Justice Ministry Overview
Our spiritual lives are inseparable from the struggle for equal access to food, clean air and water, housing, education, employment, health care, and legal defense as well as respect for the rights of women, people of color, immigrants, religious minorities and lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people. This is based on our belief in inherent worth and dignity of every human being and in the interdependent web of life. Working for justice is therefore as much a spiritual practice as prayer and meditation.
Take action with our Justice Ministry today:
- Living the Pledge Workshops – Signup for Info
- 8th Principle Activities – Download PDF of January 2024 events
Justice Coordinator
Our Justice Coordinator, Amanda Hays, was hired in 2020 to increase visibility and engagement in the greater Columbus community and beyond through supporting the church in following its call to justice work. Â Our Justice Coordinator also helps foster a deeper sense of living our values in terms of justice among First UU members. Contact Amanda:Â amanda@firstuucolumbus.org
Justice Action Ministry (JAM) at First UU
The purpose of First UU’s Justice Action Ministry Team (JAM) and JAM’s Focus Groups is to help First UU live our vision:  “to transform and heal ourselves and our world through reason and love” as well as our mission:  “to fulfill our vision by creating community, working for justice, and engaging diversity,” using the guiding phrase, “help us do justice, don’t do it for us.” Each of JAM’s six Focus Groups build relationships within their spectrum of concern, using education, reflection, and partnership building (within the congregation and beyond).  The JAM Team is responsible for the structure as well as oversight of the JAM budget.
Click on a focus group to learn more:
BREAD (Building Responsibility, Equality, and Dignity)
Contact: Alice Rathburn, eulala1905@me.com, (614) 563-0536
Democracy & Human Rights
Contact: Chris Johnson, contact-democracyandhumanrights@firstuucolumbus.org
Environmental Justice and Sustainability
Contact: Elaine Fujimura, contact-ecojustice@firstuucolumbus.org
Food (In)security
Contact: Jacques Angelino, 614-439-0245; 617 Woodsfield Dr., Columbus, OH 43214
by email: Stuart Smith, contact-foodinsecurity@firstuucolumbus.org
Healthcare
Contact: Lynda Smith, rev.lyndasmith@gmail.com
Racial Justice and Immigration (RJI)
Contact: Amanda Hays, contact-racialjusticeandimmigration@firstuucolumbus.org
Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Multiculturalism at First UU
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Network
As part of our goal to live into the ideas and dreams of Beloved Community, we acknowledge that for too long, People of Color have struggled silently within our community. We also acknowledge our part in perpetuating an insider/outsider culture and want to all we can to create space for those in our community who far too often find themselves on the outside looking in. As part of our effort to live into the 8th Principle’s call for accountability, we are working on building a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color network here at First UU.
If you identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, we would love to share more with you about this developing group, hear your thoughts about what would be most supportive for you, and connect you with others.  Please email contact-bipoc-network@
Anti-Racist Allies Group
Our Anti-Racism Allies Group lifts up and support the efforts and goals of our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color network, as well as working to dismantle systems of racism and oppression within ourselves and within our community, so that we can fully live into the Welcoming Congregation that we all dream First UU to be.. We are asking all participants in this group to have gone through an in-depth antiracism training such as Beloved Conversations or our new program, Living the Pledge (see our Take Action page to sign up).
Please email contact-anti-racistallies@firstuucolumbus.org for more information.
First UU is also a member congregation of several local justice organizations:
BREAD (Building Responsibility, Equality, and Dignity)Â
First UU is a founding member of BREAD, a congregation-based community organization of many different religious congregations in Central OH. Â These congregations are united through BREAD to research proven solutions and apply non-partisan pressure on local decision makers to improve housing, health care, employment, education, and other poverty-related problems in central Ohio.
Faith in Public Life
www.faithinpubliclife.org/states/ohio
“Faith in Public Life is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good.  Together, we are leading the fight to advance just policies at the local, state and federal levels.  Our network of 50,000 leaders engage in bold moral action that affirms our values and the human dignity of all.
We are committed to racial equity and are on an intentional, transformational, accountable journey toward internally and externally living out these values and deconstructing white supremacy.”
IACO (Interfaith Association of Central Ohio)Â
“The Interfaith Association of Central Ohio (IACO) is made up of nine diverse faiths who have come together for one purpose:  To create an interfaith community based on understanding, friendship, and trust.”
Ohio Fair Food
Fair Food groups partner with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to support and expand the Fair Food Program that protects farmworkers from abuse, exploitation, and modern-day slavery. Farmworkers, growers, and buyers who participate in the Fair Food Program ensure that workers receive fair wages and have decent working conditions. Â Ohio Fair Food, the local organizing group for the Fair Food Program, raises awareness about the FFP and takes actions calling on corporate buyers to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in their struggle.
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio (UUJO)Â
“Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio, (UUJO) is a volunteer organization of UU activists, committed since 2014 to facilitate the weaving together of individuals, congregations, Ohio communities and organizations, with the larger world to serve justice, equity, and inclusion.”