Committee Structure and Operations

The committee is a plenary body that comprises various Task Groups focused on specific topics.
 
The committee will have several organizational emphases designed to keep it focused and effective, and to help it avoid some of the common pitfalls that threaten the viability of social justice organizations.
 
Coordination: Many progressive organizations have an unfortunate habit of conducting essentially random, often whimsical actions that bear little relationship to each other or to any discernible plan. In this group, to the maximum extent possible, every action we undertake will be implemented as part of a comprehensive and thoughtful overall strategy.
 
Participation: Committee membership will be a responsible undertaking. Everyone will be an active participant. Every member will belong to one or more Task Groups and will have an assigned role and task within that group. For this reason the expectation will be that, where possible, members will attend the monthly meetings, and that they will continue to work with their groups--usually by phone and online--between meetings.
 
Community Involvement: The leveraging strategy is entirely dependent upon involvement with progressive groups outside of thE church. The hope is that most members will belong to other secular or religious groups working for social justice in this committee's areas of interest.
 
Documentation: Task Group Leaders and members will keep records of what works and what doesn't, and of useful approaches and outcomes. This information will be made available to other UU churches and interested organizations.
 

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Typically, plenary committee meetings will be held monthly and are expected to take from one to two hours (more toward the latter). Each meeting will begin with brief discussion of some event or idea that touches on the general subject of social justice/injustice--with the purpose of bringing everyone into a frame of reference suited to the work to be done in the session.
 
Following that, the Task Groups will report on their activities over the month, and forecast upcoming activities, after which the committee of the whole will comment, make suggestions, and pass on proposals and resolutions. On some occasions there may be guest speakers, short videos and the like.