Jun-07
From Our Minister:
Over the past three yearsI've had the opportunityto serve as a member of the Fundfor Unitarian Universalism, a grant-makingpanel administered in Boston. It's a nice way tostay in touch with the Unitarian UniversalistAssociation (we meet there) and to learn aboutwhat other UU groups are doing. I travel theretwice a year.
The Fund for Unitarian Universalism makesgrants to strengthen UU institutions and communitylife. During this funding cycle, I read 18grant proposals from UU congregations andorganizations. When I joined the panel (withfour other UUs), we debated the needs andmerits of each proposal. In the end we gaveaway $118,000.
We helped a small congregation in ruralTexas that can't afford a minister of its own butwants to have guest UU ministers travel therefrom Dallas/Fort Worth (150 miles). We fundeda major - and first time - convocation ofinternational Unitarian Universalist women togather in Houston in 2009. We gave a grant tothe UU churches of New Hampshire, Vermont,and Maine to engage a consultant from Partnersfor Sacred Places, to restore their historicbuildings.
We also gave money to institutions affiliatedwith the UUA: to Meadville-Lombard TheologicalSchool for its archive of African Americanreligious leaders, the Unitarian UniversalistMinisters Association, and DRUUMM (Diverse& Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist MulticulturalMinistries), to name a few. There weremany more.
In one way or another, these grants representwork on the cutting edge of our UU movement.They give me ideas and inspiration for possibilitieshere in Santa Monica. I've agreed to cochairthis panel with Young Kim, a UU lay personfrom Wisconsin, beginning with the nextmeeting in November.
-- Judith Meyer
Featured Articles:
Transition Committee isgetting in gear - are you?
There are three important messagesfrom the Transition Committee thismonth:
1. The Blue House appears to be onschedule, with completion in July.
2. There are some new chairs inForbes Hall for your examination. Pleasesit on them. Decide which ones shouldreplace some of the pews in the Sanctuary.We need the ability to stack andstore seating so that we have a semisocialhall for the next couple of years.
3. There will be a "GREAT MOVINGDAY" on August 18 (a Saturday). We willprovide breakfast and lunch. We needyou to help move everything from the17th Street facility (remember thegarages) and everything from Forbes andfrom the second floor RE rooms andclosets. Will you help? Bring your childrenfor company, work, or just to hangout.
Wonderful and interesting times areimmediately ahead of us. You are invitedto be a participant rather than anobserver.
- The Transition Committee
Small Group Ministry is toContinue in the Fall
Six years ago 65% of UU congregations formedCovenant Groups to bring Small Group Ministriesinto being. To identify their highest purpose,Covenant Groups help members discover theirown ministries and increase the influence of thechurch as a whole. They provide a safe place andspace to radically or subtly cause spiritual transformation.
The Rev. Calvin Damesays, "What it takes [to dochurch well, to its fullest] isfor a congregation to determinethat this is one of themost important areas it canfocus on if it wants to growand deepen the lives of itsfriends and members. People seek out churchesbecause they want connection with other peopleand because they want to find more meaning fortheir lives and make a difference in the world.Small groups can do both."
Our current set of three groups will concludeat June's end, with new ones forming in the fall.We invite you to become part of this exceptionalprogram.
- Carol-jean Teuffel
Our Monthly Meals at Step Up on Second
"I look forward to this meal every month!"
"Thank you all for coming to feed us."
"God bless you all."
"I love these meatballs!"
"Do you have your chicken today?"
"Wow, ice cream? That's great!"
"What church are you from again?"
"I'll take a little of everything, please!"
These are among some of the many commentswe get when serving on the line at Step Up on Second,a shelter on Second Street in Santa Monica.Who are the people coming through the line?
According the information on their website,Step Up on Second helps individuals who are sufferingfrom severe and persistent mental illness.Every single day, 365 days a year, Step Up providestwo hot meals to its members, many of whom arehomeless. For the past five or six years, our churchhas provided one of these meals on the 4th Saturdayof every month.
