‘If you were arrested for being a Unitarian Universalist, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’

“I contend that the Unitarian Universalist movement lives under a prophetic imperative, a religious mandate for the corporate address of the church to the systemic problems of society. I cannot prove that, I do not assert it as a divine imperative; I only feel it deep in my bones.”[i]

With these words, Rev. Richard S. Gilbert, a Unitarian Universalist minister, introduces his book The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice. Gilbert calls us, in the tradition of Channing, Ballou, Parker, Adams, and others to work together as a religious community to foster a truly just and free society by working for fundamental and systemic change of those institutions which today create injustice. Not one to simply “talk the talk”, Gilbert has “walked the walk” since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. In the words of the Rev. John Buehrens, former UUA President, “Richard Gilbert is no mere theoretician. He is, and has been throughout an exemplary ministry of nearly (fifty) years, a practitioner of the faith he advocates: publicly engaged in religious leadership, seeking to help create what Dr. King called ‘the Beloved Community’ for us all.”

In his many written works, Gilbert explores the roots of the prophetic imperative in Unitarian and Universalist history and then sketches out a model for how a congregation like ours can embrace it. His model moves away from the traditional stove pipe approach to church programs, with constituencies for ministry, religious education, fund raising, social justice, property management, etc. and toward a more integrated approach in which the spiritual and social action do more than coexist. They are integrated into a whole to the extent that one cannot survive without the other because each is an expression of the other. Such an integrated congregation can be a powerful force in the community for meaningful social action and systemic change.

Gilbert’s is a model that will empower our congregation to embrace our core value of the Beloved Community and work more effectively for its realization. It is our religion given expression in action and it is, I believe, a blueprint for the future of our church.

We are honored that Rev. Gilbert will preach in our church on Sunday February 28th, following a program he will offer to ours and other UU Congregations on Saturday February 27th. During this weekend, Rev. Gilbert will help us answer a question I often hear asked by those who want to work for justice, “What can I do?” His experience and insight will help us to decide individually and collectively how to “walk the walk.” I invite you to take part in this important weekend program.

Tom Beall

Social Action Co-Chair

[i] Gilbert, Richard S. The Prophetic Imperative:  Social Gospel in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Boston:  Skinner House Press, pp. 4-5.

Opportunities to Give to Haiti Relief

Hello everyone,

In the post immediately below this one is information on how to donate to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee / UUA Haiti Relief Fund.  The American Friends Service Committee also has established a relief fund which can be accessed here.

Both sites provide for online secure giving with credit card.

Both the UUSC / UUA and the AFSC (the Quakers) have established reputations for getting funds where needed quickly.  These organizations reflect our values as evidenced by their rapid response to this humanitarian tragedy.  The members of the Channing Social Action Committee urge you to give and give as generously as you can.

For the Social Action Committee,

Tom Beall

Co-Chair

UUSC / UUA Haiti Relief Efforts.

UUSC is deeply saddened by the tragic earthquake that devastated Haiti earlier this week. For many people in Haiti—the poorest county in the Western Hemisphere with a society rife with inequality—meeting basic needs was already a struggle. In the aftermath of the disaster, it will become even harder for many impoverished Haitians to obtain access to water, food, and medical care.

UUSC and the Unitarian Universalist Association have opened a joint relief fund to aid the survivors. UUSC has already connected with organizations on the ground in Haiti, and we are developing plans for our response, with a focus on reaching those survivors at greatest risk of being overlooked. We are heartened by the outpouring of support that the fund has already received from Unitarian Universalists around the country.

We have heard that many congregations plan to dedicate the collection this Sunday to supporting the people of Haiti. To support those efforts, we have created an order of service insert, which provides information on UUSC’s relief efforts and the situation in Haiti. Even if you are not planning to dedicate your collection to Haiti, we hope that you will still find the information in this insert helpful in increasing your understanding of the disaster. If you need any other resources to plan your worship and donation drive, or have difficulty in downloading the order of service insert file, please contact volunteer services.

If you have any questions about our work in Haiti, please do not hesitate to contact our Rights in Humanitarian Crisis staff. Thank you so much for your support, which has brought hope in the midst of this tragedy.

