Dear Friends of Faith and Conscience,

We’re writing with what we expect is the same urgent sense of concern you’re feeling about the results of the presidential election and what will follow. Based on the many conversations we’ve had with each other, people of our communities, our partners, and those most likely to face looming threats, we’ve concluded that in these extraordinary times we must be united in purpose to protect the values of our democracy and those vulnerable populations among us.

To that end we have undertaken an unprecedented degree of coordination between the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. There is a sense of urgency, and a need for vigilance. And there is clarity that we must act, not alone, but together. We need everyone—including you, your congregation, your friends, and your colleagues.

As a first step, we have prepared a Declaration of Conscience stating in the strongest possible terms our commitment in these troubling times. By signing the declaration, individuals and congregations will be affirming our core values and declaring our willingness to put them into action. Please read it and, with your signature, join us in standing on the side of love, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and defending core values that are under attack.

We will be vigilant of administration actions, policies and verbal assaults that undermine the principles of our declaration or disparage, threaten or attack innocent people. We will respond by speaking truth to power and mobilizing support for those who are under siege. To be successful, your support and that of your congregants will be critical.

This is not about partisan politics. It is a principled response to the potential targeting of people, not for what they have done, but for who they are. It is a commitment to speak out and to act in support of basic human rights. We will keep you informed of the progress of this effort and of further opportunities to advance our cause together in the coming weeks and months.

We cannot predict what the future will bring, and we do not pretend to have all the answers, but we can and will be ready for the struggle ahead of us. If you feel the same, please join us. Join us in transforming faith into action, sign the Declaration of Conscience today, share it with your own networks and please encourage others to sign as well.

Thank you for your concern, vigilance, and willingness to act.

In Faith and Solidarity,

The Rev. Peter Morales
President of the Unitarian Universalist Association

Hon. Thomas Andrews
President and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee