RE News Archive
From our DRE
It’s that time of year again — the Lifespan RE Committee and I are recruiting volunteers for the summer and 2014-15 RE program year, and I invite YOU to consider teaching this year! You may have questions about volunteering; potential volunteers often raise similar concerns, so here are answers to some of the most common questions that come our way about teaching RE.
Q: Why do teachers volunteer their time?
The best way to get an answer to that is to ask one of our teachers! Sharing the excitement of learning and exploring new ideas with children can be a very special experience. We learn as much, or more, from them as they do from us, and their fresh outlook helps us to keep our youthful perspective. The curriculum materials we provide allow you the opportunity to explore and clarify your own religious ideas and delve into the varied religious heritages that have influenced Unitarian Universalism.
Q: I’m still forming my own beliefs. How can I teach religion to children?
As UU’s, most of us spend our entire lives formulating our religious beliefs. It’s a part of what we’re all about! Since we have no creed, we don’t try to “teach” our children religion. Instead, we help them to question, to wonder, to grow their own spirituality. We teach them how to think about religion, not what to think about it. Our teachers don’t need theological certainty, just open minds and open hearts.
Q: But I don’t know how to teach!
That’s okay — we’ll help you! We’ll have a training workshop on a Saturday in September before classes begin so you’ll feel right at home with our RE program. The Lifespan RE Committee and I will provide support, both practical and emotional, at any time.
Q: But I can’t do it alone!
Of course you can’t, and we don’t expect you to. You’ll be a part of a teaching team of three or four teachers per class. When it’s your turn to teach, another member of your team or a class parent will be there to assist. The DRE and the Lifespan Religious Exploration (LRE) Committee will check in with you, offer suggestions when asked, and help provide the supplies and resources you need.
Q: But I’m not good at arts and crafts (music, drama or whatever).
You don’t have to be! Our curricula are designed to be easy to use and are so complete that all you need to do is follow the directions. Just add love and stir! Remember, the members of your teaching team will have complementary strengths. Our congregation is a wealth of talent, and we will help you find that guitarist-dancer-scientist who can add the touch of expertise you want.
Q: I don’t have kids (or my kids are grown up). Why should I get involved in RE?
Social responsibility begins at home, within our own church family. What better way to assure our future, as well as that of our denomination, than to work with children and youth, who are its heartbeat? It is very rewarding to share the joy of celebration and discovery. The children will benefit from your viewpoint - differing perspectives are invaluable to their growth.
Q: I enjoy the sermons too much to miss them.
Good News! We have two services each Sunday, at 9 and 11 a.m., so you may still participate in worship on weeks when you’re teaching. Many of our teachers, particularly those who don’t have young children currently in RE, volunteer at one service and attend worship at the other each week. Your commitment as a teacher is two Sundays per month (once as lead teacher and once as assistant), so you’ll also have two or three Sundays every month without classroom responsibilities when you can attend the service of your choosing.
Q: I have a crazy schedule, so I can’t teach. Is there another way I can help?
Yes! Our LRE program can use volunteers in countless ways. We need nursery and classroom helpers, teacher substitutes, snack providers and more. We need resource people in many fields. A “guest appearance” adds a dimension to a young person’s religious education. Perhaps you have a professional expertise that could be utilized to support our teaching staff. We also have plenty of opportunities for those who would like to plan or supervise parties or activities, intergenerational events or service projects, or help organize the RE library and supply closets. Choose what interests you!
To learn more about volunteer opportunities or to sign up, visit the LRE table during coffee hour, or contact me at Catherine@uusm.org or 310-829-5436 x105.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Date Night Event a Success for YRUU
On Saturday evening, May 3, YRUU and the LRE Youth Subcommittee hosted “Date Night,” an evening when children could be dropped off at church so that parents could enjoy a little “me” time. The event was a success, with a few UU Santa Monica families taking part. The evening included a pasta dinner, movies, games, crafts, and snacks for the kids. YRUU youth supervised the children and interacted with them by playing board games, leading craft projects, and screening family movies in Forbes Hall. Members of the LRE Youth Subcommittee as well as YRUU parents were also on hand to lend support and adult supervision of the entire event.
Monies raised that evening, which totaled $146, will be split between two funds: one for YRUU’s upcoming trip to Mexico to build homes for the needy through Esperanza International, and the other a scholarship fund for youth interested in attending camp at Camp de Benneville Pines.
In all, seven children attended the event, and parents were pleased to have this option available to them. I think this is the start of a great new fund-raiser. We had such a good, positive response from this event that we’re thinking of offering it a couple of times a year for a longer period of time. We’re also thinking of hosting a parents’ event at the same time, either on campus or at a nearby restaurant. At the prices we offered, it’s a really great deal for the parents, their kids get to interact with YRUU youth and to think of church as a fun place, and we get to raise much needed funds for our youth to put their UU values in action. It’s a win win all the way!
— Liza Cranis
LRE Children’s Subcommittee
Summer’s on the horizon, believe it or not, and we’re looking forward to launching our summer RE programs on June 15. This year kids in elementary and middle school will take part in a program called “Principles for UU & Me,” exploring our seven UU Principles through tactile, hands-on projects that will engage young people of all ages who come to our summer sessions. In the preschool class, we’ll be reprising a favorite summer program last offered in 2012: Summer of Seuss! Each week we’ll read a different Dr. Seuss story together, and then will have special crafts and activities to help our younglings explore the themes of the stories. Members of the congregation are invited to sign up for one Sunday, to lead or to assist in either program, elementary/middle or preschool.
Please consider spending a morning with our kids! To volunteer, please visit the LRE table during coffee hour on Sundays this month, or contact Catherine Farmer Loya or a member of the LRE Committee. Hurry — summer is approaching fast!
Adult RE
Wednesday Night Writers:
A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Join us June 11 and June 25 (second and fourth Wednesdays), 7:00 p.m., Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required – just show up!
Long, Strange Trip: A UU History:
We continue our six-part video and discussion series about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism.
Join us June 18 (third Wednesdays), 7:00 p.m., Forbes Hall for “Part IV: Universalism.” Learn about the development of Universalism from 1600 to1860 through the early German and English pietists such as Jakob Böhme and Jane Leade, and 18th century English ministers such as George Whitfield, James Relly, Georges de Benneville, and John Murray. Highlights of the hour-long video include:
• The emigration of George de Benneville and Murray to America and their roles in the formation of an organized Universalist religion;
• The story of the Thomas Potter incident and the role Judith Sargent Murray played in the movement;
• The theological development of Universalist movement through Murray, Elhanan Winchester, and Hosea Ballou;
• The unprecedented explosion of Universalist churches across America during the first half of the 19th century;
• Why the Universalist movement began its precipitous decline after the death of Hosea Ballou.
• The screening will be followed by guided discussion.
You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for pre-workshop socializing at 6:00 p.m. before we get started. Childcare is available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.
— Karen Hsu Patterson
Justice
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for June. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Week 2. At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle
Week 3. Until Justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. Lyndon B. Johnson
Week 4. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice. Desmond Tutu
Week 5. At a time when efforts are being made to eradicate discrimination between the sexes in search for social equality and justice, the differences between the sexes are being rediscovered. Carol Gilligan
From Our DRE
This month’s ministry theme of AUTHORITY takes us right to the heart of our Unitarian Universalist tradition. Early Unitarians often came to their antitrinitarian views because in their own readings of scripture they couldn’t find mention of or support for the doctrine of the Trinity. They held the firm conviction that each person has the right and responsibility to use their own power of reason to determine what was true (which leads directly to our fourth UU Principle — the free and responsible search for truth). And on the other side of our UU family, the
Universalists chose to believe that a truly loving God would see to it that in the end all people would be saved, taking a stand for universal salvation in opposition to the popular Calvinist theology of their time. While our UU theology these days differs quite a bit from the beliefs of our spiritual ancestors, what is as true now as it was then is the way we answer this question — by whose authority are matters of faith and belief determined? Why, by our own, of course.
When our 2014-15 RE program launches in September, our 3rd to 5th graders will take part in the return of the science-focused UUniverse Story curriculum developed right here at UUCCSM by Ian Dodd and Margot Page. When we offered this program for the first time several years ago, one of the young people asked a very good question — why do we do science at church? Part of why we “do science” is to engage children’s sense of mystery and wonder by learning about the natural world around us, and help them recognize the interconnectedness of all that exists (our seventh UU Principle — the interconnected web of all existence of which we are a part). But another reason why we feel so passionate about this program is because of the central question that provides the foundation of the whole curriculum: How do we know what we know? The answer that we are our own highest religious authority is a central one for Unitarian Universalists, but it is also incomplete if left there; we not only need to be free to make our own choices about what is true and right, but also need to know not only that we should choose, but also how to base our choices on critical thinking and reason. Because if we don’t know “how we know what we know,” we also won’t know how to separate good science from bad science…or meaningful ethics/religion/values from superficial, and so forth.
UU religious educator Katie Covey has developed a “UU Equation” that suggests that by teaching our seven UU Principles and seven UU Sources (the usual six as well as her own addition of our UU heritage), by way of the four themes of world religions, our Jewish and Christian heritage, Unitarian Universalism, and OWL, we transmit four essentially UU beliefs. The four beliefs she posits are:
- We believe that by being together in community we learn best and love best.
- We believe that there is potential for good in each person.
- We believe that we can trust the inner voice of our hearts and use reason and compassion to make decisions.
