The Power of Solidarity: September Update from Side With Love
As we turn toward fall, the air shifts: cooler mornings, earlier sunsets, and the invitation to gather closer together. Autumn is always a season of change, of letting go and beginning again. This year, that truth feels especially sharp. And yet, in times of change, we’re reminded of the power of solidarity-how drawing close to one another, widening the circle, and moving in step with our shared values of justice, compassion, and dignity can turn endings into beginnings, and uncertainty into hope.
We are living in a time of disorientation and disruption. Authoritarian forces seek to divide us, to tell us we are powerless, to make us forget the sacred worth of our lives and our communities. Yet even in these unsettled days, we know another truth: we are not helpless, and we are not alone.
Fall is also a season of anchoring. Of remembering what grounds us. For Unitarian Universalists, our anchors are found in love, in relationships, and in the communities we dare to build together. We are called to be bridges between grief and healing, between isolation and belonging, between the world as it is and the world as it might yet be.
And as hurricane season intensifies, we are reminded in visceral ways of how deeply we depend on one another. Disasters-whether storms, fires, or floods-underscore the need for solidarity and mutual aid. Our calling is not only to respond in times of crisis, but to nurture the kind of resilient communities where no one is left alone in the storm.
This month, Side With Love is offering resources to help you and your congregation live into that calling. From public witness to spiritual practices to collective action, we hope these offerings give you courage to keep rising in faith, in love, and in resilience.
May this season of turning remind us that change is not only loss, but possibility. Like the hymn calls us-“return again, return to who you are”-may we return to one another, to the wisdom of our ancestors, and to the work of repair that makes life whole. May we rise together, with fierce love and steady hope, to meet the world as it is and to remake it toward justice and joy.
With love and gratitude,
The Side With Love Team
The Gathering on Sept 8: featuring Deepa Iyer
Throughout history, people of faith and conscience have come together to resist injustice and build a better world. Now, it’s our time.
Join us at The Gathering on Monday, September 8th at 8pm ET/5pm PT/2pm HT! We kick off the church year with live music from Parker Woodland and a conversation about Solidarity with Side With Love’s Nicole Pressley and Deepa Iyer, author of this year’s UUA Common Read Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection.
The Gathering is Side With Love's monthly virtual event to equip UUs and justice-seekers with the spiritual grounding, political analysis, and collective action needed to rise to the challenges of this moment.
Come find inspiration, forge connections, and move together toward justice!
Access & Accessibility
Live Zoom event (no participant mics or breakout rooms)
CART captioning provided
Optional Zoom chat available
Recording (without chat), slides, and links shared afterward at sidewithlove.org/the-gathering
The Woodlands: a Monthly Trans/Nonbinary Pastoral Care Space
The Woodlands is a monthly online gathering designed for trans children, youth, and adults—as well as the parents and caregivers of trans people. Each session will begin with a shared message and grounding ritual, followed by breakout rooms tailored to different communities within our circle, and we come back together for a release. Sessions will be about an hour and a half.
Each breakout room—co-facilitated by two chaplains—will offer space for meaningful check-ins where we can honor our grief, celebrate our joy, and support one another. The spirit of each room will reflect the people within it.
For example:
The Sequoias Room: for parents and caregivers of trans people
The Saplings Room: for trans children and youth
The Sycamores Room: for trans adults
Our first gathering will be on Sunday, September 7, 2025, at 4pm ET / 1pm PT / 12pm AT / 10am HT
UUA Strategies to Advance Climate Justice
September 17 @ 7pm ET / 4pm PT / 1pm HT
President Sofía’s UU Climate Justice Working Group was established to identify where our faith calls us to lead, beyond narrowly defined “net zero” goals towards equitable decarbonization, community resilience, and a just transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy future.
On September 17th, join Mathew Jensen, UUA Senior Investment Officer, and Rachel Myslivy, UUA Climate Justice Strategist, to learn about the Working Group’s Draft Commitments for Culture and Resources. Come together for shared learning and mutual supports with other UUs transforming our congregations through climate justice.
Grounded, Resilient, Responsible: Risk Discernment for Repro Justice Action
Tuesday, September 30 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT / 1pm HT (note: registration closes 9/28)!
In a time when reproductive justice organizing carries both profound moral clarity and real political risk, how do we move forward with courage, care, and collective strength? This training is designed to help individuals and communities assess and navigate risk in today’s climate. Together, we’ll explore spiritual, embodied, and practical tools to support wise action; deepen our ability to discern what’s needed and what’s possible; and share resources for communicating clearly and showing up responsibly with others in shared struggle. Come ready to root in your values, reflect on your context, and rise in community.
Featuring Nicole Pressley, Director of Organizing Strategy, UUA Side With Love
Part of the Faithful Futures: Empowering Action for Reproductive Justice webinar series.
