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The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Florida is a statewide justice ministry that empowers the voice of Unitarian Unitarian Universalist values in the public arena.

We educate, organize, and advocate for public policies that

Our core issues for 2012-2013 are Renewing American Democracy, Immigration as a Moral Issue, and Climate Change. UULMF works "upstream" at the state and national levels to solve problems we see every day "downstream" in our communities. We are building a statewide network of Unitarian Universalist congregations, individual Unitarian Universalists and interfaith partners who believe that when we work together on issues for the common good, our voices will be heard.  We invite you to join us!

2012-2013 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The year 2012-2013 has been one of major outreach for our Legislative Ministry in Florida, and strengthening partnerships with other organizations. It has also been a year of a required transition to an independent fiscal structure, as a result of regionalization of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Our outreach efforts sparked partnerships with the UU Service Committee (UUSC), UU Ministry for Earth (UUME), the UUs for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC), and public interest organizations around the state involved in immigration and worker justice, climate change, and voters’ rights.

Major achievements:

• UULMF attracted Unitarian Universalists statewide to two major events: the Healing Our World conference in Orlando February 15-16, 2013 and our annual UULMF Legislative Day in Tallahassee, March 18-19, 2013. Successful marketing for these events may be key to increasing our congregational memberships, creating ongoing involvement of Unitarian Universalists statewide and effectively impacting legislation. See statistics in bold below.

Structural Accomplishments:

• The UULMF Steering Committee established the positions of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer at its Annual Meeting in September, 2012.

   

• We received an extension on our grants from the UU Fund for Social Responsibility until June 30, 2013 to continue our capacity building efforts in Florida.

   

• After being tasked to create an independent fiscal entity, and exploring options used by other UU State Advocacy networks, UULMF is in process of incorporating, setting up a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) and hiring its own bookkeeper.

   

• We added Steering Committee members from Orlando and from Davie, realigned our liaison congregations, adopted a list of responsibilities of Steering Committee members, and clarified roles of lay and clergy members

Outreach:

• Our volunteer UULMF Steering Committee members promoted our ministry and participated in events throughout Florida. In support of our three core issues for 2012-2013—Revitalizing Democracy, Immigration as a Moral Issue, and Climate Change--we registered voters, hosted forums on the 11 amendments on the 2012 November ballot, attended the Southern Convergence of Move to Amend in Gainesville in December, 2012, and participated in the Progressive Fest of the Space Coast Progressive Alliance, meetings of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the 200 mile march of the Immokalee Workers, a conference sponsored by the SW Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, and Cluster meetings in the West Central Cluster, the Northeast Cluster, and the Southeast Cluster of Florida. We presented a workshop on UULMF and Move to Amend at the Florida District Assembly April 13^th, 2013.

   

• UULMF co-sponsored a major statewide conference in February, 2013 in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard called Healing Our World and Ourselves (www.healingourworldandourselves.org that drew attendance of 116, including representatives from 25 of the 45 Unitarian Universalist congregations in Florida.

   

There UULMF presented its history and accomplishments, included speakers from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (UUME), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), and added 112 people to our social justice contact list.

• We lobbied our state legislators and their staffs at our March 18-19 Legislative Day in Tallahassee. As a result of marketing efforts for Healing Our World, UULMF had the best attendance ever at Legislative Day: 30 Unitarian Universalists from 11 UU congregations in Florida came to our state Capitol in Tallahassee for lobby training and meetings with legislators. Handouts with the latest information on specific bills on our core issues were provided, plus information on two special requests on Wage Theft and Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. We followed up with Action Alerts on those bills during the remainder of the 2013 Florida Legislative session in April.

   

• To streamline communications, UULMF merged our email lists and included church offices and Presidents on our notices to increase visibility about our work. Our social justice e-list increased from 157 to 325 statewide.

   

• We publicized the opportunity for UU congregations to apply for a community radio (LPFM) license by the October 15, 2013 deadline of the FCC, and consulted with several congregations about the possibilities. One is developing broadband internet radio.

