UUFSMA: “The Sanctuary Movement”

UU Service

“The Sanctuary Movement”

Rev. Jake Morrill

10:30 a.m., June 9, 2019

At this week’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Rev. Jake Morrill of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church in Tennessee discusses his church’s community ministries and participation in the Sanctuary Movement to shield Central American refugees from unjust deportation.

The Sanctuary Movement is a religious and political campaign that began in the early 1980s to provide safe-haven in the U.S. for Central American refugees fleeing civil conflict. The movement was a response to federal immigration policies that made obtaining asylum difficult. In December, 2017, the Oak Ridge Congregation voted to become a “Sanctuary Congregation” committed to providing shelter, protection, and material goods to Central American refugees.

Rev. Morrill leads a contingent of 12 teenagers and five adults on a week-long visit to San Miguel to expand their view and deepen their moral commitments far beyond East Tennessee. While in the country, the youth group will volunteer with several non-profits, including Centro de Infantil de los Angeles, Patronato Pro Niños, and Caminamos Juntos. Jake’s wife, Molly, is one of the group leaders and an educator who works with migrant families in agricultural communities. On this trip, the group will travel to a rural farming village to get acquainted with families of migrant farmworkers and hear their stories. ORUUC looks forward to welcoming home these youth whose hearts and minds are opened to global kinship, the complexities of immigration, and the need to forge lives of peace and justice as they grow.

A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Jake has served as Lead Minister of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church for 16 years. Following a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Tennessee State University, he entered the Post-Graduate Program at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, in Georgetown, DC. He served as a Trustee on the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 2013 to 2019 and currently serves on the Board of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a large, online UU congregation. From 2013-2016, he was a Chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve, with the rank of Captain. Since 2015, he has been the Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, which supports his own Christian spirituality that is strengthened by sharing community with Pagans, Humanists, Buddhists, and others. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, Jake enjoys writing and has published two novellas.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program, Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or check out our website at uufsma.org.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

To join our Yahoo group site click on this link:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

Click on “membership”and follow the directions.

Posting a notice on the Yahoo site is easy. Just go to your regular mail browser, type in the address line: uufsma@yahoogroups.com , type your message and hit send!

We encourage you to use this site to communicate with other local UUs.