- We believe that choosing is the essential religious act.
I invite you to join me this month in celebrating the sources of authority we hold sacred — the inner voice of reason and compassion in each of our hearts as well as the deep wisdom to be found outside of ourselves, in the teachings of science, the rich heritage of our UU tradition, the prophetic voices of people throughout human history and in our own time, and the practice of faith of religious traditions all over the world.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Ministry Theme for May: Authority
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for May. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. The ultimate authority must alwaysrest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis. — Dalai Lama
Week 2. I do not believe in immortality of theindividual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it. — Albert Einstein
Week 3. There is no necessity to separate themonarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad. — Oscar Wilde
Week 4. No Man has any natural authority over his fellow men. — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Week 5. The ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment…not authority. — Thomas Huxley
Children's RE
This month we’ll be wrapping up our 2013-14 RE program year in all of our classes, and preparing for a fabulous Lifespan RE Sunday on June 1.
The K through 1st grade Our Whole Lives class will wrap up mid-month, and on May 18 we’ll gather as a full congregation at 9 a.m. for a worship service led by this year’s UUCCSM 8th graders as we celebrate their Coming of Age.
We are also getting ready for our summer RE programs and are excited to announce what we’ll be offering this year. The preschool class will be reprising the very popular Summer of Seuss program last offered in 2012. And for elementary and up, we’re crafting our very own summer-long, hands-on exploration of our seven UU Principles. For both programs we will be recruiting church members to sign up to lead or assist for one Sunday
during the summer, so start thinking about your schedule now!
— Liza Cranis
Youth
On March 30, fourteen youth from YRUU, the high school group, took over the pulpit to talk about “Unitarian Universalism in the Public View.” They scoured social media to find out what people are saying about UUs. They went down to the Third Street Promenade to ask people on the street their impressions of UU. And they shared their own impressions about what Unitarian Universalism means to them. One of the highlights of the day was an original poem by Jacob Weiner (see below).
— Dan Patterson
ORIGINAL POEM READ AT THE YRUU SERVICE ON MARCH 30 BY JACOB WEINER
Why are you you?
What makes you,
You?
What makes you,
You?
Is it how you answer the BIG questions?
Or how you question the bold answers?
Can you be molded by these questions?
Or how you question the bold answers?
Can you be molded by these questions?
Or must you mold yourself through your questioning?
They ask:
What god do you believe in?
We ask:
Do you believe in the worth
and dignity of every person?
and dignity of every person?
So what defines you?
The answers,
The questions,
The questions,
Or h w you question the
answers given.
Why are we us?
What made us UU?
Were we dragged here as a child.
Guided by a friend.
Forced to make a religious
compromise.
compromise.
Drawn in by the community.
Or just Tempted by snacks.
Or just Tempted by snacks.
Even if all of the above apply,
Why did we stay?
Why did we stay?
We
The Young Religious Unitarian
Universalists,
Universalists,
Y R U U
Stand in front of you today.
Not as Zombies,
But as young adults,
But as young adults,
Trying to show you what the
public thinks we are.
public thinks we are.
And through extensive research
we have concluded.
we have concluded.
We are really great.
But no one knows who we are.
Does it matter?
In fact the public not knowing
who we are only makes us
more special.
who we are only makes us
more special.
Our small quirky community
of loving individuals.
of loving individuals.
Every shape.
Every size.
Every age.
Every color.
Every size.
Every age.
Every color.
EVERYONE is welcome here.
Our uniqueness is our beauty.
No matter how you got here,
No matter how you got here,
No matter why you
stayed here.
stayed here.
YRUU is more than a group
It’s a life changing experience,
It’s a second family,
It’s a life changing experience,
It’s a second family,
It’s a new perspective,
It’s a place to explore the world,
It’s a place to explore the world,
And it’s a place to explore
your self.
Audlt RE
Wednesday Night Writers: A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Please join us May 14 and May 28 (second and fourth Wednesdays), 7 p.m., Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required — just show up!
Lifespan Religious Education in May
Long, Strange Trip: A UU History: We continue our six-part video and discussion series about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism.
“Part III: American Unitarianism.” Join us May 21 (third Wednesday of May), 7 p.m., in Forbes Hall, to learn about the development of Unitarianism in America from 1620 through the death of Theodore Parker in 1860. Highlights of the hour-long video include:
- The early fractures between religious liberals and Congregationalists in Colonial America;
- The effect of Joseph Priestley’s immigration and William Ellery Channing’s role in the formation of the American Unitarian movement;
- The final split between the Unitarians and the Trinitarian Congregationalists in the 1820s from both a theological and a legal perspective;
- The Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Theodore Parker;
- The key role Fuller played in moving Transcendentalism out from a niche movement in Concord to the driving force behind Unitarianism;
- The role Theodore Parker played in advancing Unitarianism beyond its traditional Bible-centered roots and his role in some of the great social justice issues of the day, especially the abolition of slavery.
The screening will be followed by guided discussion. You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for
pre-workshop socializing at 6 p.m. Childcare is available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.
Patio Chat
Join us for our monthly UUCCSM Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan. Sunday, May 25, 10:10 a.m. on the Patio. The topic will be Justice.
From our DRE:
This month we grapple with the theme of SALVATION. While you may not hear this term used much in our faith community these days, it is a very deep part of our heritage. It’s so central to Universalism, in fact, that it’s an unspoken part of our name - a silent word lurking at the end a bit like the “n” that stubbornly hangs on to the tail end of the word “hymn.” Our Universalist ancestors were so-called because they believed in Universal Salvation; their most central belief was in a god who loved all people so universally that all would be saved, no matter what. Today as Unitarian Universalists we have many different ideas about what — if anything — happens to us after this life, and typically we don’t think it much matters anyway. What we’re most concerned with is this life, right now. Perhaps the historic Universalist message that “all are saved” translates into our conviction today that there is hope for all of us, that it is possible to make this world better for everyone, and that we’re all in it together.
The root of the word “salvation” is the Latin word salvus, which means whole, safe, healthy, and uninjured. Salvation in this sense is not something that happens once and for all in order to ensure that we’ll end up somewhere nice after our lives are over, but something we experience over and over again as we discover new ways of living more fully and authentically. This month, I invite you to spend some time in reflection about salvation of this sort — what is it that helps you bring wholeness and vitality to your spiritual life? How are you in need of healing, and what resources can you draw upon to bring meaning to your life even in times of brokenness? May our UUSM community be a place where we each find safety and refuge when we are in need, and where we find inspiration to “walk together” — borrowing language from the Unitarian side of our heritage this time — to bring salvation in the form of unity and health to our hurting world.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Children
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers will continue “Celebrating Me and My World” with a special spring focus on light, sand and soil, trees and flowers.
Kindergarten to 2nd graders in the new “Love Surrounds Us” class will celebrate the fifth UU principle as well as the history of our flaming chalice symbol this month, while 3rd to 5th graders will experience and explore ways they can use their power as agents for positive change in the world in the “Sing to the Power” program, with a lesson exploring “fire power” strategies against bullying by learning how two boys took action against bullying in their school, and a special Earth Day lesson in which participants will explore alternate energy sources by making a solar-powered oven and identifying ways they can take action to combat climate change.
Youth
Middle school youth in 6th to 7th grades will continue to explore spirituality through the arts and creativity with
tactile lessons about moving sculptures and engineering. This month in Coming of Age, youth will be hard at work crafting their credo statements and the Coming of Age service in May.
And our high school YRUU youth are busy preparing and raising funds for their home-building service trip to Mexico in June with Esperanza International.
Adults
Wednesday Night Writers:
A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Please join us April 9, April 23 (second and fourth Wednesdays), 7 p.m., Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required — just show up!
Long, Strange Trip: A UU History:
We continue our six-part video and discussion series about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism. Join us April 16 (third Wednesdays), 7:00 p.m., Forbes Hall for “Part II: The Birth of Unitarianism.” Learn about the formation of the first coherent Unitarian theology in Transylvania, and track that theology as it spreads to Poland and then westward across Europe, finally forming an organized English Unitarianism. Featuring discussion of the work of David Ferene, Theophilus Lindsey, and Joseph Priestly. You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for pre-workshop socializing at 6 p.m. before we get started. Childcare available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.
BYOT Ethics, Part II:
Again led by Leon Henderson-MacLennan, the second half of the Building Your Own Theology (BYOT) Ethics series of workshops continues on Thursday evenings April 3 and April 10, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the Cottage. Topics to be reviewed include: intention, relationships, values, and character. Join us for lively, thought-provoking discussion. Don’t worry if you missed BYOT Part I – you’ll catch up quickly!
Patio Chat:
Monthly UU Santa Monica Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan. Sunday, April 27, 10:10 a.m. on the Patio. April’s topic is Salvation.
YRUU Holds Successful Lunch Sale
How does a brown bag lunch bring a whole church together? Well, you first start off with a worthy cause: sending our YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists) group to Mexico to help build housing for families in need. The youth will volunteer with Esperanza International. Their vision is “to cultivate global citizenship through international service experiences in working toward a better world.”