   

• We provided scholarships for high school Peace Jam teams (see www.peacejam.org) in three cities with Unitarian Universalist congregations that have high-school age students, to encourage social justice efforts for peace among UU youth.

   

• We encouraged the UU Church of St. Petersburg to create a DVD of their immigration play called “Arizona is Our Town”, which we plan to link to our new website.

   

• We are writing a monthly article for The Breeze, the newsletter of the Northeast Cluster, the largest Cluster in Florida, with 14 UU member congregations, and publicizing our work in the Southern Region newsletter.

   

• We are researching state of the art email marketing programs to create a UULMF newsletter of our own.

   

• We are in process of creating a new UULMF website that will be a resource of information, interactive, and readily updatable.

   

• We participate in the nationwide conference calls of the UU State Advocacy Networks (UUSNS), seek advice from established networks, and offer help to emerging UU Legislative Ministries in other states. We seek opportunities to partner on national issues of common interest. Two of those relating to our core issues in Florida are immigration reform and Move to Amend—a key to revitalizing American democracy.

   

• We have been asked to partner with the UUJEC (UUs for a Just Economic Community) to present an Action of Immediate Witness at the 2013 UUA General Assembly in Louisville, KY to promote the Move to Amend coalition’s proposed 28^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that says corporations are not persons and money is not speech. (See www.movetoamend.org)

The potential for our work together for justice, guided by our Seven Principles, is great.

To paraphrase Ben Franklin, “The work we do separately is small compared to what we may do collectively.”

Our core issues for 2011-2012 are Renewing American Democracy, Immigration as a Moral Issue, and Climate Change. UULMF works "upstream" at the state and nationallevels to solve problems we see every day "downstream" in our communities. We are building a statewide network of Unitarian Universalist congregations, individualUnitarian Universalists and interfaith partners who believe that when we work together on issues for the common good, our voices will be heard.  We invite you to join us!

Our first achievement for 2012:  in support of Renewing American Democracy:  Media Reform

Steering Committee member Milo Vannucci in collaboration with the Media Action Center filed a “Petition to Deny” the license of radio station WJNO-AM in West Palm Beach, home of Rush Limbaugh. Details can be seen at www.mediaactioncenter.net.

Also in support of Media Reform: Increase the voices of reason and compassion on the airwaves.

Major community radio opportunity in 2012 to apply for a license to start a station.

UUs and others have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in 2012 to acquire a Community Radio Station when the FCC will award some of the last available low power broadcast spectrum. Applying for the license is the first step needed in 2012. A partnership of local groups could work together as an applicant. It may take 2-3 years before a station becomes a reality. A community radio station could benefit UUs in numerous ways, including strengthening outreach in their communities, providing opportunities for local talent, and offering a vehicle for spin-free local and national news. The window to apply for a radio license will be very short in 2012 only, perhaps one week in December, so please see the timeline and details here, study “Starting a Radio Station” at www.prometheusradio.org, follow developments closely, and call Kindra at 941-497-1764, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any interest or questions. 

Important coming events

• Please plan to attend GA in Phoenix, June 20-24. This will be an historic General Assembly, the first “Justice GA” of its kind. Early registration is March 1-April 30th. The GA Housing reservation system opened March 1. UULMF is offering PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS to interested attendees. These scholarships could be a great way to encourage young people especially in your congregation to attend. Contact Kindra or Steve ASAP if interested.

Major accomplishments of 2011

• December: Our new UULMF brochure was completed thanks to Rev. Bud Murphy’s good help. See it here, and, if you support our work, please JOIN US as an individual member, and encourage your congregation to join UULMF as a Congregational Member!

• December: The Florida District Board voted in December to sponsor our proposed Economic Justice Business Resolution for GA 2012. (See it here). Thanks to the Florida District Board for your outstanding support!

• December: UU congregations participated in the second David Cobb Move to Amend Florida Tour December 2-15. Thanks to West Palm, Melbourne, Marion County, Orlando First UU, Tampa, the UU Church of Ft. Myers, and Key West for hosting these events.

