The church has entered a new phase of SJ work, where the work is embedded in the life of the
congregation. Any formal changes in the status of focus areas will go to the congregation for a vote, so there will be an annual report to the congregation for such a vote to change or confirm focus areas. This new phase changes the role of the SJ Team, so during the year the team will be exploring these changes and revising their mandate. This revised mandate will come to the Board or Executive for review/approval during the year.
Social Justice Team Roles
- Kelly Wolf will be chair and lead for communications re the Website and the All Church. All
general communication from Board, church executive and other church committees and teams should go to her. Doreen Knol and Kelly will set the SJ meeting agendas. - You can reach out to any member on the Social Justice Hub via socialjustice@uuhamilton.ca
Doreen will chair the SJ meetings. - Pat Dickinson will continue to be secretary and post the minutes as required but is looking to
pass that task on in the coming year. - For this year Gail will be treasurer and will mentor someone to take over that function for
23/24. - Bill Johnson will be liaison to Board and Church Executive for policy issues and ‘speaking for the church’ requests from focus area team leads
FOCUS AREA TEAM LEADS
Service to a Community Organization
- Doreen Knol is Team Lead for Eva Rothwell Centre, contact with Sam Campanella, liaison the Food Pantry and Clothing Room there.
- Pat Dickinson and Charlie Pond are sharing the clothing room volunteer coordinator role
(there are 30+ clothing room volunteers, more than ½ of whom are church members)
Affordable Housing
- Bill Johnston is team lead for housing. Affordable Housing has an active team with links to research and community organizations, to Sacajawea Indigenous Housing and to HATS (Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters).
Welcoming Congregation
- Ashley Daniels has been the team lead for Welcoming Congregation welcoming@uuhamilton.ca. Ashley is leaving the lead role this year.
Climate Action
- Linda Sivyer and Jean Jacobs are co-leads for climate action. climate@uuhamilton.ca Climate Action was approved as a focus area at the 2022 AGM. Climate Action has a team of 4-5 people each with specific functions. The team has a mission, vision and workplan for the year.
Economic Justice (formerly economic injustice)
- Roberta Weiss is facilitator for the Economic Justice group as was approved at the 2022 AGM.
Roberta will explore ways we might engage with the issue of income and wealth inequality,
including integrating that issue into our focus areas. This group of 5-6 people, working with Roberta
and Rev. Jamie, is focused on research and education, in the way that the informal Climate Group
operated in the 21-22 church year.
Social Justice Team Mission and Mandate
Approved by Board as part of major evaluation of SJ work 2014-19 (November 2019)
Mission
The Social Justice Team of the congregation is responsible for maintaining a focused
social justice program as a central activity for fulfilling our congregation’s mission.
Mandate
To foster social justice efforts in this church, the Social Justice Team will:
- manage the focus area or areas chosen by the congregation.
- Manage any other work that relates to social justice (except for anti-racism work, for which the Minister is responsible, and the children’s walkathon, which is the responsibility of the Children and Youth Religious Education Committee).
- Educate and inspire the congregation and the community around social justice.
- Build support/collaborate with other church teams, Minister, church executive and Board and
with outside agencies to advance our social justice efforts. - Direct the use of the Social Justice Fund