Would your church be interested in having an area labor leader for a 5-minute ‘minute for mission’ as part of the AFL-CIO’s ‘Labor in the Pulpit’ program?

There are openings in the Phoenix area during Labor Day weekend (or the weekends before and after). Please reach out to UCC Minister for Economic Justice Rev. Seth Wispelwey at wispelweys@ucc.org to schedule the visit.

Not in the Phoenix area but want to pursue this for next year? Reach out to Seth about 2025!

(If your congregation wants more than five minutes, Seth can also arrange a longer message.)

The Labor Day holiday is not just a time to celebrate working people and their contributions to our society; it is also a time to remember the struggle working people endured to achieve the many benefits we now enjoy—such as the eight-hour day, overtime pay, pensions, social security, restrictions on child labor, unemployment compensation and the right to organize unions. Over the years, the faith community has joined with labor in support of these advances.
Labor Day provides a unique opportunity for the faith community and organized labor to rediscover their common bonds: social justice, democracy, equality, the dignity of all people, economic and racial justice, fair treatment in the workplace and the right to form unions. It is also a time to reflect on the current condition of working people and reaffirm the commitment of the faith community to worker justice at a very challenging time.
Labor in the Pulpit is a program of the AFL-CIO federated bodies: state federations, central labor councils and area labor federations. The program places union leaders as guest speakers in Christian faith congregations so that they can talk about the common bond that labor shares with the faith community in short five minute presentations during the Labor Day weekend August 30 to September 2, 2024.
The Labor in the Pulpit program provides congregants with a deeper understanding of the relationship between their faith and work.