But how to raise the funds for such an endeavor? As luck would have it, YRUU was presented with an opportunity to sell lunches at the upcoming Town Hall Meeting. Just at this time, the Lifespan Religious Exploration committee was trying to think of a worthwhile and fun social justice project for the RE Classes
grades one through six. Then genius struck: Why not have the younger kids make the sandwiches and have the YRUU sell them? Lunch materials were donated (thanks, parents!), sandwiches were made (over a hundred, the kids had that much fun making them!) and lunches were sold to the tune of a little over $400! Leftover lunches were bagged and brought to the homeless at nearby Reed Park (courtesy of Jake Brunell, Max DeVita, and Liza Cranis). Not a bad start to the huge undertaking of financing this wonderful opportunity for our youth to help others.
Our next fundraiser is pretty exciting and one we hope many of our UU Santa Monica families will take full advantage of: DATE NIGHT AT UU Santa Monica. For a reasonable fee, parents may drop off their kids for an evening of movies, games and snacks while they enjoy a date night. Watch the Sunday Service bulletin for the announcement of the date and time of this fantastic fundraising event. Proceeds will go towards the YRUU Travel Fund as well as the UU Santa Monica Camp Scholarship Fund.
— Liza Cranis
Salvation
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for April. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses. Dag Hammarskjold
Week 2. The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility. Vaclav Havel
Week 3. Every Now is the day of salvation. We are saved when we escape from our selfishness into love, from our worldliness into purity, from our false lives into true ones. James Freeman Clarke, UU minister 1866
Week 4. We affirm that every one of us is held in Creationís hand—a part of the interdependent cosmic web—and hence all strangers need not be enemies; that no one is saved until we are all saved where All means the whole of Creation. William F. Schulz, UU Service Committee president and CEO, former Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, former president of the UUA
Week 5. For us Unitarian Universalists, salvation is not about how or if weíre ìgoing to heaven,î if heaven is seen as something apart from this world and this life. Itís about how, through it all, we grow into the folks we most want to be the folks our life-saving faith claims that we can be! Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones
From Our DRE:
This month’s ministry theme is SACRIFICE, perhaps the most challenging yet in our rotation. We religious liberals don’t tend to be much for martyrdom…these days, anyway. If you look into our history, you’ll find quite a few people who were so deeply committed to their Unitarian and Universalist beliefs that they risked — and sometimes lost — their lives. Michael Servetus and Francis David in the sixteenth century, Norbert Capek during World War II, Viola Liuzzo and Rev. James Reeb in 1965. They certainly made sacrifices for their faith.
But what of the rest of us, going about our daily lives? Perhaps we can find value in the concept of sacrifice if we pull back some and consider it not only in extreme acts of selflessness but in smaller ways, too. How might we do things differently if we each spent time this month thinking about the ways in which we are willing to give up some of our comfort or convenience or excess in order to take a stand for our most deeply held values, or to give aid and comfort to someone else who is in need of our help? Could this milder kind of “sacrifice” be understood as a UU spiritual discipline?
I don’t think this is a new concept, though I haven’t thought to frame it in quite this way before. Maybe you’ve been asked to consider giving up one dinner out a month in order to contribute to a campaign that provides food for people who are hungry. Maybe you’ve decided to take the extra time and effort to walk or bike as much as you can, rather than driving a car, to reduce your carbon footprint. Or perhaps you’ve become a caregiver for an elderly parent or a new child, giving up much of your time or sleep or income to meet that person’s needs rather than your own. Whether sacrifice is the term we’d ordinarily use to describe it, I’m willing to bet that each of us can think of a time in our lives when we have chosen to set our own best interest aside for a while, in service of other people or causes we hold dear.
Maybe you’ve heard the old joke about the UU who dies and on the way to the afterlife finds himself at a fork in the road with signs pointing in two directions. The sign to the left says, “This way to Heaven,” and the sign to the right says, “This way to a discussion of Heaven.” And without pausing, the UU turns and walks down the path to the right.
This is really the heart of it for me: how do I walk my talk? Or am I like the UU in the joke, who’d rather just stick with the discussion? Do I give only what is easy for me to give, or am I generous even when it means I will have to give up something that I’ll really miss? This month, I invite you to join me in reflection about how the choices you make every day about your time and resources align with your most deeply held convictions.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Children:
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers will continue “Celebrating Me and My World” by learning about fish and birds, and then will move into celebrating the elements with lessons about water and air. Kindergarten to 2nd graders in the new “Love Surrounds Us” class will explore the second and third UU principles this month, while 3rd to 5th graders will experience and explore ways they can use their power as agents for positive change in the world in the “Sing to the Power” program, with lessons on the “earth power” of Growth, and the “air powers” of Stillness and Presence. The 5th-to-6th grade Our Whole Lives human sexuality class will conclude at the end of the month, and the K-to-1st grade class will begin with the parent/child orientation to be held on March 9, and the class launching on March 16.
Youth:
Middle school youth in 6th to 7th grades will continue to explore spirituality through the arts and creativity, this month with lessons considering religion as one’s own spiritual approach to life, the spirituality of music, and the purposes and value of church community. This month in Coming of Age, youth will wrap up their exploration of some of the “big questions” of faith, and will move into crafting their credo statements and the Coming of Age service coming up in May. Our YRUU youth will be planning this Youth Sunday service, which they will present to the congregation at both services on Sunday, March 30. Don’t miss it! Be on the lookout, too, for lots of information coming this month about the YRUU house-building service trip with Esperanza International in Mexico this June!
— Liza Cranis
Adult RE:
Wednesday Night Writers: A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Come and join us March 12, March 26 (second and fourth Wednesdays) at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required — just show up!
Long, Strange Trip: A UU History: We continue our six-part video and discussion series about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism.
Join us March 19 (third Wednesday), at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall for “Part II: The Birth of Unitarianism.” Learn about the formation of the first coherent Unitarian theology in Transylvania, and track that theology as it spreads to Poland and then westward across Europe, finally forming an organized English Unitarianism. Featuring discussion of the work of David Ferene, Theophilus Lindsey, and Joseph Priestley.
You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for pre-workshop socializing at 6 p.m. before we get started. Childcare available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.
BYOT Ethics, Part II: Again led by Leon Henderson-MacLennan, the second half of the Building Your Own Theology (BYOT) Ethics series of workshops kicks off on Thursday, March 20, at 7 to 9 p.m. in the Cottage, and runs for four consecutive Thursday evenings, including March 27, April 3, and April 10. Topics to be reviewed include: intention, relationships, values, and character. Join us for lively, thought-provoking discussion. Don’t worry if you missed BYOT Part I — you’ll catch up quickly!
Positive Parenting Continues: Kerry Thorne’s popular workshop continues every Sunday through March 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. upstairs in Forbes 2. Childcare is available upon request. Sign up at the Lifespan Table in Forbes Hall.
The Power of Myth: Join Natalie Kahn for the final session of Joseph Campbell’s series on Sunday, March 2, at 1 p.m., in the Cottage. We’ll screen an episode of the series, followed by discussion afterward.
Patio Chat: Monthly UUCCSM Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan. Sunday, March 23, at 10:10 a.m. on the Patio. March’s topic is Salvation.
Thank God for Evolution
Michael Dowd, author of “Thank God for Evolution,” returns to the UUCCSM Sanctuary on Monday, March 10, 7 to 9 p.m., with his latest talk, “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness.” Here’s how Michael describes it: “Science and religion are not enemies; indeed, they must work together if humanity is to survive the 21st century. Given our impact on Earth’s climate, the seas, and other species, humanity is about to experience what could be called 'The Great Reckoning.' The good news is that this may also come to be known as 'The Great Homecoming.' A worldwide movement has been emerging for decades, largely unnoticed, at the nexus of science, inspiration, and sustainability. Beliefs are secondary. What unites us are a pool of common values, priorities, and commitments regarding the importance of living in right relationship to reality and working together in service of a just and thriving future for humanity and the larger body of life.”
The Adult RE Committee and AAHS: Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists & Secularists, along with our partners at Sunday Assembly-Los Angeles, are pleased to invite you to what will be an impassioned, enthusiastic and inspiring presentation about transforming humanity's relationship to reality. For more information about Michael, go to his website at http://michaeldowd.org. Donations will be encouraged and parking at the 16th and Arizona structure will be available.
Ministry Theme for March – Sacrifice
Bettye Barclay has provided us this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for March. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Week 2. The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Week 3. Parenting is not for sissies. You have to sacrifice and grow up. - Julian Michaels
Week 4. The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Commerce without morality; Science without humanity; Worship without sacrifice; Politics without principles. - Mahatma Gandhi
Week 5. How much easier is self-sacrifice than selfrealization! - Eric Hoffer
From Our DRE:
Prayer isn’t a word we hear with regularity in UU communities, so it may seem strange at first that we’ve chosen it as our ministry theme for February.
We’re more likely to talk about meditation, or even simply “a time of silence.” Prayer is one of those religious vocabulary words that many of us have trouble with, perhaps feeling that it’s too linked to a particular kind of theism that is not claimed by many Unitarian Universalists. So we tend to eschew it entirely from our community’s lexicon. I think that we do this to our own detriment, though, and that there is value to be found in defining religious words from our own liberal perspective rather than allowing them to be defined so narrowly by others that we have to abandon them altogether. I confess that I am sometimes envious of people whose religious communities have a strong tradition of contemplative practice; it’s something that can bring great depth to religious life, and something that I wish I didn’t have to cobble together more or less on my own.
