The Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of the Palisades

UUCP
P.O. Box 709
Englewood, NJ 07631
Phone: 201-568-5540

In Focus: May Stawsky
of the Racial and Social Justice Team

• May Stawsky
• Judy Stiller
• Wally Reid
• Karen Washington
• Lisa Trager

On January 21, 2002, May Stawsky was presented with The Rev. Lee Reid award for outstanding work in Social Justice. The event was held at the Bergen County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance Celebration which is sponsored by the Bergen County NAACP, and other religious, civic, labor, social and fraternal organizations. The award is named after the founding minister of the UUCP, Reverend Lee Reid.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palisades was founded as an intentionally diverse congregation. With "unity in diversity" as our motto, the unifying philosophy of the UUCP community is openness to cultures, heritage, and lifestyles that may differ from one's own, and a willingness to seek justice for your neighbor, as you would for yourself.

As a key member of The Racial and Social Justice Team, not only does May Stawsky embrace these ideas but actively seeks new ways within and outside of the UUCP to further equality and social justice in the world. She has been a member of the UUCP for over four years. As May says, her reasons for joining were because "I had found my spiritual home: the faith community that fosters my individual spiritual journey, while offering guiding principles that I believe in."

In 1997, she began to participate in the Unitarian Universalist Association's pilot program - "Anti-Racist Multicultural Congregations". May says, "It was an easy decision for the UUCP to embrace this program and offer it to its members. In fact, our identification as an anti-racist congregation came out of this pilot program."

In light of the recent terrorism campaign staged by al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden staying united as a community with differing political and philosophical points of view could be seen as a challenge to any group. May believes that there is a common ground that can hold us all together. "To reach that ground requires extraordinary patience and perseverance, especially when we are enraged and frightened and deeply hurt. We must be willing to listen to each other's stories, be willing to tell our own, and above all, we must be willing to NOT leave the table. We humans need each other, perhaps more than we need borders or power."

May feels that there is nothing more exhilarating than achieving a collectively agreed-upon social justice goal that benefits everyone. The Justice Team recently sponsored a community forum at the Flat Rock Nature Center in Englewood, addressing the question of homelessness and hunger within our community. Not only was it well attended, but it also resulted in concrete action by a number of people who have volunteered to serve this needy community and advocate for legislative changes.

The Justice Team offers a variety of methods for social action. Depending upon the social justice issue that motivates you to action, May encourages all of us to become active in our own ways. She suggests that in addition to becoming involved within our congregation, to look at the needs outside beyond our doors. Whether it's by service to the community, education, witnessing, legislative advocacy, or community organizing, all of us can find a way to become involved.

As part of the recent UUCP Growth Campaign to attract new members, the Justice Team represents the identity and soul of our congregation. The Team believes that through UUCP racial and social justice activities, initiatives, and programs we will attract more people who are yearning for a faith community that affirms hope and wholeness in a "broken world". By standing for and living The Seven Principles, and continuing our work for justice, more people of like mind will come and join us.

In the words of the Unitarian Universalist minister David Rhys Williams:

"We are joined together by a mystic oneness whose source we may never know, but whose reality we can never doubt...We are our neighbor's keeper, because that neighbor is but our larger self....Behold, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, because thy neighbor is thyself".

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