Have you read the AIW that delegates will vote on this year?
Submitted by Deb Cruz, President of the JUUstice Washington State Action Network it is called “Defend Against the Assault on Environmental Protections: Public Lands Rules and the Endangerment Finding”
Here’s a link to the text of the proposed AIW (PDF, 6 pages)
UUJEC will have a web seminar with Deb Cruz, talking about the AIW, and Bob Murphy and Gregory Stevens talking about UUJEC-related on-demand GA workshops on Thursday, June 11, at 8 p.m. EDT. E-mail uujec at uujec dot org for a registration link.
Possible submission of proposal for Action of Immediate Witness…
“All Eyes On Delaney Hall”
The deadline for submitting AIW’s is June 7th. And, they need to be responsive to sudden needs for action. I had been feeling the tragedy of the detention centers build for lo these many months now. Though, in addition, the Hunger Strike at Delaney and other centers is becoming more and more pressing. Then, there was a profound struggle at Delaney with protesters being oppressed by the government – including some levels of the government who seem conflicted. Now, I feel like the “money bomb” that Congress threw out just last night – 70 billion dollars for immigration enforcement – is something that we could all respond to with a lot of love and concern.
Please contact me if you are interested in helping me shape this proposal. I have had feedback from some UU colleagues in my local congregation and from others.
My second line for the proposal so far is: “Hearts and hands to free our neighbors in detention.” And, already – especially as a newbie – I do not know if it is going too far to say we will “free” them! Seems bold, though I mean, of course, by persuasion, pressure, and petitioning our government.
Also, important:
I am definitely going to include a call for the delegates to attend the “Faith in Action” organization’s Delaney Hall event on July 13, 2026. (Which event is also a call to action around the country, as well as focusing on Delaney, if I understand it.)
Re: June 21st and June 22nd -
Though, in addition to July 13th, I want to hear if people think it is “worth it”, or anyone might go, if I ask us to use the bubbling, social, energy of our General Assembly to ask UU folks to meet at Delaney Hall in the late afternoon of June 21st (directly after the local congregations have Sing service and closing service) and/or on June 22nd. I feel like there could be something special about bringing the GA energy out into the world.
Thanks for any input. Or, anyone who wants to help shape this. I am working on it at crazy times, between caregiving responsibilities.
Many thanks,
Kimberly Wilder
My local congregation: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork
(In Bridgehampton, Long Island, NY)
(where I am a new member, and, very excited about UU values and the GA)
Yes, yes, yes! Would be glad to help; this is so important! I am in North Jersey. How do we connect?
I will be at the satellite site in Montclair and would gladly suggest a carpool to Newark after closing on Sunday.
Sally! Thank you sooo much.
A possible carpool sounds terrific! I think I may meet you in Montclair if that happens, to travel with and to! You have inspired me to keep a goal in this AIW to go to Delaney Hall – I think it is really a hot spot, because I think that the struggle for good and justice may be coming to a head specifically there and specifically now. I have also been encouraged, and will, encourage people to visit detention centers in their region, and put a spotlight on the ones with active hunger strikes (which I think is now seven).
I actually could use a lot of help. The AIW is due tomorrow. Due to the timing, I think I will be wildly collecting input and suggestions like someone making a soup, and then have to throw it all together when I have time late tonight or Sunday afternoon to throw the soup together!
If yourself or anyone could offer this help, I believe it would make this AIW imminently more useful and profound:
I need help as a newbie UU member to get connected and get buy in from some other UU organizations and/or folks on the ground in New Jersey. So…
I only learned a couple of days ago that there was a “UU Solidarity Initiative”, and I missed their meeting yesterday due to family duties. So, if anyone knows a quick contact person there or a way to fly my idea by them, I would love to be able to mention them in my AIW, or find a way to get their support.
Also, if any of the NJ uu’s would want to advise me or have their names included as point people for folks who want to go to Delaney specifically.
I had also dreamed that I could quickly (and there was not and is not a lot of time) get the approval of Pax Christi, a NJ branch of Pax Christi, and/or from the NJ ACLU to put their names in as resources. I did research and see that they have worked with uu’s before. But, I was putting out feelers on like Thursday or Friday, and this is due on Sunday.
