From The Archives Archive
Church Groups Evolve Over Time
Our UUCCSM social church groups have come and gone over the years, respondingto changing times, agendas, and lifestyles. Today's groups include FUUsion (21-35-year-olds), TAG (the adventure group), Over-50, Poetry, Interweave (bisexual, lesbian,gay and transgendered), and Caregivers' Support Group.
Other groups, which were once active in days gone by, have dissolved:
Sewing Group met the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 10:30 a.m.to 3 p.m. Today, with fewer and fewer stay-at-home moms, the skill of domesticsewing has dwindled-also affordable, foreign- made clothing and other sewn productsare readily available.
Dessert Card Party was a subgroup of the Women's Alliance (the only Santa MonicaUnitarian social group organized even before the congregation). The group metonce a month, on the first Friday at 1 p.m., to play cards, raise money forthe church, and enjoy a homemade dessert. Today, for the most part, we enjoyfewer and fewer modest pleasures that cost little or no money.
Evening Alliance met the first Thursday of each month at 8 p.m. Establishedin 1955, it was "a group through which women may give service to the churchand find satisfaction in personal relationships with other women of similarUnitarian points of view. Meeting in the evening at the homes of members, theEvening Alliance is for those women who work during the day." This group dissolvedin the 1970s.
Laymen's League was reactivated the same year, 1955. This was the men's versionof the Women's Alliance. The group dissolved in the 1970s, a transitional decadefor many social groups. The Layman's League was like an internal Rotary Club,whereas the current Men's Group resembles a Covenant Group geared to sharingfeelings.
When weekends weren't so packed with chores and leisure opportunities, somechurch members found it enjoyable to meet regularly for the Sunday Evening DiscussionGroup to talk about UU topics and ideas. In some sense the Sunday Evening DiscussionGroup has evolved and expanded into today's Adult Religious Growth and Learningclasses.
Current Issues Group, which met the third Thursday of each month at 8 p.m.,was established in 1956. Long before the Internet and 24-hour cable TV news,it made sense to regularly get together at church to discuss topical issues.Today, few members would have the time to gather regularly, other than at Sundayservices.
Singletarians, established in the early 1960s after the dedication of ForbesHall, was another victim of changing times. Today there are more single peoplethan ever, but being single is no longer seen as a transitional period. Andthose who wish to date have found other ways to meet people.
Service Committee has evolved into today's Faith in Action Commission.
Social groups often dissolve when there's a leadership void, when no one volunteersany more to do the organizing. Individuals always make a difference. That neverchanges.
-Rob Briner, Historian/Archivist
Chair of the Pipes Lecture Series Passes from Goodman to Adler
Shortly after the Rev. Ernest D. Pipes Jr. retired in mid-1991, after 35 yearsof leading our church, Ray Goodman (president 1987-88) led an effort to permanentlycommemorate Ernie's tenure by endowing an annual public affairs lecture in Ernie'sname.
The inaugural lecture was held at the end of 1991 with a talk by the then-presidentof the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Rev, William Schulz. Since thattine, the second through the 13th lectures have been presented in the firsthalf of each year. After overseeing this project since its inception, Ray hasdecided to focus on other activities, and Leonard Adler (president 1989-91)has agreed to become the new chair. Under Len's leadership, we look forwardto future public affairs lectures this year and beyond.
Since 1991 UUCCSM has enjoyed a variety of speakers and topics:
"Religion in the 21st Century"
The Rev.William Schulz, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association
"Adolescent Violence and Its Impact on the Community"
Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D., expert on community violence
"Environment and the Church"
The Rev. Peter Kreitler, Episcopal minister, historian, and educator
"Equal Justice under the Law"
Ramona Ripston, executive director, ACLU Foundation of Southern California
"Bumper Sticker Politics and Hair Spray News"
Patt Morrison, LA Times and KCET journalist
"Politics: Past and Future Perspectives"
Anthony Beilinson, former member of Congress
"Why a Livable World Requires a Restructured and Empowered United Nations"
John B. Anderson, former member of Congress and 1980 Independent Candidate forUS President
"What I Learned about God from Buddhism"
Kennard Lipman, Ph.D, University of Judaism
"Sex, Politics, and Scheer in the 21st Century"
Robert Scheer, L.A. Times journalist
"Making Every Vote Count"
Margo Reeg, League of Women Voters of California
"Health Care Ethics"
Charles Haskell, M.D., Chief Ethics Officer,V.A.
