CONGREGATION VOTER MOBILIZATION RETREAT
On Sunday, July 14th at the Community Church of Chapel Hill UU, IVRF held a Retreat for the Key Contacts from 12 congregations. The event was a big success. For three hours, we had an in-depth exciting exchange of ideas of what congregations are doing and plan to do in the next three months….. yes, just 3 months. Scottie Seawell facilitated the meeting. Three congregations (Community Church, Church of Rec. and Judea Reform) did in-depth sharing of current activities and future plans. Later the discussion was opened up for all to share and ask questions and stimulate exciting new ideas for mobilizing our congregations. Reverend Thom Belote of the Community Church welcomed the group at the start of the Retreat. He shared all our feelings of the sad state of the nation. He stated that we needed to keep on with our work in defense of our values for justice and freedom. The Retreat was organized and conducted by the IVRF MAC Committee.
One of the new ideas of the Retreat was stimulated by a key contact from Kehillah who is CALLING ALL MEMBERS there to tell them about the Get Out the Vote effort. We then discussed how many people are justifiably against phone banking. We came up with the idea of having some of the phone banking be limited to calling members of our own congregations to inform members of our voting efforts and seek their help and answer questions.
We will meet again on August 18th to keep the conversation and amazing sharing of ideas going. Utilizing the key contacts and having people get to know each other has been terrific for building our IVRF community. People walked into the Retreat depressed and left energized. No matter what is happening, our mission is to keep on going with our fight for democracy and in defense and advocacy of our shared values.
Community Church UU the Vote Launch
UPCOMING EVENTS
We need you. Please sign up HERE! You can check off in which activities you want to participate.
The Church has launched a new effort, UU the Vote, which is a part of our Side with Love cluster of activities. With the full support of Reverend Thom Belote, we have begun work on a Congregation Voter Mobilization campaign. Several postcard writing sessions have taken place and voter registration trainings are scheduled. Our goal is to engage over 200 Community Church members to participate. The UU the Vote Campaign will officially launch on Sept. 8th during the church service and immediately afterwards. Celebratory activities are scheduled to help you get started. In the fall, leading up to the election, there will be opportunities to do canvassing in your own neighborhood and/or in a nearby city. There will be parties for doing phone banking and texting. We want to celebrate this effort and our work with other church members and getting to know new people. People will track their activities and report them back. We will share the level of engagement we have with lofty celebratory goals.
UU the Vote will provide opportunities to bring our democratic values in the ongoing crucial struggle to build a genuine and vibrant multi-racial democracy. Now more than ever we need to step up. The threats to our democracy and our values are clear and on the ballot this November. If you have any questions, please stop by the Side with Love table after services or contact any of the committee leaders. The UU the Vote core leadership committee consists of: Lynn Holbein, Janet Stevens, Jody Savage, Wendy Jebens, Ruth Gibson, and Melva Fager Okun.
We need you. Please sign up HERE! You can check off in which activities you want to participate.
See the list of activities we will offer in this 3 Tier Chart. Tier 1 lists the easier activities; Tier 2 is more challenging; and the Tier 3 activities are the most challenging. We ask you to participate in as many activities as possible. We have between now and November to encourage all members of our church to vote and to encourage as many people as possible to also vote. The most effective voter engagement strategy is door-to-door canvassing. We will provide training and all volunteers will go out with a partner. Speaking directly to people makes a difference.
We will work closely with Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, head of UU Justice Ministry NC.
The Community Church is also providing Voter Engagement leadership to the congregations in Interfaith Voices for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition which we helped found. Currently 11 congregations participate and coordinate activities. There are more congregations on board. We hosted and coordinated a half-day Retreat for leadership of the eleven congregations on July 14th. Our Reverend Alison Eskildsen serves on the IVRF Communications Committee and Steering Committee. Janet Stevens, Joan Shier and Melva Fager Okun serve on the IVRF Mobilization and Advocacy Committee; and Melva also serves on the Steering Committee.