Reimagine Together: From an Extractive Age to a New Era is an exciting UUA-wide program designed to get all parts of our church community mobilized for meaningful Climate Action. We will participate in two half-days of a Climate Justice Revival at UU Santa Monica along with other UU congregations across the country. The goal is to explore the cooperative efforts needed to effectively work together to address the climate crisis and disproportionate burdens of climate change on the most vulnerable communities.
UUSM’s Green Living Committee is coordinating the event, inviting the active participation of all UUSM committees including Peace and Social Justice, UU the Vote, Hunger Task Force, Women+, Youth and Adult Religious Exploration, Music, Hospitality, Worship and all others. If you are interested in helping with coordination, facilitation or another aspect of the two day event, please contact Alison Kendall, Green Living Chair, at greenchair@uusm.org.
The planned schedule for the two-day event is:
Saturday, September 28 – 1-5pm – Forbes Hall: Facilitated Conversations for Adults, and Climate Justice Activities for Kids+Youth, K-12. Designed to nourish relationships, make connections, build capacity, vision the future, and chart a course of actions, these facilitated conversations will include creative engagements, music, relationship building activities, and congregational connections that will advance intersectional climate actions with justice at the center.
Sunday, September 29 – 10-2pm – UUSM Sanctuary and Forbes: Multigenerational Worship, Advocacy, and Vegan Potluck Celebration. The UU Climate Justice Revival worship services will engage the whole congregation with the same spirit of intention as the dialogs. UUSM’s worship team will work with common materials, recordings, and sheet music of the song commissioned to celebrate the revival. Following worship services, congregations will join a national advocacy hour.
More information will be provided here, in the Thursday Announcements, and by email in the coming weeks.
According to the UU Climate Justice website, participating congregations will experience:
- A two-day facilitated event designed to develop skills to advance intersectional climate justice;
- Space to nourish relationships, build capacity, collectively envision our future, and chart a course for shared ministry and actions that advance climate justice while transforming congregations; and
- Deepened relationships within our congregations, holding complexity and crafting narratives that build a brighter future for all. The UU Climate Justice Revival will take place in congregations and communities across the country. While each congregation’s revival will look a little different, everyone will engage in the same process with the same resources.
The UU Climate Justice Revival Overview provides some more detail. The planning team is “preparing the soil” and “planting the seeds” so that congregations can “grow together”!
UU Climate Justice FAQ:
What is a “climate justice revival”?
The Climate Justice Revival is a way for all UU congregations to participate in a shared experience in our own locations but in solidarity and partnership with all the other UU congregations. It’s an ambitious plan to connect us to each other in our genuine desire for a flourishing future where all communities thrive.
Why are we doing this?
We’ve never before attempted such a wide-spread action, but necessity has inspired us to increase our engagement on the issue of climate justice. This Revival consolidates and mobilizes us toward the larger national movement working toward meeting critical climate goals.
Who’s participating?
Everyone! We’re inviting all UU congregations to join the fun. The Revival is ideal for the entire congregation to gather in celebration (not just the justice teams!) to gather for an energizing and engaging two-day experience around climate justice. Because climate justice is intersectional, we hope you and your wider congregation — kids, adults, and beloveds of all ages–are able to join!
Who is organizing the UU Climate Justice Revival?
“Reimagine Together: From an Extractive Age to a New Era” is a project of the UU Climate Justice Coalition and Friends with financial support from Revival Sponsors. The Revival builds on decades of faithful and visionary UU climate and environmental leadership and is designed to encourage collaboration amongst congregational teams and break down silos. Together, we can move past systems and cultures of extraction to usher in a new era with love and justice at the center of our climate actions.
What will the UU Climate Justice Revival be like?
The Revival will take place in congregations and communities wherever UUs gather. While each congregation’s revival will look a little different, everyone will engage in the same process with the same resources.
Is the Revival for Individuals or Congregations?
The Revival is designed for congregations to engage individuals in transformative dialogs, worship, and advocacy together.
“Reimagine together: From an extractive age to a new era” — what does that mean?
Climate change has the same root causes as health disparities, poverty, criminalization, immigration, and most of our society’s problems. Extractive systems, like the fossil fuels industry, take from the Earth, destroy our communities with pollution, disproportionately harm marginalized communities, and increase the inequities that drive racism, sexism, classism, and more. To shift from an extractive age to a new era means we must reject the broader systems of harm like capitalism and white supremacy to realize a future where all communities thrive. This rejection of systems that take, destroy, and harm necessitates a shift towards connection, nourishment, and communities of care. As we come together for the UU Climate Justice Revival, we will join in conversations, worship, laughter, joy, and hopefulness that facilitate this kind of massive culture shift. We know what the current systems of harm and extraction look like, what would a future look like if love was at the center of our actions? Come together with your community and fellow UUs to envision that world and identify actions that will help bring that vision to life.
