Getting Involved Sunday

Have you heard about or noticedgroups and committees at thechurch but know nothing aboutthem? How many of the approximately 50groups and committees at UUCCSM canyou name? To help match interests andopportunities, the Membership and LeadershipCommittee has scheduled Sunday,October 15, as "Getting Involved Sunday."On that day, after both services, a significantnumber of groups and committeeswill have a representative at a table in thecourtyard or in Forbes Hall. Ideally, thiswill become an annual event at whichnewer members in particular can meetothers who are involved in a specific areaor areas, expand their knowledge of peopleand activities, and maybe find a new nichein our community. If you want to start anew group or committee, contact thecoordinator of this event, Rob Briner, to reserve a spot at"Getting Involved Sunday."

Highlight Sunday, October 15, on yourcalendar and allow some extra time forconversation and making new friends.

- Rob Briner

 

Taking Stock, Looking Forward

In September it's hard to discount the"back to school" excitement or ignore thechanging of the seasons. As the daysbegin to shorten, I find it hard not to look atmy life, my family, my community, the largerworld...and take stock. I acknowledge myseemingly insignificant position in thelarger, tumultuous universe. But I don't lethopelessness overtake me. I still havevisions for the future.

It turns out it's not just "back-to-school"time. We're also entering the season for ourannual pledge drive at the church. As we do,it's important to take stock of our congregationand look forward.

But first, a look back: we had a fantasticpledge drive last fall. With your increasedcommitments and the approval of our newfiscal-year budget, we've become a strongercongregation. In an effort to become morewelcoming, newcomers and members arenow treated to coffee and tea after service.Sermons are distributed free so we can morebroadly share the good news of our faith.Lifetime Religious Education offerings arebeing expanded to support our free andresponsible search for truth and meaning.We're now distributing 25% of our weeklyoffering to community organizations workingfor human rights, social justice, the environmentand other values that reflect ourprinciples. And we've begun paying our ownstaff the "living wage" we've clamored forover the years for Santa Monica hotel andhospitality workers. Good for the people inour community for advocating these importantchanges, and good for the congregationfor supporting them.

Now, let's look forward. Across the congregationI hear rallying cries for increasedinvestment in our spiritual development. Weare here because we want to learn how tolive our lives caring for one another, to practicecompassion in community, to bandtogether with others to make our calls forsocial justice heard. But we don't developour skills in a vacuum. We need programsand people to support us.

Leadership is now considering how best toinstitutionally support these desires. Agroup of people interested in long rangeplanning are trying to help guide the processand figure out the resources we need to getthere from here. In the coming months,many specific ideas will bubble up. We'llconsider them democratically. We'll planstrategically. We'll be asked to supportsome...financially and otherwise.

You'll be asked to commit to the communityagain with a pledge for the coming year. Hopefully,you'll take one step closer to 5% of yourincome-that most meaningful number that surpassesyour budget for entertainment but doesn'tquite match your rent-to support your (and our)continued transformation.

I hope you will participate in the process.When you do, you cannot help but bechanged for the better.

In faith,
Jacki Weber

 

What I Did on My Summer Vacation...or Adventures at GA

This year I had a chance to go to my third GeneralAssembly (GA) in St Louis. For those whohaven't been, they are enormous fun-full ofworship services with thousands of UUs, lots ofgreat music, a staggering number of workshopsto choose from, and an exhibit hall full of UUstuff. Next June will be in Portland, OR, and Ireally recommend attending. More informationcan be found on the UUA website (uua.org) andin our UU Worldmagazine.

At GA we also conduct the business of ournational body at plenary sessions. It often feelswe UUs are a small voice in some very troublingtimes both nationally and internationally. Wedo have ways to be heard collectively throughour offices at the UN, in Washington DC andSacramento. It is decided at the plenary sessions,through our delegates, what directionswe want to take together on these larger stages.Much important work has begun and here iswhat is already happening at our SM congregation:

Ministry to and with Youth: Did you knowover 90% of our youth leave our faith once theygraduate from high school, and do not return?Most of our current youth identify themselvesas UUs but do not consider the church theirspiritual home. This is not a problem for thefuture of our faith alone, but it shows we arefailing our youth. What can be done? Congregationsthroughout the country are looking atthis important issue. Our RE program will be8 SEPTEMBERworking on this problem now, and more will beforthcoming. We hope the entire congregationcan get involved-we are all stakeholders.

Anti Discrimination/Oppression is animportant topic that the YRUU teens have beenstudying for many years. The truth is, people ofcolor do not feel at home in our churches. Arewe really as welcoming as we say we are? Westill have a lot to learn and a long way to go.The plenary body made a pledge to our youththat every congregation will do something thisyear on this subject. Our Adult RE program willbe offering workshops on this to help everyonebetter understand. (As Stephen Colbert said toJessie Jackson, "So what are you doing now thatracism has ended?")

Statement of Conscience (Global Warming),Study/Action Issue (Moral Values in a PluralisticSociety), and Actions of Immediate Witnesswere discussed and voted on by the GA delegatesin the plenary sessions. We now takethese issues to our congregations to work on.Our Faith in Action committee will be lookingat GA results and setting a course of action.(The committee can also explain the somewhatcomplex categories and what they mean, too.)Everyone is welcome to participate in the September24 Faith in Action Issues Election.Before the next GA we will need to review thenext set of issues, so our delegates can representus and vote on them.

Follow your passion. Get involved. Togetherwe can bend the world toward justice.

-- Karen Patch

 

FUUsion Forms Again at UUCCSM!

On July 9, FUUsion officially (re)launched as the group for 18-to35-year-oldsat UUCCSM. Longtime members and first-time visitors alike gathered at CloverPark for an afternoon picnic. We enjoyed the summer sun, met each other, andshared great vegetarian food.

FUUsion formed again in response to the many new members in the church whofall into that nebulous category between high school and middle age. I personallyhave found myself looking for other people like me: students and young professionalswho want to be social and share my commitment to UU principles. If you fallinto that category, this group is for you.

The FUUsion picnic kicked off with 11 people and our e-mail discussion grouphas quickly grown to 17 members. We're looking for more people to join ourgroup. We'd like to get to know you and welcome new ideas for activities. Asfall approaches, look for our events on the second Sunday of each month. OnSeptember 10, we're going hiking in Will Rogers State Park. On September 26,we'll attend the Santa Monica Drive-In screening of "An Inconvenient Truth."

If the group of these activities interest you, contact us. To keep everyonein the know, we've launched a Yahoo group. To join, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/grou/uuccsmya where you'll find upcoming events, other FUUsion members, and pictures of ouractivities. We hope you'll join us.

-- Robin Lowney Lankton, FUUsion Coordinator