So here’s what I think about UU prayer: it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s addressed to anything outside yourself. What matters is a calling within your own heart to two things that can help you lead a more authentic and meaningful life — attention and intention. How might our actions throughout the day be different if each of us took five minutes first thing in the morning, and five more right before going to sleep at night, to do T-H-I-S:
Reflect on one thing we are Thankful for, one thing we Hope for, one thing we resolve to Improve, and one person in need to Send loving thoughts toward?
My husband and I have been thinking lately about the kinds of rituals and traditions we want to be part of our son’s life as he grows up. He’s just a tiny little guy, but even now we can begin to establish patterns that will be part of the fabric of our lives together as a family. We are an interfaith family, UU and Episcopalian, so we’ve been having some very rich conversations about our “family faith” and how to create practices that honor and give voice to both of our traditions.
Every family is interfaith, in a sense, though, because the kinds of things that resonate deeply with one person may have little meaning to another even if their religious affiliation is the same. This month, I encourage you to join us in practicing attention and intention: what contemplative practices — individual or within your family — would help you align your everyday actions with your own most deeply held values? Let us join together in prayer.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Children's RE
TThis month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers will celebrate Valentine’s Day, as well as explore dance and movement and then begin the second half of the “Celebrating Me and My World” curriculum with an encounter with the many wonderful animals in our world. We are very excited to launch two new elementary programs. “Love Surrounds Us,” for K-2nd graders, explores the seven UU principles in the context of Beloved Community of family/home, school, church, and neighborhood.
Our 3rd-5th graders will experience and explore ways they can use their power as agents for positive change in the world in the new “Sing to the Power” program.
Middle schoolers in 6th-7th grades will continue to explore spirituality through the arts and creativity, this month by considering what forces create and shape the self, as well as exploring spirituality and building their own confidence in producing good and creative ideas.
And our 8th grade Coming of Age youth will spend February wrapping up the Big Questions portion of their program with sessions that explore the concept of ultimate worth and their own truest selves, both individually and in relationship with others in their lives.
The 5th-6th grade Our Whole Lives human sexuality class (OWL) is in full swing, and the K-1st grade class will begin in March, with the first parent orientation to be held on Sunday, February 9.
Youth RE
Jake Brunell Brings the Voice of the Youth to LRE Committee
The LRE Youth Subcommittee is happy to announce that Jake Brunell, a member of our YRUU group, has stepped forward to join the LRE Committee. As a regular participant at Camp de Benneville Pines for over 10 years, Jake, also a long-time Boy Scout, is interested in promoting attendance at youth and family camps. “I would like to bring more fellow youth to camp and overall be a voice for the youth of our church.” He is a 10th grader, the younger son of Alan and Amy Brunell, and has attended our church since he was 9 years old.
Jake was inspired recently to join the committee and to become generally more involved in church. “I was at de Benneville for Youth Winter Camp and they had a worship training. I found out that other churches had members of their YRUU involved in their RE programs, and I wanted to become more involved at our church.” So he spoke to Catherine Farmer Loya about it, and she was delighted. Liza Cranis, a member of the LRE Youth Subcommittee also responded favorably. “We’re really excited to have Jake on our team and look forward to working with him on youth issues and programs.”
Adult RE
What do YOU do on Wednesday evenings? Check out what’s happening in February. Starting on February 19 (3rd Wednesday) we will begin a six-part video and discussion series titled “Long Strange Trip,” a program by Ron Cordes, a UU from Bedford, MA. Cordes has always been interested in history and videography. Still, after a long career as an electrical engineer and software developer, he never expected to be the author of what is becoming probably the most important video resource for teaching, and learning about UU history in our congregations.
The series starts with the beginning of Christianity and carries through to current times. Discussions will take
place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month through July 2014 beginning at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall. Feel free to
come early with your brown bag dinner for some preworkshop socializing. Childcare will be provided on
request; sign up in Forbes Hall at the Lifespan Table.
A week earlier, starting on February 12 (2nd Wednesday) the Wednesday Night Writers gather in Forbes at 7 p.m. to spend a couple of hours doing freeform writing on prompts provided by group members and sharing the results. All are welcome, whatever your level of writing expertise, for an evening that is predictably unpredictable. Sometimes deeply moving, sometimes silly, always educational, this 2nd Wednesday tradition is something to look forward to. No need to sign up — just show up.
On February 26 (4th Wednesday), the writers convene again at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall, bringing with them pieces they are working on at home. Group members offer critiques, helpful hints, and lots of moral support. Don’t know what to do on a Wednesday evening? Think church.
BYOT Ethics, Part II
Again led by Leon Henderson MacLennan, the second half of the Ethics series of workshops kicks off on Thursday, March 20 and runs for four consecutive Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in the Cottage. The first half of the series was thought-provoking and powerful. Part II promises more of the same.
Positive Parenting Continues
Kerry Thorne’s popular workshop continues every Sunday through March 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. upstairs in Forbes 2. Childcare is available upon request. Sign up at the Lifespan Table in Forbes Hall.
The Power of Myth
Two more sessions of Joseph Campbell’s series remain to be shown and discussed. Plan to take part on Sunday, February 2, and Sunday, March 2, at 1 p.m. in the Cottage.
Patio Chat
Monthly UUCCSM Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan @ 10:10 a.m. on the Patio
Sunday, February 23 — Sacrifice
Ministry Theme for February: PRAYER
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for February. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
To be present is to be prayerful. — Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh [1st, 2nd principles]
Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense. — Robert Frost [1st, 3rd, 5th ]
Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so. — Margot Benary-Isbert [3rd]
If the only prayer you said was thank you that would be enough. — Meister Eckhart [4th]
For the children around the world without a home, say a prayer tonight. — Third Day [6th]
Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn’t burn up any fossil fuel, doesn’t pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance. — Margaret Mead [7th]
You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer. — Thich Nhat Hanh [7th]
From Our DRE:
Evan Patrick Loya is introduced to the congregation by parents Catherine Farmer Loya and Eric Loya. Photo by Charles Haskell.
A new year is arriving, and with it comes a new
month’s ministry theme — Simplicity. This theme resonates with me as I turn toward 2014 and think about my intentions for the year ahead. I don’t want to make a long list of things to do for my New Year’s Resolutions. No, my aspiration this year is, as articulated by author and artist Sue Bender, “…to simplify and then go deeper, making a commitment to what remains. That’s what I’ve been after. To care for and polish what remains till it glows and comes alive from loving care.”
My son has given me many lessons in simplifying this year. I’m not sure it’s possible to be more narrowly focused than my husband and I were on our child in the first few weeks of his life. Everything that was not Evan fell away; the whole universe was a tiny open mouth, a cry, the feel of his body curled against mine. But slowly, the world has come creeping back into focus, with all its noise and bustle and busy-ness. I’m glad to have it back, but at the same time I miss the clarity of purpose of those early days with him. And so as we move into January and embrace this month’s theme, I find myself looking for ways to focus myself a little bit more, to make sure that the rare open spaces in my day — those moments when Evan is sleeping and I’m not working — are not frittered away with games on the phone and idle internet surfing but are reserved for things that nourish my spirit.
Evan’s still just a tiny little guy, but I think too about the pervasive keep-busy culture that families are faced with these days. I want him to grow up in a home that feels peaceful, not harried. But he’ll learn from us only what he sees us doing, and right now I certainly find myself rush-rush-rushing around, feeling so very busy and so behind on all of the things I mean to do, all of the time. So it’s time for me to simplify. Partly that means letting go of feeling like I ought to be able to get as much accomplished in a day as I did prekid. And partly it means making sure I’m using my time efficiently and choosing to spend it on the things that matter most to me.
I don’t know yet how it’s all going to work out, but today my to-do list is five pages long. Here’s my promise to myself for this month: I’ll whittle it down and maintain it at a single page of things that really deserve my attention, and that page will include self-care as well as working and parenting. And now it’s your turn — what will you do this month to find your own center of calm and clarity of purpose? I invite you to join me this month in the spiritual practice of simplifying.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Ministry Theme for January: Simplicity
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for January. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius —and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. E. F. Schumacher
Week 2. Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials. Lin Yutang
Week 3. Some of the greatest poetry is revealing to the reader the beauty in something that was so simple you had taken it for granted. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Week 4. Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion. The Talmud Week 5. A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life. Winston Churchill
Children’s RE
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers will “celebrate me and my world” by exploring ways of being in community with others through asking, listening, helping, waiting, and remembering. We are pleased with our 1st to 5th grade “children’s chapel” experiment for the fall, but are planning a return to our separate 1st and 2nd and 3rd to 5th grade classes this month. The younger elementary-schoolers in 1st and 2nd grades will explore the UU principles in the context of Beloved Community with a brand new UUA curriculum called “Love Surrounds Us,” while 3rd to 5th graders will take part in the “Sing to the Power” curriculum, which affirms our UU heritage of “confronting powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love.” Middle-schoolers in the “You the Creator” class will explore music and the role of meaning in nonverbal art, will consider sense and nonsense in relation to spiritual matters, and will share ideas about building friendships and friendly communities.
Adult Programs Subcommittee
The Adult Programs Subcommittee is excited about new ground that it plans to break, offering Wednesdays as a “destination day” for an increasing proportion of its offerings. Stay tuned for more information as ideas and actions crystallize between the months of February and April 2014! The Subcommittee is no less excited about offerings that will continue to thrive on other days of the week as well, of course.
This past month has seen Natalie Kahn’s wellreceived Joseph Campbell “The Power of Myth” series evolve, and it will continue to thrive on first Sunday afternoons 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the Cottage. Recently concluded was Leon Henderson-MacLennan’s Building Your Own Theology (BYOT) — Ethics series, and the group will re-convene this spring and hopes to welcome additional participants.