• December: UUs in three cities participated in Occupy Clear Channel events (inspection of their public records) December 12th: Sarasota, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach.

• November: In November, UULMF sponsored a proposed workshop for GA 2012 entitled “Hear the Message: Democracy is for the PEOPLE!” We will know by the end of January whether it has been accepted by the UUA GA Planning Committee.

• November: UUs in two cities, Bradenton and Sarasota, hosted interfaith Faithful Budget Campaign events November 20th to encourage the Super Committee not to cut Social Security and Medicare. Thanks to UUs in the Manatee Fellowship, Sarasota and Venice for participating.

• October: The Steering Committee of UULMF voted to endorse Move to Amend (www.movetoamend.org) and the principles and ideals of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

• October: UUs of Clearwater donated $589 to UULMF from a 50/50 Share the Plate. Thanks so much for your enthusiastic support of our efforts!

   

• October: The UULMF website underwent a major transformation through the talented efforts of Larry Lawhorn. Thanks Larry for helping us develop an effective web site www.uulmf.org that empowers the Steering Committee members to get involved in maintenance and updates.

   

• July: UULMF won a $7500 grant and a $2500 matching grant from the UU Funding Program for “Capacity Building in Florida.” We hope all UU congregations will become Congregational Members of UULMF and help us build our effective Florida UULM network for social justice.

• June: UULMF sponsored a successful Action of Immediate Witness at GA 2011 in Charlotte, North Carolina entitled “Oppose Citizens United—Support Free Speech for People.” See http://www.uua.org/statements/statements/185343.shtml

   

• May: Working with Rev. Abhi Janamanchi of Clearwater, Susan Leslie of the UUA and Dan Furmansky of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, UULMF coordinated an interfaith coalition of 24 religious leaders to issue a Statement of Conscience opposing Florida’s anti-immigration bill SB 2040/HB7089 and worked with the Florida Immigrant Coalition to defeat those bills. This was a major success of the 2011 legislative session.

• April 13^th: 12 UUs from around Florida lobbied with the Coalition for the Homeless in Tallahassee. This was a great exercise in civic engagement. Hopefully more UUs statewide will join us in Tallahassee in 2012 with the League of Women Voters to experience the joy of this important civic work.

• March 25-April 5, 2011: Sue Wilson conducted her landmark 2011 Florida Media Reform Tour screening her media reform documentary Broadcast Blues in 11 UU congregations in Florida. Thanks to Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm, Melbourne, First UU of Orlando, Ormond Beach, UU Church of Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Tampa, Venice, and UU Church of Ft. Myers for hosting.

• February: Steering Committee members Kindra Muntz and Milo Vannucci attended the national conference of leaders of UU Legislative Ministries around the country. The “Network of Networks” is UUSANS, the UU State Advocacy Networks, www.uustatenetworks.org. There are 13 active UU state networks nationwide to date.

Working together, we may make a difference on key national issues

in addition to our statewide efforts.

About the Unitarian Universalist
Legislative Ministry of Florida

The UULMF is a justice ministry that empowers the moral voice of Unitarian Universalist values in the public arena throughout Florida. Click here to see the congregations we serve.

Guided by UU principles, the Ministry educates, organizes and advocates for public policies that...

• Uphold the worth and dignity of every person
• Further justice, equity and compassion in human relations

• Ensure the use of the democratic process and the rights of conscience

• Protect religious freedom

• Promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence

• Build a community of peace, justice and liberty for all

Since 2007, the UULMF Steering Committee has directed the UULMF. The 2010-11 Steering Committee members are:

• Gerald Goen (Tarpon Springs)
• Brian Lee (Tallahassee)
• Kindra Muntz (Venice)
• Rev. Bud Murphy (Ormond Beach)
• Rev. Gail Tapscott (Ft. Lauderdale)
• Milo Vannucci (North Palm Beach)

Please direct your questions or comments to our Chair:
Dr. Steve Segner, Ph.D.  (386) 788-3039  | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Also see:

• UULMF By-Laws
• Steering Committee
• UULMF News