END THREE - The Church is a force for service and social justice. Service II. Education III. Witness/Advocacy/Community

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1 END THREE - The Church is a force for service and social justice. A measure that UUCA is seen as a force for service and justice can be seen in the scores of thank you letters we receive from partners, in the award Gov. McAulliff gave VOICE for its work, and in the invitations UUCA receives from the UUA, local governments, and agencies to endorse and participate in large initiatives. Another measure is the number of people who join in the ministry of service and justice, and those who are served. A full-bodied ministry must include SEWAC Service, Education, Witness, Advocacy, and Communityorganizing. This report summarizes how people are involved and served in carrying out our ministries, which will be considered in the areas of Service, Education, and Justice-making (Witness/advocacy/community organizing) I. Service a. Within UUCA i. Welcoming & connecting ii. Teaching and all-age involvement iii. Covenant Groups iv. Pastoral Care 1. Counseling 2. Connectors 3. Helping hands 4. Rites of passage b. Outside UUCA i. Give the Plate to Direct service partnerships ii. Sweat/volunteerism iii. space II. Education a. Give the Plate for scholarships b. Participation/partnerships in learning III. Witness/Advocacy/Community a. Give the Plate for advocacy and organizing b. Participation/Partnerships c. Arts

2 I. Service a.within UUCA - People come to be a part of the UUCA community with many needs, which we seek to serve. Since one of the needs people have is to BE of service to others, we are serving others and ourselves. The chart* at the end of this report shows that more than 500 people were involved in serving 1,470 people in our congregation, helping one another in the connecting and growing ministries of the church b..outside UUCA UUCAers offered direct service, through money and sweat, to advance our church s mission to reach out to those in need. i. Give the Plate - In 2015, we gave our Sunday morning worship attenders (including those watching us on-line) the ability to serve through financial gifts. We gave over $30,000) to partners to provide direct assistance for food, housing, legal aid, life skills training, a bed in Culpepper, disaster relief, and more. ii. Direct Services The chart on the chart * at the end of this report shows that over 600 of our members and friends of all ages - participated in serving through partnerships with more than 25 organizations changing the lives of thousands of individuals directly, through bagging meals, mentoring, disaster relief, and more. iii. Space UUCA offers its facilities to groups who are seeking to help others, build community, provide spiritual deepening to populations who are not strong enough yet to build or rent their own spaces for gathering. This included fundraisers for the Dreamers and Bridges to Independence; conference space for two major VACOLAO education events; meeting space for the International Mayan League; meeting space for VOICE staff and Strategy Team

3 II. EDUCATION Each of our GTP recipients host a table and often a speaker on the Sunday of the offering, to educate our members of their work, and the issues involved. Most of our programs to educate ourselves and the wider community are done in partnership with agencies and organizations we work with. a. Scholarships are a core portion of our Give the Plate offerings, this year raising close to $30,000 for 10 Dreamers, 60 children at Peace Camp, 30 Guatemalan middle schoolers, and several seminarian scholarship programs. b. Each FIA ministry team, in partnership with outside groups, offers educational programs. More details are provided in the table * at the end of this report, breaking out the more than 50 events UUCA led covering our areas of justice ministry, with more than 1,000 people (including many outside UUCA) in attendance. III. JUSTICE-MAKING (Witness, Advocacy, Organizing) All UUCA groups now work in partnership with agencies and organizations outside our walls. Many of them provide us access to chances to bear witness, advocate, and join in organizing the community. a. Give the Plates for advocacy and organizing add up to more than $35,000.00, given to partners working on racial justice, immigrant rights and legal protections, international advocacy for Guatemala and Palestine, gay rights in Virginia, and the work of VOICE working to build strength in communities in need of affordable housing, dental care, early childhood education, and more. b. Our participation and partnerships led us into many activities

4 o witness trips to Guatemala (two with ADIVIMA; one with a delegation of 6 with NISGUA), mission trip to West Virginia, o advocating for immigration rights (hosting meetings, bearing witness, and talking with elected officials); o 30 UUCAers engaging in an ambitious Get Out the Vote initiative, meeting with elected officials, and over 100 appearing at several public meetings; o visits to the State Department to advocate for human rights in Palestine, Guatemala, and China; co-sponsoring a GA UUA Business Resolution to disinvest; o 10 UUCAers took part in Richmond lobby days to advocate for gay rights and gun legislation; 5 in North Carolina for Moral Mondays; 40 attended Gay pride marches; 25 supported Green Action/UUSJ activities leading up to the Paris meetings including a prayer vigil; major climate change rally. c.. The Arts For many, the arts are a way of learning and witnessing to the values of our faith. Besides the arts in worship, UUCA has two major initiatives that use the arts to build community within and outside our walls, and to express our values. a. Chalice Theatre involves 100 members, friends, and neighbors, of all ages, bringing in an audience of over 1,000 people. The plays lift up our values of love, diversity, and justice. b. Art Galleries QUUest and the Center Gallery, hosted 6 shows each featuring UUCA artists and members of the wider community. A special effort is made to include shows that resonate with the Soul Matters themes and with our interest in representing the art from different cultures.

