Social Justice

Advocates for and educates on Earth-based spirituality within our congregation and community at large; we encourage interfaith dialogue; and ensure that different traditions are honored in education and worship. The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) exists in part to promote the practice and understanding of Pagan and Earth-centered Spirituality within the Unitarian Universalist Association and to enable networking among Pagan-identified Unitarian Universalists. 

White supremacy pervades our culture, institutions, and relationships. It is a self-perpetuating system that continues to fuel colonialism, exploitation, oppression, and inequity experienced by Black, Indigeunous, and other People of Color (BIPoC). In response members work to name and eradicate this injustice through faith-rooted actions, education, and outreach efforts within our church and in the broader community.

Is the longest running BIPoC (Black, Indigeunous, and other People of Color) spiritual affinity group within our Unitarian Universalists Association. Created in 2005, by and serving Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color members at Neighborhood Church, this group meets monthly to promote spiritual support and fellowship.

In 2017, this community began to explore and confront the mixed legacy of Dr. Robert A. Millikan, a prominent, 15-year board member of Neighborhood, and the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923. Dr. Millikan was also on the board of the Human Betterment Foundation, a eugenics organization that not only arranged for the unsolicited sterilization of people of color and the mentally challenged, but also provided a conscious model for the ethnic cleansing by the Nazis during WWII. Through education, outreach, and faith-rooted action members work to dismantle white supremacy and promote reparations for those directly and indirectly harmed.

For more information visit these resources:

• Four Essays on Truth and Reconciliation- Fall 2019

The Foster Kids Helping Hands (ACAC) project engages the congregation to better the lives of local foster children and youth.   Neighborhood Church has “adopted” two caseworkers from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), who identify ways that we can help the kids they serve.  We provide ongoing support throughout the year to help with many needs, such as clothing, shoes, food, and school supplies,  as well as provide them with gifts at holidays.  

Through education, outreach, and actions members work to uphold our Unitarian Universalist Seventh Principle, “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

Twice a year for over 20 years members work side-by-side with residents of Tijuana, Mexico to build homes in conjunction with Esperanza International in some of the city’s lowest income neighborhoods.

Efforts to erase voting rights, trans rights, and abortion rights for millions of people are escalating across the country. Through education, outreach, and actions members work to eradicate voter suppression, in the United States.

Through education, lectures, and action members and friends work to break down barriers and inspire solidarity among faith communities. Since 2014, this committee has organized an annual interfaith dinner.

Is held each December. This one-day event provides direct financial support to Southern California small to midsize “emerging” community-based organizations. Since 2002, this event has provided unrestricted funds to organizations who align with our church’s mission and UU principles. To date, our church members have provided more than $135,000 in financial support to over 115 nonprofit organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.

At Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, giving is a spiritual practice where we put our values into action. Each Sunday our congregation donates 100% of its contributions to a local community-based 501(c)3 organization or Neighborhood Church-based social justice program. Since Share the Plate (STP) began at Neighborhood in 2020, the Church has donated more than $50,000 to organizations in our community that focus on topics including food insecurity and support for the unhoused, reproductive rights, voting rights, schools and education, racial equity, LGBTQIA+ support, environmental advocacy, support for children and youth, arts advocacy, and more. Recipient organizations are identified by church members, who oftentimes are longtime volunteers and supporters of these change-making organizations.

To view a comprehensive list of organizations that have been supported through Share the Plate, click here.

To nominate an organization for Share the Plate, click here.