March 2023

Faithful Action for Justice provides announcements and information from ORUCC’s Justice missions (Care of Creation, Immigration Justice, Heart Room, Racial Justice, Christian Witness and Service, Palestinian Justice).

Nobody can do everything. Saying yes to some things requires saying no to others. Our health and obligations limit us. As you read, briefly celebrate and pray for people doing something you will not join. As you feel called, reach out to a project’s contact person to learn more, and consider joining or click on links to read more.

Our justice mission teams provide information on issues that may be controversial, speaking to the congregation but not for the congregation.

Faiths Connect for Climate Action

ORUCC members are invited to the next in person meeting of Faith Connect for Climate Action.

Date: Sunday, March 19, at 1:30 pm

Location: Middleton Community United Church of Christ, 645 Schewe Rd, Middleton, WI 52562

Registration: https://forms.gle/buvhcGEDE3L1dnbu5.

At this informal get-together, we can learn about energizing Green Teams and our congregations. We’ll hear from some Green Teams around the Madison area, and then break into small groups to discuss, connect, and support each other. The meeting will run for about an hour, with optional socializing and snacks afterwards. We encourage people to reduce gas usage by carpooling, biking, and taking public transportation. Let us know on the registration form if we can help with transportation. Wisconsin Creation Care Ambassadors and the Madison faith team of Citizens’ Climate Lobby are hosting this free event. If you have any questions, please email Heather Phelps at [email protected].

Faith-Based Advocacy Opportunities

Interfaith Day of Advocacy

Tuesday, March 21 from 9 am – 2 pm

Join Faith in Place and the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin’s Interfaith Day of Advocacy to advocate for hunger relief, climate justice, and clean water in the Wisconsin State Budget!

After a morning of preparation at First United Methodist Church in Madison, constituents from across the state will travel to the Wisconsin State Capitol to speak with their legislators. Registration and the day’s agenda are available here; lunch is included! Questions? Reach out to Alexander Malchow: [email protected]

WISDOM Madison Action Day

April 27, 9 am

Madison Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave.

Join WISDOM leaders from across Wisconsin to come together around the values that drive our work–and to share those values and priorities with our legislators as they work to finalize the 2023-2025 state budget. A morning plenary will include participants from all WISDOM affiliates. After lunch, members from each WISDOM affiliate visit with the legislators who represent their geographic areas to advocate for our issues. MOSES is organizing legislative visits with Madison-area legislators. This is a great way to learn about the broad impact of MOSES and WISDOM’s advocacy work. Register here

A booklet declaring WISDOM priorities will be printed prior to the event. A sample 2021-23 booklet is available at this link and copies are available at ORUCC’s Crossroads table.

Celebrate Ramadan with our Muslim Neighbors

Faith Voices for Justice’s 7th annual Ramadan Interfaith Iftar (break the fast).

April 1 at 7:00pm, Kromrey Middle School, 7009 Donna Drive, Middleton WI.

The evening will include a brief program, time for Muslim prayer, a delicious pot-luck meal, kids’ activities, and a great time for connecting with old friends and making new friends across faith traditions! We also will sponsor our annual fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank, honoring the Muslim tradition of zakat – charity.

To RSVP please click here To sign up to bring a dish to share and/or to volunteer, please click here Thank you to Glass Nickel Pizza for donating pizza! Thank you to Jewish Federation of Madison for their support of this event!

Serving our Immigrant Neighbors

Volunteer Drivers Needed

If you are interested in providing rides to asylum-seekers traveling to Milwaukee and Chicago for their interviews, hearings, and other appointments, please contact Dan Zimmerman: [email protected] or 608-241-1158. Dan will put you on a distribution list and contact you to see if you are available when someone needs a ride. He will also arrange a virtual training session for you. The training provides an explanation of the roles and responsibilities of a volunteer driver, and basic information about the judicial processes that you may witness.

