Church as ‘a source of mutual aid and power’: Resources available for Labor Sunday

During the offertory time at a church in Austin, Texas, UCC Minister for Economic Justice Rev. Seth Wispelwey recalls an initiative where youth would push a grocery cart down the sanctuary’s long aisle and collect food items the church had invited people to donate, together with their financial contributions.

The practice visually affirmed that resource pooling and sharing was a sacred part of the church’s ministry. It’s one example of how churches are “already, whether they know it or not, mutual aid networks,” Wispelwey said.

As Labor Day approaches this year, he is encouraging congregations to live into this concept of mutual aid with ideas to engage with Labor Sunday. To do this, a new collection of Labor Sunday liturgy and resources is available that includes readings, newly commissioned hymns, and additional prompts. While Labor Sunday is designated on the UCC calendar as the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, congregations can select a date that works best for them.  

Labor in the pulpit

Several churches have practices of marking and engaging with Labor Sunday, Wispelwey noted, but he hopes that drawing renewed attention to it and offering resources from the National Setting can inspire more churches to get involved in ways big and small.

A key resource available for Labor Sunday is a partnership with the AFL-CIO Labor in the Pulpit, Wispelwey said. The program helps faith communities connect with union leaders as guest speakers to offer a short presentation in their services on or around Labor Day weekend.

Digging into economic justice

In a recorded webinar on Revitalizing Labor Day Sunday from Aug. 7, Wispelwey noted that there are many starting points for churches to engage more intentionally in the work of economic justice.

Those seeking to “wade into the water” of economic justice can start with deepening discipleship and understanding through this year’s All Church Read, Building Up a New World, which has accompanying curriculum and worship resources.  

Congregations ready to do a bit more “flowing down the stream” can begin considering their own economic justice practices. Wispelwey mentioned some starting questions like: Are we offering a living wage to those we employ? Do we use union-made goods? Is our produce under protections of the Immokalee Workers Fair Food Program?

And congregations ready for “white water actions” can begin seeking out connections and ways to support local labor movements in their communities.

“I’ve talked to pastors who have done this work, and their congregations have been so enlivened by it,” he said, describing a church in Chicago that delivered sandwiches to workers who were on the picket line and fighting for their protections in a tortilla factory.

‘What church can be’

Wispelwey offers a definition of mutual aid that he says can be a guiding aid for congregations to more intentionally link ways they already function together with economic justice values.

“Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meet common needs,” he said. “What I heard in that definition is ‘church,’ or what church can be and understand itself to be. We are organizing bodies … When we locate ourselves as a source of mutual aid and power, we can leverage so much more.”

Labor Sunday is an invitation to begin.

Find the Labor Sunday worship resources here. Watch the “Revitalizing Labor Sunday” webinar here. Visit the economic justice webpage here.

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