From ansel.ploog at gmail.com Thu Dec 1 10:12:18 2016 From: ansel.ploog at gmail.com (Ansel Ploog) Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 11:12:18 -0500 Subject: [SRCAction] TODAY: Event at State House to Divest from DAPL Message-ID: *What?s happening today:* Spotlight on State Spending - Stand with Standing Rock Where: Vermont State House, 115 State St., Montpelier When: Thurs Dec 1 @ 3:30 pm Organized by: Central VT SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Central VT Climate Action, Upper Valley Affinity Group Citizens of Vermont will call on the State Treasurer to withdraw all State funds from TD Bank. As a customer of TD bank, Vermont is supporting a financial corporation heavily invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline. We respectfully reject the use of taxpayers' money for a project that violates treaty rights, human rights and environmental rights. Bring a headlamp. To offer or join a carpool to the December 1 event, click here. *Boycott school & work on Monday, and join us:* March & Mass Action to Defund DAPL & Stop Human Rights Abuses Where: Christ Church, 64 State St., Montpelier When: Mon Dec 5 @ 9 am Organized by: Central VT SURJ, Central VT Climate Action, Upper Valley Affinity Group, the Make, Rising Tide VT The governor of North Dakota has issued an order to break up the Oceti Sakowin Camp (the largest camp at Standing Rock), effective immediately. On November 28, police and National Guard used tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, sound grenades, and water cannons in subfreezing conditions against thousands of people. Hundreds of people were injured. Our solidarity efforts are needed now more than ever. In this action, we will demand an end to all human rights violations against the water protectors and their allies and that the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux be upheld. We will demand that dishonest, violent, racist, and unjust treatment of indigenous peoples end NOW. This action is for those who are willing to risk arrest as well as those who intend to support without risking arrest. There will be a brief training in nonviolent direct action at Christ Church at 9 am. To offer or join a carpool to the December 5 event, click here. *Please join us, and spread the word.* -- Flywheel Farm, LLC P.O. Box 256 East Montpelier, Vermont 05651 802-454-1022 flywheelfarmvt at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ansel.ploog at gmail.com Thu Dec 1 10:19:59 2016 From: ansel.ploog at gmail.com (Ansel Ploog) Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 11:19:59 -0500 Subject: [SRCAction] March on Washington: A Bevy of Information Message-ID: Hi SRC folks, Maryann has put together a list of information about the Womens March on Washington in January. There are multiple groups from Vermont going, as well as regional events in New York and Boston and a local rally in Montpelier. I'll put together something for the e news. Thanks Maryann! - Here's a link to info on buses going from VT to the MWM in DC: http://rallybus.net/womens-march-on-washington/from/montpelier-vt If you click on it you can change the town from Montpelier to other VT towns that also have buses going. - The Peace & Justice Center is organizing buses to the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017. We are also supporting a rally in Montpelier on the same day. For more information on that, please see thefacebook event. If you are interested in joining us to go to DC, we are asking $125 per ticket in order to cover minimal costs to us. You can come in and pay by cash, check or credit card. You can mail us a check or call with your credit card info. We are committed to getting as many people to the event as possible and have begun soliciting donations for a scholarship fund. We are hoping that folks who need a scholarship can pay at least half of their ticket. *Would you consider contributing funds to help make our scholarships possible? Any amount will make a difference. * Email Wendy to talk about receiving or contributing to scholarships or call 802-863-2345 ext 8 on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Fridays. -There's also a march in NYC; here's two links to info about that: https://www.facebook.com/events/1601810850126741/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ByzTx4eyTpWtZp-HDv0kxzaOTTYe04NPnQH1L312JZY/edit -And here's a link to the march that's happening in Boston: https://m.facebook.com/events/1907531039490905/ Ansel -- Flywheel Farm, LLC P.O. Box 256 East Montpelier, Vermont 05651 802-454-1022 flywheelfarmvt at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ludl512 at hotmail.com Mon Dec 5 21:15:17 2016 From: ludl512 at hotmail.com (Maryann) Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 03:15:17 +0000 Subject: [SRCAction] Women's march in Montpelier Message-ID: Hi all, I got confirmation that there will be a Women's march in Montpelier on Jan 21, at the Statehouse from 1:30-4:30 pm. There is a facebook page for it. Wish I could go to all of them! [??] Maryann -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: OutlookEmoji-??.png Type: image/png Size: 488 bytes Desc: OutlookEmoji-??.png URL: From ucm.revjoan at gmail.com Wed Dec 7 08:37:16 2016 From: ucm.revjoan at gmail.com (Rev. Joan Javier-Duval) Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2016 09:37:16 -0500 Subject: [SRCAction] Call on Friday at 1pm for the #SanctuaryCongregation Campaign Message-ID: Dear friends, I was recently connected to Movimiento Cosecha , a new movement fighting for permanent protection, dignity, and respect for undocumented immigrants. The movement is coordinating a campaign, #SanctuaryCongregation to grow the sanctuary movement to provide protection and spaces of resistance for the community. *This Friday at 1 pm ET, Cosecha is organizing a general call for members of faith to plug into the ongoing campaign work around establishing places of resistance and protection for the immigrant community. Click here to register for the call.