Calendar of upcoming events:

Saturday, 12/8
            COA/YRUU Event Night – Ice Skating at Santa Monica ICE, 7-9pm
Sunday, 12/9
            Holiday Craft Party & Second Sunday Supper, 4-7pm (see announcement below)
Sunday, 12/16
            Mandatory Parent Orientation (Part 2) for Jr. High O.W.L., 12:30-3:30
            Youth Leadership Team meets, 11:15-12:15
Saturday, 12/22
            Friendly Beasts Pageant Rehearsal
Sunday, 12/23
            Winter Holiday Pageant
Sunday, 12/24
            Christmas Eve Services, 6 & 8 pm

Volunteer Opportunities:

Pageant Helpers Needed:  Would you like to help us put on our Winter Holiday Pageant on December 23rd?  We’re doing a brand new Solstice & Christmas pageant this year.  There are lots of ways to help!

Stage Managers/Prop Runners:  These helpers are needed during the pageant itself (for both services if possible) as well as for a run-through rehearsal with the narrators on Saturday the 22nd from 10:30-noon.  You’d be supplied with a special script that tells you just when to throw costumes on the volunteers we send out to you, and when to send them on stage to play their parts.

Wise People/Camels (Toddlers and Parents):  Sign up now to be this year’s Wise People and Camels!  We have wonderful costumes which magically transform parents into camels, and toddlers (riding on their parents’ shoulders) into the Three Wise Men.  If you have a child in the nursery who is old enough to ride on your shoulders, and would like to participate in one or both services, please let me know asap!

If you would like to be part of our team of helpers, contact Catherine (310-829-5436 x105 or Catherine@uusm.org) to volunteer.  Let’s make this a pageant to remember!

This Week in RE:

·         Preschool-Kindergarten: “How Many Days Until Christmas?” This week our preschool class begins an exploration of winter holidays from different traditions with advent that the Christmas story.  Meets in the NW room of the cottage.

·         1st-2nd Grade (Spirit Seekers):  “The Carrot Seed” This week our 1st-2nd graders will continue to explore this month’s ministry theme – Faith – with a special story about a young boy and a carrot, as well as a special “seed mosaic” project.  Meets in the SE room of the cottage.

·         3rd-5th Grade:  “We Are All Star Stuff” This week we’ll continue with the second week of a three-week unit which explores the building blocks of all that exists and celebrates the connection between our own bodies and the rest of the universe.  Be on the lookout for an invitation coming soon to participate in a special star-gazing party on December 22nd, hosted by the UUniverse Story teaching team!  Meets in the mural room at the end of the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall.

·         6th-7th Grade (Compass Points): “What Would Jesus Do?” This week we’ll engage one o the sources of our UU faith – our Christian heritage – as we explore what we already know and understand about Jesus and where this information comes from.  We’ll examine the ideas which are attributed to Jesus and attempt to determine whether he really said them or not (with help from the work of the Jesus Seminar) and will think about what Jesus’ actions might have been, based on what he’s believed to have actually said.  What value might the teachings of Jesus hold for modern-day Unitarian Universalists?  Meets in Room 3, the third room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall.

·         8th Grade (Coming of Age) – 9:00 only:  This Sunday in Coming of Age we’ll explore the weighty concepts of suffering and meaning with a variety of exercises and reflections.  Meets in Room 2, the second room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall.

·         9th-12th Grade (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists) – 9:00 only: This Sunday the members of the Youth Leadership Team will lead the YRUU group in a process to vote on this year’s “big trip” – General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, a Service Trip to New Orleans, or a UU Heritage Trip to Boston!  Meets in Room 1, the first room at the top of the stairs above Forbes Hall.

Announcements:

THIS SUNDAY Holiday Party & Second Sunday Supper 12/9: All at UUCCSM are invited by the Lifespan RE Committee to join us for a very special 2nd Sunday Supper on December 9th from 4-7pm. Bring the whole family, and join us for holiday games and crafts (play dreidel games, light the menorah, and make your own holiday wrapping paper) at 4pm, and then at 6pm we'll have dinner. Lasagnas will be provided (meat, veggie, vegan). Please bring a main or side dish, desserts and/or beverages, as you're able. In honor of Hanukkah, bring your menorah and dreidels if you have them.  Don't miss this special opportunity for fun and fellowship with UUCCSM friends of all ages!

NEW Friendly Beasts Update: A dress rehearsal for all Beasts (pre-K – 5th graders) will occur Saturday, Dec. 22, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary.  We’ll need parent/teacher help in supervising/entertaining/feeding kids on Pageant day, Dec. 23.  Arrival time on the 23rd is 8:15 a.m. For more info, contact Kris at klangabeer@gmail.com or 310-396-5905.