"How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America"
Arianna Huffington, political columnist & author
"Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism"
Erwin Chemerinsky, USC School of Law
-Rob Briner, archivist/historian
Our Name Has Changed Several Times Over the Years
The original (1927) name of our congregation was All Souls Unitarian Churchof Santa Monica. In 1951 the name was officially changed to Unitarian CommunityChurch of Santa Monica.
In 1960 our congregation approved consolidation of the American Unitarian Associationand the Universalist Church of America, forming the Unitarian Universalist Association.In 1995, the name was officially changed to Unitarian Universalist CommunityChurch of Santa Monica.
-Rob Briner
Correction: The House Next Door Was Owned by Judge Taft's Grandson's Wife
At the end of March 2004 we purchased the property next door at 1248 18th Streetfrom the "Nadene Lynda Shutt Living Trust." The Shutt family had owned the propertysince the bungalow was built in 1914 by the family patriarch, Judge Fred Taft,a founding member of our congregation.
We were not sure of the family lineage, and mistakenly reported a few monthsago that the property was sold to us by Judge Taft's daughter. The real estateagent who brokered the sale told us that the woman who created the trust thatwas selling the property was an elderly woman living in a Santa Monica convalescenthome, and that, as trust administrator, she indicated her preference, or atleast signed off on selling 1248 18th Street to UUCCSM as a conciliatory gesture.This woman, Winnifred Shutt, passed away on July 20, 2004, at the age of 90(less than four months after the sale was completed). The published obituaryhas cleared up some questions, specifically that this elderly woman was NOTJudge Taft's daughter, Murial, but rather the wife of Judge Taft's grandson,Nado Shutt.
Nado, with whom Ernie Pipes periodically communicated when Nado was the ownerof record, died in 1990. The correct lineage is Judge Taft to Murial Shutt,daughter; to Nado Shutt, grandson; to Winnifred Shutt, Nado's wife; to NadeneShutt. (So Judge Taft was Nadene's great-grandfather).
Let the Full-Voic'd Organ Sound!
I can't remember how or when my love of the pipe organ began. Perhaps its genesiswas at church in Summit, when as a late teenager I began to question some ofthe Presbyterian theology and found the organ and choir as uplifting to my spiritas the sermons - or more so. It was nurtured during my time at the Universityof Michigan, where I sang in a chorus that performed some of the great choralworks, accompanied by a fine organ. Later, my friend John Cater gave me a greatrecording of the Poulenc Organ Concerto. In Utica I asked the organist at ourchurch, George Wald, to play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor after the serviceone day. He played it magnificently, and we became good friends. In Prague Iheard Bach's organ play just for me one day when I walked into the cathedralwhile the organist was practicing.
In my church in Santa Monica we had an electric organ of great complexity andflexibility built by two electronic geniuses. At that time the transistor hadnot been invented, so the organ was powered by electron tubes with thousandsof resistors, capacitors, relays, and connectors. However, it had one majorproblem: it was difficult to keep in tune, and soon our organist almost refusedto play it. We then acquired a small pipe organ, a gift from one of our members.It was awkwardly stacked away in a front corner of the sanctuary and did notcontribute to the aesthetics of the church.
I wanted a real organ, one with a sound I could feel in my bones, one thatwould lift my spirit. I became chairman of the Organ Committee; and thereinstarted a two-year campaign (1980-1981), to convince the congregation that they,too, wanted the finest instrument that we could fit into the building, and thatthey wanted to pay for it.
