Justice and Responsibility USH

Justice & Responsibility (December 01)

December is a month when our thoughts turn to the larger world ... to those in our nearby Hartford Community who may have to live through the holiday season in hardship, whether without presents, without heat, food, shelter, or family. Our own personal comfort can create a sense of discomfort in our Meeting House members, knowing that our house of worship is in such close proximity to those whose lives are so different from our own. What can we do? How can we use our compassion effectively? How can we enjoy our own relative privilege and at the same time use what we have to help in situations we can't understand first hand?

The “Help Feed Hartford's Hungry” box which has occupied our lobby every Sunday for the past twelve years has been largely the project of Steve Shepard, who has collected (and delivered) over 35,000 cans of food for the Horace Bushnell Pantry, and raised over $35,000 to be used by Food Share. In the beginning, Steve delivered all the food himself ... these days there are a dozen delivery volunteers.

At the Social Responsibility Committee's November Potluck meeting, they were busy organizing the “Jubilee World” Workshop on Racism, and suffering from the same “September 11” syndrome as the rest of the world ... trying to get enough participants involved to make it a go.

The Social Responsibility Committee's agenda is largely organized around action groups and advocacy, such as the Greater Hartford Faith Based Coalition for Equity and Justice, which was founded by Dr. Alvan Johnson of Bethel AME last year, and based upon the belief that faith-based groups can have a great impact on the community. It has brought many diverse congregations together. Our Social Justice Committee works closely with the other UU churches in the Hartford area, but still feels a need for more participation within our own Society.

As Marye Gail Harrison said, “In the Hierarchy of Service, trying to influence the system is a higher level of service than trying to help people struggle better in an unjust system. Our congregation doesn't seem to get that idea.”

_____________________________

Perhaps we need to know that we need both activism and hands-on help for those struggling in the unjust system. Meredith Miller has been working on the “Greater Community” chunk with the Strategic Planning Task Force. She believes our congregation needs a vehicle with which to increase its focus ... that given our physical location and cultural differences from the Hartford Community, our Society has a difficult time getting a coherent outreach program established, although in America, energy for volunteerism is at a peak. We need a strong plan and greater unity in our outreach efforts if we are to overcome the physical barriers.

Marye Gail Harrison, who served as chair of the Social Justice Ministry until last month, agrees that our members' diverse geographical locations have been a difficult factor in our tutoring program. The Center For Youth tutoring program relies upon a pool of energetic retired people who can devote a half day at least once a week. This can mean a great deal of travel for those who live a distance from our meeting house, and driving home after dark. Her chairmanship entailed a huge number of administrative details which seemed to grow as the program continued. Volunteerism requires organization!

The program we call the “Social Justice Ministry” grew out of our Capital Campaign work in 1991. The congregation was polled, and a great deal of research was done to determine what would be a program a larger number of our Society's members could relate to. Out of it came the building of a relationship with Center City Churches, who were already managing effective programs that we felt we could comfortably align ourselves to. Center For Youth welcomed us with open arms, and Hartford Seminary's Carl Dudley viewed our mission as an outstanding example of intentionality. It was a “marriage”.

Then, all three of the groups changed.

During the same time period of our interim ministry and search process, Betances School stopped allowing students to be taken out of classes during the day, and Center City Churches and Center for Youth each underwent huge structural changes. The good news is that they came out stronger, better organized, and with better public funding than ever, with many more opportunities for volunteerism becoming available.

Our Society's connection to Center City Churches is becoming stronger again; our own Paul Christie is Director, of course; Reid Birdsall is on the CCC Board, and John Stowe has recently been appointed to the council.

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 2/21/05)