Dear TXUUJM community,
THIS IS IT! March 13th Legislative Action Day is one week away! Please get registered to join us in a big public gathering of Unitarian Universalists, in action at the Texas Capitol!
TXUUJM's planning team is hard at work, scheduling legislative visits, activities with the Youth Caucus, and so much more! And we can't plan for your participation if you're not registered. So please REGISTER NOW.
Already registered for March 13th? Thank you! The MOST IMPORTANT THING you can do between now and then is be paying VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to your email. TXUUJM organizers will be communicating with you about your legislative visits, bill #s we are tracking, committee hearings, parking, logistics, and more. Make email a spiritual practice and you'll be all set for March 13th!
VOLUNTEERS WANTED: For March 13th, we need photographers, videographers, back-up youth advisors, morning check-in folks to help hand out t-shirts and packets . . . We need folks who can take a one-hour shift directing participants in the capitol. These are all great jobs for folks who are already coming to Legislative Action Day. Please email michelle@txuujm.org if you'd like to chip in that bit of extra help! Lege Day is a team effort.
Want to get on the Dallas-area bus? Contact executive@ntuuc.org.
Questions, suggestions, or concerns? Please email txuujm@gmail.com.
Read on for the day's agenda, an exciting list of who's coming, and more! We are bending Texas toward justice TOGETHER.
In faith,
Rev. Erin Walter, TXUUJM Minister & Executive Director
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AGENDA FOR TXUUJM LEGISLATIVE ACTION DAY, MONDAY, MARCH 13TH:
9am Check-in, Welcome, Speakers - Schmidt Jones Family Life Center at 1300 Lavaca, First United Methodist Church, 1300 Lavaca (just west of capitol grounds)
10am - 12 noon Appointments with legislators* and lunch**
12 noon Singing, speakers, and group photo in the main Capitol rotunda
1 - 2:30pm - Appointments with legislators*
1:30 - 3:30pm - Rest/regroup as-needed in the Capitol Members Lounge (Extension, E2.1002), graciously reserved for TXUUJM by Rep. Donna Howard, member of First UU Austin
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2:30pm - Maternal Health Rally on the south steps of the Capitol (interfaith, public, all welcome)
3:30-4:30pm - TXUUJM debrief and closing on capitol lawn; return to buses and carpools.
*Legislative visit times will vary, based on your legislators' availability. Please be reading emails carefully this week, for connecting with visit group!
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**LUNCH on MARCH 13th: You may order a Jason's Deli box lunch with registration, or skip that and choose to bring a lunch or get lunch on your own from the capitol cafeteria. There are restaurants within blocks of the capitol, but we do NOT recommend leaving capitol grounds, given the schedule of the day.
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Bring Your Family to the Capitol!
TXUUJM is excited to have a growing Youth Caucus for March 13th! Please register your youth, and contact organizer Michelle Venegas-Matula (pictured here with some of the wonderful TXUUJM youth advisors) at michelle@txuujm.org for more info on plans for youth.
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WOW!! WAY TO GET ORGANIZED & MOBILIZED!
In two weeks, we went from 9 congregations to 20!
There's still time to sign up.
With this many congregations and communities represented, we expect to meet with or share our materials with a whopping 53 House Reps and 22 Senators!
Here's who's coming so far:
First U Church of Dallas - 21
First UU Church of San Antonio - 17
First UU Church of Austin - 12
First UU Church of Houston - 12
UU Youth Caucus - 12
Brazos Valley - 12
Live Oak (Cedar Park) - 10
Wildflower (Austin) - 10
Horizon (Carrollton) - 7
Westside (Ft. Worth) - 6
Tapestry (Spring) - 4
San Marcos - 2
Bay Area (Houston) - 1
Community (Plano) - 1
Corpus Christi - 1
Emerson (Houston) - 1
Galveston - 1
Oak Cliff (Dallas) - 1
Pathways (Hurst) - 1
Red River (Denison) - 1
San Gabriel (Georgetown) - 1
Thanks so much to everyone who is registered! Every person makes a difference. We can't wait to see you! And it's not too late to bring a buddy or two. Have them register here.
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TXUUJM reaches across Texas and beyond, not just to the capitol!
Pictured:
(1) Members of the Transgender Inclusion in Congregations class at First UU Church of Austin. This class is available to all Texas UU congregations and is one of the many ways we are fighting and working for LGBTQIA+ rights and radical welcome in our state. So far, 14 TX congregations are participating!
(2) On Sunday, Feb 26, Horizon UU in Carrollton hosted a postcard writing party with
Equality Texas! The action drew about 25 people, many of whom were not church
members. Way to go, Horizon UU! Interested in planning a postcard party or other action? Contact TXUUJM Intern Minister Sarah Berel-Harrop for support at sberelharrop@meadville.edu.
(3) Rev. Erin Walter of TXUUJM and Aly Tharp, former co-director of UU Ministry for Earth and now Senior Organizer of Greenfaith, met up by some bluebonnets yesterday to talk food justice, organizing, and plan for March 13. Aly will be there at the capitol with us! We hope you will too.
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DRUUMM Texas Retreat
Wildflower UU, Austin
Register here
Friday, March 31, 2023 -- Sunday April 2, 2023
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DRUUMM invites members and BIPOC/POGM friends to a special weekend hybrid retreat hosted at our Wildflower Church in Austin, Texas in-person and with a Zoom option. Our goal is to nurture new relationships between UU/UU-adjacent People of Color across the region and engage in deeper relationship building, spiritual growth, and community organizing.
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A special invitation to trans/non-binary children, youth, and adults:
Uplift is excited to invite you to our monthly drop-in small group for trans/nonbinary+ UUs (and friends) for fellowship, grounding, pastoral care, and connection. Click here for all the details. Questions? TXUUJM Board member Rev. Jami Yandle is leading this effort. Email: txuujm@gmail.com
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Guided by Unitarian Universalist principles, TXUUJM educates & organizes member congregations, and partners with sympathetic organizations in order to advocate effectively for public policies that:
- Uphold the worth and dignity of every person;
- Further justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
- Ensure the use of the democratic process;
- Protect religious freedom; and,
- Promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence.
- Accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
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