SOCIAL JUSTICE
A Civic Circumference
LEAD MINISTER - JEFFERSON UNITARIAN JUSTICE COUNCIL
2014 - Current
From day one, I have been in charge of leading and coordinating all the justice teams at Jefferson Unitarian. You can learn more about the teams on the JUC webpage. A few highlights-
Introduced the UUA Common Read as a shared practice of growth and learning for all our justice leaders
Led a year-and-a-half long revamp process, converting from the older Dick Gilbert council model that only allowed new teams to emerge once a year to a new process with new guidelines that are more nimble and responsive to the congregation.
Updated the process for shared offering plates to increase congregational involvement in the nomination of partner organization, while simultaneously strengthening key existing relationships.
Partnered with key lay leaders in our Housing and Poverty Team to move from paper to digital recruitment and record keeping for the 200 people that volunteer in Family Promise at our congregation.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
2016 - Current
In addition to serving on the board of the Cobalt Abortion Fund, I have also been an All Options Counselor with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and been asked to testify at the state legislature against extreme laws that would deny women their right to reproductive health care. Here's the testimony I gave against the late term abortion ban proposed in our state legislature in 2020, which was covered in Colorado Politics.
TOGETHER COLORADO
2015 - Current
As the lead clergy organizer for the Jefferson County Faith Leaders Table I've worked closely with both our congregational organizing team, JUC CAN, and faith leaders from across the county and metro on a variety of issues. These range from affordable housing grants, know your rights trainings for mobile home park residents, and mental health resources for high school students all the way to joint efforts with the League of Women Voters to host candidate forums for lesser-known local races. I've also been invited to be part of the team at major public events, like Faithful Thursdays and this service held in the wake of the 2020 presidential election (my portions is from 17:00-22:25).
GUATEMALA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
2014 - Current
As noted elsewhere, I've been working with our UU Service Committee (UUSC) team at Jefferson Unitarian since I started. You can learn more about the program on our website, or check out the video our our recent graduates below. I also worked through the Spanish Translation Certificate Program at MSU Denver to better coordinate and work directly with our partners in Guatemala. You can also read an excerpt of the book translation I started on my sabbatical.
"Violence arises when we do not know what else to do with our suffering."
Parker Palmer
Jimmy Carter
"Habitat gives us an opportunity which is very difficult to find: to reach out and work side by side with those who never have had a decent home—but work with them on a completely equal basis. It’s not a big-shot, little-shot relationship. It’s a sense of equality."