Typically, I buy and drop off most of the foodon the Friday before serving day. On Friday night,I make around 120 pieces of barbecued chicken totake with me on Saturday. The volunteers whohelp me on the line buy, prepare, and serve one ofthe additional items, such as salad, a vegetable, ora dessert.What does my monthly shopping list look like?Here is a tally of my February 2007 receipts:
Smart & Final
3 large buckets of ice cream . . . . $15
7Stouffers party size lasagnas . . . .74
3 bags of rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
2 boxes of rice pilaf . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
2 9-lb. cartons of potato salad . . . .16
2 9-lb. cartons of macaroni salad . .16
Costco
3 large bags of meatballs . . . . . . . .33
Barbecue sauce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 large packages of chicken thighs .55
TOTAL . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .$233
Does that seem like a lot? Well, for the 70 to 80people we normally serve, it's around $3 a meal.This amount of food means that everyone has secondsand a few hearty individuals occasionallyeven ask for thirds.
How can you help? The most immediate need isfor funds to mount this monthly meal. We desperatelyneed to figure out a way to create an ongoingfund for this project. Many of you have contributedto our fund and we thank our "angels" fortheir generous donations over the years.
We've had a dedicated group of volunteers -both adults and youth. I can't list all of the manyvolunteers but some of the stalwarts are ErniePipes, Rhonda Peacock, and Kim Baldridge, whohave been "on call" for close to three years. MadelineHero, currently in Coming of Age, has assisted several months in a row this past year, along withher mom or dad. Other families who have helpedinclude Margot and Ian Dodd with Rachael andGalen, Amy and Bruno Lacombe with Lucie andPriya, Jennifer Westbay with Max, Kit Shaw withTaylor, and I, too, have brought both my kids.
My daughter, Angela, reports, "I like it becausethe people smile at you and appreciate it so much.Then, they say how cute you are and why don'tyou come next time?" All of us who do it enjoy thecamaraderie with the other servers, the friendlyrapport we have with the staff, and, of course, thehigh you get just being able to help out. Myfavorite part is looking up and seeing familiarfaces - people who recognize me and look happyto see me again. As the quotes at the beginning ofthis article reveal, hear many expressions of gratitude.In reality, we all agree that we are the onesfeeling the gratitude.
If you have questions or want to volunteer, please contact me.
- Janet Goodwin
News & Announcements:
Warren Mathews Honored
A resolution was passed at the May 20annual congregational meeting to honorWarren Mathews by naming the conferenceroom in the Blue Cottage the"Warren Mathews Conference Room"in honor of his four decades ofinvaluable management guidance.
An Intrepid Crew Repaired and Painted...
...the walls in our sanctuary during the month ofMay: S.J. Guidotti, Karl Lisovsky, Ren Renshaw,Bill Dimpfl, and Sherry Handa (not pictured).
Thank You...
. . . to volunteers fromthe Board, StewardshipCommittee, and Membership& LeadershipCommittee, who hosteda welcoming dinner for ournew members. Thanks to MelanieSharp, Marsha Smith and Laurel Bleak, who cochairedthe event, and to Audrey Lyness, CaroljeanTeuffel,Linda Van Ligten and Greg Wood,Melinda Ewen and S.J. Guidotti, CatherineFarmer, Rob Briner, Phil Bonacich, Sanjeev andSusan Jain, Marv Pulliam and Nedra Bickel, DaylaMcDonald, Bronwen Jones and Tom Hamilton,Peter van den Beemt, and Kathy Cook for theircontribution to the dinner and to all our newmembers for joining us
.. . . to the members of Lyn Armondo's covenantgroup for providing the reception for the memorialservice for Lyn's husband George
.. . . to our choir for the fabulous concert onMay 5, "I Get a Kick Out of UU." With a programof 22 show tunes, the choir treated us to anevening to remember.