Lauralyn Smith

Senior Associate, Membership Development UUSC

Step It Up/Cool AI Update # 37, 1/10/10

Hi, Green Friends,

On Saturday, many of you living in central Newport may have found door hangers at your entries, informing you about free home energy audits and the Neighborhood Energy Challenge. We encourage you to take advantage of these programs. The audits are free because we've already paid for them with the Renewable Energy charge on our electric bills. So get your money's worth! www.powerofaction.com/aquidjames, or 888-633-7947. And of course, there's no charge to take part in the Energy Challenge http://www.neighborhoodenergychallenge.org/.)

If you live farther south in the city, don't feel left out. We'll get to you soon. We'll also be covering Jamestown in the next couple of weeks.

Our deepest thanks to Boy Scout Troop 3, Newport, the Rogers High School Green Team, the Neighborhood Energy Challenge Committee and the Channing Green Congregation Committee for helping last Saturday.

Without further ado, we move on to a bounteous calendar of events. (Reminder: all this information and much more can be found 24/7 at http://www.coolaquidneckisland.org/.)

Beth

Monday, January 11, 2010

Alliance for a Livable Newport's All Member Meeting

Time: 6:30 to 8 PM

Location: Newport Library Program room, Spring St., Newport

On the agenda is a discussion of the ALN Strategic Plan and a review of ALN activities that were initiated or completed in 2009. We've included time for discussion and we'd like to hear your ideas for topics for our Public Forums in 2010.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Green Drinks

Time: 5 to 8 PM

Location: Herreshoff Museum, Bristol

SPECIAL GREEN DRINKS EVENT! Join Green Drinkers from around Rhode Island at the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol.

The Herreshoff Marine Museum is poised to become a unique model for "green" preservation and education. In 2007 the Museum embarked upon a program of "greening" its historic campus and will soon break ground on a new "green" Waterfront Education and Exhibition Center.

During the evening you'll meet and hear from the Museum's team participating in this exciting initiative and others on the Museum's campus. You'll also enjoy locally produced food and drink while taking inspiration from the exhibits and stories chronicling more than 150 years of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, the America's Cup, and the people and yachts that gained fame around the world.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Door hangers - Neighborhood Energy Challenge

Time: 9:45 Am to 12 PM (followed by pizza)

Location: Channing House, Channing Memorial Church, 135 Pelham St., Newport

Help create the "buzz" about the Neighborhood Energy Challenge and Home Energy Audits. Meet at 9:45 AM at Channing House (next door to Channing Memorial Church) to form teams and distribute door hangers in neighborhoods in Newport or Jamestown, until 12 noon, then come back for a pizza party!

National Grid has provided the door hangers publicizing both these energy saving programs, and we need to get the word out to our neighborhoods. (National Grid is providing the pizza, too.)

Come for as long as you can. Any amount of time will be a big help! Questions? info@NeighborhoodEnergyChallenge.org.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Berm Repair at Easton's Pond - Public Meeting

Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Newport City Hall, Broadway

Are reinforced concrete and steel walls the best option for repairs around the reservoir? Does the berm need to be fenced for safety? Share your opinions at this meeting. The Aquidneck Island Watershed Council encourages you to come and support your neighbors.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

An Economic Framework for Sustainable Agriculture

Time: 10:00 AM to 12 PM

Location: Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, URI, Flagg Rd., Kingston

Presented by Michael Hamm, C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, Michigan State University.

If the regional population were to eat the recommended portions of fruits and vegetables, what would be the increased consumption? What share of that consumption pattern could be grown locally? How much more land would have to be in cultivation in order to produce that much food? What would be the economic impact of the agricultural expansion?

No charge. RSVP for parking: Kim Dame, Grants Manager for the Van Beuren Charitable Foundation, 401-619-5910, or kdame@vbcfoundation.org.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Hearing - Wind Turbine Ordinance, Middletown town Council

Time: 6:30 PM

Location: Town Hall, E. Main Rd., Middletown

Come be heard on this important topic! This will be the second reading of the ordinance by the Middletown Town council. This comprehensive and well-thought-out document needs and deserves our full support. It's time to stop throwing unnecessary obstructions in the path of this vital technology.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Improving Our Stewardship Of Creation - RI Interfaith Power and Light Annual Conference

Time: 4:30 to 9:20 PM

Location: LaSalle Academy, 612 Academy Ave., Providence

Where are the resources we need?

A conference for clergy, lay leaders, parents, educators, business people, students and other interested persons.

