Today (Monday) I am attending two meetings: One for the Polk Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliance’s “Festival of Faith” planning. The other is with Rabbi Goldstein to work on the land acknowledgment for the interfaith Thanksgiving service. Yesterday, I attended the Red Tent board meeting.

And thus, I write only briefly to offer you this thought from our Social Justice Team meeting: The entire congregation is the Social Justice Team. Our 8th Principle is a call to action and it is a covenant we entered as a congregation.

It doesn’t mean you have to do all the things or donate all your money to all the things (but don’t let me stop you from being as generous as you want!). But social justice work is putting your faith into action. It is a way of testing out your spiritual beliefs on this journey toward truth and meaning.

We have connections with many local organizations: Red Tent Initiative, Rose Dynasty Foundation, Interfaith Coalition of Polk County, and Equality Florida. We have plans to reach out to other local organizations. Would you like to be a liason between UUCL and a local organization? We envision UUCL to be a “hub” of sorts where local leaders can meet, organizations can use our facilities to educate and facilitate dialogue, and we can grow that shared pool of meaning I mentioned in worship. We also would like to start donating the collection plate once a month to the different organizations.

Since the congregation is the Social Justice Team, please be sure to reach out to me with your ideas and ways you would like to engage.