The 2021-2024 Quadrennial Priorities

THEME: Justice and Righteousness

GOD’S WORD: The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.” Micah 6:8 CEV

Acting justly is rooted in what is right as it relates to our relationship with God and lived out in our relationship with each other and in our stewardship over creation. God has shown us what is good and what is required to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly (under God’s leadership). 4In these days and times, the world has seen an increasingly public display and demonstration of the many ways humans have found to harm one another. Played out on a global scale from the highest of government positions to the everyday-ness of what it means to be a neighbor, the injustices of racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, unbridled capitalism, and inequitable power have entrenched hatred and evil from our foundational institutions to our interpersonal interactions. Church Women United (CWU) has a special role to enact a distinct form of hope into what could otherwise be seen as intractable despair.

CWU, as an organization and as a community of church women, is poised to use its collective, regional, and local influence and numbers to mobilize human, economic, legislative, and educational capital for the focused purpose of cultivating mutual good for all human beings – in other words – to bring about true justice as a foundation for producing and protecting true peace.

The Action and Global Concerns committee has found itself with a unique opportunity to create anew an action plan to tackle some of what we’re calling, “momentum points.” Momentum points are areas of content and strategy that lead to building the momentum needed to dislodge the power of the status quo and construct new ways of being for mutual human flourishing. Taking seriously that no one organization can tackle all that needs to be “fixed” in the world, we have constructed a template by which we can methodically and intentionally address “momentum points” to garner the greatest shifts toward justice; which can then be contextualized by individual units who will work individually and in partnerships in their areas. The following provides a template to be used as a guide toward such work. May the blessings of God be with us and correct us as we do the work of God in the world and become more and more who we’ve been divinely created to be. AMEN.

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Health and Wellness
Health and Wellness

Quadrennial Priority #1 - Church Women United (CWU) acknowledges the decades long, historic impact of racism, discrimination and, poverty in widening the health and wellness gap on the most vulnerable citizens: Blacks, Hispanic/LatinX, Native Americans, rural populations, immigrants, and working poor are likely to die, endure greater suffering and experience higher rates of almost every kind of disease or illness the medical industry tracks. We face again this inconvenient truth as our nation contends with a fast-moving, border-crossing, color-blind and invisible COVID-19 enemy virus.

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Climate Stewardship
Climate Stewardship

Quadrennial Priority #2 - Church Women United believes that our earth is a gift from God entrusted to us to care for. We believe it is our responsibility to pay attention to and offer remedy where the growing climate issues are concerned. In particular we support the idea of Environmental Equity. We affirm the science that informs us. We are committed to raising awareness and educating when we can about environmental issues.

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Social Justice
Social Justice

Quadrennial Priority #3 - Often times this verse is interpreted as if Jesus abhors money or trade as evil in and of itself. However, study about what kinds of activity were occurring makes it clear that Jesus was upset not about business – but business practices that oppressed the already poor and marginalized.

Jesus was overturning tables in the Temple because the practices themselves were part of a system which created a direct link between the religious/power system of the day with a social system which oppressed the most vulnerable. Church Women United realize that for the Church to be (and represent) the House of God – it must not collude with social systems which create and protect injustice. Rather, all social oppressive systems must be “flipped” in order for the real work of Kingdom building to occur.

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Hunger and Poverty
Hunger and Poverty

Quadrennial Priority #4 - Church Women United recognizes the pandemic worsened work life for many who cobble together several low wage jobs to make ends meet, whereas others thrived. Since WWII, many majority families built wealth primarily from increasing home values, whereas minority families were locked in neighborhoods with declining property values often taken by eminent domain. The result is a disparity in generational wealth along racial lines. This means many families are not able to assist each other during a crisis.

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