Wanted

WHO: You
WHAT: ComUUnity Greeter Program
WHEN: Each member/family volunteers to greet at oneSunday service a year
WHERE: The courtyard before church and the coffeehour after church
WHY: A friendly and welcoming community for ALL-visitors, newer members, and longtime members alike
HOW:

• 1. Sign up at the Greeters' Table beforeservices on Sunday or in the church officeanytime
• 2. Take written instructions and refrigeratorreminder of your time and date
• 3. Join Greeting Committee members atGreeters' Table before the service on yourassigned date and time

The CommUUnity Greeting Program resumes thisJanuary after a brief hiatus. The purpose of CommUUnityGreeting is to have each member/family/friendparticipate in our greeting program at least one Sundaya year. This investment of a mere hour or so a yearfrom each of us will help make this church truly welcomingand truly a community. The sign-up book willbe at the Greeters' table on Sunday mornings. You'llfind it in the church office after the 11 a.m. service andduring the weekRemember the first time you visited this church?

Remember the first person or persons who welcomedyou, who took the time to talk to you during the coffeehour, who told you about the church programs andactivities you joined and enjoyed? The CommUUnityGreeting Program gives you a chance to pay this welcomeforward to new visitors and friends. And, it hasthe extra bonus of weaving a stronger communitybetween all of us, longtime members and first-timevisitors alike.With our country and world poised withpromise and fraught with uncertainty, belonging to awelcoming, caring community is vitally important forall of us.

Our formal name is the Unitarian Universalist CommunityChurch of Santa Monica. The word communityhas 13 different definitions in my dictionary: a geographiccommunity, a voluntary group of individuals,a population sharing unifying characteristics or interests.The list goes on. But most of us are here forreasons that my dictionary did not list: A warm,welcoming, caring community. Meaningful servicesand sermons. A family place for children. A chance toparticipate in something special. A chance to give backto our church community and the community at large.Thus, the CommUUnity Greeting Program plays a vitalrole in strengthening our community.

Our consumer culture prompts us to look for"What's in it for me?" Twenty-first century life can beso stressful and harried that the thought of settingaside an hour to participate as a CommUUnity Greetermay seem daunting to overloaded multi-taskers. Anhour is actually just 1/8760 of a year. A small investmentof time. And a rich return on your investment.

If you're still wavering about signing up for oneSunday a year, perhaps UU science fiction writer KurtVonnegut, Jr., Stanford scholar Robert McAfee Brown,or the public radio program"Speaking of Faith" couldpersuade you.

"What should young people do with their livestoday? Many things, obviously. But the most daringthing is to create stable communities in which this terribledisease of loneliness can be cured," advised KurtVonnegut, Jr.

"How does one keep from 'growing old inside?'Surely only in community. The only way to makefriends with time is to stay friends with people. Takingcommunity seriously not only gives us the companionshipwe need, it also relieves us of the notion that weare indispensable," counseled Robert McAffee Brown.

"Religious institutions at their best," says KristaTippett, host of the public radio program Speaking ofFaith, are a "heart of community." Quaker authorParker Palmer, in his recent conversation with Tippett,spoke of "reweaving a knowing community of mutualaid, mutual knowing, mutual assistance which is initself the abundance [spiritual wealth] we seek.We arelooking for the type of abundance that comes fromknowing that we are willing to feed one another,knowing that we are in those generative relationshipsthat when you need my support I am able to offer it asbest as I can and when I need yours the same is trueof you."

- Katie Malich

 

Meet and Greet with Calvary Baptist Church

In an effort to reach out to other cultures, the Multi-Racial Development Committee arranged to meetfor dinner with four members of our neighborhoodchurch, Calvary Baptist on 20th Street in Santa Monica.Pastor HermanKemp and his wife Mayattended along with VictoriaJohnson andMartha Johnson.

From UUCCSM wereour own Rev. Robertaand Dennis Haskin,Edna and Phil Bonacich,who hosted the event attheir home, John Raiford,Rick Rhoads, Ron Francis,and Sandra Trutt.

It didn't take long forthe awkwardness of newacquaintances to wearoff, and we began sharingour life experiences.Rev. Kemp told a storythat occurred during hisreligious training whenhe and fellow divinitystudents were droppedoff in a different city,with no money, dressedas homeless people, and had to survive for two and ahalf days days until they were picked up. Pastor Kempsaid living this lifestyle for a few days gave him insightinto another world. He learned first hand how it felt tobe looked down upon, to beg for money to buy food,and to seek shelter from the cold.

Everyone shared times in their lives when they wereinexperienced and didstupid things, or survivedon very little but theirwits.

We felt like old friendsby the end of theevening. I shared ourefforts at making ourchurch more sustainableand the members fromCalvary Baptist wereeager to get more informationabout things theycould do.

Future contact withCalvary Baptist membersmay be when we bothparticipate in a treeplanting activity with theU.S. Forest Service in theSanta Monica Mountainsin March.

The Multi-RacialDevelopment Committeemeets the second Sundayof each month. Join us next time and participatein our attempts to get to know other faith congregationsin our area.

- Sandra Trutt

 

Oh, Christmas Tree!

The annual tree decorating in our sanctuary was led this year by the expert team of Hanson-Lisovsky.

Pictured (left to right) are: Nels Hanson, Hildreth Simmons, Lauren Way (center front), Alyssa Wood, Greg Wood, Sarah Sullivan, Brit Malpiede, Jennie Roberson, Alex Baker.

 

A Message from Our Treasurer

The church needs your help. To continue ourmission of helping our congregation and those in ourcommunity to find a spiritual home or charitable help,our finances will need a significant boost. The economyhas affected our pledge receipts this year, andnew pledges made for the 2009 calendar year, significantlyand adversely-as it has undoubtedly affectedyour budget as well. In fact, the church faces an anticipatedshortfall of $90,000 over the next twelve months,perhaps more, which could completely deplete ourunrestricted savings. Additionally, we will haveexpenses related to our settled minister in 2009 thatwould present an additional $30,000 in expenses. However,the church has fixed expenses that cannot easilybe cut without hurting church services and employeeand congregational morale alike, and the church is offinite resources.While we do have some emergencyfunds, it is our sincere hope that we do not need to tapour "life savings" to maintain our mission.

We want to bring better services to our congregation;we want to add to adult religious education; wewant to bring new social programs; we want to be yourresource for not only spiritual, but also social needs.However, we now find our church with a very leanbudget, and we need funds to maintain the status quo,let alone bring new and better services to our congregationand community.We pledge that as a church wewill invest into expanding our services to provide moreopportunities for you to explore, learn, and socialize ifwe do not have to commit those resources to meetingour operational budget. This will help our church grow,adding new members and adding new programs tohelp more people realize what it means to be a UU.These efforts and investments may help improve ourfinances down the road.

We hope that you can reach into your hearts to helpyour church and your friends achieve our mission ofhelping each of us explore our faith and providingmeaningful services to help those in our communitywho are truly in desperate need.Sincerely,

- Gene D Balas,Treasurer

 

Progress in 2009 Pledge Campaign

The economy is tanking. People are losing jobs.Retirement savings are shrinking. Given this background,the 2009 Pledge Campaign is not doing badly.As of December 9 we had 172 pledges, up from 120 lastyear on the same date. Total pledges were $240,123,versus $200,170 a year ago. Although among those whopledged this year and last, average pledges are down10%, we have heard that nationally church contributionsare down 15% to 25%, so we are doing well in arelative sort of way. Below is a picture of the brickswe've been using to symbolize the building of ourchurch community through pledges.

However, in absolute terms we are in trouble. Ourcurrent projections are that we will run a deficit of$90,000 this year, depleting our unrestricted (nonemergency)savings if we use this to make up thedeficit. The paradox is that a healthy vital church canbe especially important in difficult times. The churchprovides a supportive community. Church activities,such as musical and RE events, are low or no cost. And,we will soon be faced with the added expenses associatedwith a settled minister.

What I'm going to say now applies only to those ofus who are lucky enough to have not lost our jobs orwhose retirement savings have not been halved. Thechurch will not stay the same for very long as it is if wemaintain the same level of contributions as in the past.Borrowing from Dickens, picture some future Christmaswith a dingier, drabber church, with an unimpressiveRE program, a half-time minister, no musical programming,and an inadequate staff, which is less ableto contribute to the wider community. It's up to us.

- Phil BonacichChair, Stewardship Committee