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Climate Change


Bummed about climate change but don't know what to do? Join Citizens’ Climate Lobby! We are a national, nonpartisan, volunteer-run group that generates political will for Congress to take action on climate. We have a solution that economists and climate scientists agree is the best first step to curbing climate change: Carbon Fee & Dividend. We organize everyday Americans, district by district, and empower them to develop respectful, meaningful, persistent relationships with their Representatives to address climate change. The CCL Tucson chapter has been around for about 2 years and has gathered some serious steam in 2016, sending volunteers to Washington, D.C. to lobby our Members of Congress; publishing letters and op-eds in regional newspapers; tabling at dozens of events; sending hundreds of hand-written letters to our Representatives; soliciting support for our proposal from local business and community leaders; and many other projects. We sure could you use on the team! We meet on the 2nd Saturday of the month from 9:30-11:30am to listen to the national call and plan the month’s actions.


Check out CitizensClimateLobby.org or email tucson@citizensclimatelobby.org. Or, sign up for our national introductory call, available every Wednesday at 6pm, here: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/join-weekly-introcall/


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Where are they? Where are they?

Where are our children?

More than forty mothers of disappeared migrants made their way up through Mexico, stopping at 30 locations in 11 Mexican cities. Seven mothers reached the border wall at Nogales, Sonora, on November 23. The missing migrants were from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. They disappeared somewhere between their homes and the U.S. border, perhaps even in the desert on the U.S. side. This was the 12th caravan of mothers who stopped at prisons, other immigration detention centers, and police stations hoping their sons and daughters were arrested rather than made to disappear by cartel gunmen or the desert itself. The program supporting them is called Seeking Life on the Path of Death. The caravan program is dedicated to the Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres, murdered by gunmen last March. For news coverage of the group's visit to Nogales, click here. Photo by David Hill of No More Deaths.

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Standing on the Side of Love

at Standing Rock

Last Sunday night (November 20), in below-freezing temperatures, unarmed water protectors just north of Standing Rock survived shocking assaults from water cannons. Many were traumatized, and some needed emergency room care. In the aftermath of these attacks, and in the months prior, my congregation has received countless messages from people around the country – and world – asking, "What can we do?”


Meanwhile, we have received one of the most important invitations we are ever likely to receive, as people of faith and conviction. Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, has called upon each of us to join him at Standing Rock on Sunday, December 4th, for an Interfaith Day of Prayer. In solidarity with indigenous people and mutual love for the water, it is my hope that you and your communities of faith will participate in this history-making day.


As those who have visited know, the nonviolent water protector movement at Standing Rock is deeply rooted in prayer. Each day I spend at Oceti Sakowin camp, I feel myself challenged and inspired to live a more prayerful and faithful life. We awake with prayers, dine with prayers, go to rest with prayers, and pray continuously throughout each day.


The camps at Standing Rock are based on the conviction that prayer, especially collective prayers, can protect our living water. Your prayers – and your presence – mean the world. I would be honored to see you here.


JOIN US IN A CALL TO PRAYER ON DECEMBER 4

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION


Please share this call to prayer and solidarity widely, Thank you.

If you aren't able to be here in body on December 4th, please join us by praying for water and the water protectors in the morning, before meals, before bed, and whenever you able. Please invite others to join their prayers with yours -- with all of ours.


In peace and faith, Karen Van Fossan, M.Div, Minister, Bismarck-Mandan Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Bismarck, ND, minister@bismanuu.org


For more information and to register to participate, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/standingrockdayofprayer

Interesting thoughts for the day from Jack Kornfield in The Wise Heart.

"Compassion is not foolish. It doesn't just go along with what others want so they don't feel bad. There is a yes in compassion, and there is also a no, said with the same courage of heart. No to abuse, no to racism, no to violence, both personal and worldwide. The no is said not out of hate but out of an unwavering care."

Listen to the video for more infomation.

Immigration Justice Class

Immigration Justice will be an important issue in the coming years. At UUCT, we will be offering the following curriculum designed by Reverend Kathleen McTigue of the UU College of Social Justice and Harvard Divinity Masters student Josh Leach. We will be working with the book Undocumented, How Immigration Became Illegal by Aviva Chomsky and a secondary source from the British Broadcasting Company, the radio documentary, "The Missing Migrants." We will also be offering presentations by local resource experts on related issues. The class will be in four sessions over two months starting in January. More details to come in our January 1 newsletter. A link to the full curriculum follows this introduction:

INTRODUCTION

This four ­session course on immigration justice is designed primarily for congregational study groups, with the expectation that participants will gather for four successive weeks. Motivated by the growing numbers of migrants entering the United States via the Mexico border, our intention is to help Unitarian Universalists reflect on historic patterns of migration, the role the United States has played (and still plays) in Latin America, and how we might engage meaningfully with immigration reform.

