First Universalist Church is committed to continuing the fight for Racial Justice through education, advocacy, self-reflection, and relationship-building; as well as addressing structural racism and whiteness through intentional efforts in every area of our ministry and work.
Read the Racial Justice Resolution that was approved at the June 6, 2021 Annual Meeting of the Congregation.
Read the Racial Justice Resolution that was approved at our May 31, 2015 annual meeting of the members.
Read our Fall 2019 Racial Justice Newsletter
Check out our Racial Justice Journey Interactive Timeline
Read this Frequently Asked Questions document prepared by our Racial Justice Education Team.
Racial Justice Leadership: RJET and Change Team
First Universalist Church has made a commitment to Racial Justice through intensive education and training of our congregation on the historical and current impacts of systemic racism and white privilege on society and the environment. We have made a commitment to looking at our worship services, religious education curricula, board meetings, committees, and all our programming with a Racial Justice Lens.
Our Racial Justice Education and Training Team (RJET) meets regularly to shape, influence and deepen our racial justice commitments in the education opportunities we offer. First Universalist is committed to practicing racial justice through education, advocacy, self-reflection, and relationship-building, as well as addressing structural racism and whiteness through intentional efforts, in every area of our ministry. RJET helps accomplish this by offering educational opportunities for congregants to interrogate white supremacy and deepen racial justice in their lives, wherever they are on their racial justice journey. RJET is made up primarily of congregant volunteers; Arif Mamdani, Director of Membership and Adult Ministries, is Co-Chair of RJET.
Our Racial Justice Change Team is a Board-appointed team looking at the institution from a birds-eye view, exploring how policies, practices, and culture are perpetuating white supremacy, and making recommendations to change these practices. The Change Team has structural authority to effectively review institutional racism and white supremacy culture as it lives in the work of our church. The team develops, implements, and monitors a process to set clear standards and accountability for our commitment to racial justice at all levels of the organization. This involves reviewing our mission, visionary goals, policies, procedures, budgets, board agreements, and more. The membership is made up of Board members, members from RJET, and other interested congregational members.