We’re looking forward to Kerry Thorne’s Parenting workshop: “Positive Parenting Education of Children” to be held for 10 consecutive Sundays, January 26 to March 30, 1 to 3 p.m., in Forbes Room 2. Other future offerings will include, amongst many other topics, discussions of religious humanism, becoming a welcoming and supportive community for people dealing with mental illness, screened documentaries, and the monthly themes in the Patio Chats format each fourth Sunday.
— Liza Cranis
Spiritual Growth and Small Group Ministry
I’ve been thinking about the word “spiritual.” I turned to my go-to source, Google, and did a “spiritual” search. It showed 80,700,000 results. The top search, Wikipedia, says that “the term spirituality lacks a definitive definition.” I had to laugh. I’d have to figure it out for myself — and isn’t that what being a UU is about anyway?
Spirituality for me is connection. Connection with the “what is” that feels bigger than me. The “what is” is often the beauty I experience in nature — on a hike or on my snowboard. It’s me and the mountain and the elements. It’s awesome, breathtaking, and humbling. It’s what I experience with music, all kinds — from hypnotic progressive house music to sacred a cappella — I’m transported to another place outside of myself. It’s amazing human creations — the art we create to communicate what words too often can’t. And for me, the “what is” is also humans themselves.
One of the things touted in Small Group Ministry is “Spiritual Growth.” Sitting still and giving 100% of myself to listening to another person share their voice has been a powerful experience for me. The connection I have felt with that person, holding the space for them as they share their thoughts on our monthly topic — euphoric or heartbreaking — has become a sacred time for me. It has allowed me to develop new ways of reflecting. And likewise, being held by others when I speak my thoughts, to know everyone is giving me that time — their time — it’s an amazing thing. I leave the time spent with the group feeling humbled and empowered — and a better human. That kind of connection is, for me, spiritual growth.
President Obama, in his eulogy for Nelson Mandela, had this to say: “We are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye. There’s a oneness to humanity. We achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us.” This is exactly what Small Group Ministry is all about.
— Rhonda Peacock
What Is Small Group Ministry?
Small group ministry offers an opportunity to connect with others in the church who wish to explore their values and their ideas of spirituality in an intimate setting and who wish to make a difference through service to the church and to the larger community. Small group ministry programs are thriving all across the country in UU churches. They have been very successful in creating a true sense of community in UU churches, especially ones whose congregation has grown to the point where it is difficult to know everyone by Sunday morning attendance alone. Each group:
• Meets monthly
• Has 8 to 10 members with a facilitator
• Follows a specific meeting structure
• Is bound by a covenant of interaction to which each member agrees
• Encourages listening as well as sharing on the part of each participant
The goal is to connect in a meaningful way with other members and friends of our church community. The spiritual and social connection, by which we measure our sense of belonging, isthe purpose of the SGM program. Often people seek a church community in order to find deeper meaning in their lives and to find relationships with others who share their values. For people new to the church community, the groups offer an opportunity to form friendships with others and to more easily become involved with the church.
Small Group Ministry — New Sessions begin February 2014
Registration for 2014 Small Group Ministry will take place the first 3 weeks in January. Registration will conclude Sunday, January 19. Groups are formed based on the availability of the participant; we have groups meeting at morning, afternoon, and evening times throughout the month. The participant’s commitment will be one 2-hour meeting each month, plus time for the group’s community service project and church service project.
Participants in the 2013 groups who would like to continue in the program must re-register for the 2014 session. Registration is easy! Scan the QR code below and you will be taken directly to an electronic registration form. Or you can sign up via paper form — the paper forms will be at the Lifespan Education table and in the church foyer. You can also sign up electronically with this link: http://tinyurl.com/sgm2014 Questions? Contact sgm@uusm.org or Reverend Rebecca via the church office.
Mini-Sessions: “Test-driving” Small Group Ministry
On January 19 “mini-sessions” will take place after the second service. Participants will get a feel for what happens in a Small Group Ministry session in a condensed time frame; sessions will last about an hour. Curious if SGM is a good fit for you? Come and check it out! You can sign up to participate in a “mini-session” at the Lifespan RE table through January 19.
What participants are saying about their experience in Small Group Ministry:
I realize I have something to contribute.
Small Groups has widened my ability to listen with respect to people very different than myself, without trying to change anybody. Just listen and see how another feels without trying to fix things. This is challenging to me, but I’m learning.
There are a few people in the group who have revealed their innate kindness in reaching out to me… I was put in touch with how special they are.
Small Group Ministry is an opportunity to speak my truths and hear other truths — it is unique from other platforms in our church.
This is a good way for people to know each other better.
At first I didn’t think I would get that much out of it, now I know I will benefit every time.
I’m deepening my ability to be human and to allow others to be human, with all our flaws, and loving unconditionally no matter where a person is on their journey.
The group bonded more when we were sharing more personal and emotional things.
It’s a great part of church.
20 years of Friendly Beasts
Group photograph of the assembled Friendly Beasts, including alumni, taken on Sunday, December 22. Photo by Charles Haskell.
From Our DRE:
As December arrives, we move into a holiday season punctuated by great contrasts: the days are getting shorter and colder, but we draw warmth from the community we build together with our families, our friends, and in our congregation. Sometimes it seems like the overarching theme of the holiday season is excess — overfull bellies, overspending, overindulgence of many varieties. But there is also great need in these times. I think of those who are struggling to get by: those in need of love, those in need of shelter, and those in need of hope that things will get better.
Our Winter Holiday Pageant on Sunday, December 22 is patterned on the Las Posadas tradition that has been celebrated in Mexico for over 400 years. It follows the journey of Mary and Joseph, joined by additional pilgrims also seeking shelter, and represents not only the Christian story of Jesus’ birth but also those in our own time who come to us in need of help and hope.
Christmas is only one of the many winter holidays that carry messages of hope at this time of year. Yule, Hanukkah, Divali, Kwanzaa — all celebrate, in their own ways, the return of light in the dead of winter, and all are times when families come together to remember and celebrate the things that are truly important.
Our congregational ministry theme for this month is Joy. In the hardest moments in your own life, what has helped you to see that better times are still possible? What has brought you a bright moment of joy on the darkest of your days?
I’d like to invite each of us at UUCCSM to think this month not only of our hopes for ourselves and for our families, but what we can do to bring hope and joy into the lives of those who are greatly in need. May we all, as we make our way through December, be mindful of the true spirit of the season: celebrating life and living, light and laughter, as one family of all people. Joy to the world.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Children's RE
his month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers and kindergarteners will “celebrate me and my world” by exploring ways of being in community with others through asking questions, practicing being a giving person, and celebrating the winter holidays. 1st to 5th graders will engage this month’s theme of JOY by exploring winter holidays from many religious traditions.
Middle-schoolers in the You the Creator class will celebrate themselves as creators, will consider whether the diverse ways that people approach the creation of gods and goddesses help us understand the diversity within Unitarian Universalism, and will explore music and the role of meaning in nonverbal art.
And on December 22 members of our preschool and elementary RE classes will once again take the stage during our Las Posadas Winter Holiday Pageant for the twentieth anniversary of our beloved Friendly Beasts.
Adult RE
In the Bookstore
Check out the book tables after each service on December 8 and 15. The church has been gifted with a sizeable collection of high-end cookbooks which will be on sale, for these two Sundays only, at true bargain prices. Give them as gifts or expand your own culinary library. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity.
And speaking of books . . .
UUCCSM Reads, a Fiction Reading Group, will meet Monday, December 16, at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall to discuss “The Highest Tide” by Jim Lynch, the 2008 selection of the Santa Monica Library “Reads” program. All are welcome. There should be plenty of copies available at library branches. The book jacket describes the book as follows: “One moonlit night, 13-year-old Miles O’Malley sneaks out of his house and goes exploring on the tidal flats of Puget Sound. When he discovers a rare giant squid, he instantly becomes a local phenomenon shadowed by people curious as to whether this speed-reading, Rachel Carson-obsessed teenager is just an observant boy or an unlikely prophet.” All are welcome. Please read the book before the meeting. For more information contact Melinda Ewen.
UUCCSM Reads, a Fiction Reading Group, will meet Monday, December 16, at 7 p.m. in Forbes Hall to discuss “The Highest Tide” by Jim Lynch, the 2008 selection of the Santa Monica Library “Reads” program. All are welcome. There should be plenty of copies available at library branches. The book jacket describes the book as follows: “One moonlit night, 13-year-old Miles O’Malley sneaks out of his house and goes exploring on the tidal flats of Puget Sound. When he discovers a rare giant squid, he instantly becomes a local phenomenon shadowed by people curious as to whether this speed-reading, Rachel Carson-obsessed teenager is just an observant boy or an unlikely prophet.” All are welcome. Please read the book before the meeting. For more information contact Melinda Ewen.
Joseph Campbell Returns
Come share the 25th Anniversary Edition of the PBS series entitled “The Power of Myth” on the first Sunday of each month in the Cottage at 1 p.m. Scholar and teacher Joseph Campbell talks with journalist Bill Moyers at George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch about myths as metaphors in our everyday life.
