The United Covenant Union

12/30/2024

The United Covenant Union extends our deepest condolences to the Carter Family, as they mourn the loss of a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. In the same breath, we join the American people in grieving the loss of one of the finest statesman, peacemakers, and humanitarians our nation has ever known.

Throughout history, American politics has been defined by its meanness (see the tarring and feathering of the colonial era), its penchant for violence (see the many presidential assassinations), and it's stubborn refusal to look destiny in the eye (see the compromise of 1877).

Yet, in 1976, two hundred years after its founding, America elected a peanut farmer and Sunday school teacher to be it's 39th President. For one brief moment, we saw our kindness as our greatest strength.

Regardless of where you stand on politics, we can all agree that President Carter was a decent man, a humble agent for change, and committed to leaving the world more peaceful than he found it. His presidency is a testimony of what this country can be, if we choose to govern with a fidelity to kindness and s love of neighbor.

President Carter belongs to the ages, and is a citizen of the beloved community, which we are called to build "on earth, as in heaven."

His memory will be our blessing.

02/03/2023

On the second day of Black History Month, we celebrate the women of Holy Pickers Union Center , with the leadership of Rev. Emanuel Johnson, who are working to commemorate the 1938 Crab Pickers Strike.

02/02/2023

For Black History Month, The United Covenant Union will be celebrating the history of the historically black churches we work with to advance justice in our communities.

Bethel AME Church (Chestertown, MD) is pastored by Rev. Robert "Bobby" Brown, who was one of the founding members of the Delmarva Covenant Union

Under the leadership of Rev. Brown's grandfather, Bethel AME housed freedom riders who were coming through Chestertown.

Today, Bethel AME is home to Beloved Community Union Center , which is empowering the growing number of cash based workers in Kent County, MD!

06/19/2022

Today we celebrate Father's Day.

For too many people, this holiday represents an empty chair around the table. Someone who is in jail. Someone who died far too young because they didn't have access to healthcare. Someone who was injured on the job, and then developed a chronic addiction to mend the excruciating pain.

Holy One, Hear our Prayer.

But today also is an opportunity to honor the "father's" of this work, who often spent many nights away from their own families to organize communities to work for justice.

Holy One, Hear our Prayer.

06/19/2022

Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of the tragic assassination of the 9 members of Mother Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC.

Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Rev. Sharona Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Daniel Simmons
Ms. Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Ethel Lance
Susie Jackson
Depayne Middleton Doctor
Myra Thompson

Many of the clergy members of our union knew the clergy who were slain on this day. They were friends, not just colleagues.

What happened 7 years ago was a racist act of domestic terrorism, but it was also an assault on the nature of congregating, an assault on prayer itself, an injury to G-d's own heart.

The United Covenant Union is proud to have AME clergy as members, and AME churches as partners.

The AME Church has been an illuminating beacon in American history. Always on the side of the oppressed, gallantly working, organizing for a justice.

We celebrate the joyous and victorious lives of the departed, and we vow to carry on their legacy in our bones.

Amen.

05/16/2022

One of our chapters, Holy Pickers Union Center, was featured in the Baltimore Sun. They are launching a campaign to pressure the state to install a historic role marker!

For generations, the state’s famed seafood industry depended on Black women to pick blue crabs, but in the past few decades, many local pickers have left the industry for new jobs.

09/29/2020

Please consider supporting the important work of the United Covenant Union -- The UCU. The UCU is an interfaith union of community members working in Baltimore, Washington, DC, Wilmington, DE, and the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland. The chief organizer, Matthew Munk, was trained and is supervised by the same people who trained Barack Obama!
Members include: informal workers—i.e. housekeepers, child care providers, and many other low income earners; citizens returning from incarceration or medical treatment; retirees; and the homeless.
The UCU works to recognize, support and develop the strengths and abilities of community leaders who will shape the destiny of their communities. Members provide peer-run mutual aid, register and educate voters, advocate for fair employment and engage in public life.
Please leave a comment, or send a message, if you would like more information on what the UCU has already accomplished with very little money, and a tiny devoted staff. Please do consider donating -- No Amount Is Too Small!! -- to help the UCU continue to grow!

The United Covenant Union is a faith-based community union of clergy who assemble low wage earners, fixed… Matthew Munk needs your support for UCU Relief Fund

09/25/2020

The fact that the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor were held to be less accountable for her death then they were for the damage to the plaster in the neighboring apartment tells us all we need to know about the injustices in our criminal justice system and the way our society devalues women of color.

We are a faith based community union, whose membership happens to be made up of mostly women of color.

We will continue to develop leaders and build power to ensure that our government is held accountable to the communities who fund it.

05/23/2020

Our Congregational Units will not be meeting until there is a proven and available anti-viral therapy.

Your lives are what matter now. Period.

05/08/2020

After consulting with our union's General Council, our General Coordinator Matthew Munk has decided that no in-person meetings will take place until there is a proven and distributed anti-viral therapy.

To some, this may seem like an extreme overreaction.

The health and safety of our members is paramount. Since many of our members live in sub-standard housing or don't have adequate access to healthcare. we believe that our decision is the right one. There is no opportunity cost on our lives.

Things will get better. We WILL meet again!