Our 2nd Principle: Justice, Equity, and Compassion in Human Relations
Khalil Gibran said, “Work is Love Made Visible,” and when we put our work into the second principle of Unitarian Universalism, we put love into action. During the past few years, challenged by the pandemic, we accomplished more than we imagined was possible. Now, with increasing attacks on human rights, we go forward in solidarity with UU congregations across South Carolina and our nation, with the belief that we can make a difference – how our cumulative efforts together can have a large impact!
Our Social Justice program is the broadest and most ambitious we have ever had, in a congregation that has earned the LGBT Welcoming designation, the Green Congregation award, and hosted both the first Gay Pride Celebration in Spartanburg, and Spartanburg Earth Day festivals!
We are proud of all that we accomplished during the pandemic and move forward with an expanded understanding of who we are, what we can do, and how we want to grow. Our mission is to give our congregation the chance to be all that we can be and to make a difference in our world.
Our overarching project is to do the work of consciousness through workshops and dialogues to become an anti-racist, anti-oppression, multicultural congregation. From this commitment to consciousness, four teams work on distinct projects in the areas of Immigration, Voting, Ecology, and Being a Neighbor, in cooperation with partners in each of these areas.
Opportunities to work with one another and with partnering organizations include hands-on activities from tutoring children and adults to work to impact legislation on human rights. Often, we express the importance of social justice causes by our donations to the monthly “Share the Plate” recipients.
We provide ongoing support for local causes such as the food barrel for community organizations, children’s books for little free libraries, and a newspaper collection for two NPO’s providing animal care. We welcome participation by visitors in our work.
