Live Oak UU Social Justice Ministry

Having completed the three step process described below,  the 11 Live Oak members elected to coordinate its functioning under the title of Live Oak “Social Justice Ministry Team.”  This team has been meeting weekly for several months and has established a covenant for teamwork, agreed on a Framework evaluation listing the team’s outcomes on elements of sustainability and relevance, and is completing work on a Purpose, Policy and Procedure statement that will guide social justice work at Live Oak when Board approval is received.

Live Oak is at step 3 of a three-part process to bring more focus to justice ministry within the church. The goal is to create a permanent platform within the church to open more paths for members put their UU religious values into action.

Step One

Live Oak recently joined 34 other UU congregations who are members of Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry (TXUUJM). This state group, in turn, is in a national coalition of UU state networks. Its goal is to educate and organize member congregations and partners in order to advocate effectively for public policies that are consistent with UU principles.
In joining TXUUJM, Live Oak must choose to focus on at least one of the Texas group’s priorities for 2020-2022. Those are racial justice, environmental justice, healthcare access, economic justice and voting rights.

The Live Oak UU Executive Team nominated Carmen Rumbaut and Darius Long to be representatives to TXUUJM.  In their roles, Carmen and Darius will be liaisons between Live Oak and TXUUJM.  Catch up with their work at Texas UU Justice Ministry-Live Oak.

Step Two

Live Oak is collaborating with the UU College of Social Justice to help the congregation bring more focus to its justice ministry.  Heather Vickery,  UUCSJ Coordinator for Congregational Activism, presented a justice sermon on January 24, followed by a workshop, “Saying Yes Saying No,”  just after the sermon, from 1-2:30.  The workshop’s purpose was to help social activists develop centering and discernment in their work.   Over 30 people attended this workshop. In the spring,  Ms. Vickery will lead a “Faith in Action” workshop designed to help the congregation find ways to clarify and focus its justice ministry.  Attendance is limited to 20 Live Oak members.

Step Three

Based on developments in the workshop process, Live Oak will consider fielding a Live Oak Justice Ministry team that can support the work of our two TXUUJM representatives and further embed justice work into the ongoing life of the congregation.

For more information or to express interest in the Live Oak Justice Ministry Team please contact Wayne Gregory.

Live Oak Social Justice Update May 16, 2021

Live Oak Social Justice Update January 1, 2021