The Board and the Committee on Ministry invite you to attend a workshop on “Connecting our Community through Listening and Talking Compassionately with One Another” on Saturday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Forbes Hall. The workshop, sponsored by the Board and Committee on Ministry, will be led by Mary Mackenzie, an expert in compassionate communication. We will have the opportunity to explore our feelings about this community that we love and support and to learn how to value, respect, and be open to the feelings and needs of everyone in our beloved spiritual community.

PLAN FOR THE DAY

10 to 10:30 am — Opening and Introductions

10:30 to 11:30 am — Needs and Feelings; and Differentiating between Needs and Preferences (our differences often show up in our preferences, not our values; the more we focus on our values, the greater our opportunity for finding common ground and peaceful resolutions that value everyone’s needs)

11:30 to 12:30 pm — Self Empathy (the profound importance of first knowing what we want and then acting in ways that are more likely to inspire a response to achieve it)

12:30 to 1:30 pm — LUNCH – We will break bread together.

1:30 to 3 pm — Empathy for Another Person (understanding and connecting with the deeper meaning behind a person’s actions and words, to build greater connection and compassion between people, especially those who hold a different view)

3 to 3:15 pm — BREAK

3:15 to 4:45 — Asking for What You Want in a Positive Way (how to express yourself in ways that are more likely to be received well by others, and your needs are more likely to be met)

4:45 to 5 pm — Closing 

Green Committee will review the "Garden of Eternity" design and fundraising concept.

Last Conversations

A talk to enable you to help another

feel loved, safe, and comforted

through the last hours of life

Sunday, July 12, 11:30am to1pm,  Forbes Hall

  Learn specific things to say and do so death may come without fear. You will be able to be at the bedside, to talk and if right to hold the one who is there, but too ill to respond.

Be inspired and empowered as you find ways to comfort with music, poetry, song and telling of stories. As you are there to  honor a life lived, you will find you are able to say goodbye,before the relief of letting go.  

Emmy Cresciman from our UU congregation will tell how she and her family created a "good death" for her beloved brother; Karen Hsu-Patterson, RN, will talk of the urgent nature of unexpected death in the hospital; and Rev. Nica will share the profound and moving experience of her father's death.

You will be able to do this. Or be validated in finding your own way to just be there quietly, with the gift of yourself.

Come, as we begin to heal the way we all die.

Join us on Sunday, July 12, 11:30am to 1pm, Sanctuary,

for this important talk.

Cassandra Christenson and Beth Rendeiro

  Cassandra's life work as an RN has been with End-of-Life concerns. Beth comes to co-lead with her inherent ability to listen deeply with a wide and understanding heart.

There is a follow-up evening on Tuesday, July 15, 7-8:30pm Forbes Hall for conversation, insight and concerns in response to the talk.

Reception following both the 9am and 11am services.

Please join us as we welcome multi-media artist Mathilde Lombard as our June Artist, featuring her acrylic paintings on paper and canvas for her show, Number of Years. Lombard curated our Art Wall for 20 years and passed the job on to Beverly Alison about 20 years ago. We welcome back her fine art and friendship! The congregation and the public are invited to a Gala Artist Opening Reception for Mathilde Lombard on Sunday, June 7th, 2015, 12 Noon to 2:00pm, UU Santa Monica, Forbes Hall.

Mathilde Lombard has been curating art and creating her own works for many years. Lombard’s formal training was at the Beverly Hills Adult School and from mentors, including Keith Finch. Lombard uses watercolor, ink, acrylic and other media to make striking and memorable images.

Lombard explains her passion, “I believe that each of us has creativity within expressed in many different ways. The question is whether or not one is moved to explore it. Visual art has been a major force in my life… I work intuitively, without preconceived notions and allow the painting to lead me. Truly, art is a never ending exploration -- rich and exciting, frustrating and joyful!”

Lombard has been featured in many galleries in Southern California and has won a number of awards. She is a member of Women Painters West and the National Watercolor Society. From 1992 to 2006 she was represented by the Art Rental and Sales Gallery of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her work has also appeared in a number of publications including “Faces” by Jack Selleck, “The Art of Collage” by Gerald Brommer and “The Best of Watercolor, Volume 3, Selected by Serge Hollerbach and Betty Lou Schlemm.”

The show will run through Sunday, June 28^th, and is free and open to the public on Sundays from 9am – 1pm and on weekdays by appointment. Follow the signs to free parking at the parking structure just south of Arizona and 16^th. Handicapped parking is available behind the church.

Contact Nancy at assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436 ext. 102 for info or appointments.

Contact Beverly at balison@aol.com, for further info about the artist or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at UU Santa Monica.

Peace & Social Justice and Green Committee are joining forces to show "Bidder 70"