Will You Join a Listening Circle on a Tough, Tragic Issue?

An Invitation from Rev. Nancy

At the Unitarian Universalist Association’s online General Assembly in 2024, a majority of delegates voted for an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) titled “Solidarity with Palestinians.” This AIW begins by affirming our faith’s commitment to the safety of Jewish people and decrying the violence enacted by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Then the AIW focuses on the devastating harm and tragic losses experienced by Palestinians through the ongoing war in Gaza. It calls on UU congregations to take one or more of these actions—witnessing; educating; organizing and advocating—with specific requests listed for each.

Also last year, a majority of delegates voted for a Responsive Resolution expressing “UUA General Assembly Support for October 7 Hostages,” seeking to balance the focus on losses on both sides of this conflict.

Increasingly, as your minister and as a human being, I feel a pressing moral responsibility to help UUCG engage with this tragic and traumatic issue. 

Will you join me later this summer for a Listening Circle centered in Love that would make space for our thoughts and feelings about this devastating war, and open a path to considering whether and how we might respond to the AIW? (This war is only one of many in that very region, but it is the one most supported by United States funds and ammunition.)

Please express your willingness to engage in this Listening Circle by sending an email to me before June 15: revnpj@uucg.org
Be sure to put “AIW Listening Circle” in the subject line of your email.

With a broken-open heart,

Rev. Nancy

Read the full Action of Immediate Witness here:

https://www.uua.org/action/statements/solidarity-palestinians