Dear Friends,

When I was serving as a parish minister, there were periods of time when it was difficult to find a lay leader to serve as the chair of the Social Action Committee. Why? Perhaps it's like trying to get a chair for the RE committee when there is no paid director of religious education. Not many folks are rushing to take on the task. It looks like too big of a job. And, you might get stuck with it for life.

Leading a meaningful justice ministry is not as easy as falling off a log. It can get confused with secular community activism. That style doesn't work real well in church, and it overlooks the particular role and gifts that come with expressing our UU faith. We are in the transformation business. We are in the story and symbol and ritual and community building business. Grounded in UU values and history, we are at our best when we have opened our hearts, lifted our souls, and challenged each other to do together what we can't seem to do alone.

Leading such an effort is easier when you are not trying to figure it out on your own. Training in both organizing and UU theology never hurt. Good listening and the ability to inspire a wide range of people beyond those who consider themselves activists is a gift. Knowing how to engage the youth is a blessing. If a cause or project is perceived as one person's "pet issue" it rarely works for the congregation. Leaders who help their congregations engage in a regular and open process to discern their community's hurts and hopes and who can identify talents and gifts, are worth their weight in gold.

And then there is a matter of time and sustained commitment. If your leadership is always changing, it makes it much harder to build the collaborative relationships that are necessary to be effective. And don't forget music. Can you imagine the civil rights movement without music?

Too often we shoulder good-hearted lay volunteers with big expectations, but with less than adequate training, financing and support. Other leaders unconsciously adopt a lone ranger style, and are frustrated and hurt that the congregation doesn't come along.

Near the end of my 17 years serving our UU congregation in San Jose, we received some funding to hire a social justice coordinator. It was only a quarter time position, but it sure made a difference! Just as it is hard to sustain a quality religious education program without any dedicated staff support, so it is with justice ministry.

I know, some of you are thinking, "no way could my church afford that." Time to think outside the parish box!  UUs have powerful principles. When our congregations covenant with each other, we have a better chance of changing lives and charting a course toward the geography of hope.

UULM is fostering a statewide Covenant of Collaboration among our California congregations - to choose where we want to focus our ministries, and to create collaborative education and action. Personally, I imagine a day when clusters of UU congregations trust each other enough to share in calling a regional justice minister or lay coordinator to strengthen their congregational justice ministries. If your congregation is not yet part of the UULM Covenant of Collaboration, and/or your leaders are not yet connected to one of our three statewide UU steering committees - health care reform, the freedom to marry, and climate/water justice - I invite you to give me a call. UULM has much to offer and we have much to gain by pooling our resources and strengths. No sense reinventing the wheel by yourself!

Blessings, 

Rev. Lindi Ramsden
UULM Executive Director
(916) 441-0018 x202

PS A special Valentines THANK YOU to some key UULM volunteers this past month: Rev. Karen Stoyanoff for hosting a fundraiser; Rachel Morris, Matt Vander Sluis, Judy Moores, Rev. Hannah Petrie, Mary Jane Holden, Ramon Urbano and Art Ungar for UULM's "Changing the Climate" Action Workshops; Jessica Rothhaar, Stefan Harvey, and Rev. Barbara Meyers for the UU Voices for Health Care trainings, and to Howard Bierman for organizing the Freedom to Marry speakers training - January was quite a month! You are a model of collaborative leadership.

HAVE A HEART! SUPPORT THE FREEDOM TO MARRY 

Sign Open Letter to Governor

UULM joins the Let California Ring campaign in asking Governor Schwarzenegger to support the freedom to marry. Please click here to add your name! Ask him to send a letter of support to the California Supreme Court today, as it prepares to hear oral arguments on March 4 on the marriage equality cases. UULM provided significant leadership to the Interfaith Amicus Brief before the court, now it is the Governor's turn to show his support!

Your action has new urgency, since anti-gay organizations are in the midst of a paid-signature gathering campaign to amend the California constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. They hope to gather enough signatures to place this discriminatory measure on the November 2008 ballot.  