NEW Common Ground Donation Tally:  Our hygiene kit and donation project last month was a huge success!  Thank you to all who donated items for our collection, all of our Preschool-5th graders and YRUU youth who participated in the project.  They did a GREAT job – they created 127 hygiene kits to give to homeless teens served by Common Ground!  And we also have many “warm things” donated including nearly 50 jackets and sweaters and more than 100 pairs of socks.  WOW!  We’ll be needing some help next week to deliver all of the donations to Common Ground; we’re waiting to hear from them when they’d like us to come, but it will likely be during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  Be on the lookout for a call for help – we need several vehicles to transport everything!

Sr. High Youth Camp at de Benneville Pines – Registration Still Open:  Youth are encouraged to head to Camp de Benneville Pines this winter for a camp experience like no other!

·         Sr. High Camp is Dec. 27-Jen. 2, and the theme for this year is “Camp ApUUcalypse.”  Live like you're dying at Camp ApUUcalypse, a winter weekend of survival and growth!  Master the art of zombie fighting. Finish off your bucket list. Come for new friends, laughter and an awesome UU experience! And even if the world does end, then what could be a better send-off than a weekend with our fabulous district-wide youth community? All the traditional workshops will be available during the week, as well as new activities, so we will have fun up until the moment of doom!  For registration online and more info, visit http://www.uucamp.org/camps/2013/PSWD/srhigh_winter/SrHWinter2013.html.

RE Books Wish List on Amazon:  Another arm of the “master wish list” for the RE program, is an Amazon Wishlist of books and supplies that will be useful in RE classes this year or that will be valuable resources for teachers & families in our church.  We do have some money earmarked for purchases, but we are running on a tight RE budget, and donations are happily accepted.  If you’d like to help out by donating to the program, check out the Amazon list at http://tinyurl.com/rewishlist.  (Used books in “good” condition are just fine!)  THANK YOU to the members who have already sent books or other supplies our way – they are so appreciated!

UU Everyday (resources and ideas for practicing your UU values at home):

Chalice Lighting Words of the Week (December’s Theme – FAITH):

December 9:
As we celebrate life together, let us seek harmony within ourselves, with one another and the world, and find  our lives uplifted and made whole.
-- Maryell Cleary

For the 2012-13 church year we’re trying out a new way of living as one lifespan religious community: congregation-wide ministry themes.  Each month we’ll explore a new theme, and in December our theme is FAITH.  The chalice lightings shared here will be used in all of our RE classes, and I hope that your family will also share it at home during the week.  I’m tickled by the idea of all of our UUCCSM families sharing a reflection in common each week as we go about our daily lives.

At-Home Activities to Reinforce this month’s theme of FAITH:

Hannukah – begins the evening of Saturday, December 8
From the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s CLiF Notes curriculum, available to be shared with UUCCSM members through a congregational subscription.

Supplies Needed: Dreidel pattern, poster board, markers, crayons, scissors, peanuts and raisins (or something else small and plentiful, like M&Ms, pennies, etc.)

Chalice Lighting:
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
--Albert Schweitzer

Check in: See week one.

Centering:
Light first two (purple) candles of advent wreath. Share the following reading—it works well with a series of readers if you have several people.

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.

Have participants share or write on the greed advent wreath hands, one thing that they can do to make the world (city, neighborhood, home, heart) a more peaceful place.

Story and Project
See http://www.uua.org/clf/betweensundays/earlychildhood/Hannukah1.html
(note: if you have a hard time getting your homemade dreidel to spin, you can try inserting a shortish sharpened pencil through the top hole, so that the point of the pencil pokes through the bottom.

Discussion
Do you think miracles really happen? If so, what? Do you think a miracle has to be something that breaks the laws of nature, or could something be miraculous if it just seems amazing and wonderful? Can you think of anything you’ve see that you would can a miracle by the second definition?

Closing
Sing Si Vi Von

Si vi von, sov sov sov
Chanukkah hu hag tov
Chanukkah hu hag tov
Si vi von, sov sov sov

Nes gadol haya sham
Chanukkah hu la am
Chanukkah hu la am
Nes gadol haya sham

Note: A “sivivon” is a dreidel. “Nes gadol haya sham” means “A great miracle happened there.” The Hebrew letters on the dreidel stand for this phrase.

For tune go here.

Advent
From the Church of the Larger Fellowship’s CLiF Notes curriculum, available to be shared with UUCCSM members through a congregational subscription.