Our Organ Committee went all over the area listening to organs large and small.Gradually, we narrowed it down to just a few, and arranged for members of thecongregation to hear them. We had lecture-demonstrations at our church in whichwe would play records and tapes over our sound system and demonstrate the soundsby holding up real pipes and blowing into them. There were pipes as small asyour little finger and others over eight feet long that would make your stomachvibrate. The interest of the congregation gradually began to grow, and at theannual meeting on May 10, 1980, they voted to go ahead. The church would matchall gifts of church members from the interest earned on a recent bequest.
I began negotiating with Abbott and Seiker, a wellestablished firm in WestLos Angeles, and we agreed on a price of $34,600. The instrument would incorporatemany of the pipes from our existing small organ and also provide for more ranksto be added in the future.
A flyer and letters to the congregation solicited funds for the project. Wehad Sponsors at $1,000, Donors from $100-$999, and Contributors at $1-$99. Themoney arrived in time to pay for the organ. We have subsequently added severalmore ranks, bringing our investment to around $55,000.
For me the highlight was our organ dedication concert on September 26, 1981,featuring Tom Harmon, head of the UCLA organ department and internationallyknown organist.
I call it my organ, and no one ventures to dispute it, perhaps because theycan't be sure of my reference.
-Dean Voegtlen, from the archives
Then let the pealing organ blow
To the full voic'd quire below,
In service high and anthems clear...
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touch'd within us, and the heart replies.
-Milton
The 25th anniversary of the UUCCSM organ will be in September 2006.
One Sunday, I interviewed a married couple who live across the street fromour two 18th Street lots, 94-year-old Bob Sears and his wife, Barbara. Theypurchased and moved into their home at 1247 18th Street 63 years ago, in 1941,a year or two after they were married.
Although age has slowed them, Bob was for many years a Santa Monica beach lifeguard,and he regularly golfed until only a few years ago. Barbara continues to maintaintheir beautiful front and back gardens. Although their home appears to be newerthan those on either side of them - including the one currently posted for demolitionand construction of condos - Bob said all of the single family homes in theneighborhood were built at about the same time in the late 1920s and early 1930s,and they bought their home from the family next door who owned both lots atthe time. Bob and Barbara are United Methodists, and they raised two childrenwho are now retired themselves, their son in Nipomo (a rural area north of SantaBarbara) and their daughter in Studio City.
Not being associated with our church, they said they don't remember havingever met The Rev. Ernie Pipes or The Rev. Judith Meyer. For more than 50 yearsthey knew the family who owned the house next to them that's slated for development,and when it was sold several years ago by the surviving daughter, Bob wantedto buy it but never had a chance to bid. (A friend of his was interested inthe property at 1248 18th Street, but the Re/Max agent wouldn't accept any morebids after ours had been accepted. Bob's friend had the idea of clearing thelot and building as many as 20 condos there.)
When I asked Bob about the Shutt family, who owned 1248 18th Street for atleast 80 years (starting with Judge Fred Taft, a founding member of our congregation),he said he vaguely remembered having met Judge Taft and his nephew, ThurlowTaft (another founding member), but they were an insular family who didn't interactwith the neighbors and, in fact, rented out the bungalow for many, many yearsrather than live there themselves. They know a former tenant who lived at 1248for 25 years.
When I suggested that maybe the Shutt family regretted that their grandfather,Judge Taft, had sold 1260 18th Street to the congregation in 1929, Bob saidfairly emphatically that that wasn't the likely cause of any resentment becausethe family owned other property in Santa Monica. He said they were simply peoplewho thought of themselves as purchasers and owners of property, not sellers.In other words, they thought it was best to keep the land they had and if theycould, to buy more.