Marriage License Actions

Show your support for the freedom to marry this Valentine's Day by joining in supportive witness as loving same sex couples all across the state ask for marriage licenses from their county clerk's office.  Bring friends from church! Find the Valentine's Day Marriage Counter Event in Your County!
 
Speak up!

"Ours is a somewhat different love story...." We are very proud of Paul Boisvert and Rick Marshall's beautifully written Valentine Viewpoint published in their local press. The key to securing the freedom to marry is to bring up the subject - whether with a letter to the editor, or a conversation with someone in your world. Freedom to Marry week is the perfect opportunity!
 
Freedom to Marry Events

UULM LOW CARBON CHALLENGE

Join UUs to Lose One Million Pounds!

Making lifestyle changes to reduce our carbon footprints require purpose, planning, and practice. It is difficult to do alone. That's we're issuing the UULM Low Carbon Challenge-to inspire and help UUs across the state to lose one million pounds of carbon by Earth Day 2009. With a wonderful small group curriculum offering support from our faith community, we can help each household lose at least 5,000 pounds of carbon, " said UULM Executive Director Lindi Ramsden.

The California UU congregation with the highest percentage of households participating before Earth Day 2009 will win a prize. Also, the congregation losing the most carbon overall will be recognized. Congratulations to First UU Church of San Diego, Neighborhood Church and Throop Church in Pasadena, the UU Church of Davis and UU Community Church of Sacramento who are already taking steps to organize Carbon Rings!
 
For information about forming "Carbon Rings" in your congregation, see the materials posted to our website or give our office a call (916) 441-0018 x202. Together we can lose 1 million pounds!

UULM BOOK REVIEW

                           Managing Water - Avoiding Crisis in California
By Dorothy Green
University of California Press 2007 ($24.95 paperback)

Reviewed by Wynne Furth, UULM Action Network Board Member & UU Church of Palo Alto
 
Getting water to homes and farms, and trout streams in California is not for the faint-hearted. As Dorothy Green makes clear in this wonderful book, it takes vision, engineering genius, and relentless drive. And to an amazing extent, it has involved ignoring the big picture.
 
If you think about the need for more water storage only in terms of new dams and ignore the storage capacity of the Los Angeles Basin aquifers, you might waste a lot of money on concrete. If you feel comfortably righteous because of your short showers, you may think too little about the costs to the Tuolumne River of watering your Palo Alto garden with drinking water. The water bureaucracies are full of talented, dedicated individuals with keen environmental sensibilities, but they can't do much good if their governing boards are only responsive to narrow, short-term interests.
 
Green has spent her life making it possible for government agencies to do a better job, first as a founder of Heal the Bay in Santa Monica and then with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Watershed Conservancy.  In this book, she explains the multiple sources and agencies that keep the water lines full, the changes that are coming, and the hard trade-offs they involve.
 
She offers maps, charts, and a very helpful glossary. Green enables her readers to understand the state's almost unbelievable water engineering. She is clear, cool, and firm in her assessment of the past and the present.  Where there is work to be done, she urges us to do it; go straight to page 269 for the call to action but don't-- you'll miss a lot of other great insights and analysis!

UU Churches on Forefront of Environmental Justice

Fresno UU - State's First 'Green' Church

Putting its social justice principles into action, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno has become California's first "green" church, certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the standards are the nationally-accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green building in five key areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The Fresno congregation will dedicate its new sanctuary Feb. 24, marking the occasion with a visit by UUA President Rev. Bill Sinkford, who will speak at the 7 p.m. ceremonies.

Some key innovations about the building:
. Energy use 33.5% below Title-24 standard
. Water use 43% less than ASHRAE standard
. 100% of construction waste diverted from landfill to recycling
. 14 mature trees retained on site
. Heat Island mitigation with "cool" roof and shaded parking
. High degree of thermal comfort for occupants
. Use of low-VOC carpet, paint, sealants and adhesives

Rev. Bryan Jessup of the Fresno congregation notes that an eco-friendly church building was a priority for the growing congregation, which had made a renewed commitment to social justice. "We wanted our new building to adhere to our faith's core beliefs, including the respect for the interdependent web of life and responsible care of our planet," he said. The dedication event is open to all, including those from Fresno's interfaith community. For information, visit www.uufresno.org or call (559) 322-6146.

