Our legislative ministry: Objectives
December 8, 2008
This year our board voted to make Rhode Island Unitarian-Universalists for Social Justice (RIUUSJ) our Legislative Ministry. This enables us to join other U.U. congregations in the state, acting as a denomination of over 1,000 members, to advocate each year for the laws and funding that represent our religious principles. RIUUSJ has been doing this for six years, but heretofore with no official tie of any sort to our six U.U. congregations.
Each congregation chooses and conducts its own activities for social justice: in no way is the Legislative Ministry intended to replace U.U. congregations’ committees for social justice and good works. Rather, it is intended to focus almost exclusively on the community of Rhode Island, on its needs to correct the injustices of poverty, inequality, bigotry and the rending of our safety nets for the poor and for those fallen and falling into the ranks of the needy.
The annual legislative program of RIUUSJ consists of a very limited set of objectives involving particular bills that deal with those basic concerns cited above. Members of its Steering Committee, drawn from all of our participating churches, work with some of the major organizations active in our areas of concern. On the basis of these contacts, the Steering Committee submits its suggested annual program of advocacy at an annual membership meeting, and invites modifications and alternatives for discussion and decision.
These decisions rest with the membership. RIUUSJ was initiated to make and support such decisions. Were each of our congregations to develop its own legislative agenda, much less to reach consensus with six other U.U. churches, the annual legislative process would have ended before we could act. Effective advocacy depends on the numbers mobilized, and these would increase tenfold were RIUUSJ to have the commitment of the ministerial and lay leadership of our 6 churches to a common denominational effort.
Therefore, a congregation’s decision for RIUUSJ to act as its Legislative Ministry is not a delegation of authority for it to act in the name of each of our churches, but rather a commitment to support its efforts to mobilize the participation of its members and friends in a concerted denominational effort. This includes, primarily, membership in RIUUSJ, and participation in the annual meeting to decide on the annual program. Clearly, the larger each church’s participation in the annual meeting, the greater its impact on the decisions made, and the greater the likelihood of its membership’s participation in the work of advocacy – inviting senators and representative to meet and talk with us; letters, e-mails, phone calls, petitions, etc.
Four of us here at Bell Street are members of the steering committee- Dan and Greg Greco, Tom Lamora , David Gleicher – and will answer any questions you may have and, hopefully, record your application for membership. This means a commitment to attend one annual membership meeting involving three hours on a Saturday or Sunday in late February or sometime in March, and a few hours of advocacy – e-mailing, etc. – usually after Sunday services.
Bell Street has played a critical role in the six years of RIUUSJ’s life, establishing our denomination’s name as a reliable and effective participant in advocacy for social justice. Numbers count. We need to grow. There is so much to do, and we need your participation.
~David Gleicher
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