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.