UCC Advocacy Resources for the First 100 Days

The UCC Office of Public Policy and Advocacy in Washington D.C. is dedicated to raising the prophetic voice of the United Church of Christ on Capitol Hill.

As part of this work, we are dedicated to equipping our faith community with the tools they need to stay informed and take action during the first 100 days of the new administration. Since taking office, President Trump and his administration have worked to implement his stated policy goals as put forth in Project 2025 using methods that defy the law and the constitution. Below, you will find a log of the UCC Washington DC Office’s response to those actions alongside the National Setting and partner organizations.

Whether you’re mobilizing for immigration reform, preserving lifesaving foreign aid, or climate action, we hope these resources offer faithful grounding and actionable steps to continue the United Church of Christ’s mission to build a just world for all.

⚡️– send a letter to Congress; 📰 – UCC news article; 📝 – UCC statement;
📞 – phone script for Congress; 🎥 – videos/webinars; 📖 – educational resources

FEATURED RESOURCES

⭐️ Countering Project 2025 With Love: A UCC Response

⭐️ Watch the Interfaith Service and Moral Mass Meeting

⭐️ Justice & Peace Action Network Action Center

⭐️ Join the Movement Towards Racial Justice

This page is updated on a weekly basis, but for the most up to date resources we encourage you to follow the UCC Washington D.C. Office on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, or X.

⚡️ Take Action: Protect Government Funding!

Congress is currently considering passing a long-term temporary spending bill to avoid a shutdown. However, the proposed long term bill does not specify how its funding should be spent by the administration and broadens the President’s power to defund the government! Instead, urge your member of Congress to pass a short-term bill that will help usher in a bipartisan and fully funded fiscal year 2025 budget. 

📝 The UCC Joins 90+ Organizations Opposing CR Bill Cutting Billions for Human Needs Benefits

The United Church of Christ joined a letter signed by 90+ national organizations opposing the current CR proposed by Congress which would gut billions of dollars in critically-needed human needs benefits, health care, affordable housing, clean water and more.

📝 Statement to Protect Clean Energy Tax Credits

Maria C. Coyne, President & CEO of Cornerstone Fund, submitted a letter to Congress urging them to protect the Direct Pay clean energy tax credit program, which has benefitted religious communities across the country.

📰 San Diego church distributes ashes at the border as act of solidarity with immigrants

University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)/United Church of Christ, located in San Diego – just about 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border – distributed ashes at the San Ysidro Border Crossing as a unique ritual of solidarity.

⚡️ Take Action: Stop This Administration’s Attacks on Immigrants

Send a message to your members of Congress urging them to stand up against the administration’s recent attacks on immigrant communities, such as:

1. Suspending all border entries, including asylum-seekers,
2. Suspending the US Refugee Resettlement Program
3. Declaring “illegal” immigration a national emergency
4. Ending the so-called policy of “catch and release”
5. Calling for the penalization of anyone who helps undocumented people remain in the country
6. And more!

📰 Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson represents UCC at Ash Wednesday events across Washington, D.C.

This past Ash Wednesday, March 5, the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, appeared at press conferences, vigils, and rallies in Washington D.C. On a Holy Day grounded in reflection, lamentation, and repentance, these events centered around calling on our federal government to act with boldness in the face of executive overreach and attempts to cut lifesaving public programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.    

⚡️ Take Action: Protect DEI Programs

Ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs will restrict access to critical resources and job opportunities for people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, and many others across the country.

📰 A Faithful Response to the First 100 Days

In response to the information coming from the White House, the United Church of Christ Office of Public Policy and Advocacy in Washington, D.C., has created UCC Advocacy Resources for the First 100 Days.

⚡️ Take Action: Protect Food Stamps and Medicaid

Tell Congress to stop stealing from the poor to give to the rich!

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass a Budget Resolution that would require Congress to cut $880 billion from the Medicaid program and $230 billion from SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), essentially gutting vulnerable American’s access to health care and basic nutrition.

⚡️ Take Action: Protect Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex People’s Civil Rights!

Recently, the trans, nonbinary, and intersex community has come under attack by our federal government. Join us and send a letter to Congress to pass the Equality Act, offer concrete protections to vulnerable communities, and urge federal agencies to stop these discriminatory, dehumanizing practices.

📰 Valentine’s Day was a great time to have a heart for the climate: UCC churches take action

The United Church of Christ Environmental Justice ministries recently invited congregations to organize teams and visit the district offices of members of Congress as part of a Valentine’s Day nationwide day of action on Feb. 14.

⚡️ Take Action: Have A Heart For God’s Planet

Send a message to Congress to have a heart for our sacred planet and act to protect critical clean energy tax credits.

📝 A Briefing on the Situation in Gaza following President Trump’s Recent Statements, by Global Ministries

“The people of Gaza have the right to remain in their homes, to lead the reconstruction of their communities, and to live in dignity and security. Any attempt to displace them once again is a moral and legal atrocity that the international community must unequivocally reject.” 

📰 27 religious groups, including UCC Conference, file lawsuit challenging ICE action in churches

“The Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ is among more than two dozen religious groups suing the Department of Homeland Security in response to a policy change that offers greater leeway for immigration enforcement in ‘sensitive locations,’ including houses of worship…. ‘

We fully support the Central Atlantic Conference and the other plaintiffs in this work,’ said the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, UCC General Minister and President.“

📖 Climate Hope Affiliates Launch

The UCC is currently launching its first chapters of the UCC Climate Hope Affiliates program in towns across the country to create the political will to address the twin, intertwined crises of climate change and societal injustice.