I gained an insight into this thinking when Bob pointed out that he would buythe property next door to him if it had not been sold. Unfortunately, if it'storn down and a two-story condo complex is built, Bob and Barbara will loseabout half of the sunlight that currently comes through their kitchen windowand falls on their lovingly-tended garden, including a rare mature tree grownfrom a cutting Bob brought back from Hawaii. When I told Bob that UUCCSM mightsell the 17th Street lot, he said he hopes that he or someone he knows can bidon it.
- Rob Briner, historian/archivist
Learn About Our Neighbor Churches
Many of you know that our sanctuary was built in 1930 (its 75th birthday willbe next year). Where does that date fall in the context of church building inSanta Monica? It was UUCCSM that started much of the church building in thisneighborhood.
On the same block as UUCCSM, at 18th Street and Wilshire Blvd., is PilgrimLutheran Church, built in 1952, replacing a predecessor church at 14th and ArizonaAve.
Two blocks away, at 20th and Arizona Ave., is the Little Chapel of the Dawn,built in 1933 as a nondenominational chapel by Gates, Kingsley & Gates, funeraldirectors. This building came to recent national prominence as the place thebody of Ronald Reagan was taken after his death.
Three blocks to the north is SantaMonica First Church of the Nazarene; the sanctuary was finished in 1927,an educational wing added in 1947, and the interior remodeled in 1952.
At 19th and Arizona, one block away, our neighbor one block to the east isthe Seventh Day Adventist Church, built in 1939, with an administrative annexcompleted in 1996. We have rented space from this congregation for this schoolyear because our religious education classes have outgrown our capacity.
When our church was founded as All Souls Unitarian in 1927, it joined a numberof churches already active in our city. The FirstUnited Methodist Church is the oldest church in Santa Monica. Originallyestablished at 5th and Arizona in 1876, then at 4th and Arizona in 1896, thepresent sanctuary, at 11th and Washington Ave., was built in 1952.
St.Augustine-by-the-SeaEpiscopal Church, on 4th, a half-block south of Wilshire, was built in 1969,succeeding the original church built in 1888. It is the oldest church in SantaMonica at the same location. The First Church of Christ, Scientist is the second-oldestchurch at the same city site. At 5th and Arizona, across from the main postoffice, it was built in 1963, succeeding the original sanctuary built in 1900.
Phillips Chapel, Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church at 4th and BaySt., may be the oldest continuously occupied public building in the city. Itwas originally built in either 1890 or 1895 as a school at 4th and Ashland Ave.,and was later moved to its present site and dedicated in 1908.
Santa Monica is home to dozens of churches representing most religions youcan think of and a few you may not know (for example, SokaGakkai International, at 6th and Santa Monica Blvd.).
The Church in Ocean Park, at 2nd and Hill St., was built in 1923. Also in OceanPark, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, at 2nd and Strand, wasbuilt in 1922. The Mount Olive Lutheran Church, in Sunset Park at 14th and OceanPark Blvd., was built in 1961, succeeding a previous sanctuary built in 1949.St. Paul's Lutheran Church,at Lincoln Blvd. and Washington, was built in 1926.
St.Monica's Church,at 7th and California, was built in 1925, followed by the rectory in the samecity block in 1926, the elementary school in 1930 and the high school in 1948(with the most recent addition to the high school completed in 1994). St. Monica'soriginal location was at 3rd and Santa Monica Blvd. (now on the Promenade) in1884.
The Calvary Baptist Church, at 20th and Broadway, was built in 1947. The congregationwas organized in 1920 and its first sanctuary was a few blocks south of itspresent location. The TrinityBaptist Church, at 10th and California, was built in 1950, replacing a previousstructure completed in 1926.
How many other Santa Monica churches have you visited or noticed? Clearly,Santa Monica is a city rich in ecclesiastical architecture.
(Primary source: Looking At Santa Monica by James W. Lunsford, 1983, self-published.)
