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Our Vision and Goals for the Diversity Plan were stated as:
Davies church sits in the richest and most educated African-American community in the nation – Prince George’s County, Maryland. The southern section of the county, where our church is located, is 75% African-American. The county at large is 62% African-American. There’s a unique opportunity here, both for the congregation and the Association.
Our vision is two-fold. First, we intend to raise community awareness of Unitarian Universalism by inviting our neighbors and sharing with them the good news of the Unitarian Universalist faith. Second, we intend to gain new members because we have a message to share that lifts people up in a way that other religions do not. To live by our faith is to truly see the inherent worth and dignity in all and help them see it in themselves and others, too. If we’re sharing this message well, more people will come – people from all races, ages, classes and genders. We will grow in racial diversity.
A. Powell Davies, after whom this church is named, was the most influential liberal minister of his generation. He preached to Senators and Supreme Court Justices. He led the drive to integrate restaurants in Washington, DC. He spoke out against Senator McCarthy. A liberal religious evangelist, he established eleven new Unitarian churches in the metropolitan Washington, DC area.
This congregation has the opportunity to continue the legacy of A. Powell Davies. It was appropriate that during the Civil Rights era, this congregation was a leading voice in our county. And it is appropriate now that this congregation has the opportunity to be a leading voice in racial and social justice, while growing itself into a multiracial congregation, to make real and model the Beloved Community. Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in the country and we are working to change that!
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