Newsletter for July, 2015
From Our Minister:
[From Our Summer Minister]
Do You Sing in the Shower?
As I reflect upon our July theme of CREATIVITY, I am reminded of how many different ways there are to be creative. Some people tell me matter-of-factly: “I am not creative,” and then I hear about their love of cooking, or their ability to garden, or their interest in building things. This month I invite us to look at all the creative things we do in life, whether it’s displaying our children’s lunch in a beautiful way, singing in the shower, or arranging our sock drawer by color! What role does artistic expression play in our life? Is it a way for us to express our unique selves? Is it a way for us to find greater inner peace or guidance? Is it a way for us to pray or meditate? Is it a way for us to feel joy, fun or purpose? What does your creative expression do for you?
On Sunday, July 5, we’ll be exploring our inner artist and how cultivating our creative spirit can heal, guide and inspire us. Do creativity and spirituality intersect or are they the same?
On Sunday, July 19, we’ll be examining the theme of creativity as it relates to our faith. Our Unitarian Universalist faith gives us the freedom to create our own theology, to discover what is meaningful to each of us and live according to that. Join members of the “Building Your Own Theology” class as we share various different and creative perspectives on the meaning of life and ultimate reality.
And don’t forget to join us for Rev Ken Brown’s workshop, “Choosing a Future for UU Governance in the 21st Century,” on Saturday, July 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ken, our UUA District Executive, brings years of experience and wisdom with congregational trends and governance. Join us for a workshop to creatively envision how we might most effectively govern our congregation in the future.
Meanwhile, enjoy these days of summer. May you find inspiration and joy in the connections you create in this community. May you explore and expand your creativity this month. And may you find time to rest and rejuvenate.
It is such a blessing to be here with you this summer.
In gratitude,
Nica Nica Eaton-Guinn
From Our President:
Vienna to Portland, Via Vassar
have been and will be traveling a lot so this month’s article is a bit of a travelogue! On the Saturday after the Annual Meeting, I left for wedding festivities in Vienna and Hungary. The daughter of my longtime friend, whom I consider my sister in spirit, chose Koszeg, Hungary, the birthplace of her mother, as her destination wedding location. We flew to Vienna for a few days of festivities and then to Koszeg for a few more days of activities before the wedding itself. Ned could not come because he was still teaching, so my daughter Diana and her boyfriend Nick were my companions. In both Vienna and Koszeg, I needed to use my German, which was essential and fun. I was a German minor in college and spent time in Germany as a technical exchange student. Following the wedding we rented a car and drove to Budapest and Prague, returning to Vienna 13 days after our initial departure.
I returned to conduct the first Board meeting with our new Board and our summer minister. We have energetic and talented Board volunteers this year and I believe good things will come.
On the Thursday after the Board meeting, I flew to New York and then took a train to Poughkeepsie to attend my 50th reunion at Vassar College. We were the featured Landmark Reunion. After much preparatory brainstorming, I conducted a technology panel with classmates and Vassar’s Chief Information Officer commenting on the past and future direction of their fields, which were physics, medicine, journalism, and education. The event was declared a huge success and I was pleased with the level of interest among my classmates.
I am now back and very jetlagged with traveling to General Assembly merely a week away.
— Patricia Wright
Featured Articles:
The Supreme Court Stands on the Side of Love!
Group photograph of UU Santa Monica’s marchers in the L.A. Pride Parade on June 14. On June 24 the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is constitutional and that it is now the law of the land. Photo by Dalia Al Kassar
Our UU Santa Monica marchers had a truck to carry weary marchers and those who were unable to walk. Photo by James Witker.
Heart to Heart Circles — Always an Open Seat
“Small Group for me is an opportunity for inner landscapes and shared stories about life’s meaningful moments.” -Carrie Lauer, Heart to Heart Facilitator
“The Heart to Heart Circle is a bright spot in my month, giving me a time for deep reflection and attention to personal meaning-making. My life is very full of time spent caring for others — this is a lovely time of caring for myself, in a supportive and loving circle.” -Catherine Loya, Heart to Heart Facilitator
Our Heart to Heart Circles (formerly known as Small Group Ministry) are in full swing! For 2015 we have six groups meeting monthly. Heart to Heart Circles are a space where participants gather to speak from the heart and to listen deeply to others speak from the heart. We have a monthly topic, which is usually the church theme for the month, along with selected readings and questions to consider about the topic. The goal is to connect in a meaningful way with those in the circle, and to connect more deeply to one’s self. It’s a unique meeting in that there isn’t a back and forth discussion; we’re not there to “fix” anyone or give advice. In addition to our heartfelt meetings, each group does a service project for the church and one for the wider community.