FUUsion works atCamp de Benneville Pines
FUUsion, the group for youthful UUs, spentMother's Day weekend at de Benneville's springwork camp. Six of us went in two cars and spentthe weekend helping out at camp - doing construction,moving hay and wood, painting, andraking. In exchange for our hard work we gotnew friends, delicious meals, a free stay inCraig's Cabin, and a relaxing soak in the hottub. Read more and see more photos at http://fuusion.blogspot.com 
The Great Moving Day - Saturday, August 18
We need to move everything from the 17th Street facility and everything from Forbes and from the second floor RE rooms. Will you help? Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Faith in Action News:
As the church year draws to a close I wouldlike to thank the members of the Faith InAction Commission (FIAC) for all theirwork to make this a better, more socially-awareand environmentally-friendly congregation. Themembers of FIAC are: Lyn Armondo, Liza Cranis,Eleanor Eagan, Judy Federick,Jesse Figueroa,Phyllis Gabriel, JanetGoodwin, Charles andChristine Haskell, DeniseHelton, Patrick McGuire,Leslie Reuter, HeatherSmith, Diana and MargueriteSpears, Sandra Trutt, Alyssa Wood,Marge Zifferblatt, and of course, the Rev.Judith Meyer. Geralyn Lambson deserves amention and is "adopted" into FIA by hermonthly clothing collections. Everyone hascontributed in some way to the original missionof the FIAC: "...to coordinate socialaction efforts in the church, empowering thecongregation to choose social justice issues forstudy and action. . . ."
Our social justice issues have included providingfood and clothing for the homeless or theformerly homeless, the mentally ill, or the "justgetting by"; bringing wonderful and stimulatingguest speakers and films to the congregation;raising awareness of the health care crisis and ofthe situation in Darfur; creating a Green Sanctuaryand incorporating many green ideas into thenew building program and our daily lives; providingbooks to the annual Head Start party;fundraising for Common Ground to serve homelessyouth; fundraising for the UUSC; sellinggreat fair-trade chocolate and coffee; and so2 JUNEmuch more. All of this would not have happenedwithout the generosity in time andmoney of many members of this congregation.
I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but - wecould do a lot more. Every fall, the FIAC holds anissues election to vote on the activities for thenew church year. We on the Commission takethese votes very seriously to fulfillour mission. We simplycannot continue topromise the same levelof social action withoutmore volunteers and aconsistent funding baseof support. It is wonderfulto be appreciated andthanked for what we do,but joining us or makinga donation to one of our activitieswould be even better.
The FIA table is set up in Forbes Hallalmost every Sunday after both services. Dropby the table some time and ask the FIAC memberwhat you can do depending on your interest,ability, time, and/or financial situation. You willgain points, karma, blessings, whatever rewardyou may wish to achieve. Don't let us have allthe fun.
The FIAC also wishes to gratefully acknowledgethe many friends who have stepped forwardthis past year to lend assistance and support.Last, but not least, many thanks to:Melinda Ewen, Holly Nguyen, Carmen Haley,Kevin Roller, and Attila Molnar.
- Cathie GentileChair, FIAC
Glen Howell Entertained and Taught Us All
The Peace & Civil Liberties Committee hadchurch member Glen Howell speak on May 11about his 50 years in the Space Program. Theevening was vastly informative and really demonstratedthe principle of interconnectedness. Toanswer a question from Rob Briner about JPL,Glen had googled and even found a UU connection.Amos Throop, a retired Chicago businessman,came to Pasadena in the 1880s where heestablished Throop Polytechnic which laterbecame California Institute of Technology (Caltech)with its offshoot JPL. In addition, hefounded the first Universalist Parish of Pasadena(now Throop Memorial UU Church) in 1885, withminister Florence Kollock, who helped organizethe Parliament of World Religions at theColumbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Glen explained that much of V-2 rocket theorywas initially developed here in the U.S. by RobertGoddard. Goddard was awarded the first patenton a liquid rocket engine in 1914. In the 1920'sGoddard's research got a boost when CharlesLindbergh brought it to the attention of HarryGuggenheim. Sadly, it was Nazi Germany in WWIIthat developed Goddard's work with the V-2rocket, and used it against England. With the endof WWII the U.S. and Russia each took Germanscientists who had worked on the V-2 program. InOctober 1957 Russia used the information thescientists developed to launch Sputnik (whichcelebrates its 50th anniversary this year). In theU.S. we developed our own space programs withhelp from Wernher von Braun - culminating inthe Apollo series that took us to the moon.
