The following letters were exchanged among a pair of members of Arlington Street Church (Boston), the board of the congregation (Prudential Committee), and the congregation's minister, the Rev. Jack Mendelsohn....

Currently the UUA has two main ways to address issues of social witness: Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAI) Actions of Immediate Witness (AIW) These are presented each year at General Assembly and are voted up or down by the delegates present at the convention. Congregational Study/Action...

Resolutions adopted at the 1967 and 1968 UUA General Assemblies. Draft Reform and Conscientious Objection Resolution passed at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly, May 5, 1967. Adopted by greater than a two-thirds majority vote....

A sermon by Rev. Jack Mendelsohn, delivered October 22, 1967 at Arlington Street Church, Boston, full text. Used with permission. A hue and cry has arisen over the sixty young men who burned their draft cards in the chancel of Arlington Street Church. No matter that 280 young men took the more...

Sermon delivered on October 22, 1967 at Arlington Street Church, Boston. Abridged version; used with permission. A hue and cry has arisen over the sixty young men who burned their draft cards in the chancel of Arlington Street Church. No matter that 280 young men took the more solemn and perilous...

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 5, Conscientious Objection and the Draft Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: If you are or were a young person subject to Selective Service laws, have you considered or would you consider fili...

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, The Church and the Draft Resisters - Full Text Preparation for Activity Provide Handout 1 in advance to a person who has agreed to read it aloud to the group. Arrange for the presenter to deliver the sermon from a lectern or pulpit,...

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, This Letter Is to Express our Personal Disapproval Preparation for Activity Read Handout 4 and copy it for all participants. Arrange for two volunteers to read the correspondence between Rev....

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, UUA Resolutions on the Draft Handout 3, Social Witness and the UUA Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Read the current UUA guidelines for social witness. Find information, including graphs and outlines of the complete...

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Story, "The Church and the Draft Resisters" Handout 1, The Church and the Draft Resisters - Full Text Preparation for Activity Read the story and prepare to read it aloud to the group. Or, pre-arrange for a participant to do so and provide the...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy...

Preparation for Activity Find out what "political" issues your congregation has become involved with in recent years. Description of Activity Most Unitarian Universalist communities have at least one issue, large or small, that brings into question the role of the congregation in public witness.

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Timepiece (minutes) Chime or bell Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook, for all participants Optional: Cloth for worship/centering table...

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one....

In 1950, Harold Levering, a California assemblyman from Bel Air, proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would require all religious institutions to sign a loyalty oath or lose their tax-exempt status (see Handout 2, The California Loyalty Oath for exact wording). The demand for a...

Edited excerpt from a letter by the Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the United Methodist Church, who testified before the committee on July 21, 1953. My dear, dear friends, ... I thought you might be interested in just what happened at the hearing of the House Committee on Un-American Activities......

Excerpted from more than 10 hours of testimony given by Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the Methodist Church. Transcript published in U.S. News and World Report. August 7, 1953 and … in full on the Internet Archive website. Rep. Velde of Illinois (chairman of the Committee) Mr. Kunzig (prosecutor for...

Paragraph 32. DECLARATION OF LOYALTY UPON CLAIMING EXEMPTION: EFFECT OF FAILURE TO DECLARE LOYALTY Any statement, return, or other document in which is claimed any exemption, other than the householder's exemption, any property tax imposed by this State, or and county, city, or county, city,...

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was established in 1938 as a special investigating committee of the House of Representatives, and after World War II became a standing committee of the House....

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Timepiece (minutes) Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: Have there been times in your life when you felt pressured to support something you did not agree with? When? Where did this pressure come from (work, family,...