* In 2007, an initiative known as the New Sanctuary Movement took shape with coalitions of congregations in major cities throughout the country. As workplace and neighborhood raids escalated, these congregations opened their doors to provide refuge to those facing deportation. Now, the Sanctuary Movement is playing a critical role again in responding to the post-election reality wherein fear, discrimination and xenophobia have taken a new precedence in our country's? politics. Since the Trump administration has promised to deport millions, people of faith have a moral responsibility to act. Sanctuary is a tool that helps escalate these efforts by offering our neighbors who face a deportation order safe refuge and sanctuary in our congregations. As people of faith we need to stand with some of the most vulnerable people in our country under a Trump administration - undocumented immigrants. *Show your support for the #SanctuaryCongregation Movement here: **www.lahuelga.com/sanctuarycongregation * With love, Rev. Joan *Rev. Joan Javier-Duval* | *Minister* Unitarian Church of Montpelier ucm.revjoan at gmail.com | 802-223-7861 x1 | Facebook | Twitter *"We are each other's harvest; **we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." --Gwendolyn Brooks* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From diane.fitch at wright.edu Sun Dec 18 06:47:42 2016 From: diane.fitch at wright.edu (Fitch, Diane E.) Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2016 12:47:42 +0000 Subject: [SRCAction] UCM Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1839E452-55C6-441D-96EC-963777E20854@wright.edu> Dear SRC, Due to the road conditions this morning, I won't be able to attend the Social Responsibility Committee meeting scheduled after church. We were to present our findings on becoming a sanctuary congregation. I am therefore attaching a summary of our research and ideas about going forward. Eva likewise cannot attend as she is out of town, so I am also attaching a summary of her thoughts. I would be glad to draft an invitation to the congregation to work on this initiative which we would include in the e-news if you decide that is how we should proceed. Best, Diane -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: UCM Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 15220 bytes Desc: UCM Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation.docx URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: From Eva.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 11159 bytes Desc: From Eva.docx URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ansel.ploog at gmail.com Tue Dec 20 10:05:16 2016 From: ansel.ploog at gmail.com (Ansel Ploog) Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2016 11:05:16 -0500 Subject: [SRCAction] Social Responsibility Projects and Events Review Message-ID: <4d7c4d52-f289-4992-5d79-edb830c04805@gmail.com> Solstice Greetings, Weather and the Holidays stole our last Social Responsibility Committee meeting for 2016 so I thought now would be a good time to review some of our projects.I have hopefully put everything in chronological order and many apologies if I?ve left anything out.Just a reminder that you can instantly send information to all members and friends of the SRC by emailing: SRCaction at unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org. Current Business: Heifer Project International ? Hedi has been organizing this in the vestry the last couple of Sundays.She will be sending checks out December 26^th , so I believe there is still time to donate to this organization. Contact Hedi Ballantyne (223-0455, hedi.ballantyne at gmail.com ) For more information about the work that Heifer does: https://www.heifer.org/** *Food Pantry Donations ? I?m copying this from the e-news just to remind folks to bring in donations to the food pantry on Sunday.Please make sure these items are not out-of-date, as the Food Pantry cannot use them.* ** *Women?s March on Washington:* *There are many UUs headed to Washington for the rally on January 21^st .If you know that you are going to Washington and could help coordinate, with Joan, a UCM presence there, please let her know.* *I will be attending the Montpelier rally on the same day and will serve as the point person for a UCM presence there.I?ll share more information about this after the New Year.* ** *UUA Common Read ? _The Third Reconstruction_ by Rev. William J. Barber II* *This book is especially pertinent to the SRC because it challenges us to draw together our many social justice causes under one unified theme.Barber also tracks the national backlash in our country after major gains in civil rights (Reconstructions).I think we can see that we?re in a backlash currently, or ?whitelash? as some have termed it, and Barber?s cautions and recommendations are timely.If you have borrowed a copy of this book and have finished it, please bring it in to the lending library for others to read.* *Joan will be leading a discussion of this book on January 23^rd from 7-8:30pm in the Children?s Chapel as part of the ARE 4^th Monday series.* *Sanctuary Congregation* *Both Diane and Eva compiled great information about becoming a Sanctuary Congregation.I encourage everyone to read them through (I?ve attached their documents).I was happy to hear that at least one person at Migrant Justice responded positively to this idea.It remains crucial that we work with the undocumented in VT to provide the most effective support.