Our Liberation is Fractal
Dear First UU,
As Fall begins, I have been reflecting on adrienne maree brown’s Principles of Emergent Strategy. Small is good, small is all. Less prep, more presence. Never a failure, always a lesson. Brown’s work reminds me that the whole is more than the sum of the parts, and that living out love in our small corners of the world creates ripples into the bigger picture. I’ll share more in my service on October 1.
As October begins, we will be shifting toward Getting Out the Vote for the Reproductive Freedom Amendment! Our church has officially endorsed the amendment, and we are sharing our offering plate with Pro-Choice Ohio and Faith Choice Ohio in October. You can stop by the the JAM Table in Beach Hall or email our Democracy and Human Right team at contact-democracyandhumanrights@firstuucolumbus.org to get involved.
Registration for Living the Pledge, our Anti-Racism training has begun!
There’s still time to sign up for BREAD Listening Sessions (details below).
We will be holding a visioning meeting for restarting our Racial Justice and Immigration Team on Sunday, October 8 at 11:30.
Looking Back: September
Our focus in September has been voter registration. We shared our offering plate with the League of Women Voters in September and put together packets for voter registration on Sundays after the service, and have had volunteers at libraries and other locations checking voter registration and helping people register to vote or update their registration. BREAD Listening Sessions have begun, and we also had a number of First UUers volunteer at or attend Columbus Community Pride, an alternative celebration that centers Trans and Queer People of Color, and held a learning and brainstorming circle to reflect and envision how we might support Community Pride next year.
BREAD Listening Sessions:
Plan to be a part of First UU’s BREAD Listening Process to get to know others in the church better and to give First UU a voice! Please email the BREAD Team at  bread@firstuucolumbus.org with the session you would like to attend or you can sign up at the JAM table in Beach Hall after a service.
Sat. Sep 16, 10:00 a.m., Zoom, hosted by Marilyn W.
Tue. Sep 19, 7:00 p.m., Zoom, hosted by Alice R.
Wed. Sep 20, 7:00 p.m., Zoom, hosted by John M.
Sun. Sep 24, 11:30 a.m., at church, hosted by Alice R.
Sun. Oct 1, 11:30 a.m., at church, hosted by Marilyn W.
Tue. Oct 3, 7:00 p.m., Zoom, hosted by Chris J.
Sun. Oct 8, 11:30 a.m., at church, hosted by Chris J.
Sun. Oct 15, 11:30 a.m., at church, hosted by Robin L.
Mon. Oct 16, 7:00 p.m., Zoom, hosted by Robin L.
BREAD (Building Responsibility, Equality, and Dignity—44 interfaith congregation founded by First UU and 10 others) builds the power of the people to solve community problems. In meetings with thousands of community residents, the organization presses targeted decision-makers to implement solutions to those problems.
Every year, BREAD conducts a listening process to surface one new community problem that is added to the organization’s agenda. Dozens of leaders are trained to research that problem and identify proven solutions. Along with identifying solutions, the research committee identifies the appropriate decision-maker(s) in the community with the authority to implement that solution. At the annual Nehemiah Action Meeting, BREAD congregations bring out thousands of people to press those decision-makers for specific commitments. Throughout the following years, BREAD leaders follow up with those officials to ensure that the solutions are implemented.
House Meeting/Listening Sessions occur in all the BREAD congregations to learn what their people’s major concerns are. A democratic process follows to select a new problem for BREAD to address from those surfaced at the listening sessions.