Children’s Advocacy Ideas for Your Congregation

I received an e-mail last week from a Unitarian Universalist asking how she and a group from her congregation can advocate for children. She explained that they do not have have a lot of extra time or money, but they do care deeply about young people.

What can you do in your congregation to advocate for children, especially if you have limited time and money? The following three actions can make a difference in children’s lives:

1. Write an article in the congregational newsletter about why children’s issues matter to you. You may want to educate members about legislation on the state or federal level that impacts young people. Or you can encourage members to donate or volunteer with a local organization that serves children, such as an afterschool program.

2. Incorporate children’s issues into a worship service. If you don’t have a lot of time, you may not want to lead a whole Sunday morning worship service, if this is even an option at your congregation. But you could ask the minister or religious educator for suggestions about how to raise awareness of children’s issues during one worship this spring.

For instance, you could offer a prayer for children facing hardship. You could give a testimony about an experience you have had that deepened your commitment to helping children. Or you could hold a special offertory to raise money for a children’s organization.

3. Offer a letter writing table following worship. When the U.S. Senate is about to vote on a key piece of children’s legislation, encourage your fellow congregants to contact their senators. At this table, include a sample letter that you have written to your senators. Ask people to write their own letters, or to sign a copy of yours, and then offer to send these letters for them.

(This is a lot less time consuming when you are asking people to contact their senators than when you are asking them to contact their representatives. Because everyone in your state has the same two senators, it is easy to address and send all the letters. The process is more time-intensive if you ask people to contact representatives, since you then need to look up each person’s representative based on their zip+4.)

Please comment if you have additional suggestions! 

UU’s in Vero Beach Start Health-E Teens Coalition

One of the highlights of being the national organizer for Promise the Children is learning about programs Unitarian Universalists have created to help children and youth.

Claudia Jimenez, the Director of Lifespan Religious Education at the UU Fellowship of Vero Beach, recently told me about the Health-E Teens Coalition (HETC). HETC is a grassroots organization promoting factual health information for youth, including comprehensive sexuality education. Jimenez started HETC with a fellow Unitarian Universalist parent, Judy Orcutt.

Jimenez explains how Our Whole Lives (the Unitarian Universalist sexuality education program) inspired her and Orcutt:

“We are both trained [middle-school and high-school] OWL facilitators and are very impressed with the quality of the curriculum and the wonderful activities. However, OWL reaches mostly progressive families and we are appalled with the pregnancy and STI rates in our county. This type of education should be available to all children. The abstinence-only education in our schools is simply not working, and it is time to try to do something about it.”

HETC is a model for how Unitarian Universalists can promote sexuality education on the local level. Last week, HETC held an educational event titled “What Every Parent Needs to Know About the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccine.” The event was held in a secular community center and was open to the public. Jimenez and Orcutt have also been interviewed in the local media about HETC.

For more information about you can support the Health-E Teens Coalition, please contact Claudia Jimenez at

Revised 4:50pm on 2/26/07

“Eight for 2008”: Policy Recommendations from the Education Sector

Released by the Education Sector, “Eight for 2008: Education Ideas for the Next President” details policies to improve children’s education. Their first proposal is to increase access to pre-kindergarten programs for children in low-income families. Although pre-kindergarten has been shown to benefit students and communities, “fewer than half of the nation’s poor 3- and 4-year-olds attend preschool.” The Education Sector argues that a $18.4 billion program, funded primarily by the federal government, is needed to provide pre-kindergarten to those children who are currently left out.