After viewing each episode, we will explore the myths and themes as compasses that shape and form our lives as individuals and as UUs on a spiritual path through life. Come “follow your bliss,” as Campbell puts it, as we explore the center of our unconsciousness, the part of the self that harbors repressed ideas, desires, and
potentials that society doesn’t always allow us to express. Discover the mystery of the dragon, the snake, and other mythical creatures that pop up in various religions and myths, representing both good and evil. It all depends.
Campbell offers no shortcut or ultimate “truth” in finding our way through the meaning of life, but plenty of material to discuss and interpret on our own journeys. Bettye Barclay, who lent us the DVDs, and Natalie Kahn, who leads the discussions, will be ready to greet you on these special Sunday afternoons. Please reserve a couple of hours of your time on the first Sunday afternoon of the month for these stimulating and meaningful
gatherings.
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
Adult Programs Subcommittee members are always ready to hear your ideas for upcoming offerings at UCCSM. Please stop by the Lifespan Table in Forbes Hall to let us know what YOU want to know, what knowledge you’re willing to share with others in the congregation, what we’re doing right, and what we’re doing wrong. Or feel free to contact any of our members directly: Emmy Cresciman, James Witker, Karen Hsu Patterson, Leon Henderson-MacLennan, and Natalie Kahn.
— Emmy Cresciman
OWL
Grades 5/6 O.W.L. begins this month. The mandatory Parent Orientations for O.W.L. — Grades 5 and 6 will be held on Sunday, December 15 and Sunday, January 12 at 1 p.m. We look forward to meeting parents of children in 5th and 6th grades to begin this journey of development and connection that continues for Our Whole Lives. Please contact Beth Rendeiro, O.W.L. Coordinator, with questions or concerns.
Celebrating 20 Years of the Friendly Beasts!
Don’t miss our preschoolers through 5th-graders singing the Friendly Beasts song for the 20th year at our December 22 Holiday Pageant (both services). Beasts’ parents please note: A dress rehearsal for the Beasts will occur Saturday, December 21, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., in the sanctuary. Arrival time for Beasts on December 22, Pageant Day, is 8:15 a.m.
Special Guests this year: All former Friendly Beasts are invited to join our current Beasts to sing the last verse!
Receptions will follow each service.
It’s not too late to add your Friendly Beasts photos to our “20 Years of the Friendly Beasts” display on the bulletin board in the Forbes Hall alcove, north wall.
See “The Friendly Beasts – The Movie” in Forbes Hall December 22 during the receptions.
Cash donations are welcome to help for the cleaning of the Beasts’ costumes and food for the receptions.
If you can bring kid-friendly finger food or help set up or clean up on December 22, please contact Kris Langabeer.
— Kris Langabeer
Small Group Ministry
January will mark the end of the first year of UUCCSM’s Small Group Ministry program. There are 8 groups
meeting once a month on different days and evenings. The groups have bonded in various ways — by listening and sharing at the monthly group meetings and by doing service projects together at the church and in the community.
Service to the church has included helping at the Interweave Picnic and hosting second Sunday Suppers (several different groups in various months). Community service projects included produce sorting at Westside Food Bank, Lunches for Bunches, harvesting fruit with Food Forward, and helping at Step Up on Second.
Various participants from different groups provided feedback saying they feel closer to their fellow group
members, they value the time for reflection and sharing on the many different topics this past year, and they like
the focus on listening and being listened to that has been part of the groups. Many said they believe they are better listeners as a result of being in the groups. Some said they feel more at home and more connected to people in the church.
New groups will start in February 2014, with registration beginning on January 5. Mini-sessions will take place on January 19 for people wanting to experience a sample of what to expect in the Small Groups.
— Bettye Barclay
Ministry Theme for December: Joy
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for December. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. — Mark Twain
Week 2. Joy and sorrow are inseparable… together they come and when one sits alone with you … remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. — Kahlil Gibran
Week 3. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. She gives most who gives with joy. — Mother Teresa
Week 4. There are souls in this world who have the gift of finding joy everywhere, and leaving it behind them when they go. — Frederick William Faber
Week 5. I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. — Rabindranath Tagore
This month, with the holiday season speeding toward us, I find a new kind of poignancy in
the celebration of Thanksgiving. Our ministry theme for November is GRACE , a word that
one may encounter more often in many more conservative religious communities than in our liberal faith. I think this is a shame; surely there is value for Unitarian Universalists in reflecting on the concept of gifts that come into our lives which we did not earn. This Thanksgiving, the first since my son’s arrival, the unearned gift of life itself — his as well
as my own — will be chief among the things I find myself giving thanks for. Life includes such sweetness as well as sorrow; it is inexplicable as well as ordinary. Perhaps if I think of my life as a gift of grace, I will be more mindful of my intention to use it well, to do my best to deserve the world that has been entrusted to my care through no particular merit of my own. Perhaps I’ll be able to hold onto gratitude even through the pain and loss that are an inevitable part of living in the world, and perhaps being grateful for my own unearned gifts will help me practice compassion for those whose lives intersect with my own.
As our 1st to 5th graders explore our theme this month in the Children’s Chapel RE program, they’ll encounter a Sufi story about a holy man and his student who avoided being run over by a speeding carriage by throwing themselves into a ditch at the side of the road. The student responded with anger, but the holy man ran after the carriage, shouting “May all your deepest wishes come true!” The student asked why the holy man wished for something good to happen to people who had shown so little care for his safety, and he replied, “Do you really
think that if their deepest desires were satisfied they would show such thoughtlessness and cruelty to others?”
As UU musician Peter Mayer writes, “Nobody asks to be born. They just show up one day at life’s door… and no one’s assured of a grade on the curve, or a friend they can trust, or a house where they’re loved. And no life includes a book of how-to because no one has lived it before. So to all the living be kind.”
This month, I invite you to join me in reflecting on the many unearned gifts which we have each received from other people as well as from the world we have been born into. May the grace we have experienced help us turn from anger and toward kindness.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
CHILDREN’S RE
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers and kindergarteners will “celebrate me and my world” by exploring their senses of hearing, taste, and smell and will think about ways to show gratitude to people who care for them. 1st to 5th graders will engage this month’s theme of GRACE through stories and special class activities: we’ll think about unexpected gifts that have come into our lives, create beauty from brokenness with
mosaic art, and more. Middle-schoolers in the You the Creator class will hear and create creation myths, consider the concepts of soul and their inner selves, and will explore the idea of happiness and plan projects to build happiness in their classroom and in our wider church community.
— Liza Cranis
YRUU
My name is Paice Van Ooyen. I am 15 years old. I’m in YRUU and Sunday, October 13 I went to my first picket line. It was at a car wash that treats its workers like dirt. I arrived at the meeting spot (a restaurant across the street) with Rick Rhoads and there was a group of about three waiting for us. More people came and soon we had a large enough group to start. We got our signs and started our picket line in front of both car wash driveways.
CLUE brought a megaphone and Rick took up the job of announcing to all of Lincoln Boulevard why we were there. At one point management sent a worker to videotape our protest. By the time we left we had discouraged many cars from entering and the lot was almost empty. I thought it was a good experience even though we may not have caused immediate change. It was good to use my teenage rebellion in a productive way.
Friendly Beasts Celebrate 20th Anniversary
For the 20th year, our preschool through elementary-aged children will sing “The Friendly Beasts” song at our holiday pageant on Sunday, December 22, at both services. To celebrate the anniversary, we’re planning a number of special events:
CALLING ALL FORMER BEASTS
All former Beasts from the past 20 years are joyfully invited to join this year’s Friendly Beasts on the chancel to sing the last verse of the song on December 22. If you’ve forgotten the words, don’t worry, we’ll provide them. The congregation will love seeing you again, so please join us in this blast from your past!
Calling for Videos and Photos from the Past 20 Years of Friendly Beasts
Friendly Beasts Video
Nalani Santiago-Kalmanson has graciously offered to produce a video made up of photos/videos (presented chronologically) from the 20 years of Friendly Beasts performances. The video will be shown on December 22 in Forbes Hall. Please share a CD/DVD of your photos/videos by dropping them off in the southeast room of the Cottage in the temporary Friendly Beasts mailbox (See the second bankers box labeled “Mail Box” and look for the “Friendly Beast” hanging file.). Please be sure to identify your disk with your name and email, your Beast’s
name, and the year the photo/video was taken. Please turn in all photos/videos by November 24.
“20 Years of Friendly Beasts” Photo Display
A photo display of Friendly Beasts over the past 20 years will be on the bulletin board in Forbes Hall beginning in November. Please share your photos by posting them on the bulletin board beginning Nov. 1 (under the year they were taken), or dropping them off in the Friendly Beast mailbox in the Cottage. Again, please be sure to include your name and e-mail, your Beast’s name, and the year the photo was taken on the back of the photo.
Receptions After Each Service December 22
All are invited for receptions after each service in Forbes Hall. Come enjoy a finger-food brunch with cake between services and cake and fruit after the second service. Catch up with our former Beasts, watch our video, and peruse our display of historical photos, featuring Friendly Beasts from the past 20 years!
CURRENT BEAST INFORMATION
As in years past, all current preschoolers through 5th-graders will sing the first and last verses of the song during the Pageant December 22 (both services). Small groups of children will sing the middle five verses, dressed in a costume appropriate to the animal speaking in that verse (brown donkey, red and white cow, dog, dove, and mouse). The children pick which animal they want to be, but traditionally, the preschoolers sing the mice verse.
