First Universalist Parish

Social Responsibility

We believe that the measure of a society is how well the majority honors and protects the rights of minorities, how well we preserve the environment for future generations, and how respectfully we treat the less fortunate. Further, we believe that the work of making our society more just and equitable is the responsibility of all.

Given this, the work of the Social Responsibility Committee focuses primarily, but is not limited to, the application of these three of our principles:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The Social Responsibility Committee does all of the normal things that committees do. We have meetings, we write newsletter articles, and we post messages on our website. These are all helpful and necessary but, we'll never lose sight of the fact that planning to do something and talking about doing something is not the same as actually doing that something. Only doing something is doing something (this could have been a Yogi Berra quotation). If you believe, as we do, that enjoyment and satisfaction are enhanced by working in harmony with others toward goals based on shared ideals, then join our committee and start doing something to improve our society.

We are active in helping others in the Northeast Kingdom through regular contributions to the Northeast Kingdom Community Action Food Shelf and through donations to the Pastor's Discretionary Fund, which helps people with power and fuel bills, emergency repairs, food needs, and the like.
We participate in other social justice projects as they arise and are proud to have been at the forefront of Civil Union movement in Vermont. Here's a list of our recent projects and activities.