And, then, there is the group that I am truly focusing on now, Faith in Action. I believe they are planning a July 13th nationwide support for detention centers with a focus on Delaney Hall. And, I would love a contact person there – of for someone else among us to just get their approval – to put their action in this AIW. Just to know that we are “invited” to stand with them as a UU General Assembly.
I guess you can see that I am overwhelmed with great ideas and little time (and little connections, being fairly new). I have had some super, duper help from some UU Reverends, but they do not have the time at this late date to bring me through to the finish line.
Sally…how can we be in touch? I think the rules here say we cannot post personal information. You can look me up! Kimberly Wilder from Riverhead. I have blogs at: onthewilderside and at Georgiana Circle Women Healing History (on wordpress). I think those have my phone number and email somewhere! Or, ask a friend at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork if they have Kimberly/Ki’s contact info. LOL! I could really use help.
When does the voting on this AIW take place at GA? As I understand it, the text will be read on June 15th.
OMG, I just saw this now! so is it too late? I really regret not seeing this earlier, I will look you up on Whova; I am there if you can reach out to me. (I tried to do an AIW at my first GA in Salt Lake City in 2009, when I went a few days early as a tourist and saw a notice that a local landfill wanted to import radioactive waste from Italy. As an antinuclear activist, I thought it was a horrid idea, and spent much of the first day working with the CSW to write up an AIW. After a couple of hours, I realized that [1] it was a lot harder than it seemed, [2] I was unlikely to succeed in getting the required signatures and then getting is passed, and [3] most important, it was going to eat up my entire GA experience.) I think your subject is much more likely to get support, and regret that we are in such a crunch.
I’m not sure; check the agenda for each of the General sessions; I’ll check later/tomorrow, juggling a lot right now.
Hello! Elliot!
I am a newbie to the world of UU. So, I believe I have this correct…
I think that there is one AIW that is already on the agenda, one about a land and environmental issue.
The one that I pushed forward was a late arrival, one that can be put on last minute due to timely events in the world. So, mine is about Delaney Hall. It was written with input from other uu friends, and a lot of guidance on words and format.
The one I submitted on Delaney is being looked over by the social witness committee and other processes. So, I do not believe it is a definite to be on the agenda. But, if it makes it, I believe that it will be talked about and/or voted at these sessions:
Monday June 15th
5pm to 6:30
and
Tuesday June 16th
12pm to 3pm
Thanks for your interest. Excited to have people’s support. I know that all of us probably care a lot about the conditions at Delaney Hall, and for some people it is probably a burning focus issue of justice and compassion, as it is for me.
Hello! Thanks! Sally G! Just your one comment that first time was enough to give me the inspiration to press on. So, many thanks.
I will say that I only finished the AIW with a lot of coaching and support from people with experience.
I believe that part of what is going on now is not just a deliberation about if my AIW will be presented, but also some discussions about what kind of help might be useful for UUs to give at Delaney Hall. I am kind of watching as someone who had an idea and a wish, and is waiting for wiser folks to see next steps.
Of course I will post here if the AIW gets on the agenda.
Re: Whova: I am not good at tech. I tried to get on the Whova for the UU GA once and failed. Though, years ago I remember it being useful and fun at an education conference. So, there is hope for me. I will try to get on the Whova app for more chatting and connection.
Thanks, Sally G, for your interest and support. Super appreciated!
Yes, AIWs will be introduced in General Session III
EDT: 5:00 – 6:30 pm
CDT: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
MDT: 3:00 – 4:30 pm
PDT: 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Those that are admitted to the agenda will be discussed Tuesday the 16th
3pm ET / 2pm CT / 1pm MT / 12pm PT / 11am AT / 9am HT
Thanks, Kimberly! I’m glad that my comment was helpful! I am a cochairperson of UUs for a Just Economic Community, and this Thursday we are hosting a Zoom meeting about our on-demand workshops and the AIW from JUUstice Washington that is on the agenda already. If you—or anyone reading this—are free Thursday evening, please check our site’s calendar for a registration link. IDK what I am allowed to post here; it is a Whova meet-up (link there goes to info/registration page), and on uujec (dot) net the page is calendar/ga-blue-ribbon-essentials/
Is the second session (Tuesday, which is actually General Session IV, I believe) at 12 EDT or 3 EDT? Whova has general sessions from 12 to 3 and from 5 to 6:30 on Monday and Tuesday, with CS/AI programming between the 2 general sessions, starting at 3:30 EDT each day.
