Justice & Witness Action Network - Central Atlantic Conference, UCC

01/25/2026

Join the call and help us to take action.

01/14/2026

Associate Conference Minister Rev. Holly Jackson was a part of this witness, as well as several Potomac Association clergy and lay people.

01/09/2026

12/28/2025

Thank you to our New Jersey UCC pastors who witnessed together for justice.

Clergy members have been a constant presence at prayer vigils outside of Delaney Hall since it reopened for business in May.

08/22/2025

The Justice and Witness Action Network of the CAC along with the United Church of Christ Washington D.C. Office have partnered with other DC area interfaith partners to be a part of a Prayer Vigil on Friday, August 22nd from 4:30-6 in Columbia Heights. CAC folk in the DC area are welcome to join us and those who are elsewhere in our Conference are asked to pray with and for us as we stand up for DC and its people.

08/11/2025

We see you you, Virginia Justice & Witness Action Network folks! Speaking truth to power and witnessing to goodness and compassion.

04/15/2025

A Prophetic Cry: We Will Not Be Erased

“Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice” — Isaiah 10:1–2

Beloved,

Let us tell the truth, plain and clear: what we are witnessing is not merely policy. It is an exorcism attempt—meant to purge this nation of the stories, identities, and truths that refuse to conform to white supremacist lies. We name it for what it is: spiritual violence, political genocide, and historical amnesia.

The Trump administration’s return has resurrected not only authoritarian cruelty but colonial delusions. Within weeks, more than 8,000 government web pages and 3,000 data sets have vanished—erasing critical truths about gender justice, racial equity, HIV/AIDS, environmental survival, and the bodies of trans and disabled kin. This is not bureaucratic housekeeping. It is systemic silencing.

And now—hear this—this administration has dared to question the birthright citizenship of Indigenous peoples. It claims that our “first allegiance” to Tribal Nations somehow disqualifies our existence as citizens of this land. What bitter irony: the settler denies citizenship to the first inhabitants. This is empire in full regalia, cloaking conquest in the language of legalism.

ICE agents are already patrolling these lies. A number of tribal citizens from many tribal nations have been stopped and temporarily detained since the beginning of the current administration. Let that sink in. Sovereign people, on sovereign land, treated as foreigners on stolen soil. We will not be silent while our relatives are surveilled, detained, and rendered stateless in the eyes of the empire.

COREM proclaims: This is a moment for moral clarity. A nation that erases its people's truths cannot call itself just. A government that denies the image of God in its citizens is a government in moral crisis. But our faith tells us—truth rises and justice sings. The people will not be moved.

Let the church declare: We will hold sacred what the state seeks to destroy. We will preserve memory, protect the persecuted, and proclaim justice with every breath. We will walk in the tradition of prophets, ancestors, water protectors, and freedom fighters.

We are the story the empire cannot erase.

—The Council of Racial and Ethnic Ministries (COREM)

Call to Action: Speak boldly. Demand the restoration of public data. Denounce the assault on Indigenous sovereignty. Refuse the lie of erasure. Let every sermon, every statement, every sacred act bear witness to the truth: We belong. We resist. We rise.

03/25/2025

WASHINGTON—The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an amici brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a diverse group of civil rights and nonprofit organizations defending the constitutionality of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, a $4 billion subsidy program which support...

01/16/2025

Updated Call to Action: End felon disenfranchisement in Virginia
The Virginia House of Delegates has now passed a Constitutional amendment addressing qualifications of voters and the right to vote, and it has moved to the floor of the Virginia Senate. Thanks to those of you who contacted your delegates; now it is time to contact your senators.

The Virginia Constitution permanently takes the right to vote away from people who have been convicted of a felony, even after they’ve served their time.

The automatic elimination of the right to vote upon conviction of a felony was not originally part of Virginia’s Constitution. Virginia’s legislature first adopted this provision in 1902, during a shameful period when those in power openly sought ways to reduce the participation of African Americans in elections. The law seems to be working as intended. The Sentencing Project estimates that one out of seven Black Virginians currently lack the right to vote due to a felony conviction. Virginia is one of only three states in the country whose laws forever strip individuals’ civil rights upon a felony conviction, including their right to vote, unless individually restored by the Governor. Despite recent steps toward reform, Virginia continues to struggle with its legacy of one of the highest disenfranchisement rates in the nation. While a number of policy changes have been made in recent years to try to streamline the process of voting rights restoration, the requirement for individual action by the Governor is enshrined in the state constitution - and under our current Governor rights restoration has slowed considerably.

Lawmakers can bring us a step closer to righting this wrong by voting to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote for all Virginians 18 and over who are not serving time for a felony conviction, and automatically restoring the right to vote upon release from incarceration. Those who have paid their full debt to society and have been deemed fit for release should have the opportunity to choose the people who represent them and to engage fully in civic life.

Click “Start Writing” to send a direct message to your Senator urging them to support this constitutional amendment.

The Virginia House of Delegates has now passed a Constitutional amendment addressing qualifications of voters and the right to vote, and it has moved to the floor of the Virginia Senate. Thanks to those of you who contacted your delegates; now it is time to contact your senators. The Virginia Consti...

01/16/2025

Updated Call to Action: Eliminate the Constitutional ban against same-s*x marriage in Virginia
The Virginia House of Delegates has now passed a Constitutional amendment that removes the ban against same-s*x marriage, and it has moved to the floor of the Virginia Senate. Thanks to those of you who contacted your delegates; now it is time to contact your senators.

In 2006, the Constitution of Virginia was amended with the addition of the following section:

Section 15-A. Marriage.

That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.

The provisions of this section of the Constitution of Virginia are no longer valid, as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). While Virginia law allows same-s*x marriage at present, it is superseded by the state constitution that specifically bans such unions. Even the recently passed federal Respect for Marriage Act, which provides for federal recognition of couples already married, would not overrule the ban when it comes to new marriages. As long as this ban is in place, too many Virginians stand to see one of their most fundamental rights dismantled should the Obergefell ruling be overturned.

In 2005, the UCC General Synod passed a resolution stating that the church “affirms equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender and declares that the government should not interfere with couples regardless of gender who choose to marry.” It further urged, “The congregations and individuals of the United Church of Christ to prayerfully consider and support local, state and national legislation to grant equal marriage rights to couples regardless of gender, and to work against legislation, including constitutional amendments, which denies civil marriage rights to couples based on gender.”

As people of faith, we affirm and celebrate human expressions of love and partnership regardless of race or s*xual orientation. We call on the Virginia General Assembly to amend the Constitution of Virginia by removing the ban on same s*x marriage and protecting marriage equality.

Click “Start Writing” to send a direct message to your Senator urging them to support this constitutional amendment.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/eliminate-the-constitutional-ban-against-same-s*x-marriage-in-virginia-3

01/14/2025

Call to Action from the Justice & Witness Action Network - VA:

Virginia is one of only three states in the country whose laws forever strip individuals’ civil rights upon a felony conviction, including their right to vote. In Virginia those rights must be individually restored by the Governor. The Virginia House of Delegates will be voting next week on a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights automatically to individuals formerly incarcerated for felony convictions.

Virginia voters - please use the attached link to contact your delegate and urge them to vote in favor of this amendment.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/end-felon-disenfranchisement-in-virginia?source=direct_link&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3Pozb1Ln9mEHTqeayrlNOgnkCeFtzBBKC7AH_U_2wNKoqC1BpKlrpz01s_aem_kiy_0C3QG9JUr6ibmxHJ4w