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, Heart to Heart Circles offer an opportunity to form friendships with others and to more easily become involved with the church. In each of the Heart to Heart Circle meetings we have an empty chair. This chair symbolizes the person yet to participate; it reminds us that our circle is open to others. Perhaps you missed the initial registration in January and you’d like to become part of the Circle? Let us know — we’d love to welcome you! Groups meet once a month for two hours. Five of our groups meet during the week in the evening, and there is one daytime group. Contact sgm@uusm to get more information or to participate in a group.
— Rhonda Peacock
Heart to Heart Circles facilitators for 2015-2016: Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur, Margot Page,Pat Gomez, Phillip Bonacich, Bettye Barclay, the Rev. Carrie Lauer, and Catherine Farmer Loya. Photo by Carol Ring.
Quotes About Creativity
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of quotes about our ministerial theme for July. Daily quotes also appear in the weekly electronic announcements.
Week 1. The chief enemy of creativity is “good” sense. — Pablo Picasso
Week 2. Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better. — John Updike
Week 3. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create. — Albert Einstein
Week 4. Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. — George Bernard Shaw
Week 5. When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. — Buckminster Fuller
News & Announcements:
Come join us for Food, Fun, Fellowship…and Bubbles!
...at the Annual All-Church Interweave* & Women’s Alliance Picnic Sunday, July 19, 11 a.m. (just after the 10 a.m. service) Church Courtyard
We’ll be serving grilled hot dogs (vegan & meat), salads, desserts, lemonade, and iced tea. Donations will be welcome but, technically, it’s free!
Proceeds from the picnic will be donated to The Trevor Project, a leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people.
If you have questions or would like to provide a dish for the picnic or help on the day of the picnic, please contact Kris Langabeer.
*Interweave is our church’s group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals and their friends and allies.
Last Conversations: Sunday, July 12, 11:30 a.m., in Forbes Hall
Learn how to be there when someone you love is going through the very end of life. You will be able to comfort, hold, and reassure and be a guide through the fear and unknown. You will not give up when someone says, “You might as well go home — there is nothing left to do.”
This is all about tender caring, reassurance, and honoring life while saying goodbye, giving a sense of the beautiful life they lived. Life’s ending is an extraordinarily difficult time, and it is precious.
Last Conversations will help you to make it one of the most profound experiences of life for you and the one you are with. As a registered nurse over the years, working in hospitals, in the home, and with patients during the AIDS crisis, I (CC) have learned what is needed for a gentle and loving death.
There will be several people from our congregation sharing how they were able to create a “good death” for someone they deeply loved. As we come to the bedside, the person dying can feel good about their lives as we tell the good things they accomplished. Relationships can be healed. And we can begin to heal the way we all die.
— Cassandra Christenson and Beth Rendeiro
Building News:
Sanctuary Upgrade & Lighting (SoUL) Project
Our Sanctuary Upgrade and Lighting Project (SoUL Project) is progressing with great ease due to the diligent work by all the members of our team. We have not had to vacate the Sanctuary at any time and there has been no disruption of events in the Sanctuary. We even put up some temporary lights for the D4$ concert held on June 13, due to great efforts by Brad Hutchinson. Our next phase of work in the Sanctuary will be procuring the permanent LED lights and a control system to manage the lighting. We are still on track with our budget of $80,000. At this time we do not anticipate any overages in regards to our budget. This phase of work is not expected to disrupt any activities in the Sanctuary. We are making sure our system meets the highest standard and the California Energy code, Title 24.
We have held three Town Hall meetings providing detailed information on the design of the lighting and other important information about the project. The meetings were on May 25, June 7 and June 21. If you have questions, please ask a member of our Task Force. Thank you for your kind consideration as we honor our seventh UU principle and move our congregation towards energy efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint on our lovely Mother Earth. Thank you for your help and understanding during our electrical upgrade.
Our Electrical and Lighting Task Force is Brad Hutchinson, Beth Brownlie, Bryan Oakes and Karl Lisovsky.
