25-27, 2010.  This is a weekend of meetings culminating in a Monday march calling for an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining.  For more info, see http://appalachiarising.org/  This is a great opportunity to participate in this movement and learn all about it.    Cost is minimal; registration is $50 per person. This fee will cover housing, food, workshops, and trainings (low cost housing is being arranged).   
    “Over 500 mountains have been destroyed thus far, and the practice leads to air and water pollution, causing cancer, gallbladder disease and asthma in communities downwind and downstream. Blasting cracks foundations and huge ponds of toxic coal slurry loom over communities. One, the Brushy Fork Impoundment in Pettus, WV, would kill 998 people by Massey Energy’s own estimates if it failed, spilling seven billion gallons of coal slurry over twenty-six miles downstream.”    There are good resources on this from NPR or PBS podcasts and Utube.  Also, our ppt is still online at http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Family/SocialJustice.html
Three of us are committed to going to the DC event—we have room for one or two more people, and would love to have a young adult or two come along!  Possible “scholarship” available.  


Membership:  Although we would love a few new committee members, we want to remind the congregation that committee membership and meeting attendance is NOT necessary for participation in activities—email suttonak@charter.net if you want to participate in something without attending meetings!  


Peace:  “Have you heard of the  ‘Million Minutes for Peace Campaign.’ Together we're working to collect one million pledges to pray for peace for one minute at noon on the United Nations International Day of Peace (Tuesday, September21). Please forward this message to your email list. Thank you and may peace prevail on earth.”


Coordination of RE with Social Justice: Our teens are concentrating on Homelessness this fall.  We shared the info we gathered last winter with RE. Our homelessness ppt is online at
http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Family/SocialJustice.html
The k5-5th grade Wednesday program is “EARTH SCOUTS,” which will coordinate well with both the Green Sanctuary and Appalachian Tragedy issues.  

We look for ways for all church members and friends to get involved and feel good by doing good!
                  
Online: For more on our 2010 Issues, check out http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Family/SocialJustice.html

       Work is Love Made Visible  ~Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)

What's Up with Social Justice in July?

What's up with Social Justice at UUCS?   We hosted a quartet of college students on a unique summer mission.   LiNK is a west-coast based grassroots NPO that helps rescue and resettle North Korean refugees, those desperate people who have managed to escape from North Korea and are hiding in China.   Several teams of volunteers, mostly college students, tour the country for a semester or a summer, speaking to university audiences, church groups, or other community groups.    Our quartet was Rene, Chelsea, Elyssa, and Bridget; only one of them had a Korean background, Rene, whose mother is South Korean.  This work is truly a humanitarian effort, from their hearts.  The only money the group receives from LiNK is for gas-- they all raised money from family, friends, etc., before they began their summer tour.  Our church helped with their expenses while they were here and gave them dinner at Wonderful Wednesday, featuring not one, but TWO vegetarian lasagnas!

They spoke at the church July 21st to a good group of members and friends.    This was a joint LFD-SJ hosting, and very exciting.   The students presented a stirring documentary about North Korea and led the group discussion.   You may see us sporting our fundraiser LiNK T-shirts, etc.   Several people signed up to sponsor the LiNK rescue and resettlement work, at an affordable $9/month-- this will be about $500 /year coming from our church members.    For more info on LiNK, go to  www.linkglobal.org     If you, too, sign up for a monthly sponsorship, please let me know at  socialconcerns@uucs.org   so we can have a church total. 

The LiNK group hopes to return to Spartanburg when colleges are in session.  Would you enjoy hosting them for a night or two?  This was a great experience for us, but we want to share the fun, so email or let me (Alice) know if you'd like to have them.   We look forward to seeing them or another LiNK team!   This project may be presented to the church next spring as a choice for global social justice issue for 2011-2012.

