Our History

In 2006 the UU Congregation of Princeton, with new minister Forrest Gilmore, surveyed its congregants to find a very exciting commitment in the social justice arena. One area chosen was to establish the UU Legislative Ministry of New Jersey (UULMNJ), now UU FaithAction NJ. A $60,000 fund was dedicated to establishing the group, envisioned as a collaboration of all 21 New Jersey UU congregations advocating for the values of Unitarian Universalists within the NJ legislature.

In 2007, UUC/Princeton appointed a five person committee to spearhead this effort led by Elaine Nigam and Doug Rhodes. New Jersey congregations were contacted and UUs in the state began considering the formation of this social justice network.

In 2008, a statewide Steering Committee, Co-Chaired by Rohn Hein of Cherry Hill and Lynne Quinto of Washington Crossing, surveyed UUs across the state for priority issues. Economic Justice, Health Care, and the Environment were chosen.

The organization was designed as two sub-groups: a ministry dedicated to education and research and the public policy arm coordinating grassroots advocacy and working to establish public policy that is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles and purposes.

In 2010, Task Forces led advocacy through the Congregational Action Teams joining with other like-minded faith-based and secular organizations in the priority issues. Especially strong efforts were organized around affordable housing and the Emerging Issues of Marriage Equality and Immigration. Rallies and hearings were attended; lay members and clergy spoke at events, reported in the press, television and other media.

The Legislative Ministry Becomes a Force

In 2011, Rev. Craig Hirshberg became our part-time Executive Director after our first Director, Rev. Julia Hamilton, accepted a position as a minister in Santa Barbara, CA.

In 2012, the marriage equality issue moved to the forefront in NJ, and was being actively debated within the state legislature. Rev. Hirshberg testified in favor of marriage equality before the state legislature in January. 21 UU clergy signed a letter in support of marriage equality.

The keynote address at the 2012 plenary session, “How Does New Jersey Measure Up: Citizens United and the Fairness of Our Elections,” was presented by Ingrid Reed recently retired as a Policy Analyst and the Director of the New Jersey Project at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers, and a member of the UU Princeton congregation.

Rev. Craig Hirshberg and group member Sally Gellert attended the senate committee hearing on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The Economic Justice group received strong newspaper pickup for their statement on Occupy Wall Street. With leadership by the Ridgewood congregation one of our focus areas, reproductive justice, was chosen as a Congregational Study Action Issue (CSAI) by the UUA General Assembly. In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, the Legislative Ministry formed a new focus for the Emerging Issues task force on Gun Violence Prevention to be led by Diane Finn and Lew Maltby.

Rev Hirshberg was asked to serve on the national steering committee for State Advocacy Networks (SANS).

UULMNJ Builds Awareness

At the end of 2013, nineteen of the twenty-one UU congregations in New Jersey are affiliated.  The major funding for the UULMNJ Inc. is from the congregations. Fundraisers for the UULMNJ PPN Inc. are conducted yearly.

We sponsored a marriage equality rally in Morristown during the denomination’s District annual meeting.

After raising over $9,000 and hiring a Faith Organizer devoted to the cause of marriage equality, the UULMNJ contributed to Governor Christie’s decision to drop the appeal of the judicial opinion holding that denying marriage to same-sex couples is unconstitutional.

In 2013, videos documenting our views on the New Jim Crow, affordable housing, immigration detention, and climate change were produced.

The New York Times and Bergen Record both published comments by Rev. Hirshberg regarding gun violence prevention. Rev. Hirshberg spoke at a gun violence vigil in Flemington. In June, Rev. Hirshberg, along with members of six UU congregations, testified at a NJ Public Safety hearing.

Rev. Robert Moore, ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, delivered the keynote address on preventing gun violence at the 2013 annual plenary.

In 2014, Rev. Hirshberg testified at the Senate Budget committee and submitted testimony to the Assembly Judiciary concerning bail reform and spoke at meetings in Hackensack, Newark, Hamilton, and Trenton.

Legislative meetings were held with State Assemblyman Bramnick (District 21) and US Senator Menendez.

Provided public comment at a Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) meeting, spoke at press conference supporting regulation on prison phone calls, attended a national summit on mass incarceration.

Legal Advocacy Project (LAP) Forms

In 2014, after a $5,000 grant the Legal Advocacy Project (LAP) was formed to advocate within the New Jersey courts on issues of justice and equity and looking to move signature legislation through the NJ Legislature reflecting our UU values.

An initial action was the filing of a lawsuit, along with the ACLU and Americans for the Separation of Church and State, against the NJ Dept of Education and the State Treasurer. The suit stems from the proposed use of state bond money being awarded to religious institutions. Rev Hirshberg participated in a media session with reporters following the filing.

In 2015, LAP filed two amicus briefs concerning NJ termination of Medicaid benefits for legal immigrants without residency requirement and the NYC police surveillance of the Muslim community in NJ.

In 2017, an original bill supports confidentiality for women’s reproductive health care workers and clinicians.

Moving Onward

In 2015, UULMNJ issued a statement calling for UU congregations throughout New Jersey to work toward dismantling racism. Serving as co-convenors are Elias Ortega (Morristown) and Rohn Hein (Cherry Hill).

In the last few years, we have lobbied for the passage of the following legislation:

  • Opportunity To Compete
  • Bail Reform legislation
  • Proposed Bail Reform Constitutional Amendment
  • Parole reform legislation currently before the legislature
  • Eight stricter gun control laws
  • In-state tuition for undocumented college students
  • Fracking Waste Ban
  • Anti-poverty legislation
  • Earned paid sick days

Other recent accomplishments:

  • UULMNJ is first faith group to call for a reform of the drug laws and the taxation and regulation rather than criminalization of certain substances.
  • The group successfully advocated for the release of the Affordable Housing Trust funds and for the NJ minimum wage increase with cost of living index increases.
  • On the immigration front, we sent over 400 letters to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning immigration detention conditions in NJ.
  • Promoted “Do Not Stand Idly By” program encouraging local municipalities to purchase police weapons from manufacturer who produce smart guns and promote high safety standards.
  • Launched Ending the New Jim Crow Task Force
  • Held a demonstration at Hobby Lobby to protest limited employee birth control options.
  • Helped to craft New Jersey’s environmental and sustainability position through Sen. Smith’s initiative and helped organize New Jersey UU’s participation in the Peoples Climate March in New York with approximately 300 NJ participants.

On October 14, 2017, UULMNJ announced  our new name!  Going forward, we are now UU FaithAction NJ and we proudly launched our new name and logo at the Fall Issues Conference held at the UU Congregation of Monmouth County.  

As UU FaithAction NJ

Since become UU FaithAction NJ, we have been involved in the passing of several bills, including: