Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network (UU Mass Action)

Background

The Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network was established in 2006 as a statewide advocacy organization for Unitarian Universalist congregations in Massachusetts. It coordinates activities involving approximately 20,000 members across 142 congregations. The group operates through partnerships with external campaigns and coalitions, selecting issue priorities based on congregational involvement, coalition agendas, legislative opportunities, and populations it identifies as vulnerable. ²

Activism and Campaigns

The Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network has supported left-leaning legislative and ballot initiatives in Massachusetts. Notable efforts include backing the 2014 Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, the 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act that repealed certain mandatory minimum sentences, and a proposed 2018 ballot measure that would establish paid family and medical leave. The group helped pass the 2021 Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy and the 2022 Work and Family Mobility Act, which allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. It campaigned for the 2022 Fair Share Amendment raising taxes on high-income earners, and opposed an attempt to repeal the state’s provision of drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. ³

Other activities include the 2023 to 2024 No Cost Calls/Keeping Families Connected campaign to eliminate prison phone charges and support for a 2024 weather-dependent energy bill that expanded the definition of gas companies to include non-emitting sources and required pipeline retirement over replacement in some cases. The organization has also advocated for changing the Massachusetts state flag and seal, citing the current flag’s supposed racism. ³

Partners and Coalitions

The Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network maintains partnerships with over 70 Unitarian Universalist congregations across Massachusetts that have signed on as official partner congregations. These include the First Parish Church in Dorchester, First Parish in Brookline, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, First Parish in Concord, the Follen Community Church in Lexington, the First Church in Boston, the Unitarian Universalist Area Church at First Parish Sherborn, and congregations in Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Beverly, Cambridge, Cohasset, Framingham, Hingham, Lincoln, Melrose, Needham, Northampton, Plymouth, Rochester, Scituate, Taunton, Wayland, Winchester, and Worcester, among others. ⁴

The organization also lists coalition memberships with Raise Up Massachusetts, Homes for All Massachusetts, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, Mass Power Forward, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement, Keeping Families Connected/No Cost Calls Coalition, and the Dignity Not Deportations campaign. These coalitions focus on minimum wage increases, housing policy, labor union activism, environmentalist policy, homelessness prevention, prison reform, and immigrant rights. ⁴

Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network operates as the Massachusetts state advocacy network for Unitarian Universalist congregations, all of which are members of the national Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The group mobilizes the UUA’s approximately 20,000 Massachusetts members and 142 congregations on legislative issues. UU Mass Action adopted the UUA’s proposed Eighth Principle in 2010 and aligns its campaigns with national UUA “social justice” initiatives such as Love Resists, while remaining an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. ^{2  5}

Financials

In 2024, the Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network reported total revenues of $361,728, consisting entirely of contributions, with no revenues from program services, investments, or other sources. Expenses totaled $326,881, resulting in a net income of $34,847. Of total expenses, other salaries and wages accounted for $224,663, or 68.7 percent. Net assets stood at $186,948, with total assets of $202,328 and liabilities of $15,380. ⁶

In 2023, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture reported a $49,500 grant to the Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network to “support efforts to reform the use of solitary confinement in Massachusetts.” ⁷

In 2023, Community Action Works, a MASSPIRG-associated left-of-center environmental advocacy organization, reported a $15,000 grant to the Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network. ^{8  9}

People

As of November 2025, Johannah Murphy serves as the executive director of the Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network. She previously directed the Massachusetts chapter of Power Forward Communities (2019 to 2021), coordinating “environmental justice” campaigns for weather-dependent energy. From 2017 to 2019, she was the organizing director at Health Care for All, pushing “equity”-focused healthcare policies. Earlier positions include community organizer at Mass Senior Action (2015 to 2017) on senior economic issues and coordinator at the Boston Workers Alliance (2013 to 2015), supporting low-income worker rights. Her work has involved coalitions with left-leaning climate, labor, and health-care advocacy groups. ¹⁰