- Rob Briner, historian/archivist
It Took Several Tries to Find at Last the Right Piano for Our Sanctuary
In the spring of 1991 a rebuilt Steinway grand piano was delivered tothe UUCCSM sanctuary.We don't know anything about its original owner or itsroute to being restored, but Steinway has built the highest quality pianosfor over 150 years (since 1853) and we shouldn't take for granted the beautifulinstrument that graces our services every Sunday.
"George, we've got to send that piano back," I reluctantly announced It's abeautiful instrument, there's no question; but it's too large for our sanctuary.It's difficult to move and Rosalyn says she cannot play it softly enough sothat it doesn't dominate the choir."
"Who's she to judge that piano!" George retorted angrily. "She's no pianist!Let her learn to play it properly!"
"Look, George," I pleaded, "The Music Committee voted unanimously last eveningto return it. I'm sorry you weren't there to hear the discussion."
"What do they know about pianos? There's not one real musician on the committee!"George continued, his anger unabated. "It's obvious I'm in the wrong place aroundhere. I am seriously considering resigning from the church."
"George!" I pleaded again, "You are deeply appreciated. Your keen musical sense,the invaluable contribution you've made in bringing us the Mostly Mozart concerts,are recognized by everyone. This is not a vote against you personally. I knowwe can find the right piano."
When Myra Bauer, a loyal choir member for many years, died rather suddenly,her trust account provided a generous gift to the church. The Music Committeerecommended that we acquire a really fine piano in her memory, knowing she wouldhave thought this most appropriate. The Board approved and the Music Committeewas charged with the job of finding the instrument.
I was chair of the Search Committee, but George Bell was a very active andaggressive member. He knew best where to look and how to bargain for the lowestprice. For several months we visited piano shops, warehouses, private homes- anywhere we thought there was a likely candidate. Our accompanist, RosalynKalmar, tried them, and we occasionally enlisted the services of Tim Ehlens,a well-known pianist in the area, to help us evaluate the instruments. Finally,we found a Steinway concert grand that we liked, but stipulated that we hadto hear it in the church sanctuary before we would purchase it. We agreed topay the round-trip expense for moving if we decided against it.
When we got it placed properly in the sanctuary, and rounded up a few membersto listen to Tim play it, we were not really happy with it. The tone seemeddead and Tim had trouble with the action during some rapidly articulated passages.Of course, the piano shop told us they would fix it. But they had just tunedit. We voted to return the piano.
A little later George Bell announced that he had found the piano - absolutelythe best instrument in the LA. area. He was sure that everyone, even Roz Kalmar,would love it. He was so positive that he agreed to pay the shipping costs bothways if necessary, but he was convinced it would be a one-way trip. Indeed itwas a fine piano, a nine-foot Steinway grand of 1940s vintage. But, as you nowknow, we found it too brilliant, too overpowering, for our sanctuary. It belongedin a large concert hall, and I hope it eventually found a good home.
In a mood of mild desperation, I called Dee Stevens, who had been our musicdirector in the 1960s. Delores Stevens is now an internationally known concertpianist, both as a soloist and as a member of a chamber group. Surely she couldgive me a suggestion after all our missteps. "It's strange you called, Dean,"she said. "My piano technician has just completed restoration of a seven footparlor grand Steinway in his shop. Why don't you go over and see it."
The shop contained four or five pianos in various stages of disrepair, coveredwith dust. But at one end was this high gloss black piano with its lid up, revealinga newly refinished gold harp, shiny new strings and brand new action. I satdown and played a Chopin prelude. Now I'm not much of a pianist, but I do knowa fine piano when I see one. This one was unbelievable. The action was absolutelyeven, the response delicate and true, and the tone rich, full, mellow, withovertones creating a complex sound - magnificent to my ears. I couldn't waitto have Roz play it. She was equally enthusiastic. We persuaded Dee Stevensto play it for members of the Music Committee. The vote was unanimous. The pianomade a one-way trip to our sanctuary, where it has been featured in many concertsand musical events, and has greatly enriched the musical and aesthetic spiritof the church.
