December, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

Hurry, hurry, hurry! The holidays are almost upon us, it’s almost the end of the year, and there’s so much to get done, there’s no time to sit around doing nothing.

Don’t we all feel this way sometimes? Our pageant this year, in fact, features someone like that, someone who was so busy with little things that she missed out on something big. I’m certainly guilty of “busy-think” myself, especially this year for some reason. And it’s an exhausting way to live.

So I’m taking some time this month to take a few deep breaths, literally and figuratively, and remember how to slow down, how to appreciate the time that I have. (And our friend Befana will make some discoveries of her own in our holiday pageant in a few weeks.) A lovely poem by Gunilla Norris that I encountered recently speaks of each moment as a threshold moment, in an unending series of moments. Norris writes, “Help me appreciate how awesome this is/ How many are the chances to be really alive/ . . . to be aware of the enormous dimension we live within.” Yes! We are engaged, in every moment, in the act of becoming—what will we choose to be? How will this moment help us become who we will be tomorrow? May we not be so focused on what is coming that we forget that the only opportunity for action comes in the present, moment by moment, as it arrives.

May we all find much time for joy (and rest) in this holiday season.

— Catherine Farmer

Friendly Beasts Information is Updated

The Friendly Beasts, preschoolers through fifth graders, will continue their rehearsals of “The Friendly Beasts Song” for the holiday pageant, which will occur December 18 at both services. The rehearsal schedule:

Dec. 4: K–5—beginning of RE Worship Sunday; preschoolers after worship rehearsal

Dec. 11: Group rehearsal in mural room for all at beginning of RE

Dec. 17: Saturday dress rehearsal in sanctuary (9:30 a.m. to around 10:15 a.m.)

Dec. 18: Pageant! (both services; please arrive at 8:15 a.m.)

We realize that pageant day is a long one for the children, so please contact me (klangabeer@mednet.ucla.edu) if you can help by:

• Supervising the children and providing crafts and games (especially between services and during the second service, when they’ll be in the mural room until they sing), 
• Bringing food for between the services (small sandwiches, bagels, cream cheese, muffins, crackers, cheese, cut vegetables and fruit, juice, etc.), or 
• Compiling paper activities (we have packets from previous years that you could build upon) and bagged crayon sets for during the first service.

Ideally, we would like all children to sing at both services on pageant Sunday, but if your child can sing at only one service, please let me know. Here’s to another great pageant.

— Kris Langabeer

Our RE Star for December: Mel Horan

The RE program has benefited enormously from the talents of Mel Horan, this month’s RE star. If you’ve ever attended the UNICEF carnival, you have seen some of Mel’s artistic handiwork—Mel created the many booths we use during our Halloween fundraiser. Several years ago, following careful research, Mel also spearheaded the effort to acquire the wonderful play structure in our side yard (and trust us, it was a MAJOR improvement for our little ones).

As a classroom teacher, Mel has led the 11 a.m. kindergarten/first grade class assisted by his son, Tycho. In addition, Mel put enormous time and energy into the Coming of Age program as an advisor this past year. In many fun, silly, and warmhearted ways, Mel has always shown a deep love and respect for children. Of all his many gifts, perhaps the best is this ability to truly understand life from the point of view of a young person.

For this and for all he has given to RE, we honor Mel this month (and he makes a mean pizza, too!)

November, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

Years ago, a friend gave me a scrap of paper bearing a fortune he told me he’d found in a restaurant fortune cookie. It said: “Optimism: a cheerful frame of mind that enables a tea kettle to sing though in hot water up to its nose.” Though it was more a definition than a fortune, I kept it, and have recently found myself returning to the same sentiment, though in slightly different form: “A great part of the art of living lies in learning how to scramble gracefully.”

Who can say but that the greatest educational moments arrive unexpectedly? I’ve learned this over and over again working in religious education. An activity in a Sunday RE lesson isn’t working quite the way we wanted? Great – let’s find something better, in 10 seconds or less. Got a whole lesson planned and ready, and a kid comes in with something really important on her mind that she needs to share with the group? Fine – let’s put the lesson on hold for now and build a new one around the more immediate topic at hand. This is certainly not to say that it’s OK to dispense with planning – you might end up in hot water far past your nose if you did that – but it does mean that it’s a good idea to be able to think on your feet when the need arises.