More News:  Did you know that the UU is listed as a "Meal-Sponsoring Church" on the SPIHN website?   We have assisted Fernwood Baptist Church with their quarterly week-long hosting of SPIHN for years.   SPIHN works to help homeless families re-group, resolve problems, and get back on their feet and into a permanent home.   You'll see information on their fall benefit concert listed in the Happenings.   We will offer our church covenant groups the opportunity to help SPIHN this year.   For more info, go to www.spihn.org/

Green Sanctuary Program:  We are preparing an application for a free environmental assessment this summer.  It is great to see everyone being more conscientious about using the recycling containers in the church-- hope you are all doing this at home, too!

Trail of Dreams July Update

 What’s going on with the four Dreamwalkers who came through Spartanburg?   Since they completed their 1,500 mile walk from Miami to DC and participated in the immigration rights rally May 1st, they’ve been busy!   Felipe Matos and Carlos Roa are in Arizona, advocating against the new state anti-immigrant law there.   They will begin a new walk through Arizona, talking at community events.   You can keep up with them at http://trail2010.org/

June 28th, Juan Rodriguez met with President Obama to relay the stories of the undocumented people they met on the trail. CNN recognized him as “one of the most intriguing people today.” The week before, Gaby Pacheco met with senators.   Here is her post:  "I was given the opportunity to participate at a meeting last week with key Senators.  The purpose of this meeting was to talk about how to move immigration reform forward.  Invitations to this meeting went out to every sector of the movement.  Some of the people present at the meeting were Farm Workers Alliances, NCLR, SEIU, RI4A, and about 20 other national organizations."

The DREAM act (written, but not passed, or even voted on) would stop detentions and deportations of students brought to this nation as minors and would give them a pathway to citizenship through education or military service, as well as include some other moves toward comprehensive immigration reform.

Name Change to Social Justice AND LOTS MORE!

 Wow!  What a lot has happened in social justice this year!   And it made this UUCS annual meeting very exciting for me.   We asked everyone who had participated in two or more meetings of the social concerns committee to stand up, then asked all who had attended at least one of our education sessions on the social justice issues to stand, then asked those who had viewed the online powerpoints about the issues to stand-- and most people were standing!  The first vote at our annual meeting was to change our name to the Social Justice Committee, as a sign of our church's new, more activist mission statement.    This was approved overwhelmingly.
Next, we voted for the local issue to focus on this year.   Although the vote was close, we approved the Green Sanctuary Program.   This can involve every church member and friend in many ways.  Our knowledgeable minister and Chuck and Jack won't do the work for us-- but they will help us do it, and do it right!
Last, we voted, again, by a fairly slim margin, for the global issue, Appalachian Tragedy, Mountaintops & Miners.   This choice was geographically the closest of our three options, so it will be the easiest for church members to actually visit  (right, Amber?).    We are going to have an exciting year, with opportunities for every church member to learn and to participate in Social Justice Work!    If you count the exclamation marks, you can tell I'm excited-- hope you are, too! (one more)
Need more info right now?    See    
http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Family/SocialJustice.html

  ~Alice Sutton, chair, Social Justice committee
Oh, one last point-- next year, we'll be choosing new issues, so those that didn't win this year, may be options for next year.  

Learn All About Our Social Justice Issues!

At open meetings on Sunday April 24th and Sunday May 1st, we talked about the six social justice issues that the congregation will vote on May 16th.   If you missed our presentations, you can learn about them at this link:

http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Family/SocialJustice.html

Lots of great pictures --so check it out! 

Our New Social Justice Program

At the May Congregational Meeting, ALL CHURCH MEMBERS will vote on the 2010 ISSUES for our church.  We have six issues to present to you, and you need to choose the TWO best.   

Our new Social Justice model gives our church two issues/programs to focus on for the coming fiscal year, one local and one global.   We have narrowed down the many possibilities to three local and three global.   Now YOU have to choose the best one in each group:

Our Three Local Issues:
1) Homelessness
2)  Green Sanctuary (a UUA program)
3) Adult Education

Our Three Global Issues:  
1)  Gulf Coast Recovery (a UU Service Committee campaign)
2)  Appalachian Poverty, Ecological destruction, and Opportunities for Recovery
3)  Haiti (a UU Service Committee focus).  