- Dean Voegtlen
JoyceHolmen's interview of Greg Poirier, following his presentation at GA, is currentlyon the UUA website at http://www.uua.org/ga/ga04/5021.html.Do read it. His presentation of the movie "Rosewood" was one of the high pointsof GA, attracting a large crowd and including many members of our church.
An interesting observation in the interview: Greg and Jana Poirier attend churchwith his mother (Gloria Keeling) and grandmother (Olive Karony) in additionto their children (William, 7, and Joseph, 4). That makes them the only four-generationfamily in the congregation.
- Rob Briner
Reagan's Body Rested Nearby Before Its Journey to DC
It was hard to miss on Saturday, June 5, through Monday, June 7, that the bodyof former president Ronald Reagan was transferred on the day of his death onJune 5, to the Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy Funeral Home at 20th andArizona - two blocks from UUCCSM.
For a day and half, 20th Street was closed from Santa Monica to Wilshire, andArizona was closed from 19th to 20th. Local and national news media set up shopand satellite equipment beamed live coverage around the world, including anoutdoor news conference at noon on Sunday, June 6. Beginning at dawn on Monday,June 7, a significant Santa Monica Police presence joined the US Secret Service,LAPD, and dozens of California Highway Patrol escort motorcycles, and at 9:45a.m. the Reagan family appeared publicly to accompany the casket for reposein Simi Valley, a state funeral in Washington, DC, and interment at Simi Valley.
The lovely chapel at Gates, Kingsley & Gates, the Little Chapel of the Dawn,was built in 1933. (Our sanctuary was completed three years earlier, in 1930.)It is a nondenominational chapel that has hosted hundreds of weddings, as wellas funerals, in the past 70 years.
Gates, Kingsley & Gates is the last such facility/business in Santa Monica.In the 1940s there were seven local mortuaries, before the consolidation trendthat has affected many industries, including gas stations, banks, and grocerystores. Today, the former family business of Gates, Kingsley & Gates MoellerMurphy (which was already the combination of two separate family businesses)is owned by a multi-national corporation, Service Corp. International (SCI),which has consolidated most of the mortuary-funeral industry nationwide.
Reagan's brief stay at Gates, Kingsley & Gates and the Little Chapel of theDawn was prearranged by the Reagans going back decades, for a reason or reasonsthat are not publicly known. (Reagan and Nancy were not married in Santa Monica,but rather at a small neighborhood chapel in Studio City on March 5, 1952.)However, during Reagan's early years in the film industry he lived at many addressesfrom Culver City to Malibu to Westwood to Hollywood, so it's likely he alsospent time and attended many functions in Santa Monica. Following these historicevents, the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission will be considering officiallydesignating the Little Chapel of the Dawn a local historic landmark.
-Rob Briner
The Man Who Started It All:
Judge Taft Sold Us the Corner Lot; His Daughter Sold the Adjacent One
The following obituary, reprinted in its entirety, was published in theSanta Monica Evening Outlook on June 9, 1942. The subject was a significantperson in our congregation's history for several reasons:
All Souls Unitarian Church of Santa Monica was organized in April 1927 at ameeting in the home of Judge Fred H. Taft - located at 1004 Lincoln Boulevard.No longer standing, the Taft home was near the corner of Washington Avenue,in the block now entirely occupied by St. Monica's Catholic Church, high school,elementary school, rectory, and convent. One of the St. Monica's high schoolbuildings completed in only the past couple of years prominently bears the address1004. St. Monica's Church was built in 1925, only five years before our sanctuaryin 1930 - in an era when there were wide expanses of vacant lots in Santa Monica.
Judge Taft had sold 1260 18th St. to the Unitarian church for $6,000 in 1928.
- Rob Briner
Historical Tidbit from Our Archivist, Rob Briner
Our church’s board of directors in 1967-68 — 36 years ago —included three people who are still active members of our congregation: MiltHolmen, Stu Moore and Dean Voegtlen(as well as Mrs. Lloyd Drum).