Liaison Call 7/5/18 Minutes
7:02 pm Introductions and Welcoming Statements from Rev. Rob Gregson
7:08 – 7:37 Updates from each Congregation: Beacon, Princeton, Paramus, Plainfield, Morristown
1. Anthony Torres and Sally Gellert from Paramus
● Congregants participated in 6/30/18 Newark March
- ● Currently looking for a replacement for Rev. David Horst
2. Mark Williams from Plainfield
- ● “Queen City Pride” film festival to be held 7/13/18, 7-9 pm
- ● “Church Hurts: Sexuality and Religion” film festival 7/27/18
- ● Participated in the “Keep Families Together” march 6/30/18 in Newark.
3. Toby Tyler from Morristown
- ● Rev. Allison Miller participated in 6/30/18 march
- ● NPR featured a“ Carol from Morristown”-thinks is a Morristown congregant and should be tapped for involvement with UUFANJ
4. Eileen Bird from Princeton
- ● Local Rally for “Keep Families Together”, Carol Haig spoke. Aprox 800 people in attendance
- ● In support of the Rainbow Ministry, congregants marched in the NYC Gay Pride Parade with a UU banner
- ● Social Justice not meeting June & July
5. Kristen Peck from Beacon
- Social Justice not meeting remainder of summer
- Know Your Rights” training held at St. Teresa’s. Eric Paul lead person. Requested a spanish-language version.
- Vigilfor“KeepFamiliesTogether” 7:37 – 8:00 Executive Director Update
Nationally and locally, Immigration is the hot topic “Keep Families Together” has garnered a great deal of press and is picking up steam. There are petitions circulating for NJ to be a “Fair and Welcoming” state, which means NJ would end all voluntary cooperation with ICE.
It must remain forefront in our minds the UU role in immigration. We need to align with truly thoughtful, strong and determined partners and avoid the image of white, suburban liberals “taking over”. We also should be mindful of other participants, in marches and rallies, using our core values regarding equality and racism as our guiding principles. There were two incidences at the Newark rally of concern underlying systemic racism and insensitivity.
There is an Immigration Task Force conference call on Monday, July 9 at 5:30 pm. This is an important call as we will be discussing the 30 million dollar annual Bed Contract between Essex County and ICE. The Essex County Freeholder public meeting is Weds. July 11 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Essex Co. Hall of Records in downtown Newark. (Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders Board Room Chambers, 5th Floor, Room 506, Hall of Records, Newark.)
Above referenced petitions can be found below Immigration Task Force call information below
Suggested that a moral stance on the state budget could be a UUFANJ goal. The budget is not a partisan issue as democrats fight democrats and republicans fight other republicans. One issue linked to the budget, which need to be further investigated, is the proposal for a minimum wage of $15 per hour that excludes tip-wage earners. These earners are most often single mothers and minorities. Other states have included tip-wage earners without negatively impacting the businesses.
Look for Action Alerts regarding the “One Fair Wage” movement
Another issues that arose recently: is NJ really a fair and equitable education state. Segregation still seems to be a major injustice occurring in our schools. There is a link below for you to get more acquainted with this issue.
https://www.inclusiveschoolsnj.org/
It is clear that marijuana legislation is not going to move forward this summer, but indications are that legislation will move very quickly in the fall. It is critical that any bill contains the expungement of prior drug offense related records. The legalized marijuana industry has the potential to be a 50 to 60 million dollar boon for NJ – money desperately needed. It is critical that congregations are made aware of the issues and are prepared and ready for September.
There will be a different approach to this year’s Issues Conference. Convening in September will be Core Group Meetings consisting of interested people and TF Chairs to develop a short list of issues to be discussed at the Conference. We encourage all liaisons to encourage interested congregants to be part of the decision making process by joining these calls.
8:00 Conclusions and closing comments
Important links:
UU FaithAction calendar: https://uufaithaction.org
New website with special password protected Liaisons page (Password: UuFaLiaison) https://uufaithaction.org/congregational-liaisons/
Upcoming Events:
Occupy ICE protest march at the Essex Co. Detention Facility this
Sunday, July 8 11:30-3:30 Rob spoke with the main organizer for that march, Armando Moritz-Chapeliquin, who is a NYC-based organizer. He felt good about sending folks to that march after speaking with Armando, who is working hard to link up with immigrant-led groups and has been active with others in NYC protesting ICE for a couple of years now. The link to their FB page for more information is:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2157759694250474/
The Essex County Freeholder public meeting is Weds. July 11 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Essex Co. Hall of Records in downtown Newark. (Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders Board Room Chambers, 5th Floor, Room 506, Hall of Records, Newark.)
Sat. July 28-Sun. July 29 Annual Leadership Retreat, Murray Grove Retreat Ctr., Lanoka Harbor, NJ 3 p.m. Sat – 1:00 p.m. Sun.
Sat. Oct. 20 2018 Fall Issues Conference (tentative Beacon Summit location), 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 3 Lay Preaching Workshop E. Brunswick 10 – 3:30 Sat. March 9 2019 MUUsicfest UUC Princeton, 2-4 p.m. Sat. April 13 2019 April Plenary (TBA) 10-4