Our Church & Society/Social Justice Committee seeks to educate the First Church community about opportunities for advocacy and action on social and civic issues such as peace, justice, equity, and environmental stewardship.
- Committee members
- Current advocacy priorities
- Environmental stewardship
- Public health concerns
- Education, events, and activities
- Meaningful Movies at First Church
Committee members
Dale Alekel (co-chair), Nickie Askov (co-chair), Warren Askov, Jackie Belanger, Kami Harless, Sue Porter, Emily Rigler, Bill Sherertz, Nancy Sherertz, with staff support from Jackie Celin
Interested in joining our committee? Sign up below and we’ll be in touch!
Current advocacy priorities
- Climate change and environmental stewardship
- Equity in public health
- Gun control
- Immigrant rights and immigration reform
- Voting rights and voter suppression
These reflect the congregation’s social justice priorities, consistent with the results of the latest congregational survey conducted by the committee.
Environmental stewardship
Committee members conducted a waste audit of the church building, resulting in the purchase of additional recycling and compost bins for church classrooms and other spaces. New recycling signs were also created to help the church community correctly sort recyclable and compostable materials in the building.
In May 2019, the committee held a Climate Action Lunch & Learn event featuring guest speakers Dr. Cecilia Bitz, professor of Atmospheric Sciences and director of the Program on Climate Change at the University of Washington’s Climate Action Group, and Kiran Oommen, a Juliana v. United States plaintiff with Our Children’s Trust who is suing the federal government for lack of action on climate change. Attendees were invited to sign pledges — and 30 of the 56 attendees signed one or more pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing food waste, moving toward a plant-based diet, carpooling or using public transportation, and advocating at the local, state, and national levels for legislation to reduce carbon emissions.
Public health concerns
A committee member who is a medical doctor with Public Health-Seattle-King County provided Narcan for the church’s emergency kits and trained church volunteers how to treat opioid overdoses with Narcan.
Education, events, and activities
In partnership with interfaith organizations Faith Action Network (FAN) and Earth Ministry, as well as other nonprofit organizations, the committee shares information with the church community about legislative initiatives and how to contact legislators, and opportunities to engage in direct advocacy related to its priority areas.
Church members have participated in FAN’s annual Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia to learn about FAN’s legislative priorities and to meet with state legislators to discuss legislation to protect the environment; reform the criminal justice system; protect immigrants and further immigration reform; reduce gun violence; and provide food, health care, and housing to those in need.
Since May 2020, with leadership from the committee, many in the First Church community have volunteered with Reclaim Our Vote, a nonpartisan campaign reaching voters of color in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and other states with long histories of voter suppression. Volunteers write postcards to encourage people to vote and to provide information on how to check their voter registration status. Committee members also have trained volunteers how to register voters and have provided opportunities for church members and guests to register.
To inform the church community about social justice issues and encourage action, committee members write articles for the church newsletter and periodically offer Meaningful Movies at First Church discussion events after Sunday worship services. See below for the list of Meaningful Movies events sponsored or co-sponsored by First Church.
Meaningful Movies at First Church
Launched by the committee in fall 2019 in partnership with the nonprofit Meaningful Movies Project, periodic Meaningful Movies at First Church events offer opportunities to watch documentaries about social justice topics, discuss the films in community with others, and learn about ways to take action in response to issues raised in the films. After each event, a follow-up email is sent to all registrants and an article placed in the church newsletter to provide a summary of the discussion and additional resources.
Past Meaningful Movies at First Church
March 2023: With other Meaningful Movies venues and First Church’s Climate Justice Working Group, we co-sponsored an online event to discuss the documentary films Why Lawns Must Die about how lawn maintenance damages our planet, and Insect Apocalypse about the decline in insect populations and the value of planting native plants.
February 2023: An online event featured a panel from LEAD which provides a community-based alternative to punitive responses for people who commit law violations related to behavioral health issues or extreme poverty. Registrants were asked to watch True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality about Stevenson’s nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative which seeks to create greater fairness in the criminal justice system.