A KEYNOTE PANEL will direct you to RESOURCES and PROGRAMS, including US STIMULUS FUNDS, to become more energy efficient,

Panelists: Ken Payne, Chief, RI Office of Energy Resources; Thomas Coughlin, National Grid Program Manager, Energy Efficiency and Distributed Resources; Karina Lutz, Deputy Director, Peoples Power and Light; Bob Chew, President, Alteris Inc.; Bonnie Sekeres, Executive Director, Shalom Apartments; Fr. John Codega, Pastor, Christ the King Church, West Warwick

Panel Moderator: Rabbi Amy Levin, Temple Torat-Yisrael, Cranston.

Exhibitors offering a wide range of helpful information, and informative workshops, including Interfaith Community Gardens, This Old House of Worship, Climate Change Impacts and Implications for the Ocean State, A Grateful Way of Living, Permaculture for Sustainability, and Environmental Education

To preregister: www.riipl.org/pre_register2010.htm

Suggested donation $10 at the door

Questions? info@riipl.org, or (401)267-0029.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Economical Historic Home: Energy Efficiency Workshop for the Old House Owner

Time: 12:30 to 4 PM

Location: Buliod-Perry House, 29 Touro St., Newport

How to care for your old house, protect Rhode Island's heritage, and help save the planet!

Do you love your historic home but hate the high heating bills and wasted energy? Learn how to make your old home more "green," saving money and energy without losing its historic character.

Experts will present information and demonstrations on:

• insulation

• weatherizing the building envelope (walls, doors, roof, etc.)

• wood window repair and restoration

• retrofitting for efficient heating systems

• tax credits and funding sources

• and more

Bring the kids too: Historic New England and the Newport Restoration Foundation will be providing fun, hands-on educational activities during the workshop (elsewhere on-site). Suitable for children ages 6 to 12, they will learn about colonial life in Rhode Island.

This workshop is a joint project of Newport Restoration Foundation, Preserve Rhode Island, Historic New England, and the Providence Revolving Fund, in association with Heritage Restoration, Inc and Heartwood Building & Restoration.

Advance registration required: www.newportrestoration.org/calendar/details/13042-the_economical.

Admission: $25 ($20 for NRF members)

$10 for children's workshops.

(Discounts for adults and children with Winter Festival buttons.)

Vigil for Peace and Justice

SATURDAY

January 9, 2010 11 AM – NOON

Hope St., Bristol

(by the Post Office)

HEALTHCARE - NOT WARFARE!

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!

Sponsored by East Bay Citizens for Peace, a grassroots organization committed to peaceful solutions to conflict and to social and economic justice through the promotion of open, respectful dialogue.

For more information contact 247-9738, eastbaycitizens4peace@hotmail.com or http://www.eastbaycitizens4peace.org/.

A Volunteer Opportunity

Hi, friends,

The Energy Challenge comm. is looking for some volunteers to help distribute door hangers publicizing Home energy Audits and the Neighborhood Energy Challenge in Newport and Jamestown. We plan to cover Newport this Saturday morning, Jan. 9, and the following Saturday, Jan. 16. We'll do Jamestown at a slightly later date.

We're meeting at Channing House at 9:45 to form teams and pick up the door hangers and maps of assigned areas, and we'll be distributing the flyers from 10 to noon. Then we're coming back to Channing House for pizza, courtesy of National Grid.

We'd much appreciate any time you can give us to help with this project. We have 5000 door hangers to pass out, so we need all the help we can get. If you can't stay the whole two hours, we'd be grateful for any part of it that you can do.

Please let me know by return email (to Tom Beall at socialjustice@channingchurch.org) if you can help on either or both Saturdays.

Many thanks,

Beth

Step It Up/Cool AI Update #36, 1/4/10

Hi, Green Friends,

I hope you all had a merry holiday season and are off to a great start on your New Year! I gave you a longer break than I'd planned, but to those who had perhaps hoped I was gone for good, no such luck.

Here's a great way to start the New Year. If you haven't done it yet, check in at www.NeighborhoodEnergyChallenge.org, and sign up. Do it by the end of this month, and be eligible for great grand finale prizes. If you've signed up, check in and fill out the new "Get Started" page (2 minutes, tops,) be sure your "Carbon Snapshot" is done, and collect your points for December.

National Grid reports a huge increase in requests for home energy audits in November and December in our area. Remember, an energy audit is worth 5000 points on our challenge. And it's free! You'll find the link to request an audit on our Challenge web site, or on your gas or electric bill.

