St John’s participates in Social Justice through a number of channels.

Racial Justice

In response to systemic violence against black lives and an official call for action from the national UUA, the St John’s Congregation, after serious study and reflection, passed a Commitment to Racial Justice at the annual Congregational meeting in June 2016. With this resolution, we make a long term-commitment to a journey toward multicultural understanding and action.

Social Justice Outreach
In addition to direct action, St John’s provides awards and project grants of $500 – $2000 to area non-profits involved in community action.

Found House (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network)
We’re among several congregations that support FH/IHN, which provides hospitality to some of the 2,500 families that are homeless each year in Greater Cincinnati. We are discussing becoming a host congregation for 2023. See our list of FAQs.

Green Sanctuary

Join with those guiding our church “lifestyle” toward more sustainable, earth-friendly choices.

St. John’s Sanctuary and Immigration Team 

The St. John’s UU’s Sanctuary and Immigration Team (SIT) is active and affiliated with immigration, refugee, action and activist groups in Cincinnati, Northern Ky., Butler County, Ohio, and the State of Ohio.

Our church is a member of the Immigrant Dignity Coalition (IDC) through the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC), of which St. John’s is a sponsor. 

Our team assists the Sanctuary at the Clifton United Methodist Church as a part of our Solidarity Congregation commitment. We also assist with a weekly food distribution for Hispanic immigrants in northern Hamilton County via The Willows Project.

When information comes to us, we use a St. John’s UU internal e-mail list to tell interested members and friends who have provided their e-mail addresses to our list for internal use only.

Our monthly meeting takes place online on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.  If you would like to be on the e-mail list or to join the SIT, please send your e-mail address to Sarah Loar Seibert (see member log-in page) and you will be added to this list.

Partner Church
These Friends of Szentlaszlo keep us connected to our Partner Church in Transylvania, Romania.

Peacemaking Initiative
In April 2008, our congregation voted to “make a primary church-wide, long-term commitment to Peace and Justice…that goes beyond Social Action and inspires all congregational activities.”

Welcoming Congregation
We extend a warm welcome to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families.

Partners

UUSC/Guest at Your Table, Amy Monson
UUJO  Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio
Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center
AMOS Project – We are deeply involved in AMOS’s Exodus Project to address child poverty; and also in AMOS efforts to address the problem of mass incarceration.
MARCC,  Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati
UUCGC, UU Council of Greater Cincinnati
OTSE,  Ohioans to Stop Executions
OOC,  Ohio Organizing Collaborative
OJPC,  Ohio Justice and Policy Center
Peace Churches, Cincinnati  Friends, Brethren, Mennonite & UU,   Sponsor “HIP” Help Increase the Peace youth training to prevent violence by learning alternate methods to resolve conflict.
YADA,  Young Adult Discussion and Action

More detailed descriptions:

Contact Center: The Contact Center is a non profit, grassroots community organizing agency. It empowers people living in poverty to work for social change. Some issues we are working on include health and dental care, education, and financial needs of grandparents caring for grandchildren. The Contact Center received grants for two consecutive years from the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society.The grants were for $14,000 each year and were for our statewide Safe and Stable Families program. Specifically, the program works for a fair income for grandparents and other family members caring for children in the family.  For additional information call Cassandra Barham at 513-381-4242.

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN): St. John’s, along with several other congregations, provides meals, activities, and encouragement to the four families who sleep in First Unitarian Church’s RE classrooms for two weeks through Cincinnati’s Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) while the families have education and home-finding help during the day. IHN has a home placement success rate of over 90%. Wanda Crawford coordinates St John’s volunteers, and also works at the organizational level for our pod of churches. St John’s regular volunteers include children as well as adults. Read the IHN Holiday 2020 newsletter, bearing  messages of hope, gratitude and more ways to help.

Prepare Affair:  Since 2012, St John’s has participated annually in the People Working Cooperatively (PWC) fall ‘Prepare Affair’ in the autumn. Jim Decker has served as crew leader, and our team includes teens as well as adults.

OJPC (Ohio Justice and Policy Center): St John’s has contributed to the program, has invited executive director David Singeton to speak, and has been involved at programs to assist Returning Citizens (released from prison).

MAARC (The Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati) is an interfaith coalition of Protestants, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews and Unitarian-Universalists that addresses social concerns in our area.