In addition to new insight and learning from the book and broadcast, we hope this guide assists participants in reflecting together on our own faith:

Within such core convictions as the inherent worth and dignity of each person, where are we called to take action on this issue, in our own local communities and beyond?

When we center ourselves in a sense of the sacred, how might our efforts for social change be strengthened and sustained?

When we consider the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part, how might we be led toward people at risk in our own towns and cities, to whom we might become allies?

To fully utilize this discussion guide, you will need access to the internet during your sessions in order to listen to the recommended selections of music, and to hear the BBC broadcast around which Session Three is built. In addition, we recommend that you begin and end your sessions as is commonly done with Small Groups Ministry (also known as Covenant Groups), with an opening time for centering and silence and a closing that serves as a blessing as your participants disperse. We have included short selections for these purposes, but feel free to substitute your own choices.

Finally, please contact us with feedback! We would be very grateful for any and all suggestions for ways we might improve this short course of study.

Kathleen McTigue, Director

Josh Leach, UUCSJ Ministerial Intern 2014

UU College of Social Justice

http://uucsj.org/immigrationstudyguide/print/ 1/2 11/20/2016 Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice » Four­Study Session: Immigration Justice » Print 689 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139

You can review the complete curriculum by clicking here. Although as mentioned above there will be some additions for the class at UUCT.

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Appeal to Support UU Immigrant Services

In the aftermath of the 2016 elections, we here at Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE) are RISING UP. As you know, based on campaign rhetoric and the president-elect’s early statements...the status of immigrants... particularly youth and young adults with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), and those who hold certain religious beliefs... hang tenuously in the balance.

Our country’s commitment to resettling refugees fleeing war, torture, discrimination and potential death sentences due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, etc… is unclear at best. We may see limitations based on a person’s religion over the next four years.

The limit of permitted tax credit by the IRS on contributions to charitable organizations - including UURISE - may be significantly reduced in 2017.

As our partner in providing legal services to marginalized immigrants and refugees, your support allows us to provide critical education and advocacy in this perfect storm. In response to the election results, we have stepped up our game by offering an increase in relevant and time-sensitive programming such as…

1. Information forums to help immigrants understand the potential changes in immigration policy under the new administration as well as their rights and protections under the constitution.

2. Naturalization services, including free assessments and workshops to make sure that immigrant voices are well represented in future elections.

3. Free legal clinics with assessments to determine if individuals may be eligible for any protections or benefits under the current immigration rules and regulations.

4. Emergency Safety Planning to empower immigrants to avoid catastrophic loss in the event that they are detained or deported.

5. Technical support and services to congregations and faith communities interested in responding to unjust immigration laws and policies by answering the call of their faith and becoming part of the Sanctuary Movement.

We need your help now - more than ever before. We welcome your regular support AND ask you to stretch farther in 2016.

Send in your generous contributions quickly to keep us at the forefront of refugee and immigration rights in this time of upheaval and uncertainty.

In the Spirit of Justice, Katia Hansen, President & CEO, UURISE

Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services & Education, Inc.

www.uurise.org | katia@uurise.org | 760-477-7537

IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES WILL RECEIVE YOUR ASSISTANCE TODAY!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Year-End Donations must be received by midnight, December 31, 2016 to receive full tax credit for 2016 charitable giving. Send your donations to:

UURISE, 1600 Buena Vista Dr., Vista, CA 92081, 760-477-7537

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Plan Ahead for this Year's General Assembly

June 21-25, New Orleans, LA

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend; congregations must certify annually to send voting delegates.

Planning has begun for General Assembly 2017 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130. Google Map. Steeped in a history of influences from Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa, it is one of America’s most culturally and historically-rich destinations. It is a city known for its music, food, architecture, and festivals. The average high temperature in June is 89 degrees and the average low is 71. New Orleans is also known as a place of re-birth following the devastation of Katrina in 2005. Many Unitarian Universalists have contributed time and funds in the effort to rebuild both the city and the congregations in the area. By going to New Orleans, we can both celebrate our successes and recommit to the relationships that have been forged with this community.

Click here for more information.