One of the great things about Unitarian Universalism is that it’s all right not to have all the answers. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s better than having all the answers. If a child asks you a theological question that catches you unprepared, it’s fine to say that you don’t know but have some ideas to share, and it’s always great to ask the child what he or she thinks. You’ll probably be amazed by what you hear. And that’s what religious education is all about – engaging children and youth (and adults too) in finding out for themselves who they are and why they’re here, or in other words, finding their own faith and then living it. Isn’t that why we’re all here? Remember, religious education spans a lifetime. I hope I never feel that I’ve figured it all out – retaining a childlike sense of wonder at all the new things the world has to offer is something I take very seriously. My list of things to learn grows and grows, and that’s just the way I want it.

My second favorite fortune cookie reads: “You will be greatly admired by your pears.” Who needs fame and fortune when you’ve got the produce vote? I pull that one out again when I feel I’m beginning to take myself too seriously; as another friend used to say, “Fruit is always funny!”

— Catherine Farmer

"Friendly Beasts" Rehearsal Schedule

Once again, our preschool through elementary-aged children will sing “The Friendly Beasts” song at our holiday pageant on Sunday, December 18, at both services.

As in years past, all involved children will sing the first and last verses of the song. Small groups of children will sing the middle five verses, dressed in a costume appropriate to the animal speaking in that verse (brown donkey, red and white cow, dog, dove, and mouse).

We have a few costumes from previous pageants, but parents are encouraged to create their child’s costume (don’t panic—we have easy suggestions). Older kids who don’t want to dress as an animal but do want to sing are welcome to be shepherds.

The children pick which animal they want to be, but generally, the preschoolers sing the mice verse.

Religious Exploration teachers, please note: I will lead Sunday rehearsals (about 10 minutes long) that will occur in the RE classrooms during both services. Below is the rehearsal schedule:

Nov. 13 - Preschooler at RE beginning 
Nov. 20 - Preschoolers at RE beginning K-5 10 minutes each classroom
Nov. 28 - Preschoolers 10 minutes during class K-5 10 minutes during class 
Dec. 4 - K-5 beginning of RE Worship Sunday Preschoolers after Worship rehearsal
Dec. 11 - Group rehearsal in mural room for all at RE beginning 
Dec. 17 - Morning dress rehearsal in sanctuary from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. 
Dec. 18 - Pageant! (both services)

Call or e-mail me with questions. I look forward to working with your friendly beasts once again this year.

— Kris Langabeer

Our RE Star for November: Karen Canady

Mom’s lasagna? Delectable desserts? Karen Canady has hosted some of the yummiest Dining for Dollars events ever. However, this month we honor her for her many contributions to RE. As a dedicated parent to Adam and Noah, Karen volunteered early on to become an RE classroom teacher and for a number of years has teamed up with Beverly Alison in the second and third grade 9 a.m. class. This past winter and spring she also generously spent her Sunday afternoons teaching junior high OWL, the 14- week UU sexuality education course for 13 and 14 year olds, arguably one of the most valuable educational endeavors of the RE program. For her quiet and confident manner, her dedication to our kids, and her volunteer spirit, we have chosen Karen Canady as this month’s RE star.

October, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

In the RE teacher orientation on September 10, we spent some time talking about what it means to create a radically welcoming classroom: a classroom where every teacher, every child, every person in the room feels deeply committed to creating a welcoming, supportive place for all who enter. A subset of the conversation centered around ways we create an intentionally welcoming environment for children with special needs, which is important in its own right. But the larger question is the one that most tickles my fancy. I sense that if we did this well, the other would fall into place as a matter of course. So how do we create a classroom (a program, a church, a world …) in which everyone, regardless of their particular needs, their learning styles, their quirks, their likes and dislikes, is celebrated as a uniquely valuable member of the group? What are the ways we welcome people when they first arrive that invite them to become members of the group, and what do we do to foster the commitment of every individual to sustain that welcome throughout the year?

We Unitarian Universalists, particularly on the Unitarian side of our heritage, have placed particular emphasis on reason and individual freedom of belief and practice, sometimes at the expense of recognizing our individual role in the creation of caring community. But it seems to me that the community is what is most central. We could be exercising our individual freedom of belief and practice at home, but what makes us Unitarian Universalists is that we’ve recognized the value in being part of a community of people who hold these values in common. And I sense that the pendulum is beginning to swing in that direction, that more and more UUs in our church and beyond are beginning to recognize the value of creating a radical welcome in all areas of church life.