We thank Glen and hope to have him back tocontinue this fascinating story.
- Diana Spears
Green Living Committee:
Our June Green Sanctuary meeting will beSaturday, June 2. We will convene after thepancake breakfast, starting our meeting atnoon and going until 1:30 p.m. We are writingour action plan and that is the primaryagenda item. Room 3 is the location, withtables for our paperwork. This meeting isopen to all members who want to help us craftthe 12 activities we need in order to become aGreen Sanctuary.
- Sandra Trutt
Co-chair, Green Sanctuary Committee
Other UU News & Events:
General Assembly in Portland, OR
The UU's General Assembly will take place in Portland, Oregon, this yearfrom June 20-24. Details of the program, events, housing, volunteer opportunities,etc., are available at http://www.uua.org/ga/index.html.
RE News:
Summer is almost upon us,believe it or not, and the RECouncil and I have been busy planning ourprogram for next fall. And we have a question forall of you: How have you engaged the UU principleslately?
There is no better way to learn and live yourUU principles than by learning and teaching withour youth and children. Presenting stories tothem and listening to their efforts to interpretand understand can be a wonderful way toexplore these issues and concepts for yourself.Without teachers, interesting curriculum is of novalue. Over the next few weeks, we will be searchingfor more "RE Shining Stars" to help us createa vibrant RE program next year with our childrenand youth.
In our elementary program next year we'llembark on an exciting new program called "SpiritPlay," grounded in the sharing of core stories ofour faith in order to help children make meaningthrough wondering and art, create a spiritualcommunity, support multiple learning styles andchallenges, and create a strong Unitarian Universalistidentity. We also will continue to offer thevery successful "Neighboring Faiths" comparativereligions curriculum for 6th and 7th grades,"Coming of Age" for 8th grade, and our seniorhigh YRUU youth groups at each service.
Think about how sad a place UUCCSM wouldbe without our enthusiastic kids. Consider thewonderful energy there is in an intergenerationalcommunity (a model that is increasingly rare).And we need you. To fully staff our fabulous programs,we're looking for more than 50 membersof our congregation to volunteer to teach for oneto two Sundays per month.
Think about it. Think about teaching RE. Thenvisit the RE table in Forbes Hall during coffeehour on Sundays this month to hear about ourprogram in more detail and let us know howyou'd like to be involved. Help us bring our visionfor RE to life.
- Catherine Farmer
YRUU is looking good for2008
Music News:
Appreciation
Those who attended this year's Dining forDollars choir event, "I Get A Kick Out OfUU," had a wonderful evening of fun andentertainment. The Music Committee would like tothank our fabulous Steve Wight and Louis Durra foronce again putting their amazing talent to work forus. We would also like to thank the choir for all theirdevotion and time spent to learn and sing all thosenotes, to Rima Snyder, our ever-patient librarian, tothe instrumentalists who donated their time, toDiana Spears, Sue Moore, Nedra Bickel, and MarvPulliam for hosting the reception, to Peter van denBeemt for pouring the champagne, to Joe Hardinfor building a stage for the orchestra, to NorbGallery for honchoing the sound system, for theprinters and tapers of music at Sue Bickford's house,and to all those who helped set up and tear downthe stuff, returning the Sanctuary to its serenity.The whole event was characterized by everyone'sspirited desire to put on a very fine show.
- Bronwen Jones,Co-Chair, Music Committee