Working for Social Justice

The Social Concerns Social Justice Committee (SCSJ) is actively involved in promoting social justice in the community and in the world at large.

Through the efforts of our members and friends who volunteer their time, contributions from the committee’s small annual budget, and monthly Sunday outreach and special collections, we support numerous social justice causes with our energy, our hearts, and our funds.

Social Justice Projects We Support:

UUCR’s current social justice projects reflect our commitment to justice, peace, and compassion. We invite you to get involved.

-UUCR is committed to racial justice and participates in a Building Bridges partnership with Mt. Olive AME Church. The congregation also helps support the Bayside H.O.Y.A.S. (Helping Our Youth Achieve Success), who work with school aged youth and young adults in Kent and Queen Anne’s County, Maryland to achieve their full potential.

-UUCR is committed to LGBTQ justice. A UUA Welcoming Congregation since 2012, the Social Justice committee supports the local chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) as well as LIFT (Lesbians In Friendship Together).

UUCR is committed to Environmental Justice, and is a UUA certified Green Sanctuary Church with an active Green Sanctuary Committee.

-UUCR is a member of CVMA (Chester Valley Ministers Association) and contributes to CVMA’s Good Neighbor Fund, raising and distributing emergency funds for our neighbors in need.

-The UUCR Holiday Sharing program, in association with Kent County Department of Social Services, allows the congregation to share gifts annually with various local families in need.

-UUCR hosted a local forum on gun violence together with Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence and Kent County Citizens to Prevent Gun Violence. The SCSJ committee also helped to organize a local arm of “March For Our Lives” in Chestertown.

-UUCR supports a number of local organizations with our congregational special collections, as well as volunteering. These include:

  • The Samaritan Group provides emergency shelter and other services in Kent County Maryland for those that find themselves in need.
  • NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization and the local chapter works to improve the life of residents in Kent and Queen Anne’s counties by raising awareness and providing support and education to those in need.
  • The Humane Society of Kent County is an independent animal welfare organization committed to prevention of the unnecessary pain and suffering of domestic animals in our community and to promote satisfying and responsible relationships between people and domestic companion animals through community involvement and education.
  • Kent County Food Pantry provides supplemental food to those in need. The Backpack Program provides take home meals and snacks each Friday to local students with food insecurity at home.