📝 Over 1,000 Faith Leaders Decry the Refugee Suspension & Funding Freeze

The UCC signed on to a letter calling upon the Trump Administration to resume refugee resettlement, restore all humanitarian assistance, particularly vital assistance for refugees and Special Immigrant Visa beneficiaries who have already arrived; and ensure that the faith-based community can continue to serve and welcome refugees and other newcomers according to their faith traditions.

📝 UCC Media Justice Speaks up on Freedom of the Press

“Make no mistake, UCC Media Justice is a strong advocate of broadcaster accountability, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it.” -Cheryl Leanza, President of UCC Media Justice Ministries

📞 Take Action: Protect the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau

Join us in calling your members of Congress to protect American families’ finances – not Wall Street’s profits – by saving the CFPB.

📝 Statement on President Trump Endorsing the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza

The UCC joined over 1,000 US and international organizations in a letter decrying and opposing any effort or initiative, and any calls for, the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

📝 UCC Media Justice Ministries Joins Organizations Opposing Musk’s Data Theft

“Musk’s illegal overreach requires immediate intervention. We call on members of Congress to respond to this lawless and reckless behavior by refusing to support business as usual, because Musk has not been engaged in the usual business of the people.”

📰 Crisis Control: An International Conflict Roundup 

“The United Church of Christ and our Global Ministries accompanies all our partners through war, hardship, and celebrations. We pray with them, grieve with them, sit with them, listen to their stories, and celebrate joyful occasions. They show us every day how resilient we can be as people of faith.  Our partnership demands that we use our voice to advocate for an end to these conflicts as well as restore foreign aid that helps address the root causes of violence.” 

⚡️ Take Action: Protect Lifesaving Foreign Aid

Urge your members of Congress to oppose the foreign aid freeze and end of asylum and refugee resettlement programs immediately.  

📰 Justice & Peace Action Network Monthly Newsletter

Check out this monthly newsletter for a round-up of the UCC justice events happening in February and March 2025.

📖 Love is Louder

The Gender and Sexuality Justice Ministries of the UCC is celebrating all things love with special Love is Louder invitations and new resources to spread love ‘out loud’.

📝 Faith expressed freely: Statement on congressional response to Bishop Budde’s sermon

“Our voices join with Bishop Budde and others defending the oppressed. This is a time to learn to do right, as the prophet Isaiah exhorts. The call for unity is before us. For the sake of the vulnerable with whom we are called to care and for the free expression of our faith, may we continue to center Jesus’ work and God’s vision for a just world for all.” 

⚡️ Take Action: Support Survivors of Human Trafficking

Urge your members of Congress to re-introduce the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act today.  

🎥 Sanctuary: Legal Considerations for Faith Communities Webinar

Heather Kimmel, UCC General Counsel, discusses the legal risks congregations should consider when engaging in sanctuary ministries.

📰 Sensitive Locations FAQ for Houses of Worship

Since the administration rescinded a policy that limited the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct immigration enforcement actions in churches, there has been widespread confusion of about the legal boundaries, responsibilities, and limitations of how congregations can serve immigrant communities. This FAQ offers foundational knowledge for congregations asking these questions.

📰 Immigration Enforcement Action: What Churches Need to Know

This article provides local churches with information on the law, risks of these ministries, and steps to be taken to prepare themselves both for the uncertainty of how immigration enforcement will be carried out and for the possibility that ICE agents will come to churches.

📝 Thriving Through Together

“Today, tomorrow, and always the fluidity of our expression and experiences as trans and non-binary siblings will live on infinitely. Language cannot contain or cease the Spirit. Queer individuals and the diversity spectrum of our humanity has always existed and will no matter what policies attempt to do. From our faith, Trans and non-binary siblings are made in the image of God – period.”

🎥 Interfaith Service and Moral Mass Meeting

January 20th, 2025, was a time for people of faith, conscience, and good will to gather in worship, lifting a collective voice to be Prophetic, Pastoral, Prayerful, and in Protest. Watch a recording of the event, including Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson’s sermon, UCC General Minister and President, which begins at 40:37.

⚡️ “For Such a Time as This” Petition

Sign this petition to reaffirm our commitment to justice will continue no matter who is in the White House, Congress, or the Supreme Court.

⚡️ Beloved Community Pledge Card

To honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, join us in pledging to meet the “fierce urgency of now” and join our beloved community of justice seekers.

📞 Take Action: Call on Congress to Oppose S.5 (Laken Riley Act)

Congress is considering a bill that will criminalize immigrants and apply “mandatory detention” for any undocumented person arrested or charged (rather than convicted) of a non-violent theft-related offense, without opportunity to even request release on bond. Raise you voice and urge your representatives to oppose this bill.

📞 Take Action: Call on Congress to Protect Trans Youth in Sports

Congress is considering a bill which would effectively ban transgender women and girls from competing on women’s athletic teams that receive federal funds. This discriminatory proposal seeks to exclude transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people from athletics programs in schools. Urge you representatives to oppose this bill.