– is interwoven in our past, present, and future

As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to uphold seven principles. Our faith is one with a long history of working toward justice. This often means we must commit to courageous action. When there is an absence of justice—where the worth and dignity of individuals or of groups is being denied, we push ourselves to side with love.

“Justice is what love looks like in public.”

-Cornell West

We are seekers, transformers, innovators, activists, allies. Our UU Fellowship mission is to manifest our principles through outward expressions of love.

At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Santa Cruz County, you will find people who are committed to service and action in their community. Individually, our callings are diverse; collectively, we work toward our vision of Beloved Community for a more humane and just world.

Some examples of our actions together:

• Each week, we share our collection with organizations working to make a difference. Since we started this tradition in 2017, we have collected over $100,000 for community organizations. For 2022 alone, the amount was over $18,000. Beyond the Sunday shared collections, we have donated personal hygiene and household items to farmworker families to help them through the hard winter months, and have adopted several of these families for Christmas gift giving of toys and clothing.
• We stretch to grow in our understanding and promotion of equity, justice, and dignity for all through worship and small group ministries. We encourage one another to be of service and in action.
• We are a welcoming congregation. We welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
• We amplify and engage with the campaigns of our broader faith, including Side with Love, LoveRESISTS, and Black Lives Matter.
• We regularly acknowledge in our services our debt to the indigenous peoples who came before us on this land, represented today by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. We support their effort to stop gravel mining on their sacred site, Juristac, on the Sargent Ranch near Gilroy.
• We actively participate and collaborate with other member churches, synagogues, public schools, nonprofits and service organizations in Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA).
• One of our congregational social justice ministries serves people who are homeless in our community. We participate in the Winter Shelter Outreach Ministry and the Mid-County Homeless Coalition Shower Project.  We participate with other area churches to raise funds for the Shower Project through the Chili Cookoff Fundraiser.
• We participate in non-partisan voter engagement to strengthen our democracy through UU the Vote. In 2022 we sent over 700 handwritten letters to low-propensity voters in several states, including Georgia, Texas, Arizona and Nevada, sharing personal stories of why we vote as a way to encourage others to do the same.

We invite you to be part of our commitment to social justice. Join us to celebrate. Join us to mourn. Join us to wonder. Join us to sing.  Join us to stand.

Join us to shape a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

For any questions, please email justice.ministry@uufscc.org.