Sunday, April 25th, 10:00 we will talk about the local issues
Sunday, May 2nd, 10:00, we’ll talk about the global issues.
As you learn about our six options, ask yourself these questions:  
1.  How does this issue/program relate to the church mission?
2.  How can this program provide for multiple interfaces between the church and agency, ways for the children and youth, as well as adults of differing interests and abilities, to be involved?
3. Do we have the resources to carry out the program?
4. How can this program help our church grow stronger and stand taller in Spartanburg and in the TJ District?


Park Hills & St. Luke’s Clinic:  We have a continuing project at Park Hills School, with a small but important group of volunteers working there. We have a commitment to make collections for Park Hills. We have a continuing small commitment to St. Luke’s Clinic, with a dedicated group of volunteers. We have no plans to change either of these, but we need new issues & avenues for our whole congregation.

SAMPLES OF OUR ISSUES & PROGRAMS

Local Issue Number 2:  Green Sanctuary (a UUA program)
What is it?   A comprehensive program –a journey—towards a more earth-aware and earth-caring lifestyle for our church community, bringing in everyone from the pagan to the tech-savvy.   Not just changing light bulbs (which is one small but worthwhile effort) but a UUA-developed program which encompasses both worship and action.    98 accredited churches and 118 in candidacy!  (summer 2009)

Honors our Seventh Principle (respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part), practice environmental stewardship, and become better stewards of the Earth.

1. How does this issue/program relate to the church mission?
Justice for people, animals, and the earth:  environmental problems like climate change affect poor people in the developing world and in developed countries more than they affect the middle class right now.   They affect animals, plants, and eco-systems; they destroy our earth.  
Religious leaders from most of the world’s faith traditions have claimed that these envronmental crises may be the greatest moral challenge facing humankind in the twenty-first century. 
2. How can this program provide for multiple interfaces between the church and agency, ways for the children and youth, as well as adults of differing interests and abilities, to be involved?
The first step is to form a Green Sanctuary Team.  The second is to conduct an environmental assessment.  This includes assessment of four focus areas:
      *Worship and Celebration, *Religious Education—adult and children's
    * Environmental Justice,     * Sustainable Living—grounds, parking lot, location,transportation, facilities, kitchen, food, recycling/reuseables, office and cleaning supplies, energy use, investment policies, congregation policies, congregation committees, etc.
Quotes:  “the children in our RE program not only took initiative in helping with the church grounds, but also reached out to help an elderly couple with their yard work”   First Unitarian Soc. Schenectady, NY
“the formation of a Green Team was the spark that set into motion a wide range of progressive environmental movements within the church”  UU Charleston, SC
“There is much more energy around making a difference.” UU Church, Fairfax, Oakton, VA

3. Do we have the resources to carry out the program?   We have many talented, able, and hard-working people.   Also, this program can be done one step at a time!
4. How can this program help our church grow stronger and stand taller in Spartanburg and in the TJ District?   “Our recognition as a Green Sanctuary enhances our ability to make positive contributions to our community.”  A UU church in Mass.
“We are forming partnerships with other churches and faiths.”  UU Church in Eugene, OR

Global Issue 3)  Haiti (a UU Service Committee focus).

