JPANet June 2024 Newsletter

Each month we unpack the complex justice issues that we’re working on. This month, Rachael Ward, Minister and Team Leader for the UCC’s Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries, shares about PRIDE and the Our Faith Our Vote Campaign.

Loving Out Loud

The United Church of Christ gathered this past weekend to celebrate the start of Pride month as part of the Love is Louder campaign, with 16 Ohio UCC churches participating and walking in the Pride parade on Saturday, chanting “Love is louder.” …This election year has triggered higher amounts of harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, so we must continue to believe in the work of honoring our bodies with soft space and mirroring our kin-ship to one another. Read More and keep an eye out for updates to the Our Faith Our Vote page.

Justice In Action

Register to Join the Poor People’s Campaign

Register to Join the Poor People’s Campaign

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is hosting a historic gathering of poor people, workers, and our advocates to demand that candidates for public office in 2024 support a moral public policy agenda that includes living wages, voting rights, and other essential policies that lift from the bottom. RSVP today to join other UCC advocates on June 29th in Washington, D.C. for the “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington D.C. & to the Polls.”

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Economic Justice – Fill the JAR!

Fill the JAR is live!

The new UCC Economic Justice Ministries’ landing page is now live – www.ucc.org/fillthejar! We are called to “Fill the JAR” of God’s economic justice. Going forward, this site and phrase will be the central hub and framework for equipping churches and people with opportunities and resources for measurably manifesting economic justice. “JAR” is an acronym for Jubilee, Abundance, and Reparations – the three overlapping fountains our Still-Speaking God pours out for collective thriving. In the coming weeks and months, “Fill the JAR” content will expand broadly. Visit and bookmark this page to learn more!

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NCC Freedom Summer

NCC Freedom Summer

This summer, the National Council of the Churches of Christ is sponsoring NCC Freedom Summer, a faith-based civic engagement campaign from June 19 — August 17, 2024. Along with anchor partners Faith for Black Lives, Faiths United to Save Democracy, Southern Poverty Law Center, Repairers of the Breach, and others, the NCC will mobilize voters in five priority states (Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan) through voter registration, voter education, and voter mobilization. Get involved in this initiative by sponsoring a fellow, hosting or attending one of the Freedom Summer events, donating items, or other forms of engagement! Learn more here.

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UCC Women’s and Gender Justice Ministries Launches Menstrual Justice Toolkit

UCC Women’s and Gender Justice Ministries Launches Menstrual Justice Toolkit

Riding on the enthusiasm stirred up at General Synod in 2023, National Ministries Women’s and Gender Justice has released a new toolkit to help congregations host their own period pack events to assemble menstrual hygiene kits for our partner Church World Service. Learn more by visiting the Encounters at the Well page.

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Join the UCC to Power the Polls

Join the UCC to Power the Polls

To help encourage election engagement, and to ensure voting happens smoothly in 2024 elections, the United Church of Christ Our Faith Our Vote Campaign is thrilled to continue our partnership with Power the Polls! Poll workers enable the nonpartisan process of our democracy, keep polling locations open and technology working, and help make every voter’s experience a positive and empowering one. Will you consider signing up to be a poll worker today? For more helpful resources on election engagement, please visit the Our Faith Our Vote website.

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Justice Events

Politics, Polarization, and Prophetic Ministry

Politics, Polarization, and Prophetic Ministry

With the upcoming elections, what will be the role of churches that embody the prophetic tradition of the Christian faith? In this webinar, we will address this critical question with the help of Dr. Obery Hendricks and the Rev. Dr. Leah Schade. Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time on June 12^th at 1 pm ET, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it. Register now!

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Healing as Freedom, Freedom as Healing: Lineages of Emancipation toward Wholeness

Healing as Freedom, Freedom as Healing: Lineages of Emancipation toward Wholeness

Juneteenth 2024 – Racial Justice Ministries and Join the Movement invite you to be on a journey of engagement during the week of June 17^th by remembering and discovering the healing practices that sustained freedom in the bones of our ancestors, before and after emancipation. Through music and prayer, poetry and art, reflection, and ritual, may we find a medicine bundle, a libation, a Brush Harbor and a clearing, a poultice that teaches us the sound of freedom, echoing from legacies of healing and singing futures of wholeness. Click here to learn more, and here to register for a webinar on June 20^th.

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Vote for Climate Hope Campaign Kickoff

Vote for Climate Hope Campaign Kickoff

As a way to put our values and vision into practice, the UCC is conducting a Vote for Climate Hope campaign. Between now and November 1st, UCC churches from across the country will be collecting Climate Hope Voter Pledge Cards. People are more likely to vote when they make a commitment to others to vote. Moreover, the climate crisis is deeply motivating for many potential voters. Learn more at our online kickoff event!

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People’s Prayers for Peace

People’s Prayers for Peace

The UCC has issued an open invitation for people to offer a prayer to end violence in any manifestation, and to bring about peace. Share your prayers using the People’s Prayers for Peace form.

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Climate Action Assembly on June 26^th

Climate Action Assembly on June 26^th

Every two months the UCC Council for Climate Justice hosts a Climate Action Assembly to further collective efforts on three endeavors launched this year: the Freedom from Plastics Campaign, the Electrification Checklist Initiative, and the Vote for Climate Hope Campaign. Each of these programs is rooted in recent General Synod resolutions. Climate Action Assemblies are open to all members of the UCC. Register to join us!

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Justice Resources

DC Action Center

Each week, the D.C. Office creates an action alert based on what is happening at that time in Congress, and offers you the opportunity to contact your legislators with just one click! You can find all the alerts here.

The Pollinator

The Pollinator is a digital platform of the UCC for the sharing of ideas and inspiration. Its focus is the building of a faith-filled and faith-rooted movement for the care of creation

Witness for Justice

Looking for up-to-date social justice commentary? Check out Witness for Justice, a weekly editorial opinion column written by national staff.