Short-term Home Hospitality Needed

If you might be able to provide a room in your house for a few day to a few weeks for asylum seekers in Dane County, please click on the link to fill out a sign-up form. Filling out the form does not obligate you. Instead, it puts you on a distribution list so you can be contacted about your availability if/when a need arises. Asylum seekers have been carefully vetted by local immigration attorneys or the Dane County immigration office. For more information, contact Rabbi Bonnie Margulis at 608-513-7121 or [email protected].

Join ORUCC’s white christian nationalism Class

White christian nationalists are claiming to speak for Christians when they attack racial diversity, LGBTQ rights, abortion, and election results. ORUCC member Rev. Dr. David Anderman addressed some of the challenges of white christian nationalism with a guest sermon on February 12. The Racial Justice Mission Team has been discussing this issue for over a year and thinks it is time to bring it to the congregation. We asked David to write a statement about this issue for the ORUCC website.

An eight-week study group takes place on Tuesday mornings 10:30-12 and Thursday evenings 7-8:30, from February 28 – April 18. The study group will be hybrid (in person and virtual on Zoom) in the Swan seminar room at ORUCC. You can still join even if you missed the first class meetings. Email David Anderman [email protected] if you would like to join the class.

“The Big View” with the Dane County Sanctuary Coalition

The Dane Sanctuary Coalition steering committee invites our member congregations

and organizations to participate in our first-ever “Big View”. Like UW Madison’s “Big Read,” it is an opportunity for interested members to gather in a shared experience of having read the same book or watched the same video(s) to learn more deeply about immigration issues and the realities of living undocumented in our society.

The coalition chose Living Undocumented as our first Big View offering because it pairs individual faces and personal stories with the often-abstract issue of immigration. It broadens our understanding of who is undocumented in our country, and why. We hope this will be a rich source for discussion and learning.

You can preview the trailer HERE!

Learn About Police-Free Schools

ORUCC members Pam Oliver and Barbie Jackson of the Racial Justice Mission Team have been meeting monthly with an informal group looking to build support for police-free schools, believing that police in schools are especially harmful for Black students and other students of color. At a recent meeting, “Moms on a Mission” volunteer Kaziah Anderson told us a story about how she was able to prevent a fight between students with a humane, friendly intervention. Pam posted the story on Facebook and in a blog. Read Kaziah’s Story

MOSES Updates

In response to the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police in January, MOSES adopted an issue to Stop Police Brutality against Black Men and Boys and All People.  The Public Safety Task Force will develop followup actions soon.

Also in January, MOSES adopted a strategic issue calling for Dyslexia Evaluation and Treatment for kindergartners in the Madison Metropolitan School District, beginning with five pilot schools. The Education Advocacy Group is pursuing a comprehensive action plan to promote this measure.

MOSES 2022 Yearbook and Feb-Mar Newsletter are now available at the Crossroads table and at the links provided.



• The yearbook includes updates on the advocacy work of MOSES’ three task forces, the launch of WISDOM’s Transformational Justice Campaign, and a number of other articles. 
• The newsletter includes important information on the pending Bail Amendment which will be on the April ballot as well as explaining why the cash bail system discriminates against lower-income people. Other articles discuss white christian nationalism, MOSES’s upcoming Madison Action Day about the state budget, and a discussion of state efforts to improve employment for formerly incarcerated people. There is also an inspiring story of a returning citizen who was formerly incarcerated and how he has worked to turn his life around.

Interested? Reach out to learn more about our justice teams and projects. Our mission teams welcome your time, talent and energy!

• Care of Creation: contact Sara Roberts
• Immigration Justice: contact Ruthanne Landness
• Racial Justice: contact Pam Oliver
• Heart Room and Housing Justice: contact Helene Nelson
• Ilgen Literacy Fund: contact Jen Walker

In addition, our Christian Witness and Service ministry connects members to a variety of opportunities to support justice activities (chair:LuAnn Greiner)