1. How does this issue/program relate to the church mission?
Justice of any type is in short supply in Haiti.
2. How can this program provide for multiple interfaces between the church and agency, ways for the children and youth, as well as adults of differing interests and abilities, to be involved?   Global issues require different approaches than local, generally less “hands-on.”  There are two avenues of approach for us. 
First, UUSC has partnerships with three grassroots organizations there.  UUSC “provides assistance to our partners, and their experience and expertise, in turn, enrich UUSC, enhancing our ability to advocate for goals we share in common.”  We can get involved with UUSC efforts, including political lobbying.   
Second, we have a church member who, already, has been wanting to volunteer in Haiti, at a school for nurse-midwives.  Ruth Stanton would be a welcome volunteer teacher at a school for nurse-midwives.  Typically, volunteers bring with them a variety of needed supplies for the school, from medical supplies to simple infant layettes.   Church members could help gather these supplies (and even make some) for Ruth to take with her, and support her trip $$.
3. Do we have the resources to carry out the program?   Again, global issues are a little harder to figure out, but a “Haiti Team” would evaluate resources as they considered different activities.
4. How can this program help our church grow stronger and stand taller in Spartanburg and in the TJ
District?    Over the past several years, UUCS has concentrated our social concerns efforts on local issues.   We need to look beyond our city & our state. The earthquake in Haiti was such a tragedy that it demands a response from the world. Church members demonstrated that they wanted to respond with their contributions to our special Haiti collection. Our efforts here, esp. with Ruth’s personal contribution, can add excitement to our church.

February Social Concerns Decisions

Local Issues Chosen: :  
1) Homelessness;  2) Environment/Energy/Climate change; and  3) Adult Education. 

February 24th Social Concerns Meeting

Present:  Don Rollins, interim minister; Alice Sutton, chair; committee members Abby Fowler, Sally Hicks, Teretha Fowler, Jinx Jenkins; drop-ins David Stack, Rosemary Kramer, & Bobbie Schoss (great to have you); and speakers Jack Seitz, Katie Justice, and Danny Redden.

Don talked about the next steps for our new Social Justice model to help us as we select the issues to present to the church.  He gave us seven questions to ask during the process of selection, including whether the issue/program has the potential for multiple interfaces between church and agency (ability to involve church members of different ages, interests and abilities, etc).   He explained how the minister helps the church build a relationship with a partnered organization. 

Don’s entire Issue Selection Checklist will be posted on the Social Concerns blog.

What constitutes a church-sponsored program?  We discussed Don’s answer:
Access to internal publicity; permission to solicit on its behalf; transparent accounting of funds; clear benchmarks or goals for monitoring; and periodic reporting.   This kind of planning, ongoing evaluation and reporting to the minister, the Board, and the congregation both during the year and at the end of the year will be a challenge!  But it will also keep the congregation on track through the year.
 
We then heard from guest speakers about two local issues:
1.  Katie Justice, an Americorps Volunteer with The Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau, and Danny Redden, asst. director at Divinity Care, the Spartanburg men’s shelter.

2.  Jack Seitz spoke on Climate change and Energy Conservation.  He explained the Cool Cities Initiative sponsored by the Sierra Club, and gave us great background information on this in Spartanburg.  Don told us a little about the Green Sanctuary program sponsored by the UUA.  He has been minister at two churches that undertook this program. “Participation in the Green Sanctuary Program provides a framework for congregations and congregants to proclaim and live out their commitment to the Earth.”  For more info, go to http://www.uua.org/leaders/environment/greensanctuary/index.shtml

We also discussed the place of Park Hills School in the church Social Justice program.  We plan to continue partnering with Park Hills School, being active with families in the neighborhood, and taking up collections for Park Hills students, etc.  We need to know what the scope of our volunteer activity is there at present, beyond the significant money and materials donations.  

Further group discussion centered on other local issues on our list, esp. dental health, teen pregnancy, and hunger.  It is hard to decide on only three issues when there are so many needs.  However, other issues will be selected in coming years.   A yearly change in focus will help us all be much more aware and active citizens of our community and of our world.

Finally, we selected our two remaining local issues:  Homelessness and Environment/Energy/Climate change, to go with our choice last month, Adult Education. 

We Chose Social Justice Issues!

