An element of our congregational life that we value is social and environmental action that supports our Unitarian Universalist principles. 
Our social and environmental justice efforts are consistent with our church’s vision of serving our own congregation, our city and the wider world.

Calgary Unitarians are involved in many justice projects, both inside and outside of our congregation. We encourage our members to follow their own consciences in choosing the causes for which they work as individuals. However, we use a democratic process whenever we adopt a policy that speaks for the congregation as a whole.  An example of that is the process our congregation went through several years ago, when we sought accreditation as a "Welcoming Congregation" that welcomes people of all sexual orientations.

Another feature of our social and environmental efforts is that, when it makes sense to do so, we are happy to partner with like-minded religious and secular organizations that already are doing valuable work in a given field.

The central point of contact for the several committees and individuals who work for justice in our congregation is our Justice Council. The chair of the Justice Council is O.J. Zawalsky.

We believe that, to be effective, our efforts need to encompass the "three pillars of justice," which are:

• immediate action
• advocacy for change (addressing root causes)
• education

Our "immediate action" initiatives include:

• Inn from the Cold – Our team, led by Bob McPherson, serves as the morning clean up crew at the homeless shelter run by Knox United Church once every two weeks.
• 4 Others Collection – On the fourth Sunday Service of every month, we take up a special collection for an external charity. The philanthropic organizations that have been the recipients of our 4 Others Collections to date have included local, national and international groups that have been involved in a variety of poverty reduction and environmental efforts.
• Benefit concerts – We have conducted fund raising efforts to meet a variety of needs, e.g., to assist victims of natural disasters.

Some of the ways in which we have advocated for change are:

• Monthly letter writing table that furnishes members and friends of the congregation with background information on a current issue and encourages them to write letters to politicians and newspapers.
• Participation in peace rallies and various other events that promote justice.
• Volunteering at Project Ploughshares' annual benefit concert.
• Pride Rainbow Project – Started in the fall of 2003 by five youth of the Unitarian Church of Calgary. It was originally designed to show support for the same-sex marriage legislation in Canada, but has branched out to work for GBLTQ rights in general.

Our educational initiatives include:

• Sunday Forums, which alternate between presentations by guest speakers and discussions within our congregation.
• Candidates' Forums that focus on topics such as health care, poverty, etc., during election campaigns.

Green Sanctuary Project:

• When our congregation started the process of applying for Green Sanctuary accreditation in 2004, we formed a Green Sanctuary Committee to coordinate our initiatives. The Green Sanctuary Project has become the main focus of our congregation’s environmental efforts. You can find out more about it on our Green Sanctuary page.

Anti-Nuclear Letter

• Click HERE for a sample letter concerning the possible development of nuclear energy in Alberta.

Grizzly Bear Habitat Letter

• Click HERE for a sample letter written by the Alberta Wilderness Association regarding the preservation of grizzly bear habitat.

Bow Riverkeeper Letters

• As part of our congregation's two-year partnership with the Bow Riverkeeper, we write letters in support of an issue of concern that the Bow Riverkeeper, Danielle Droitsch, brings to our attention. 
   
• Eastern Irrigation District Proposal
• This letter is about the danger of our Bow River "well running dry-er" if a recent proposal from the Eastern Irrigation District is accepted by Alberta Environment.
• Background information: Click HERE for a fact sheet provided by the Bow Riverkeeper and click HERE for an article that appeared in the Calgary Herald.
• Template letter: Click HERE for a template letter drafted by Danielle for members and friends of our congregation to use (and pass on to all you know who would like to address this issue!). 
• Mailing: If you would like to send the letter yourself, please do so (and remember that a hand-written letter gets FAR more attention than a template letter). It can be sent to Premier Stelmach (the address is provided on the template letter). If you want us to mail it for you (we have postage in our budget) then drop it off in the justice committee mailbox with a note on it saying "please mail it" and your name.
  
• Water For Life
• A letter in support of the "Water for Life" strategy
• Template letter: Click HERE.
  
• Because it is part of our partnership, we are trying to keep track of the number of people who do letter-writing on these issues. So if you do, please email O.J. Zawalsky (justice committee co-chair and member of Green Sanctuary committee). It helps both our justice committee and the Bow Riverkeeper know the impact of our work together.
• The Bow River is our resource, we hope you will take a couple of minutes to act on this issue to help keep a healthy river running for years to come for all to enjoy!

For more information, contact:

O.J. Zawalsky  (403) 249-6170