Our Mission

1. Name: The full name of this group is the Social Justice Council of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson.

2. Mission: The Social Justice Council is responsible for initiating and/or coordinating social justice activities for the Congregation and projects which support the mission of the church and are consistent with the values expressed in the Seven Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association (see appendix).

3. Membership and Structure – The membership of the Social Justice Council consists of members and friends of the Congregation, and members of the Tucson community. There no restrictions on the number of voting members on the Council except that Church members must make up the majority of the Council. The Council shall have a Chairperson initially appointed by the Board of Trustees. After a period of one year, voting members of the Council shall select their chairperson yearly and submit the name for confirmation by the Board of Trustees. New members shall be considered by the Council upon application as long as the majority of members continue to be church members. Ex-officio positions will be the Minister and a liaison member appointed by the Board of Trustees. A Secretary and Treasurer shall be chosen from the members, and members will be assigned to projects as coordinators. Terms should run concurrently with the UUCT fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).

4. Funding – The Social Justice Council will have a budget from the Congregation for use on Congregational projects. For other projects (see 6A below), the Council will raise the necessary funds or request funding from the Board of Trustees at appropriate budget hearings.

5. Meetings -- The Social Justice Council will meet once a month. All decisions of the

Social Justice Council will be by majority vote of those members present as long as   a majority of those voting are church members. At any one meeting, if the number of non-church-member voters are equal to or more than church-member voters, the Chair shall reduce the number of non-church members to a minority, eliminating first the most recent to join the Council. The Chair shall vote only in the event of a tie vote, to break the tie. A quorum of seven Council members must be present to conduct business at a meeting. A special meeting may be called at the request of three members and must be announced to all members.

6. Projects

1. The Council shall undertake the completion of projects of three types.
   1. Congregation: Activities as decided by the Congregation;
   2. Council: Activities as decided by the Social Justice Council;
   3. Denomination-to-Congregation: Any ongoing project involving action taken at the UUA General Assembly, viz. Study/Action Issues for Social Justice, Actions of the Immediate Witness, and Resolutions.
2. It is understood that Council support of a project does not necessarily imply Congregational support of, nor commitment to, that particular project. The Council shall not make public statements purporting to be in the name of the Congregation (unless the project is an all-Congregational activity) but shall act and speak only in the name of the Council. The Chair shall be the official spokesperson for Council unless others are designated by the Chair or Council.
3. Any person proposing a project to the Council shall be responsible for presenting to the Council a general project time-line (including evaluation of the project as it progresses) and a Project Leader who will carry out the project with appropriate assistance from the Council.
4. Before a project is implemented by the Social Justice Council, it shall be submitted to the Minister and the Board of Trustees for review, in order to ensure that the project is in compliance with the UUCT’s tax-exempt status and that it is not in violation of the Seven Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

7. Duties and Responsibilities

1. The Chair will facilitate each meeting (or appoint a facilitator to fill in). The Chair   shall be a member of the Church.
2. The Secretary will keep minutes of the meeting and deliver them to all members within a week.
3. A list of participating members and a list of ongoing Projects with the name of the Project leader, the Project timeline, and pertinent details of the Project will be posted for accessibility for all members of the Congregation and published in the newsletter.
4. The Council treasurer will keep track of the current budget (funds available and expenditures). The treasurer will also keep track of the 50/50 collections, insuring the UUCT treasurer has contact information for all recipients and reporting back to the Council on funds disbursed. Other reimbursement requests will be presented to the UUCT Treasurer for payment if there are sufficient funds in the social justice account. Each reimbursement request must be signed by the Council Chair. If the Chair is unavailable, Congregational policy will be followed.
5. The Social Justice Council will submit to the Board of Trustees semi-annual committee reports including an activity information sheet.