We have costumes for our Beasts from previous years. Older kids who don’t want to dress as an animal but do want to sing are welcome to be shepherds. If you know your child will only be singing at one service, please let Kris Langabeer know.
Religious Exploration teachers and parents, please note: I will lead Sunday rehearsals (about 10 minutes long) that occur in the RE classrooms during both services. Below is the rehearsal schedule, including a dress rehearsal Saturday morning, December 21.
November 3 Preschoolers to grade 5: 10 minutes each classroom
November 10 Preschoolers to grade 5: 10 minutes each classroom
November 17 Preschoolers to grade 5: 10 minutes each classroom
November 24 Group rehearsal for all at RE beginning
December 1 Preschoolers to grade 5: 10 minutes each classroom
December 8 Preschoolers to grade 5: 10 minutes each classroom
December 15 Group rehearsal for all at RE beginning
December 21 Saturday dress rehearsal in sanctuary from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
December 22 Pageant! (both services)
SUPPORTING OUR BEASTS
There are many ways you can support our Beasts this year: (1) make a donation to help pay for the dry cleaning of the Beasts costumes; (2) if you sew, help repair/refresh the costumes; (3) bring food for the receptions December 22; or (4) help supervise/ entertain our Beasts on December 22.
Contact me for more information. I look forward to this special celebration of our Friendly Beasts!
— Kris Langabeer
Our Whole Lives (O.W.L.) for Children Beginning Soon
If your child is in Kindergarten, First, Fifth or Sixth grade, then they are eligible to enroll in Elementary O.W.L. If you’d like to learn more, please attend the O.W.L. information session on Sunday, November 17 from 10:15
to 11 a.m. in Room 2. You can also contact our DRE, Catherine, or Beth Rendeiro, O.W.L. Coordinator.
November Worship Theme: Grace
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for November. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1 - The ideal man bears the accidents of lif with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances. — Aristotle
Week 2 - I do not at all understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. — Anne Lamott
Week 3 - Grace has been defined as the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul. — William Hazlitt
Week 4 - If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much. —
Week 5 - I want to live “in grace” as much of the time as possible. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. — Anne Morrow Lindberg
From Our DRE:
This month’s congregational ministry theme is CHANGE, something that I’ve been grappling with a great deal in my own life in recent months as well as in my work with UUCCSM. This year has brought both the birth of my son in May, as well as the loss of his great-grandmother in August, bookends that mark the very greatest changes we face in our lifetimes. Change comes in many guises, though, and a great part of the human experience is how we respond to the upheaval that comes with joyful as well as sorrowful, minor as well as major changes. This month, adults in our congregation have the opportunity to participate in the Lessons of Loss series of workshops led by Leon Henderson-MacLennan, which acknowledges the many kinds of loss we experience and helps participants work through their own responses to loss and change. Our community has so much to gain from members engaging in this program together. After all, this is why many of us are here in this congregation: to offer and receive support is one of the fundamental reasons that we join religious communities.
Change can be hard, for communities as well as individuals. Just when we think we are standing on solid ground, everything shifts. In our congregation, the board is leading us this month in a visioning process, inspired in part by the legacy gifts that came to UUCCSM from the estates of two beloved members lost in the last year. We will be asked to think about where we see our congregation headed, what changes will come in the next three or five or ten years and what we each can commit to doing to help bring that vision to fruition.
We’ll be exploring this month’s theme in our children and youth RE classes this month as well, looking at both change that comes to us whether we like it or not—and how we can choose how we respond even if we have no control over the change itself — as well as ways in which we have the ability to be change agents in our own lives and in the world. I am reminded of an unattributed story that was passed around online some years ago about a girl who asked her father to help her understand how to deal with the hardships in her life. He took her to the kitchen and boiled three pots of water, putting carrots in the first, eggs in the second, and coffee beans in the third. He then explained that each of the three had reacted differently to the same situation: the carrots had started out strong and rigid, but came out of the boiling water soft and weakened. The eggs went in fragile but became hardened throughout. But the coffee beans changed the water. Then he asked his daughter, “What are you? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?” We have all been each of these things at different moments in our lives, but it is my hope that our UUCCSM community can help provide a safe and loving space for those of us who are in carrot or egg times, as well as support and tools for strengthening our coffee bean selves.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Ministry Theme for October: Change
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for October. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
Week 1. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. — Maya Angelou
Week 2. For the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. — Steve Jobs
Week 3. A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. — Winston Churchill
Week 4. I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road. — Stephen Hawking
Week 5. Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots. — Victor Hugo
Children's RE
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers and kindergarteners will “celebrate me and my world” by exploring their ability to move, bend and stretch, talk and see. First to 5th graders will engage this month’s
theme of CHANGE through stories and special class activities, in our new children’s chapel program format; we will share a “Froggy Fable” about learning to adapt to changes that come whether we like them or not, will look at ways even small efforts can make a difference in the world, and will take part in a special “ribbons of
memory” ritual to honor people and animals we love who are no longer present physically but are still in our hearts. Middle-schoolers in the You the Creator class will introduce spirituality as a mixture of mystery and connection, and will take part in activities that deepen their understanding of creativity as a force of potential
importance, not just in the arts but in almost any human enterprise. And on October 27, children, youth, and adults will wrap up this month’s theme together with our annual Day of the Dead Intergenerational Sunday services.
Youth
Coming of Age and YRUU are off to a great start, with plans for monthly joint social events in the works — families should stay tuned for more details to come. We are very excited about what’s in the pipeline for youth at UUCCSM this year, with support from Youth Programs Subcommittee members Liza Cranis, Geoff Lee, and Nalani Santiago-Kalmanson. YRUU kicked off on September 21with a barbeque and orientation hosted by advisor Chris Brown, replete with good food, games, and conversation about youth’s hopes and dreams for their program this year. We also have big plans in the works for Coming of Age; we hope to take our whole group to the Jr. High winter camp at de Benneville Pines in November, and are exploring other possibilities for outings and community-building events. Three cheers for our wonderful advisors: Donavan Martinelli, Amelia Monteiro, Geno Monteiro, and Amy Thiel for Coming of Age, and Chris Brown, Emily Linnemeier, Dan Patterson, and Rick Rhoads for YRUU!
Adult Programs
Patio Chats
Monthly UUCCSM Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan @ 10:10 a.m. on the Patio. Sunday, October 27: Grace
Patio Chats are undergoing some slight changes this year. They will take place on the fourth Sunday of each month at 10:10 a.m. under the shade structure on the patio. But instead of discussing the ministerial theme of the month preceding, the group will discuss the topic for the upcoming month. In October, the Chat will meet on October 27 to discuss the November theme, “Grace.” As always, everyone is welcome and no sign-ups are required. The Adult Programs subcommittee will facilitate.
New Fiction Book Group Forms
A new fiction reading group is forming under the auspices of Adult Religious Exploration. The group will meet monthly on the fourth Monday evening beginning October 28 at 7 p.m. at the church. Group leaders Melinda
Ewen and Emmy Cresciman have chosen the Santa MonicaPublic Library’s 2013 “Santa Monica Reads” selection “Wonder” by R. Palacio as their first book. “Wonder” is the inspiring story of 10-year-old August (Auggie) Pullman, an ordinary boy in every way, except for a congenital facial deformity that has kept him away from kids his own age for much of his young life.The monthly selections for the group will be other fiction titles chosen from the Santa Monica Reads program over the past 11 years. All are welcome, but please read the book before the meeting.Check the Lifespan Table for the latest information on location and book selection.
Lessons of Loss
Facilitated by Leon Henderson-MacLennan this group will meet in the Cottage on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. on October 10, 17, 24, and November 7. Attendees will explore a variety of types of loss, the language of loss and its inevitability, the relationship between loss and gain, the grieving process, and the roles of religious community in dealing with loss. The group will share coping skills and learn strategies designed to incorporate loss into life. Sign up now in Forbes Hall at the Lifespan Table.
OUR WHOLE LIVES (O.W.L.)
Sexuality Education for Adults of all Ages and Stages.
When: Nine sessions on occasional Saturdays from October to March First Session: Saturday, October 19, 2013
When: Nine sessions on occasional Saturdays from October to March First Session: Saturday, October 19, 2013
Where: Forbes Hall
What: Sexuality Exploration, including:
- accepting, understanding, and affirming personal sexuality
- opening dialogue/building communication
- sexual diversity, sexuality in adulthood, sexual health
- society, media, and values
- your questions, concerns, opinions
Join with other adults to fully consider this vital aspect of being a whole person. O.W.L. is fun and engaging too…we promise! To sign up or with questions, go to the LRE table on Sundays, or contact Beth Rendeiro or any of the facilitators: Cynthia Cottam, Buudha Quant, Sylvia or Steve Young (all in the directory).
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Join in the viewing and discussion of an episode of this timeless television series on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. in the Cottage beginning October 6. Sign up in Forbes Hall even if you’re not sure you can attend each session.
Episode 1: The Hero’s Adventure 10/6/2013
Episode 2: The Message of the Myth 11/3/2013
Episode 3: The First Storytellers 12/1/2013
Episode 4: Sacrifice and Bliss 1/5/2014
Episode 5: Love and the Goddess 2/2/2014
Episode 6: Masks of Eternity 3/2/2014
Ongoing Activities:
- Empty Nesters meet on the 3rd Sunday of each month in the Cottage at 12:30 p.m., facilitated by Linda
Marten.
