Social Justice Initiatives

Advancing Human Rights

We are here to nurture our spirits and help heal our world – and those are not two separate things.  We help heal our world by nurturing our spirits.  Yes, the world becomes more whole when any person – including you nurtures their spirit, becomes more grounded in a spiritual awareness that everything is connected.  And we nurture our spirits by helping heal our world.  The work of justice expands and deepens our spirit.

-Rev. Meredith Garmon, 2/16/25

 The Peace, Justice, and Democracy Team thinks globally and acts locally to bring about a movement that supports a just transition to peace, justice, democracy, equity, and inclusiveness.  We acknowledge the importance of building relationships and valuing the gifts and talents each person can bring to this work.  We support members of the congregation to take action on specific initiatives that specifically speak to them as individuals, and we collaborate with other groups within our congregation, and with local and international allies.

Past Initiatives:

  • Provided sponsorships and promoted Hiroshima Nagasaki Remembrance. International Day for Peace, Holy Innocence Day, Paying for War, Praying for  Peace.
  • Collaborated with Adult Programming Team and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa to host a showing and discussion of “God and Country.”
  • Met with League of Women Voters regarding effort to turn out the Vote.
  • Held A Forum on Apartheid – Free Congregations
  • Shared Information on the UUA Action of Immediate Witness 2024; Solidarity with Palestinians

Allies: UU Social Justice; UU Side with Love Action Center; UU For Justice in the Middle East; IUUWAN, AMOS, Des Moines Faith Committee for Peace, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Catholic Peace Ministry, American Friends Service Committee, Just Voices, ACLU; League of Women Voter’s; Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

Compassion & Choices

Compassion & Choices is a 501(c)(3) organization striving to expand options and empower individuals to chart their own end-of-life journey. C&C works nationwide in communities, state legislatures, Congress, courts and medical settings to educate and empower the public and to advocate for improved medical practice that puts patients and their values, treatment plans and quality of life first. We advocate for expanded options, including medical-aid-in-dying, and against efforts to restrict access to them. Check out Compassion & Choices Facebook page.

Our Central Iowa Action Team meets the first Thursday each month at 1:00 p.m. CT.

Environmental Justice

Green Sanctuary Designation

Since 2015, our church has been accredited as a Green Sanctuary by the Unitarian Universalist Association. The designation recognizes the work we’ve done in support of the UU Seventh Principle: “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

Our Green Sanctuary Team is focused on engaging church members with both environmental justice and related social justice issues, such as energy efficiency, recycling, composting, etc., for our building and grounds. The team also promotes outside activities that our members can get involved with to improve the greater Des Moines community.

Click here to view Green Tips information.

Housing and Hunger

FEDS (Feed Every Deserving Soul)

This social justice task force concerned with hunger and hunger issues (commonly identified as the FEDS: feed every deserving soul/stomach) attempts to identify, pursue and facilitate projects for church members interested in helping to alleviate hunger in central Iowa. Activities since the FEDS inception in 2008 have included preparing and serving dinner monthly at the Central Iowa Homeless Shelter, quarterly at Children and Family Urban Movement (CFUM), and collecting for the DMARC Food Pantry.

Immigration Justice

Our church has been deeply involved in immigration and sanctuary issues in Central Iowa. We’ve been called to this work by our personal values, by our shared congregational values, and by our denomination’s Seven UU principles.

We were a founding member of the Des Moines Cluster of the Iowa Sanctuary Movement, which was formed under the umbrella of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). In 2017, we became a Sanctuary Church for people facing the threat of immediate deportation. Subsequently, our group members have been involved in numerous immigration efforts, including assisting asylum seekers.

Our Immigration Justice Team addresses issues as they arise, including offering financial support, housing, food assistance, transportation, and other needs to the immigrants we assist.

Moving forward, we are working with a multi-congregational effort in Greater Des Moines to coordinate our immigration justice support. If you’d like to join our efforts, contact our Immigration Justice team leader.

UU State Action Network

Iowa UUWitness Advocacy Network (IUUWAN)

The Iowa Unitarian Universalist Witness Advocacy Network (IUUWAN) serves as the statewide action network.  Our purpose is to form connections, collaboration, and unity among UUs in Iowa and to deepen an understanding of how our faith compels us to act for social justice. As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries and work for justice.  We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love. Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values of Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity.  Based on our Unitarian Universalist faith, and our values and covenants we strengthen UU voices in ending oppression and give rise to equity, fairness, and inclusion.   We build and strengthen relationships between UU Congregations in Iowa, the UUA, and other social action groups.

How Can First Unitarian Best Connect with and Utilize the Services of IUUWAN

To share your ideas, connect with us by filling out the contact us form!

Visit our Website:  iuuwan.com  Click on our Facebook link on the website to like us. Our Facebook is Iowa Unitarian Universalist Witness Advocacy Network

Please Join our Efforts in Strengthening our Network and Creating a World Centered in Love! 

LGBTQ+ Justice

 

Welcoming Congregation

Since 1992, First Unitarian Church has been a Welcoming Congregation, a volunteer program to take intentional steps to become more welcoming and inclusive of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. After nearly two years of work we were one of the earliest churches in the Unitarian Universalist Association to earn this designation.

Our congregation identifies Five Practices of Welcome which guide our work. Welcoming Congregations should implement each of these practices annually.

  • Becoming a Welcoming Congregation, or working to renew your designation
  • Holding Welcoming Worship Services that include honoring a milestone or rite of passage for an LGBTQ+ member of the congregation
  • Participating in Welcoming Days of Observance, which commemorate and elevate landmark days and seasons in LGBTQ+ communities (Pride Season, Transgender Day of Visibility, World AIDS Day, etc.), through worship services, public events, or other gatherings organized by the congregation
  • Supporting Welcoming Faith Formation programming that highlights LGBTQ+ issues and topics for all ages
  • Engaging in a Welcoming Project by providing monetary support to a local LGBTQ+ organization

Learn more about our work as a Welcoming Congregation, or talk about implementing a practice.

Transgender Action Group

The Transgender Action Group is working to increase awareness of transgender lives and issues within the church community, as well as provide a safe haven and resources for transgender people in need. Through education and speaking events, the group educates the congregation on what gender identity is, how it is separate from sexual orientation, and ways they can provide support and encouragement to the transgender people within our community.

Contact Us