UUCM’s Social Justice Ministry keeps members and friends informed about upcoming social justice events and activities of interest. We encourage you to participate and help build the congregation’s capacity to educate, serve, witness, and advocate for social justice. If you have a social justice event you would like to publicize, contact John Ziegenhagen.
Volunteer Opportunity
Tutor Children in English
Jackie Smolen needs two volunteers to help tutor children in English at the Hopkins library on Mondays or Wednesdays from 4:15-6:15 p.m. Contact Jackie at jackiesmo@aol.com for more information.
Events
Family focus – National Volunteer Month
It’s National Volunteer Month, a time to celebrate volunteers and engage in the community. Volunteering isn’t just for adults. Volunteering as a family can be a powerful strategy to promote compassion, empathy, and a commitment to addressing community needs. A good local resource for family volunteering is Doing Good Together (http://www.doinggoodtogether.org/). Their website contains many resources for family volunteering, and you can sign up to receive a monthly list of family-friendly volunteer opportunities.
Family focus – Environmental justice. Our April offering is going to MN Interfaith Power and Light. Learning to Give has a great toolkit of environmental justice information and recommended projects for kids.
Sunday, April 21
Let’s Talk About Climate Change – Conversation with MN Interfaith Power and Light, 11:15 a.m. in the UUCM sanctuary. Stick around after the church service for an interactive discussion of climate issues in Minnesota. The forum will be lead by Joshua Marzahn from Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, our social generosity recipient for April.
Monday, April 22
Earth Day–Family Focus. Since 1970, Earth Day’s mission is “to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle to build a healthy, sustainable environment, address climate change, and protect the Earth for future generations.” Check out Family Fun Twin Cities‘ compilation of ways to honor Earth Day, including celebration events and park clean-up activities.
Thursday, April 25
LGBTQ Lobby Day, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Minnesota State Capitol. The day starts with our Lobby Day Institute Workshops about LGBTQ advocacy and activism led by some of the fabulous people on the frontlines of our work. Then, gather on the steps of the Capitol to hear some of the leaders in our movement and our legislature speak to how far we have come and where we are headed. If the weather is unfavorable we will move the rally into the Capitol Rotunda, so feel confident coming rain or shine. Stick around to attend another one or two Lobby Day Institute Workshops or speak DIRECTLY to your legislator about the issues important to you! If you can’t join us for the whole day, that is just fine. Just make sure you don’t miss the rally! Please join us and help spread the word. Register Continue reading →
The Minnetonka Civic Orchestra will be performing twice this year. Created in 1976, the Minnetonka Civic Orchestra provides enjoyable, educational and artistically solid musical experiences for its members and audience. This non-auditioned community orchestra enthusiastically welcomes new members, based on seat availability. The concerts are FREE, family friendly, and open to the public. 
Is wholeness something we have, like a possession? Carefully gathered and held on to? Or is it something that we notice when it is present, but isn’t necessarily something we can create or intentionally bring into being? This is just one of the many questions we’re invited into as we travel the terrain of wholeness this month. Wholeness can be surprisingly difficult to define – that’s what makes it a good topic for spiritual exploration! Yet this slipperiness can also raise our hackles a bit. If wholeness is something good, if it’s a desired character trait, some of us would like nothing more than to define it, affirm that we posses it, and move on.