It’s Official: The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of New Jersey has changed its name.
It is now UU FaithAction NJ (Unitarian Universalist FaithAction New Jersey)
After 7+ years of working on legislation, advocacy and greater social justice on behalf and alongside UUs in New Jersey, the Board, Task Force chairs, long time activists–and many of you–felt it was time for a change.
The Rev. David Horst, Board member and minister at Central Unitarian Church in Paramus, officially announced the new name, logo, mission and vision statement at the annual Fall Issues Conference. He said to the 80+ member audience:
“Things change. And now is the perfect moment for us to make needed changes at UULMNJ as well.”
Our common work–expressed in the new tagline, “Educate. Mobilize. Advocate.”–remains largely the same. But thanks to a generous donation by Nadine and Louis Sapirman, members of the UU Congregation of Somerset Hills, we were able to approach the task of “how best to communicate to get the best work done” holistically–with website, social media, publications and other communications tools all pointed in the same direction: towards greater love and justice acted out right here in New Jersey.
By January 2018, the UU FaithAction NJ website will be updated and operational (with many, many thanks due our original, pro bono web designer and webmaster, Carol Glennon). It will include, among other things, an interactive social justice calendar that will provide one of the few links to everything justice-related across the state–rallies, events, speakers, film series, legislative actions and more.
For now, our website URL, email address (and check writing name!) will remain UULMNJ until we fully transfer over to UU FaithAction NJ by January 2018.
Our Mission Stays Largely the Same
Below is our new (but very recognizable) UU FaithAction NJ mission and vision statement as adopted by the Board at the July 2017 Leadership Retreat:
“Grounded in our Unitarian Universalist faith, we are confronting systemic injustice and building a more compassionate society by:
- Educating ourselves and others on social and political issues
- Mobilizing individuals and congregations to act for justice
- Advocating for equitable and sustainable public policy
at state and local levels in New Jersey.
We envision a just New Jersey free from systemic oppression and greed, full of engaged people committed to each other, to our communities, and to the Earth.”
We hope you continue to be inspired by the need, the vision and the day-in, day-out advocacy work of our many volunteers, staff and allies of UU FaithAction NJ.
We thank each one of you for your continued generosity, can-do spirit and stubborn determination not to lose hope, not to throw in the towel, not to say to yourself, “Some one else can do it.” We are only as strong as each one of us…it’s in the coming together–more than any name or symbol–that we find our strength.