Making a distinctive Contribution to the character of public life

As leading presenters of opportunities and training for civil dialog, we improve the quality of public conversation in the North Texas area and within the denomination.

Our Plans

• Establish the Center for Public Dialog at The First Unitarian Church of Dallas. Programs and services will include a First Values lecture series, the Institute for Civil Discourse, seminars and ministry practicum in Public Theology, town hall meetings, and interfaith roundtables.
• Significantly improve our membership database to include individual interests and talents in order to create a Volunteer Network.
• Educate ourselves on social justice focus areas and undertake thoughtful action in these areas.
• Apply the volunteer database and Care Team to address important, emerging issues.

• We have established the foundational/planning documents for the Center for Public Dialog. Selected volunteers and church staff have began training to serve as dialog facilitators. 
• A survey of the congregation by the Social Action Council has identified four focus areas:  civil rights, democracy, the environment and local issues. Examples of our work in these areas thus far include:  voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts, and programs on the environment and the UU United Nations office.
• We have dedicated our First Sunday plate collection each month to a specific service agency or social justice project. Criteria for selection of future recipients have been established and a committee has been appointed to accept suggestions and recommend recipients. In 2007, in eleven offerings, we raised more than $58,000 to support Heifer International, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), Texas Equal Access Fund (TEA), Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI), Forest Heights Lodge, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC), Unitarian Universalist Association, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), North Dallas Shared Ministries (NDSM), and Dallas Peace Center. In two First Sunday collections in 2008 we have raised more than $9,000, bringing total collections to date to more than $128,000.