The Join the Movement Team wishes you a blessed New Year!
As disciples of Jesus, we believe it is our mandate to work for and seek justice, love, and compassion. We believe stories from local congregations working to dismantle racism reinforces the UCC’s commitment to continue movement toward becoming a restorative racially just denomination.
There are new resources, toolkits, and calls to action, as well as updates on the Join the Movement webpage featuring stories from within your Conferences.
As we celebrate Racial Justice Sunday February 12th in the UCC, we invite you to make use of these worship and spiritual practice resources that are intentionally intergenerational – creating entry points and spaces of reflection, prayer, and praise for people of every age. We hope you will use them to engage children, youth, adults, and elders in joining the movement toward racial justice, this Sunday, and every Sunday of the year.
The 2023 Join the Movement Black History resources focus on this intergenerational nature of organizing work. Under the theme “Becoming Freedom Schools: Building Intergenerational Movements,” materials, which will be made available throughout the month of February, will build on themes from resources created for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, “MLK and the new abolitionists.
Recent gun violence in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, and more recently Memphis Tennessee has been heartbreaking. The Join the Movement Team provides words of lament, comforting prayers, and liturgical resources with congregations as they plan Sunday worship, Bible study, and circles of remembrance as they lift up families impacted and grieving. Our goal is to encourage developing communities of care and comfort across regional locations.
We invite you to use the links, share the stories, toolkits, theological and spiritual resources, and visit the Join the Movement website regularly, become subscribers, and donors to the capital campaign.
Thank you and blessings on your very important work within the denomination.
Together we are rooted in God’s love and building a Just World for All.
Rev. Dr. Velda Love Lead for Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice Campaign Minister for Racial Justice | Education for Faithful Action
United Church of Christ, National Ministries