5 *Activities Appendix SERVICE WITHIN UUCA Welcoming & membership development Sunday morning ambassadors involve 187 volunteers; there are also 43 connectors. All these UUCAers help people feel welcomed and included, through welcoming, ushering, coffee serving, greeting in the welcome room, New UU, small groups, and other connections served all who participate at UUCA, and the 375 first-time visitors to UUCA, helping them find their way to serve their own needs and to serve others.. Teaching and Including all ages in our ministry, which involves 99 volunteer teachers, advisors, leaders serving our 330 children and youth; and some 20 others teaching some 100 adults. Covenant Groups offer connection, growing and service to 350 people, working under the trained facilitation of 63 UUCA members Pastoral care a. A team of 6 trained to be pastoral listeners visited and supported 60 UUCAers in time-sensitive need; connected and followed up with 30 UUCAers who have need of chronic support/friendship; and supported 7 other care associates asked to stay in touch with 50 UUCAers, who didn t ask for pastoral care, but who appreciated loving support. b. A Helping Hands team of 10 coordinators, supported by 136 volunteer UUCAers, offered rides, coordinated meals, and insured logistical support to some 50 UUCAers. c. Rites of Passage UUCA ministers led 11 child dedications, 21 marriages, and more than 25 memorials and interments.

6 SERVICE OUTSIDE UUCA Money for ASPAN, AFAC, and ALIVE! served hundreds of our neighbors, supporting food banks and administrative costs associated with direct service. Bridges to Independence serves dozens of women and children. DC Global used our gift to support 6 refugees from homophobic violence. UUSC-UUA Refugee Crisis Fund benefited many Syrian refugees in camps in Europe. Disaster relief to Mississippi helped 30 families whose homes were damaged. We raised money for Culpepper Garden, to cover the costs for two beds in the assisted living unit. Legal Aid Justice Center for Northern Virginia supports free law services to many clients. O.A.R. offers counseling and support to scores of inmates and ex-offenders. Service Projects 80 UUCAers of all ages spent a few hours in October, bagging meals for hundreds of families served by AFAC. 350 Covenant Group participants offered an hour or two to service projects in and outside the church. Ten groups of volunteers took on a monthly assignment to make, assemble, and deliver a monthly donation of 120 meals served by ASPAN. 45 UUCAers offered weekly or monthly mentoring and tutoring to immigrants and children for help with homework, computer skills, English skills, SAT prep, and more. 50 UUCAers volunteer several hours each week to serve 100 meals for Meals on Wheels. 30 UUCAers work with Peace Camp in the summer, as counselors, cooks, and helpers for 120 campers, including 60 from marginalized communities..

7 Education VOICE three trainings, reaching 50 UUCAers and 100 partners Justice & Peace in Israel/Palestine hosted a speaker from Palestine (75 attending), from UUs for a Just Middle East (30 attending); a film series (100 attending for 5 sessions) Criminal Justice reform o book conversation on Bryan Stephenson s Just Mercy 30 attending o Forum of leaders from various agencies, educating our interested leaders 35 in attendance *Equality groups o POF-EV luncheons o Monthly support/learning groups for families o Transgender series (4Wellspring Wednesdays) each *PAG Speakers from Guatemala ADIVIMA; NISGUA; Immigration Film Series Major GA workshop on the power of Accompaniment *Partners for Peace & Justice series 6 sessions, with between 10 and 40 in attendance each time. *Little Friends for Peace and our Peace Ministry Team offered a couple sessions to help people learn how we teach peace here. 20 & 30 attending. *Immigration Film Festival 75 attending *Dreamer Concert 120 attending a fundraiser for scholarships

8 Ministry People involved People served Inside UUCA - total 580 1,470 Ambassadors 187 all Sunday attendees Connectors (1 st time visitors) Teachers/ARE (all ages) Cov. Gps 63 fac. 350 Pastoral Care Team Helping Hands 10 coords vols Rites of Passage Outside UUCA UUCAers Partner Agencies GTP $ Total $94,000 ytd Service $30,000 approx Education ,000 approx Adv/Witness ,000 approx