I just got an e-mail from Emgage in Florida about the new domestic terrorism law to go into effect in that state on July 1. Combined with the Department of Defense “unrecognizing” UUism as a religion, and Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing about the Southern Poverty Law Center, I think we have the makings of another good AIW—but I am swamped! If anyone has the interest and time, I will share what I have gotten by e-mail. (Emage is hosting a web seminar tomorrow, Thurs., June 11, at 6 p.m. EDT (5/4/3 going west).
probably so, but it is really troubling; the 7th is actually a reasonable deadline, but this is scary stuff!
If no one has already provided an IAW for what Sally G has identified. Here is a draft. Please indicate if delegates resonate with including this among the IAW offerings. I did my own research and then provided a prompt and edited AI input to compose this AIW. If that is controversial, then let us not distract from existing AIWs. I do feel I need to be transparent about the source of this language. Kind regards.
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) issued a directive in May and June 2026 that drastically reduced its officially recognized religious affiliation codes from over 200 to just 31, thereby eliminating the specific individual designation for Unitarian Universalism (along with 180 other specific traditions); and
WHEREAS, this administrative decision forces Unitarian Universalist service members to select the broad category of “Other Religions” in their official military personnel files; and
WHEREAS , Unitarian Universalists have a long and honorable history of military service, including chaplains who provide vital spiritual care and troops who live out our principles of justice, equity, and the inherent worth of every person while serving their country.’
WHEREAS, removing specific religious tracking creates severe practical barriers to spiritual care, making it nearly impossible for chaplains to identify, resource, and support UU personnel deployed worldwide; and
WHEREAS, this policy disproportionately targets minority faiths, freethinkers, and indigenous traditions, signaling a dangerous institutional shift away from pluralism and toward the marginalization of diverse religious identities in the Armed Forces;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the 2026 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association declares that while we UUs welcome being grouped with other religions, we see the Department of Defense as using its authority to erase our distinct theological identity, the identities of fellow minority faith traditions, and the visible presence of non-dogmatic service members who sacrifice for their country; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the UUA calls upon its member congregations and individual Unitarian Universalists to:
For Consideration by the Commission on Social Witness:
As a Unitarian Universalist and lifelong activist, I am submitting this Action of Immediate Witness to address the Department of Defense’s recent erasure of our religious identity.
Many of us hold deep convictions regarding the military; it remains our nation’s most expensive institution, and its systemic use demands drastic reform. However, our commitment to justice requires us to advocate for the human rights of the individuals within it.
Our shared UU value of Pluralism celebrates the diverse dimensions of human experience, grounding us in a covenant to honor the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This sacred right must extend unconditionally to our service members, just as it does for all of us. When the state administratively erases a soldier’s faith into a generic “Other” category, it violates this core value and directly threatens their spiritual well-being.
We cannot allow bureaucratic ideologs to render minority faiths invisible. By standing in solidarity with UU, Pagan, Humanist, and Indigenous troops, we affirm that no institution has the authority to erase a person’s conscience. I urge the Commission to admit this urgent resolution to the 2026 General Assembly agenda.
Thank you so very much, Scott! Someone should rise to what was once the procedural mike to ask about an exception to the deadline for emergent Actions of Immediate Witness, as there is room to include this as one of the three that can be affirmed by the assembly. I am not superoptimistic about success, as procedures that are not followed are problematic, who gets exceptions and who does not, etc. (Heck, one needs to be experienced even to realize that exceptions are possible.) Still, this is so well written, it is so troubling in terms of what our federal government is doing, its effect on not only UUs but members of other faiths, some likely even more marginalized than UUs, so we are standing up for those religions as well as our own.
If this doesn’t work, we should find another way to publicize the issue, perhaps a UUJEC web seminar could be used for brainstorming.
The deadline to submit Actions of Immediate Witness has passed, unfortunately! The Commission on Social Witness can accept them up until 7 days before the GA, in order to give delegates time to read and discuss them with their congregation before the voting begins.
Rev. Nancy- Chair of the Commission on Social Witness
totally reasonable; we’ll have to find another way to get this to UU folks