October 2022: An online event was held to discuss the documentary film Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA. Speakers Margaret Heldring, Acting Chair, Grandmothers Against Gun Violence, and Washington State Senator David Frockt, 46th Legislative District-Seattle, spoke about what participants could do to support legislation to reduce gun violence.
July 2022: With other Meaningful Movies venues, we co-sponsored an online event to discuss the documentary film Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote, which shows the growing threat of voter suppression and election sabotage in the U.S. In 2021, 19 states passed 34 new voter laws to restrict access to voting. Voter suppression laws disproportionately affect senior citizens, students, and people of color.
May 2022: We held an online event to discuss the Climate Solutions 101 video series by Project Drawdown. Rev. Jenny Phillips, Senior Technical Advisor for the United Methodist Church Board of Global Ministries, shared how Global Ministries Earth Keepers is working to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Shemona Moreno, Deputy Director of 350Seattle, spoke about opportunities to advocate for a Green New Deal in the Seattle Parks Levy, campaigns to stop the flow of investment in fossil fuels, and state legislative advocacy with the 350WA Civic Action Team.
April 2022: With other Meaningful Movies venues, we co-sponsored an online event about the Emmy-winning film The Story of Plastic. The film exposes how we got to our current global plastic pollution crisis and how the oil and gas industry has successfully manipulated the narrative around it. A panel of speakers shared strategies to reduce plastic use and advocate for solutions.
January 2022: As a follow up to the October 2021 event, we held an online discussion about causes and solutions to homelessness. Speakers Alison Eisinger and Jody Rauch with the Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness, Dr. Simha Reddy, Director of Homeless Outreach, Veterans Administration, and others shared information and answered questions about advocating for housing justice in Seattle.
October 2021: We held an online event to discuss US&THEM which highlights some root causes of homelessness and the impact of trauma as a risk factor for homelessness. During the online event, attendees listened to a recorded lecture by University of Washington faculty Dr. Gregg Colburn about solutions that prioritize housing policy and affordability.
April 2021: We held an online event to discuss the documentary 2040 which explores how we can tackle climate change by using existing solutions such as renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, empowering women and girls, and marine regeneration. King County Executive Dow Constantine joined us to discuss County priorities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts.
February 2021: We held an online event to discuss Dark Money, a documentary about the influence of untraceable corporate money on our politics and elected officials. Speaker Cindy Black, Executive Director of Fix Democracy First, discussed efforts to combat the influence of dark money.
November 2020: We held an online event to discuss the award-winning documentary Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, the story of how a couple saved money, reduced wasted food and carbon emissions, and addressed food insecurity. Speaker Veronica Finch with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) shared information from SPU’s Love Food, Hate Waste program about environmental problems caused by food waste, and how to reduce food waste.
September 2020: We held an online event to discuss Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook about a variety of strategies used to suppress voter turnout. Speakers Sister Quincy Howard of Faithful Democracy and Kathy Sakahara from the Washington State chapter of the League of Women Voters shared information about efforts to counteract voter suppression and how we can help.
June 2020: We held an online event to discuss Suppressed: The Fight to Vote and hear from Andrea Miller of Reclaim Our Vote, a nonpartisan campaign which reached out to voters of color in states like Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Texas, and Mississippi that have a long history of voter suppression.
January 2020: In the church Fellowship Hall, attendees watched two films – Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice about internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and Families Torn Apart: America’s Deadly Immigration Policy about detention camps at the U.S. Southern border. Northwest Immigration Rights Project and Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network representatives shared how descendants of those interned during WW II resisted the imprisonment and separation of children from parents at the U.S.- Mexico border.
October 2019: In the church Fellowship Hall, attendees watched The Devil We Know, a documentary about toxic, persistent chemicals which have harmed human and animal health, as well as the environment. After the movie, Earth Ministry staff answered questions and shared opportunities for advocacy to reduce production of those chemicals.