Supplies Needed: Depends on method chosen for making advent wreath, but will include three purple and one rose/pink candles. See project section for details. Green construction paper, scissors. Optional: construction paper, stamps or markers, scissors, glue sticks.

Chalice Lighting:

In this time of the longest night,
We offer up our little light.
May hope and peace and joy be found,
And love be felt the whole world round.

or

We are Unitarian Universalists (shape hands fingers up to form two “Us”)
This is the home of the open mind (touch fingers to forehead and open out)
This is the home of the flaming chalice that lights our way to truth. (cup hands thumbs out and hold up)
This is the home of the loving heart (fold hands over heart)
This is the home of the helping hands (hold hands out)
Together we care for our earth
And work for peace in our world. (join hands amongst the group)

Or, for older kids:

In the freedom of truth
and the love of justice
We bring all that we are
to shape what we yet can be.

Check in

You may wish to start this check-in time with the words “We are a family (or community). What touches one of us touches all of us, and so we take this time to listen to each person remember and share one thing from the past week that made a difference in their life – something that made them happy, or sad, or proud or sorry or grateful.

Centering

Sit in silence looking at the light from the chalice candle. Imagine that light spreading so that it fills your whole body. Now imagine that light filling the whole room. In your mind’s eye see the light spreading to fill the building, then the city, the country and the whole world – a world filled with the light of hope and peace and joy and love. Place your hands flat on the ground, and imagine that light going back into the earth, becoming part of the molten core of our planet.

Advent

How do you feel about waiting? (Get answers)

For most people, waiting is just something you struggle to get through until you reach the good part—whatever it is you were waiting for. Which is why it seems kind of surprising that this season brings us a month-long holiday which is all about waiting. It’s called Advent, and in the Christian church, especially the Roman Catholic church, Advent is celebrated as the time of waiting for Christmas.

Weird, right? Why would you have a holiday about waiting for a holiday? Especially when people really hate waiting? I think to understand Advent, you have to think about waiting in a different kind of way. Usually we think about waiting as being like waiting in line for a roller coaster at the amusement park. You inch forward, trying to look up ahead to see when you’re going to get there and what it’s going to be like, feeling a little bit excited and a little bit scared and maybe a lot bored. But I think the waiting that is celebrated during Advent is more like waiting for a baby to be born—which makes sense, since Advent is about looking toward the birth of the baby Jesus at Christmas.

When a family is waiting for a baby to be born, they know there is no way to rush the process—if all goes well, a baby is going to take about nine months to be ready to come out, and that’s just what you expect. And you don’t necessarily want to rush the process, because there’s so much to do to get ready. You might get a special room prepared for the baby, with a crib and decorations that a little one would enjoy. You would want to get diapers, and baby clothes, and a baby bath and a car seat and a stroller and baby toys and…well, there seems to be a lot of stuff that goes with babies. But at the same time that you’re getting all the things ready, there’s a lot of getting ready inside yourself that goes on. You might spend a lot of time daydreaming, imagining what it’s going to be like to be a parent or a brother or sister. You might need time to talk about ways that you are afraid that things are going to change, and to imagine the fun things you’ll do together as the baby grows up. You might even start thinking about big stuff like what kind of world this baby is going to be born into, and how you could make it a safer or kinder or more beautiful place for this new person to live in.

The waiting that is the Advent holiday is that kind of waiting—a kind of paying attention, a kind of getting ready for the baby Jesus who grew up to teach people about love and generosity and forgiveness and justice. Which is why, like many Christian families this time of year, we’re going to try the practice of lighting the candles of the Advent wreath. Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas—today--and each of those Sundays has a special candle that sits inside a wreath of greenery. There are three purple candles, and one rose (or pink) one. The first Sunday of Advent you light the first candle, which stands for Hope, and you share readings or thoughts or prayers or reflections on the topic of hope. The second Sunday you light both the first (Hope) candle, and the second purple candle, which stands for Peace, and you share on the topic of peace. The third Sunday you light the first two purple candles and then the rose candle, which stands for Joy, which would be the topic of your reflections. Then the fourth Sunday you light all the candles, including the third purple one, which stands for Love, and you share your thoughts or readings about love.

But first we need to make our advent wreath.

Project

Make an advent wreath—either one per kid or have everyone work together on creating an advent wreath for the family or group. You will find instructions how you can make an advent wreath here. Or decorate a shallow bundt pan by wrapping it with artificial garland, or have kids (with adult assistance) hot glue pinecones, ribbons, etc., or decorate with glitter glue. You can hot glue on real greenery, but it won’t stay fresh very long. Or just create a sort of nest of evergreen twigs which can be replaced as they dry out. Fill the bundt pan with sand, and add three purple and one pink taper candles.