- New Fiction Book Group meets on the 4th Monday evening of each month at 7 p.m. upstairs in Forbes Hall, facilitated by Melinda Ewen.
- Wednesday Night Writers meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 7 p.m. (changed from 7:30 p.m.) in
Forbes Hall, facilitated by Emmy Cresciman.
- Quilters meet in Forbes Hall on the fourth Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until they get tired, and on other Saturdays as the spirit moves them, facilitated by Joyce Holmen.
For information on these and all other Lifespan programs, come to the table in Forbes Hall on Sunday mornings after each service.
— Emmy Cresciman
Care Net
CareNet offers meals, rides and cards to church members and friends. If you have such a need or know of someone who does, please call the church office, email carenet@ uusm.org or call Karl Lisovsky.
From Our DRE:
As I write this month’s column, I am just back from my maternity leave. I’ll admit, part of me is sad to reach the end of this special family time, but I’m also so excited to come back to work and see what the new church year will bring for our UUCCSM community. It’s good to be back. I am so grateful to all of you for your care and support, and for the opportunity to take some time away to focus solely on getting to know our little guy. I’m only three months in, but already I can see that being Evan’s mama is making me a better person, and will make me a better DRE too.
During my leave I thought a lot about the purpose of religious community, and the heart of it all for me is that church is for giving people of all ages the support and tools needed so they can go out into the everyday world and live with integrity, compassion, and a sense that we’re all in this together. Church isn’t just a nice place to come to on Sunday morning; it’s a place to come for a weekly reminder about all the hard and good work we can do during the rest of the week to live in a way that aligns with our most deeply held
values. The seven UU principles are one articulation of some of those values which we Unitarian Universalists hold in common.
We have so much to look forward to this year! I return to work mindful that this is a good time to assess my
relationship with the congregation as your Director of Religious Education; three months away has given me an opportunity to reflect on the strengths as well as the growing edges of my work with you. And I’m sure that your time with Emmalinda as your Acting DRE has given all of you a chance to think about what you want from your religious educator, too.
I’m back, but I can’t promise that everything will be the same as it was before Evan’s arrival. But I think that’s a good thing. I come back to you renewed — if not rested — and I can promise to come to work each day with profound gratitude for the gift of doing the work that my heart calls me to do, to bring passion and eagerness to the work that I do with you, and to keep the big picture in sight — perhaps the biggest picture of all — that every one of us has the power to make the world better, and that the world needs the message of hope and worth
that our faith has to offer. And that, ultimately, my job is to help the congregation bring that message to all of its children, youth, and adults.
I can’t do it alone; we have programs to offer to our community because members give their time and passion to make them happen. As our congregation works this year on its vision for the future, I’d like for you to think about what you want from our religious exploration program, for yourself and for others of all ages, and think about what you’d feel good about doing to help your vision become a reality. We have lots of opportunities to get involved, and we need you. Will you help?
— Catherine Farmer Loya
From Our Interim DRE
you all for such a wonderful summer! It has been a great privilege to be a part of your faith community for these three months. I have been deeply moved by the generous spirits of so many church members who have given their time and talents so cheerfully to this congregation’s children; without your gifts, none of this summer’s wonderful activities would have been possible. So many people these days view church through a consumer-lens: “what do I get out of it?” But church is made rich through people like you, who ask “how can I give to this?” And while financial support of the church is vital to its well-being, your donations of energy, enthusiasm, patience, preparation, and follow-through are the lifeblood of this Religious Education program and a priceless gift to the children and youth in it.
This sense of community shone radiantly in our Summer Chalice Camp talent show, after service on August 4.
Thank you to everyone who stayed and cheered for all our performers; your enthusiastic reception is what made this event such an empowering experience for the participants.
The children who signed up to perform varied in readiness, from well-rehearsed and excited to nervous and on the verge of backing out, but our leaders encouraged everyone, and our social-hour audience helped everyone feel supported and affirmed. To me this is exactly what a church community should feel like to a child — a place where they will be celebrated and cherished for taking risks and letting their unique gifts shine, without fear of teasing or rejection.
I can tell that these performers, and all the children and youth in this congregation, have had many role models
for courage, enthusiasm, and generosity of spirit over the years. So to all of you who have volunteered as their teachers as they’ve grown up in this church, thank you. I sincerely hope you will consider giving from the heart again in the coming year, as the Lifespan RE committee looks to fill the teaching schedule for the 2013-14 Sunday morning classes — and if you’ve never taught in RE before, it’s a wonderful time to start. Having spent only a brief window of time with Santa Monica’s children, I can say that they are a brilliant, exciting, thoughtful, funny, and compassionate group who will be deeply blessed by your sharing of your gifts with them.
Thank you once again for sharing your faith community and its wonderful young people with me; I am blessed by the time we have spent together, and I wish you all deep peace and great joy.
— Emmalinda MacLean
What's in Store for Children & Youth in the New Church Year
On Ingathering Sunday, September 8, we’ll celebrate the beginning of a new church year together as one
community of all ages — all will attend the service in the sanctuary. Then on September 15, all children and youth who attend will take part in a special Social Justice project, while many of our church families are enjoying the church camp weekend at Camp de Benneville Pines. RE Classes will begin on Sunday, September 22. No matter the age of your child, we have something exciting in store this year:
Preschool to Kindergarten: “Celebrating Me & My World” celebrates the wondrous qualities of the children themselves and expands outward to the things and people around them. This program provides preschoolers with experiences and opportunities to grow in their sense of trust and caring and to develop their self-identity and their sense of connectedness with all of life.
Grades 1 to 2: “Spirit Seekers” shares with children core stories of our faith, which connect with our monthly all-church ministry themes, as children make meaning of their lives, grow a strong UU identity, and, together, create a spiritual community that honors multiple learning styles and celebrates beauty in diversity.
Grades 3 to 5: “Sing to the Power” affirms our Unitarian Universalist heritage of confronting "powers and
structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love." Participants experience their own power, and understand how it can help them to be leaders. Sing to the Power uses a metaphor of the four elements — earth, air, fire, and water — as a framework to explore different forms of power. The program begins with a unit on earth and kinds of power associated with it: Connection, Roots, Growth, and Place. The second unit features kinds of power associated with air: Stillness, Presence, Silence, and Listening. The third unit centers on the powers of fire: Shine, Passion, Action, Reaching Out. The program concludes with three powers of water: Flexibility, Persistence, and Gathering. The final session honors all of the elements' power to transform.
Grades 6 to 7: “You the Creator” gives participants an opportunity to unleash and appreciate their creative
energies. According to the author Richard S. Kimball, “You are, can be, and should be one of the creative forces in the world — for its sake and for yours.” The curriculum is packed with FUN, and focuses on a new experience of spirituality and an understanding of the creative forces in all of us. Four E’s inform the program: Exploring, Experiencing, Expanding, and Expressing. And ten themes run through it: Religion and Creativity, Religion and Creative Arts, Arts and Creativity, Creativity and Self, Practical Creativity, Universal Creative Force, Creative Spirituality, Creating Community, Yes You Can, and Creativity for All. Imagine how individual lives and even the world might change if our youth understood the positive power of the creative forces within!
Grade 8: “Coming of Age” provides opportunities for youth to learn who they are and where they are on their spiritual journey, bond with other teens, celebrate their gifts, learn about the church and how it works, and articulate their own personal beliefs within the context of our UU faith. The year culminates on Coming of Age Sunday, May 18, when the youth will present religious credo statements before the congregation in a worship
service of their own design.
Grades 9 to 12: “Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU)” empowers teens, with the guidance of adult
advisors, to create their own vision and mission for their program. YRUU youth will explore what it means to be young and UU, how our UU principles inform how we live our lives, and what power young UUs have to change the world. YRUU also takes part in social justice projects, organizes social gatherings, and will plan and lead a Sunday worship service for the congregation.
Adult Programs Coming Up
On Sunday, September 29, from 1 to 3 p.m., join James Witker for a discussion of “The Jefferson Bible,” probably the shortest version ever written and certainly one of the most controversial among mainstream Christians.
In October we look forward to the beginning of a monthly series of discussions on Joseph Campbell’s powerful book and TV series on the power of myth. On the first Sunday of each month we will meet in the Cottage from 1 to 3 p.m. to watch and talk about one episode.
Also in October, Leon Henderson-MacLennan will be reprising his four-part workshop, “Lessons of Loss.” If you haven’t experienced this powerful series before, you owe it to yourself to sign up this year.
Keep an eye on the weekly announcements and Order of Service for information about continuing activity groups like The Empty Nesters, The Wednesday Night Writers, Knitters & Friends, and those Crazy Quilters.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Visit the Lifespan Table in Forbes Hall regularly for new information, sign-ups,
and to make suggestions about what you would like to see happen at UUCCSM this year.
O.W.L. (Our Whole Lives)
O.W.L. (Our Whole Lives) is swooping in this fall for all young adults and adults. Everyone between the ages of 18 and 108 is welcome to sign up for this nine-session program, which begins in early October. O.W.L. is the lifespan human sexuality program developed by and utilized in many UU communities in North America. Join us for an exploration of values, culture, practices and perspectives on human sexuality. More to follow at the Lifespan RE table beginning in September. In the meantime, please feel free to contact Beth Rendeiro with questions.
Theme Discussion
with Leon Henderson-MacLennan
@ 10:10 a.m. on the Patio
September 22, 2013 on
“Fellowship”