January 27th Social Concerns Committee meeting notes:
Present:  Sally Hicks, Abby Fowler, Teretha Fowler, Ruth Stanton, Nancy Mandlove, Alice Sutton and William Worley

ShareThePlate Winners!  Ballots were available Jan. 17th to Jan. 27th, at two services and announced in The Happenings as available on the Social Concerns Table in the Fellowship Hall.  Fifty-seven members voted for the recipients.  Top choices were Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg (20), Safe Homes and Rape Crisis Coalition (15), St. Luke’s Clinic (15), and Animal Allies (14).  All others received ten or fewer votes.   So these four will be our recipients for Feb.-May.  We will Share The Plate on the second Sunday of  each month.    I will try to get a rep. from Healthy Smiles to  speak briefly Feb. 14th (DONE).

Sally said she first thought Social Concerns was about planning the social life of the church, and so was not interested.  Someone else had thought this, too.  We discussed this as one good reason to change name of committee, to help new members know what it is.   Also changing mission statement-- draft mission statement includes justice and uses stronger, activist language

Choosing Three Global Issues: 
Discussed UU service Committee and handed out info.   One of their campaigns is on Gulf Coast Advocacy.   We discussed why go global when there is so much need at home, why go international when there is so much need within this country.   Good points made on both perspectives.   Nancy, Ruth and Alice talked about the emotional impact of seeing, living in, and helping in a developing country.  The lasting difference in perspective energizes participants often for the rest of their lives.  Sally brought up the expense of traveling abroad.   We also talked about networking and planning, etc., to have a successful trip for church members.   In this discussion, we changed our focus from choosing three global issues to three national/international issues.   We had a consensus that we were not ready to present a plan involving international travel.  The topics we will present to the congregation are 1) Gulf Coast Recovery (a UU Service Committee campaign), 2) Appalachian Poverty, Ecological destruction (such as mountaintop mining), and Opportunities for Recovery, and 3) Haiti (a UU Service Committee focus).    In these areas, we will look at the whole picture, including rights for women, economic justice, and environmental recovery. 

Important Concern:  Several members have expressed concern that changes in Social Concerns will take away from our activities in Park Hills School/Neighborhood.   We discussed the need to address this.  We plan to continue partnering with Park Hills School and being active with families in the neighborhood, and with regular collections for Park Hills students, etc.  We also have a small but regular commitment to St. Luke’s Clinic and to the SPIHN (help for homeless) program, and to Total Ministries Food Barrel —we plan to continue these.  But we need ways for congregational members with other interests to get involved in different activities.  In particular, we need some offerings that appeal to a variety of youth—when my daughter was in high school and college, she didn’t want to babysit or be around little kids, but she jumped at the chance to get involved in an animal rescue NPO.  

Choosing Three Local Issues:  We discussed these, chose education and literacy for adults as one issue, and agreed to choose the additional two issues at the Feb. meeting.  
Present to the Congregation:  need time for three 10:00 sessions in March, April, and May.   
Next SPIHN dinner:  Thursday, Feb. 25th.

A New Year, New Opportunities

Two happenings for Social Concerns!    First, we're asking all UUCS members to vote on the next four ShareThePlate recipients.   Ballots are available on the table under the Social Concerns bulletin board and also will be handed out at two church services, today and next Sunday, Jan. 24th.   Proposed recipients include Hatcher Gardens, Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg, Madison's House, Animal Allies, Critter Connections, Bethlehem Center, Habitat for Humanity, New Day Clubhouse, Piedmont Care, SAFE, and St. Luke's Clinic.  Park Hills School is our January recipient.  Turn your ballot in after chuch or leave it on the Social Concerns table before 6:00 p.m. Jan. 27th.

Second, and very exciting:   We introduced the new Social Justice plan at the congregational meeting today! (read Dec. 1st post for details)  At this month's Social Concerns committee meeting, we'll choose three global issues and three local issues to present to the congregation between now and May.   In May, the congregation will vote on our proposals.   Possible global issues include:

Haiti:   Helping Women and girls in Haiti.  
Slave Labor: the oppression of women and girls
Environmental concerns
Help with skills to enable women and men to increase their income
Building schools for girls
Microloans for women
Hunger
The Death Penalty
Racism

We should have a lively discussion Jan. 27th!   Not on the committee?  You are welcome to come & participate!