San Jose's "Green Vision"

Meanwhile the San Jose UU Church is hosting a bilingual town hall meeting Feb. 25 7-8:15 p.m. to advocate that city leaders create "green collar" jobs, help residents of all income levels improve energy efficiency, and to give input on planning/implementation of a "Green Vision." San Jose is the third largest city in California. For information, visit http://www.sanjoseuu.org.

FREEDOM TO MARRY SPOKESPERSON TRAINING

Two UU Fathers Want to Stop Being"Out-Laws"

"As long as we can't be in-laws, we'll be out-laws," said Howard Bierman to fellow UU Rhod Zimmerman, as the two men embraced. Their adult daughters were married in Canada, but aren't allowed to marry in their home state of California. The two fathers participated with 20 other UUs from Emerson, Thousand Oaks, and Santa Barbara in a "Freedom to Marry Spokesperson Training" session last month.

The free event was co-sponsored by UULM and Let California Ring, a statewide public education campaign for marriage equality for same sex couples. The three-hour workshop was organized by Howard Bierman (a member of the UULM Marriage Equality Team) and presented by Vaishalee Raja of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and UULM Communications Director Vivien Hao. Paul Boisvert statewide convener for UULM's Marriage Equality Leadership Team, can help UUs organize similar trainings in their local areas.

This month, Howard and Rhod are among the hundreds of UUs across California who will be talking with their friends, colleagues, and neighbors about why they believe that the freedom to marry is important for their daughters and all same sex couples. "As a person of faith and a father, I want to my daughter to be able to marry the person she loves and wants to spend the rest of her life with," said Howard. "In fact, our society would be stronger if everyone who wants to has the right to marry and create a family."

HEALTH CARE REFORM UPDATE

Can Health Care Advocates Lose Forward?

On the heels of the defeat of AB X1-1 last month, the UULM Action Network will participate in the February 23-24 Single Payer Planning Summit in Los Angeles, and will also continue to work with the It's Our Healthcare Coalition toward reforms that that expand access to health care. These include coverage for all children, regulating the existing insurance market, and helping consumers band together through establishing a state purchasing pool. 

Although the compromise Health Care Reform legislation (ABX1-1) that had been negotiated in special session by the Governor and Assembly Speaker Nunez (and which had passed the Assembly) failed in the Senate Health Committee, health care reform efforts continue. To read Rev. Lindi Ramsden's highlights of the hearing, and analysis of what happened, please click here.
 
UULM's UU Voices for Health Care project will continue with a series of trainings to help UUs understand the history, underlying values, and legislative landscape of this complex debate over how to heal this gaping wound in the fabric of society. We hope to foster teams of UUs across the state who can lift of the reality that we are indeed part of an interdependent web. There is no individual solution to the health care crisis. Please see calendar below.
 

CALENDAR

Feb. 24, 7 p.m. Dedication of first "green" church in California, UU Church of Fresno, 2672 E. Alluvia Ave., Clovis

Feb 25 , 7-8:15 p.m. "San Jose All Ways Green Meeting" with Mayor, First Unitarian Church of San Jose, 160 S. Third St. San José

Feb. 28, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. UU Voices for Health Care Workshop (link) for Clergy/Seminiarians, Throop UU Church (link) Contact Suzanne Marsh intern@uulm.ca.org, UULM ministerial intern for details.

March 4, CA Supreme Court hears oral arguments on marriage equality cases, San Francisco

March 15, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. UU Voices for Health Care Workshop, First UU Society of San Francisco

March 29, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. UU Voices for Health Care Workshop, UU Congregation of Marin

April 12, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. UU Voices for Health Care Workshop, First Unitarian Church of Oakland   

Aug. 2-10 Young Adult Climate/Water Justice California Road Tour                                      

To contribute to the UULM Action Network CA and/or the UULM-CA, please visit our Donation pages. UULM Action Network, CA (non-tax deductible) UULM-CA (Tax deductible, for educational purposes). Monthly donors are vital to our work, and one time donations are also gratefully received.