Organize Your Congregation

Get Educated

• Familiarize yourselves with key messages.
• Check out the Unitarian Universalist Association’s justice, immigration, and LGBTQ resource pages.
• Watch this video to learn about the campaign’s best practices and Standing on the Side of Love success stories from around the country.

Motivate Leaders to Stand on the Side of Love

• Ordained Leaders: Incorporate Standing on the Side of Love themes into worship and sermons. Discuss the campaign with your board president and key congregational leaders and ask for their support.
• Religious Educators: Ask children and youth what Standing on the Side of Love means to them. Share their creative reflections with the congregation. Also, check out these multigenerational social justice resources.
• Congregational Leaders: Work with existing task forces, groups, and congregational staff to build enthusiasm.

Hold an Introductory Meeting

• Share key messages and information about the campaign and invite participants to share their experiences/reflections.
• Brainstorm how Standing on the Side of Love themes can be integrated into areas of congregational life.
• Collect names and contact information to follow up.

Bring Standing on the Side of Love to Your Congregation

• Order visibility materials: banner, t-shirts, pins, etc. Hold a banner hanging and dedication. Invite children and youth to participate.
• Set up a table or host discussion sessions for action and reflection. Reflect on your faith tradition’s theological foundations for Standing on the Side of Love.
• Photograph or video members engaging in creative activities and post on photo sharing sites like Flickr and YouTube.
• Incorporate Standing on the Side of Love into worship.
• Deepen your congregation’s involvement with Standing on the Side of Love by creating systematic ways to address oppression in your community, such as an Immigrant Justice Task Force or a SSL Rapid Response Team. Learn how with these webinar materials.
• Celebrate Courageous Love by presenting a Courageous Love Award to a member of your community.

Take Up a Collection

• Set up a table or circulate a collection basket for donations. You can collect cash and use the credit card donation form for credit card donations.
• Find instructions and mailing address on the submitting congregational collections checklist.
• Make sure to include the collection gift information sheet when you mail your donations packet.

Stay Involved

• Sign up for updates and information.
  
• Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Pinterest.
• Read our blog.
• Share your stories!