Or, you could skip the greenery around the advent wreath in the traditional sense, and create it over the course of this month by having children trace their hand onto green construction paper and cut out the shape. You will need four hands per child. These green hands are set around the wreath as “greenery.” During this week’s closing time, and during the centering time for the subsequent three weeks, have each child write something on a hand related to that week’s Advent theme. For instance, during today’s closing you would have them write or draw something that makes them feel hopeful.

If you have time you could also make advent calendars by putting 22 very small pictures (drawn or put on with rubber stamps) on a sheet of construction paper or posterboard. Put a second piece of paper or posterboard over the top and mark where the pictures are. Cut flaps that can reveal the pictures, and label the flaps 1-22. Decorate the top sheet, then glue to the bottom sheet, making sure that there is no glue where the pictures are, so that the flaps can open. Then you are set to open one “door” each day through Christmas.

Discussion

Is there anything good about waiting? What things do you think are worth waiting for?

Closing

Light advent wreath candle #1. Share one of the following readings about Hope (or use something else of your choosing).

“I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day ‘every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight….’

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., from his “I Have a Dream” speech

Hope    
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
--Emily Dickinson

This Week in UU History: (From This Day in Unitarian Universalist History, by Frank Schulman)

December 9, 1608:  The celebrated poet John Milton was born in Cheapside, England.  He was a devout Puritan who was influential in Oliver Cromwell’s government (the Protectorate) after the death of King Charles I in 1649.  Milton is remembered primarily as the author of Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Aereopagitica.  In his lifetime, he attracted notoriety for publishing a call for divorce on the basis of irreconcilable differences to be legalized.  Milton’s Treatise on Christian Doctrine, published posthumously, affirmed his Unitarian beliefs.  He died on November 8, 1674.

December 9, 1667:  William Whiston was born in Norton, Leicestershire, England.  Known as “honest Will Whiston,” he took holy orders in the Church of England but did not agree with the 39 Articles of Religion.  He resigned his church in Lowestoft to work with Sir Isaac Newton, professor of mathematics at Cambridge University.  Whiston innovated the technique of lecturing and demonstrating experiments simultaneously.  He succeeded Newton at Cambridge, but was later expelled because of his Unitarian views, particularly those expressed in his five volumes of Primitive Christianity Revived.  Whiston lectured on scientific and religious subjects and founded the Society for Promoting Primitive Christianity.  His translation of Josephus, despite some later corrections, remains the standard one.  He died on August 22, 1752.

December 10, 1741: John Murray, the founder of modern Universalism, was born in Alton, England.  Many historians say that Universalism in America began when Murray’s boat from England ran aground at Cranberry Inlet, New Jersey, in 1770.  There he met Thomas Potter, who believed God sent Murray to preach Universalism in his family chapel, which he had built in 1760.  There is evidence that the Independent Christian Church (Universalist) of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was first gathered in 1774, meeting in people’s homes.  In 1793, Murray moved to Boston and stayed there as minister until his death.  He was known as an eloquent preacher.  During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington appointed Murray chaplain to the Rhode Island Brigade.  His second wife, Judith Sargent Stevens Murray, helped him write his autobiography, which has gone through many editions.  He died on September 3, 1815, at the age of 74.

December 10, 1952:  Caroline Veatch signed the legal instrument that granted half the royalties of the North European Oil Corporation to the North Shore Unitarian Society (now known as Shelter Rock) after her death.  Successor arrangements by this congregation have made this bequest a major source of funding for the Unitarian Universalist Association.

December 11, 1823:  William Farwell died at the age of 74.  He converted to Universalism as early as the late 1780’s in Charlestown, New Hampshire.  He was the first Universalist preacher in Vermont and a pacifist who was jailed for his principles during the Revolutionary War.  Farwell preached all over New England, but his greatest influence was in north and central Vermont.

December 12, 1654:  The British Parliament declared the Two-fold Catechism by John Biddle to be heretical and blasphemous and ordered its author imprisoned and all copies burned by the common hangman, signifying that its publication was a criminal offense.  The cause of Parliament’s objection was that the catechism was entirely Unitarian in theology, which violated the criminal laws of England at that time.

December 14, 1647:  The Presbyterian ministers of London, England, met at Sion College to protest the errors, heresies, and blasphemies of the time and to denounce toleration of such ideas.  They were objecting to the growing influence of Unitarian beliefs on English Presbyterians.