First Church in Barre, Universalist

Faith In Action

Barre UU Church Faith in Action Activities and Responsibilities February, 2011

The purpose of the Faith in Action work is to demonstrate in our church activities and our daily lives four of the seven principles of our religion. They are:

#1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person,
#2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations,
#6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all, and
#7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The Barre church has worked very hard over the years to put into action these principles. It was one of the first churches in the nation to become a “Welcoming Congregation” meaning we welcome gays, lesbians, bi-sexual, and transgendered individuals. We were also one of the first to become a “Green Sanctuary” meaning that we met standards to become a more environmentally acting church. We have also done our best to meet local needs and make local change in social justice.

Vt. Interfaith Action - This is a statewide organization that brings together churches from different religions to identify the most pressing human needs of a given geographical area and then work to make systematic changes to address those needs. The state organizing committee is focused on single payer health care, the Montpelier local organizing committee (LOC) on making streets safer for walking and bicycling and the Barre LOC on dealing with the homeless situation. Mark Alexander is the lead person representing our church.

Vt. Interfaith Power and Light - This is a statewide organization of churches to address global warming. George Plumb is the lead contact.

The Environment - We are certified as a “green sanctuary” by our national organization. This means that we try to have our buildings and grounds as environmentally sound as possible and we also try to educate our members to live sustainably. We also do an annual Earth Day worship service and need people to help organize that. If you are interested in such issues as global warming contact George Plumb.

Soup and Sandwich Luncheon - This raises money to donate to needy non-profit-organizations in the Barre area. Marilyn Davis takes the lead on this.

Hosting the Homeless on Friday mornings - This is a new activity done during the winter months. It needs two people to be there. Contact Mark Alexander who is coordinating this program.

Guest at Your Table - This is a program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the social action organization for the Unitarian Universalist Association. It supports activities such as relief for Haiti. It usually happens at Christmas time. Children put change into specially decorated boxes representing a guest at the table for a specific period of time and adults write checks. We usually raise several hundred dollars for this program. We need someone to organize this.

Other Social Justice and Environmental Issues - This group of people sometimes decides to take actions on other issues. As an example a few years ago a few of us went to a rally in Boston to protest the Iraq war. We need someone to bring these issues before us so we can be enlightened and decide whether or not we want to take action.

If you are interested in taking on any of these roles or just want to be connected with the others of like interest in our church contact George Plumb at plumb.george '@' gmail.com with your email address or call him at 883-2313.