—Beth Brownlie
Faith in Action News:
Textbooks for Incarcerated Students 2015- 2016
During 2013-2014, UU Santa Monica participated with other California UUs in a campaign to raise funds for textbooks to enable inmates in the California prison system to take college courses. These courses, offered by a community college, can lead to an AA degree and prepare students to go on to a four-year college. While courses are free, students must pay for textbooks, which many inmates cannot afford. To administer the textbook program, the college set up a foundation. Students apply to the foundation for “Unitarian Universalist Church Textbook Scholarships.” We set an initial goal of $750, but congregation contributions in 2013-3014 totaled over $2,000.
We have received over a dozen letters from student recipients expressing their deep appreciation for the books and for the opportunity to pursue their education while in prison. Many discussed continuing their education once they are released, or how it will help them in the future. A young man who is expecting to be paroled in a few months plans to pursue an engineering degree at Pasadena Community College. A woman who was arrested in 2008 and anticipates being paroled next year says that the degree will help her to support herself and her family and to serve the community. She is currently tutoring other students in mathematics. Another person wrote the following letter: “This letter is to thank you for the wonderful gift you have given me. This scholarship is more than a free book; it is a confidence booster I need to help me reach my personal and educational goals. With your gift I can now finish my last semester without worrying how I am going to pay for it.”
Many expressed a desire to use their college credentials to help others. Even those who face long prison terms hope to assist other inmates. One man, who suffered from “severe child abuse by my alcoholic parents” and is now almost 49, has served 33 years, with 11 more before he will be eligible for release. He is working toward a degree in Behavioral and Social Science, “not only to better understand the sociological issues that have impacted my own life, but also to apply that knowledge to help other inmates in here understand these same issues. Once I complete my degree, I plan on using that knowledge to help create and advocate for rehabilitative programs ... so that when [inmates] are released from prison, they will have a better chance to become productive members of society.”
Yet another man, now 28, received a life sentence as an accomplice to murder at age 19. An acquaintance in the back seat of a car he was driving shot and killed someone on the street. “As much as I don’t believe I deserve a life sentence, I do understand that ultimately it was my choices that got me into this mess, and moving forward it will be my choices which get me out. ...While my situation might seem hopeless, I believe that through my own education I can also educate the system that it is wrong to throw away a young person’s life believing they are incapable of change. ... This gift gives me hope that at least a small amount of people believe what I already know, that people can change for the better.” He hopes to eventually get his Ph.D. and “to get out of prison to become a youth offender psychologist where I can connect with troubled youth, show them someone cares about them, and guide them out of their destructive life style.” He ends with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’ So this letter is expressing my true appreciation for you helping me achieve the impossible.”
Textbooks are still needed, so the Peace and Social Justice Committee is renewing the campaign. Checks can be made out to UU Santa Monica, with “Scholarship Fund” in the memo line, and sent to the church. Cash and checks will also be collected at the FIA table in Forbes Hall. The enthusiastic responses of the recipients of the textbook funds indicate the importance of these funds for their education and their hopes and plans for the future. By donating, you can make a difference in the lives of inmates in the California prison system.
— Nora Hamilton
Splinters from the Board:
UU Santa Monica Sends 25 to GA
The meeting of June 9 was the first meeting of the church Board year. We welcomed Vice President Dan Nannini, Treasurer Kim Miller, and member-at-large Joe Engleman. All three will be serving their first term.
This meeting also marked the first meeting with Nica Eaton-Guinn as the part-time summer minister. She will continue meeting with the Board in July and August.
The Board was given an orientation where the consent agenda was defined, the statement of responsibilities read, and the finance reports explained.
The consent agenda (consisting of a variety of written reports reviewed by board members in advance of the meeting) was passed, but the finance reports will be moved to the discussion agenda starting with the July Board meeting. New members are Michael and Eileen McCormick. Membership total now stands at 335. The Board will be working on becoming more transparent with the budget and offering real-time updates.
The Board approved the appointment of Margot Page to serve on the Committee on Ministry. She is an addition to the committee.
The Board confirmed the appointment of Charles Haskell for a third two-year term as editor-in-chief of the UU Santa Monica newsletter.
UU Santa Monica delegates for the upcoming General Assembly in Portland, Oregon from June 24 to 28 will be Abby Arnold, Peggy Rhoads, Rick Rhoads, Amy Brunell, Roberta Frye, Barbara Gibbs, and Patricia Wright. The alternate delegate will be Alan Brunell. Other attendees from our church include Joanne Brownlie, Beth Brownlie, Karen Canady, Nica Eaton-Guinn, Dan Patterson, James Witker, Kim Santiago-Kalmanson, Nalani Santiago-Kalmanson, Ned Wright, and eight members of YRUU. A worship service will be conducted by GA attendees on August 9.