* *Many of you probably heard Vermont Edition on VPR last week about Sanctuary Cities in Vermont.There was some great information about logistics as well as rebuttals to some classic and racist arguments.I was disheartened by negativity of the (overwhelmingly white and male) callers and it is worth noting the amount of misinformation that is out there about undocumented folks in Vermont.Immigration attorney, Leslie Holman; Migrant Justice rep, Will Lambek;and *Mayor Joseph Curtatone of Somerville, MA were all excellent guests.** *http://digital.vpr.net/post/sanctuary-cities-vermont* ** *Revitalizing the SRC Lending Library and Bulletin Board* *I?ll be honest: this is something I?m really excited about.I envision a lending library of books that challenge and engage our congregation and an accessible bulletin board that shares events, introduces new social responsibility topics, and points to places to learn more and get involved.* *After the New Year, I will be coordinating a pre-Sunday service library clean-out to go through our books and other materials.I?ll send an email out to let you know when this is happening and anyone with an interest is welcome to join.If you have ideas of what sorts of things you would like to see on our new and improved bulletin board, email them to me or draw me a picture and slip it to me in church!* ** *Other Updates* *Because we did not have a meeting last Sunday, we did not get updates on the work of some groups such as VT Interfaith Action, 350vt, Rainbow Umbrella and the Central VT Refugee Action Network.Let?s make sure to check in with these groups and others to support their ongoing work.* ** *Reading Recommendation* *For your longest nights? readings, I recommend Ta-Nehisi Coates?s /Atlantic/ essay, ?My President was Black.?Coates is a fantastic writer and this essay is a stirring and exceptional view of the Obama Presidency place in American history. * *https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/my-president-was-black/508793/* ** Finally.The Solstice service last Sunday offered a new perspective for me of heading into the shortest days and longest nights of the year.Rather than focusing on light ?to drive the dark away," as Susan Cooper says, Eliza and the other organizers of the service focused on embracing the darkness.I was reminded that it is in darkness that we push our roots down, without which we could not reach up to the light.Darkness is a place to quiet our sight and to develop our other senses of the world.Surely there is a metaphor in here for the darkness of our world ? that if we use our senses of continuity, the desire to make everything okay, we will not see any hope in this darkness and we might despair.Are there other senses we can call upon to know our world in darkness? Peace to you all, safe travels on icy roads and sidewalks, and may the darkness awaken within you powers you did not know you had, Ansel -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: UCM Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 15220 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: From Eva.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 11159 bytes Desc: not available URL: From diane.fitch at wright.edu Wed Dec 28 14:25:29 2016 From: diane.fitch at wright.edu (Fitch, Diane E.) Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2016 20:25:29 +0000 Subject: [SRCAction] New York Times Article on Sanctuary Congregations Message-ID: <3105BF0B-4C98-4606-B76E-B08707B8DA83@wright.edu> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_2016_12_27_us_houses-2Dof-2Dworship-2Dpoised-2Dto-2Dserve-2Das-2Dtrump-2Dera-2Dimmigrant-2Dsanctuaries.html-3Fsmprod-3Dnytcore-2Dipad-26smid-3Dnytcore-2Dipad-2Dshare&d=CwIFAg&c=3buyMx9JlH1z22L_G5pM28wz_Ru6WjhVHwo-vpeS0Gk&r=wUP_Sc1wMz96cL5j0Sd_GUGbv3gFBzsAzMID4yMk8no&m=zHbFblt_iLZODVsEZESSTka-KPRcKgf1P9ogQRjl67Y&s=R7Im7WVnJO1_hrxypEtCqyuTurePMcJqiV40WGJ1lds&e= Providing safe haven from deportation efforts is shaping up as a priority of the religious left across various faiths and ethnicities. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryalicebisbee at gmail.com Wed Dec 28 14:40:16 2016 From: maryalicebisbee at gmail.com (Mary Alice Bisbee) Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:40:16 -0500 Subject: [SRCAction] New York Times Article on Sanctuary Congregations In-Reply-To: <3105BF0B-4C98-4606-B76E-B08707B8DA83@wright.edu> References: <3105BF0B-4C98-4606-B76E-B08707B8DA83@wright.edu> Message-ID: Great article, Diane! Hope all read the entire piece. Mary Alice On Wed, Dec 28, 2016 at 3:25 PM, Fitch, Diane E. via SRCAction < srcaction at unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org> wrote: > > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www. > nytimes.com_2016_12_27_us_houses-2Dof-2Dworship- > 2Dpoised-2Dto-2Dserve-2Das-2Dtrump-2Dera-2Dimmigrant- > 2Dsanctuaries.html-3Fsmprod-3Dnytcore-2Dipad-26smid- > 3Dnytcore-2Dipad-2Dshare&d=CwIFAg&c=3buyMx9JlH1z22L_ > G5pM28wz_Ru6WjhVHwo-vpeS0Gk&r=wUP_Sc1wMz96cL5j0Sd_ > GUGbv3gFBzsAzMID4yMk8no&m=zHbFblt_iLZODVsEZESSTka-KPRcKgf1P9ogQRjl67Y&s= > R7Im7WVnJO1_hrxypEtCqyuTurePMcJqiV40WGJ1lds&e= > > Providing safe haven from deportation efforts is shaping up as a priority > of the religious left across various faiths and ethnicities. > > > > Unitarian Church of Montpelier > SRC Action email list > unsubscribe at www.unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org > -- Mary Alice Bisbee 3 Prospect St., Apt. 308 Montpelier,VT 05602 Tel. 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