How to move toward the well-being of all people…
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Image description: The Side With Love logo with “Side With Love” in orange block letters next to a hand drawn black heart. |
| April arrives as a season of deepening — and we enter it with you firmly at our side.Last week, you helped launch UU the Vote: Ignite Solidarity, Reimagine Democracy. You gathered and you said clearly: we’re all in. That launch was not a beginning from nothing. It was a beginning from everything you have already built together: the relationships tended, the courage practiced, the love made real through faithful action.
We will not pretend the landscape is easy. The work asks much of us right now — clarity in the face of confusion, steadiness in the face of provocation, rootedness in the face of forces working to divide and isolate us. But Unitarian Universalists have never waited for easy conditions to do faithful work. We know that democracy is not only made at the ballot box. It is made in the ways we show up for one another, the trust we build across differences, and the covenants we practice together every day. That is not a distant dream. That is what you are already doing. And we invite you to build on this foundation: deepen your relationships, bring others in, and keep showing up as the faithful, multiracial democracy movement we are growing together through UU the Vote. Scroll down to find resources, events, and opportunities our team is curating to help you stay grounded, stay connected, and keep going. The arc is long. The work is ours. And we move forward together, rooted in love, grounded in covenant, and more ready than we sometimes remember. With steadiness and deep gratitude, PS: Don’t forget to bookmark our Action Center; we share weekly updates on Tuesdays from the team with recommended reading, upcoming trainings and events, and curated resources in response to what’s happening in the world. Here’s this week’s update. |
| More Than a Protest: A Faithful Response to No Kings
The No Kings demonstrations have opened something real: a public space to ask fundamental questions about where we are headed and what kind of future we are called to build together. But as people of faith, we know that one action alone won’t carry us where we need to go. Our latest reflection explores what this moment asks of us: how to welcome those who are arriving into the movement, how to hold both possibility and critique, and how to move toward a radical democracy rooted in solidarity, shared accountability, and the well-being of all people, not just some. |
| UU the Vote: Ignite Solidarity, Reimagine Democracy
Last week we launched UU the Vote: Igniting Solidarity, Reimagining Democracy! This event honored the work UUs have done in the last six years in protecting democracy and combatting fascism; introduced partners from around the country; and revealed the resources, programs, and tactics we’ll be focusing on in 2026. UUA Organizing Strategy Director, Nicole Pressley, reminded us: “It will take deep, radical, and unrelenting love that, throughout history, has made the impossible possible. We are building a mass movement for justice and democracy. Each cycle, we stretch, we try new things. We are rooting more in our communities, more in conversations, more in building relationships. In this moment, the things that are keeping people safe, keeping people alive, the things that are going to be able to even mobilize us to the polls in these violent times, is going to be care and relationship.”
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| Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience Series
We are seeing the many ways our congregations and communities are creating hubs of resilience in response to the attacks from this administration, like neighborhood ICE watches, witnesses at detention centers, and organizing local resistance efforts. In the background of all of this are the challenges of increases in extreme weather and climate disasters – which will impact all of our communities, it’s just a matter of how and when. Let’s anchor the skills and practices from this year by integrating climate resilience into your congregation’s ministry! Our congregations can serve as a sanctuary of support during climate- and weather-related emergencies. Grounded in our shared values and utilizing the skills and practices from congregations around the country, we can create networks of community care that can respond whenever one of our congregations is harmed by climate disasters. Side With Love is hosting a series of webinars on Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience during Earth Month. Whether your congregation has engaged in this work before or this idea is totally new to you, we hope you’ll join our two upcoming events on 4/13 and 4/15. Curious about what we mean? When you think about congregations becoming a hub of climate resilience, what questions do you have? Email us at ClimateJustice @ UUA.org to share your thoughts! |
| April 13 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT
April Gathering – Creating Hubs of Resilience In the midst of extreme weather and climate disruption, our congregations and communities can be powerful hubs of care, connection, and critical infrastructure. Rachel Myslivy, Side With Love’s Climate Justice Strategist, will break down what we mean by “hubs of resilience” that are adaptive to and grounded in their context. We’ll hear stories of how folks are creating spaces that are not only prepared to provide critical support in times of crisis but also generate deeper partnerships and expanded possibilities in their communities. This month, activist Canedy Knowles will ground us in movement and possibility. Side With Love’s monthly event to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others! |
April 15 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Rolling out a Mobile Resiliency Hub in Georgia As congregations consider how to turn our buildings into hubs of climate resilience, the UU Congregation of Atlanta is taking the idea on the road with a Mobile Resiliency Trailer. Powered by solar panels with battery backup, the trailer will include a refrigerator, a water filtration system, induction burners for cooking, a washer and dryer, portable shower, and a mini-power station. The Mobile Resiliency Trailer is designed to meet emergency response needs, wherever that may be. When not in use, the Trailer will also serve as a microgrid to supplement the congregation’s electricity and lower their carbon footprint. UUCA’s David Stewart will share their planning process and budget spreadsheet which you can use to replicate the idea in your local context. Don’t miss this conversation to take your resiliency planning to the next level. |
ResourcesWar, Empire, and How We Got Here – Recording & Resources from March Gathering In the midst of a severe and colonialist escalation of attacks against multiple communities in the “Middle East,” Rev. Ranwa Hammamy grounded us at the March Gathering. Noting the norms and history that got us to this moment and inviting us to keep noticing the connections between this country’s past and implications today. They reminded us that we must imagine new worlds of thriving rather than strive to get “back to normal.” Their words and music from beheld reminded us that cultivating hope is a critical discipline to fend off despair and inaction. We do that together.
Green Sanctuary for Our Kids: Recording and Resources “I love how thoughtful you’re being about supporting children in being leaders. It’s the dream!” At our Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting in February, Julie Rigano, Director of Family Ministry at the UU Church at Washington Crossing in New Jersey, shared how she used the UU Climate Justice Revival Curricula for Pre-K to Young Adult to engage children and youth in shaping the ongoing work of the congregation’s environmental initiatives—and how her approach has enhanced programming for all. Julie joyfully shared several ways to involve the youngest members of our congregations in our climate justice ministries, including two activity plans that she created to supplement the Revival curricula. Additionally, learn how to use the evergreen pre-K through young adult religious curriculum from the UU Climate Justice Revival in your congregation.
Resource: Why Engage In Asset Mapping As A Congregation? In our recent resource, Six Questions Congregations Need to Answer About Community Safety in this Moment, we mentioned the practice of asset mapping. This is a great execise to answer the question about a congregation’s capacity to respond: what resources do you have access to? What are the specific resources that you need and what ones can you provide? Learn more about Asset Mapping with our tookit and view our Skill UpTraining: Asset Mapping: Leveraging Congregational Resources for the Movement.
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