Socially Responsible Investing

Philosophy

We believe that “We are called to collaborate with God in continuing the task of creation, to exercise stewardship of our own lives and the unfinished world. We are God’s guests, invited to make the most of divine hospitality and to mediate it to one another and to the rest of creation.” (Guests of God by Monika K. Hellwig)

With this in mind we have developed the following socially responsible guidelines to assist our money managers in their work on our behalf.

Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines

We recognize that inequity, injustice, war and violence in our world are not in accordance with our commitment to liberation as reflected in Scripture and our Constitutions. We realize that injustice, war, and exploitation of the earth exists on the structural level and are bound up in the very fiber of our institutions. Therefore, as a Congregation, we must respond on the structural level. Our corporate investments, while earning a fair return, must reflect our commitment to socially responsible investing. In order:

• to affirm our respect for human rights and the dignity of human life;


• to affirm our commitment to use resources for the common good of the whole earth; and


• to promote justice, equity and peace.
  
  We prefer to use our investments, both corporate and alternative, to encourage:

• the conversion from militarism to peacetime operations;


• fair employment practices in both domestic and multi-national corporations;


• types of Boards of Directors which provide a voice to women, minority groups, and consumers;


• the elimination of exploitative practices especially in economically poor countries;


• the improvement in the quality of life in such areas as health, housing, food, education, utilities, leisure, transportation and advertising;


• responsible action concerning agriculture and the environment;


• a more equitable distribution of material resources and income;


• investment in and support of minority-owned and women-owned economic enterprises
;

• decision making that empowers those living in poverty;


• worker participation in decision making and ownership.

In addition to promoting the principles named above, the Congregation desires to defer from investments which derive sales and/or profits (more than 5%) from the sale or promotion of tobacco, alcohol, weapons or gambling.

It is our intent to use our ownership:

• to let corporations know of our concern for social responsibility;


• to vote our shares and invest our funds in accordance with the above guidelines;


• to cooperate with other stockholders who have similar concerns.