We were pleased to see that Newport Clean City offered a special holiday wrapping paper recycling program the week after Christmas. We hope people took advantage of it, so it'll come back next year.

Here are a couple of ideas for your Christmas tree: Cheryl Cadwell, master gardener and columnist for The Newport Daily News, suggests laying it out in your yard (perhaps stacked with a couple of others from neighbors) to provide winter shelter for birds and critters. No space? In towns with municipal trash pickup, you can put it out on designated collection days, so it'll be chipped up for compost.

Yet again, a round of applause to Aquidneck Land Trust for acquiring more easements to important parcels of land--this time on Mitchell's Lane, Middletown, and on Webster Avenue, Newport.

Does it strike anyone else as ironic that Middletown officials are questioning the effect of domestic wind turbines on their landscapes, yet giving up the fight to take down those ugly billboard$ on rural landscapes on East Main Road? And are they really considering another $trip mall on West Main Road, with the possibility of another big box?

Keep up the good green work!

Your friendly neighborhood troublemaker,

Beth

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Apeiron Sustainable Business Network Launch

Time: 10:00 AM

Location: 17 Gordon Ave., Providence

You're cordially invited to the official launching of The Sustainable Business Network of Rhode Island(SBNRI) and Press Conference at 10:00 AM, at 17 Gordon Avenue in Providence.

Please RSVP: Call 401-228-7930 or contact tomas@apeiron.org

The Sustainable Business Network of Rhode Island (SBNRI) stems from the Apeiron Institute’s mission of building a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable Rhode Island. Apeiron believes in the importance of connecting businesses to encourage local buying and producing, and believes in the importance of educating the community of businesses about their role in combatting the world’s environmental challenges.

The SBNRI is a membership-based organization of locally owned businesses, service providers and community organizations committed to building a more sustainable Rhode Island for future generations. The SBNRI provides its members with valuable resources and benefits to help them succeed in strengthening their economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Learn more about the Sustainable Business Network of Rhode Island at http://www.sbnri.org/.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

No Green Drinks this week

Time: n/a Location: n/a

(See January 13.)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Door hangers - Neighborhood Energy Challenge

Time: 9:45 to 12 PM (Pizza from 1 to 2 PM)

Location: Channing Memorial Church, 135 Pelham St., Newport

Help create the "buzz" about the Neighborhood Energy Challenge and Home Energy Audits. Meet at 9:45 AM at Channing House (next door to Channing Memorial Church) and form teams to distribute door hangers in neighborhoods in Newport or Jamestown until 12 noon, then come back for a pizza party!

National Grid has provided the door hangers publicizing both these energy saving programs, and we need to get the word out to our neighborhoods. (National Grid is providing the pizza, too.)

Come for as long as you can. Any amount of time will be a big help! Can't come this Saturday? We'll be doing it again on Saturday, January 16--same time, same station.

Clean Ocean Access Cleanup

Time: 12:00 to 2 PM

Location: Taylors Lane, Little Compton

Clean Ocean Access will be performing our first cleanup of the new year. Come on out for 2 hours or 15 minutes, bring your neighbors, family, friends or just yourself. The usual suspects will likely show up with ample amounts of coffee, hot chocolate, donuts and possibly some fresh brewed apple cider! For important information, check out this link: http://members.cox.net/coa_2009/Taylors_Lane_2010.pdf, or email dmclaughlin71@hotmail.com.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Alliance for a Livable Newport Annual All Member Meeting

Time: 6:30 to 8 PM

Location: Newport Public Library Program Room, Spring St.

Please join the ALN Board for our annual membership meeting.

On the agenda is a discussion of the ALN Strategic Plan and a review of ALN activities that were initiated or completed in 2009. We've included time for discussion and we'd like to hear your ideas for topics for our Public Forums in 2010. Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Green Drinks

Time: TBA Location: Herreshoff Museum, Bristol

SPECIAL GREEN DRINKS EVENT! Join Green Drinkers from around the state of Rhode Island at the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol. Details to come.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

SAVE THE DATE:

RI Interfaith Power and Light Annual Conference:

Improving Our Stewardship Of Creation

Time: 4:30 to 9:20 PM

Location: LaSalle Academy, 612 Academy Avenue, Providence

More information in our next issue.