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“I appreciate the food for thought and concern for the world – a
recognition of both the beauty and problems, the joys and sorrows of nature and human's interaction with it...” A member
Our Commitment
Central to our statement of faith and practice is a commitment to find ways to express our concern for social justice:
“…to strive individually and collectively for a community and world that is governed by non-violence, justice, equity and compassion.”
Individually and collectively we express this concern through many actions. One recent Sunday morning members of the Fellowship shared their individual passions at a “social justice fair.” Over 40 displays were set up, each telling about a group for which someone from the Fellowship volunteered in the community. The result was a vision of the wide diversity of social justice issues in which we are engaged – mental health issues, child poverty, organic gardening, and peace advocacy to mention a few.
Denominationally, our members have also contributed their time and talents to social justice issues. Three of our members provided national leadership in developing a Peace Policy Statement for the Canadian Unitarian Council. Together with others, Minister Emeritus, Rev. Fred Cappuccino, made a presentation to a committee of the House of Commons in support of legislation for same-sex marriage. As a young congregation, we stood in solidarity with, and raised funds for, our American Unitarian brothers and sisters in support of closing the “School of the Americas,” a training camp for some of Latin America's worst human rights abusers.
As a congregation, we have sponsored a family of refugees from Kosovo, regularly donated to the Ottawa Food Bank, and provided lunches for High Horizons (a group of seniors). Through the “Fred Cappuccino Award” we have twice recognized outstanding individuals in our community for their lifelong commitment to social justice. Currently, through two members working in Mali, we are helping to initiate a program for training women in sewing.
Within our congregation, we have educated ourselves about issues of fair trade; we use fair trade products and encourage our members to buy them. We regularly support each other to write letters so our voices will be heard on local, national and international issues. Although we don't have our own building, we do what we can to be more environmentally friendly.
Individually, many of us struggle to understand what it means to be a privileged people in a privileged society. We seek ways as individuals and families to live more simply and compassionately, to leave a smaller footprint on our environment, to speak out for tolerance, equity and justice, and to expose our children to our values in action.
In our faith community, “social action” is not a committee. It is a commitment to understand and act on what it means to live our principles in a world that is very complex – filled with fear and hatred, divided by great wealth and great poverty, wasteful and polluting of its resources. We don't pretend to have the answers. However, we try to provide a community where each of us can grow in our commitment and practice towards living our principles of non-violence, justice, equity and compassion.
Current Fellowship Activities
Social Responsibility Group: Monthly “Soupçons” for Social Responsibility (soup and bread gatherings) are opportunities to discuss social justice issues. These are open to anyone interested. We share information on issues of current concern, suggest actions that might be taken, and circulate draft letters, where letter writing is a response to the issue. We discuss how to involve others in the Fellowship in response to requests for action. Sometimes guests make short presentations prior to a discussion. The Soupçons are a focal point for discussion, planning and action.
Social Justice Fair: Fellowship members make a wide range of commitments to other organizations that promote social justice in our local and global communities. Periodically we have a Sunday service where we educate each other about these organizations and the issues they represent. Listed below are the web sites of some of the organizations members brought to our recent social justice fair:
Mali Project – Morceau par Morceau: We are raising funds to assist in starting a sewing training program for women in Mali where two of our members are working. For more information, click here.
Food Bank: Regular donations are made to the local food bank.
Fair Trade: Fair trade tea and coffee are served after our services and members are encouraged to buy fair trade products.
Sustainability Fair: Find out how to live sustainably in the National Capital Region.
Mali Project – Morceau par Morceau
Updates
Karen Bays is sending periodic updates and pictures of the project. Click on any of the items listed below to read her reports.
Project Description
Here's a complete description of the proposal for the training program.
Information About Mali
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