Social Action History

Our church has an active, involved history in Social Action.  Some highlights:

Honors and Awards:

Unitarian Universalist Association Accreditations:

Other highlights:

  • In 2017 in cooperation with other faith communities in Portland we are helping to initiate Family Promise, a program to support homeless families.
  • In 2016 we received the Faith In Action award from Preble Street for our long-standing support and work at the soup kitchen.
  • In 2015 we began making window inserts with Window Dressers.
  • In 2014 we created a worship service on healthcare, which has been presented in our own and six other UU churches in Maine.
  • In 2013 we helped form the Maine Unitarian Universalist State Advocacy Network (MUUSAN), a statewide group of UU’s committed to social justice
  • In 2012 our work on the environment was awarded with the Portland Citizen award from EcoMaine including the GRAND AWARD for excellence in environmental preservation.
  • In 2009 we committed to support Iraqi refugees living in the Portland area. Support for immigrant communities and asylum seekers continues.
  • In 2008 we were the first congregation in Maine to support the Declaration of Religious Support for the Freedom of Same Sex Couples to Marry.
  • In 2006 we raised over $46,000 for the Four Directions Development Corporation, which provides loans to members of the four Wabanaki tribes in Maine.
  • In 2005 our work, which included creating and distributing hundreds of bumper stickers, helped defeat a referendum that would have eliminated many rights of gays, lesbians, and transgendered persons in Maine.
  • In 2004 we signed up for “green electricity” through the Maine Green Power Program.
  • In 2003 we won the national Bennett Award for our social action initiatives AND became a Welcoming Congregation.
  • In 2001 we began an ongoing relationship with ASERELA, Portland refugees from Sudan.
  • In 1999 we endorsed worldwide nuclear disarmament.
  • In 1993 we we declared A2U2 a Green Sanctuary.
  • In 1986 we sponsored refugee families from Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Malawi, and Nigeria and voted to declare ourselves a nuclear free zone.