The Board is working on a survey that will allow members of the congregation to voice their opinions of the church in an anonymous manner.
— Leonard Cachola
RE News:
From Our DRE:
Adapting to the Realities of Family Life
The congregational ministry theme for the month of July is CREATIVITY. This is certainly a season of creative thinking in the RE program at UU Santa Monica — we are busy launching this summer’s classes as well as crafting curricula and planning our structure for the 2015-16 program year. We will be trying out something new next year, as I continue to believe that we (along with the vast majority of other congregations) are experiencing a broad shift in the way that members participate in church life, with more sporadic attendance across the board (regularly attending families generally come 1 to 2 times per month, rather than 3 to 4 as once was typical) and reduced availability of volunteers to take on significant preparation and leadership roles. I look forward to continuing to adapt our programs and our ministry to families in a way that takes into account the realities of family life in 2015, and makes good use of the time and talent of our members. In the next year, we will be differentiating our 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. RE programs more fully than in the past, with age-specific classes for all ages at 9 a.m. At 11 a.m. we will launch a multi-age, experiential workshop-based program, as well as offering our special opt-in programs including Our Whole Lives, Coming of Age, and more. This will expand the range of opportunities for young people in our church community, and will bring new vibrancy to our 11 a.m. program.
In the meantime, we have an invitation for you to help you flex your own creative muscles: join us in our “Wonder-Full Summer” RE program as our children put their hands to work each Sunday in celebration of our seventh UU principle, which calls us to “respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” We can always use an extra helping hand! Here’s what we have in store for elementary and middle schoolers in July and August:
July 6 – Sun Print Art (Sun)
July 13 – Seed Mandalas (Nature)
July 20 – Leaf Print Altar Cloths (Nature)
July 27 – Oxygen Experiments (Air)
August 3 – Recycled Material Kite-Making (Air/Conservation)
August 10 – Terrarium Crafts (Nature)
August 17 – Beach Cleanup (Earth/Conservation)
August 24 – Recycled Wind Chimes (Air/Conservation)
August 31 – Sand Clay Crafts (Earth)
While the big kids are getting crafty with nature, preschoolers will explore “The Senses.” I hope to see many of you at church on Sundays this summer — let’s celebrate “being you and being UU” together!
— Catherine Farmer Loya
It’s a WonderFull Summer in RE!
Summer is a time when we sometimes look to explore new things, when things may slow down or, if you have children, when the schedule just changes! In RE this summer, all of these are true. Starting on June 21, and continuing through August 13, we will have only one service on Sundays at 10 a.m. Our two RE youth groups take a break in the summer: the high school group, YRUU, and Coming of Age. But all other children from babies through 7th graders are welcome to enjoy our RE Summer programming. Here’s what’s happening:
For babies and toddlers, the nursery is open and welcoming from 9:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
For pre-schoolers, including those children who will enter Kindergarten this fall, we will have a fun curriculum called “Our Senses.” We will spend the summer learning about and experimenting with our seven senses. (What? You thought there were only five senses? Drop by the Pre-School room this summer to find out about the other two.)
For children who finished Kindergarten in June through 7th graders: We invite you to join us in the Cottage every Sunday for “A Wonder-Full Summer.” Each Sunday children will have the chance to celebrate the natural world and our connection with it in a fun, relaxed way. This may include building a terrarium, creating sand clay sculptures, or making prints using various vegetables. We also plan to have a Social Justice Sunday Beach Clean-Up Day.
For adults who are interested in a one-time opportunity to volunteer in RE this summer: Do you have a “Wonder-Full” activity that you would like to share with the children of our UU community? Summer is a great time to do this. You can also volunteer on a Sunday and we can give you a complete lesson plan. Just want to assist? That’s great too! Summer is a also a good time to get your feet wet working with our children. If you’re interested, just ask Catherine Farmer Loya, or go to the RE table in Forbes Hall after a Sunday service.
— Sabina Mayo-Smith
Music News:
From Our Director of Music:
Summer HymnSing
Our annual HymnSing series will take place for an hour on the following Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.: July 2, July 9, and July 16. We will use this time to continue to journey through our hymnals, both with singing and light discussion. We will meet in Forbes Room #2.
— DeReau K. Farrar, Director of Music