It calls for a culture shift, certainly. I look forward, for example, to the day when no visitor (or longtime member, for that matter) stands alone at coffee hour, waiting for someone to say “Hi.” It means inspiring every member of the congregation to feel viscerally that he or she has a personal stake in creating a community that welcomes everyone. It means fostering a deep awareness on the part of every member of where the circle has been drawn, and how to invite those left out of the circle to join in. I consider this our calling, as Unitarian Universalists in a world that tells people, in so many ways, that they aren’t good enough to be part of the group. Join us in creating the beloved community.

— Catherine Farmer

Our RE Star for October: Pam Teplitz

This month we honor a truly tireless volunteer, Pam Teplitz. Pam and her family have been members since 1990 and she has helped in countless ways during that time. She taught in RE for many, many years while both her sons, Daniel and Jordan, were growing up. She continues to help by arranging the monthly trips for 6th to 7th grade classes to other houses of worship as part of Our Neighboring Faiths curriculum. As a graphic designer, she has given that professional look to the monthly flyers for the youth events for years. She is always ready with something for a potluck dinner, ideas for a better program, pouring coffee, or being part of the newsletter team. She is quietly, behind the scenes, helping out. For this, we give our heartfelt thanks and make her RE Star of the month.

— Karen Patch

Third Annual Graham Jarvis Talent Show Features RE Students

Our Third Annual Graham Jarvis Talent Show on August 28 featured guitarist Tom Troccoli and and young people from our RE classes who showcased their talents in dancing, gymnastics, singing, magic, and piano...and raised $37 for the capital campaign fund. The talent show is named in honor of Graham Jarvis, longtime church member and actor (in among other shows, “Mary Hartman”) who taught RE preschool classes for many years and mentored many children and young people. He died three years ago. Graham was the first church school teacher of Ian Postel, who took these photos. Graham and Ian stayed friends for years, and Ian helps behind the scenes at the talent shows.

— Photos by Ian Postel

September, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

Welcome to the 2005-2006 church year. I can hardly believe it's September already. Time for the new year—more so at this time of year than in January, for many of us. And what a year it will be for us at UUCCSM. As Judith heads off for her sabbatical, we'll welcome Jim Grant as our weekend minister for the rest of 2005, and all signs point to beginning our building program well before the next church year rolls around. This year brings much that is new, and with it comes the chance for us to discover together new and exciting ways of being together, of doing church.

I'm also very excited about what this new year brings for our educational ministry to children and youth. As part of our continuing UU Principles focus in our children's programs, our elementary classes this fall will be exploring our Fourth Principle, "Free and responsible search for truth and meaning," in classes and on Worship Sundays together. Then in January we’ll kick off our brand new "winter intensive" program, Social Justice Month. In February, we'll return to our classroom and worship rotation, this time exploring our Fifth Principle, "The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process." And then in May, we'll head into our "spring intensive," Arts Month. This is the first year we're trying out this format, with a whole month each dedicated to Social Justice and the Arts. And I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Our church's high school program is expanding also, as we continue our very successful 11 a.m. YRUU youth group, and our monthly Youth Activities Committeesponsored social events, and add a new current-and-religious-issues-based program at 9 a.m. on Sundays.

Meanwhile, our preschoolers will be learning to honor themselves, their religious community, nature and cultures from around the world through the "We Are Many, We Are One" curriculum. In our continuing "Neighboring Faiths" class for sixth and seventh graders, we'll learn about, and then visit, a different religion's place of worship each month. This year's eighth graders will be encouraged to explore and articulate their personal beliefs within the context of our Unitarian Universalist faith in our Coming of Age program.

The first day of RE classes for 2005-06 will fall on Ingathering Sunday, September 11. We’ll begin RE registration on September 4; please make sure to register ALL children, youth, and babies in the nursery through high-schoolers, for this year's program.

Happy New Year!

— Catherine Farmer

Our RE Star: Joanie Wilk

This month we honor our resident master storyteller, Joanie Wilk. For a number of years, Joanie has provided solid support in our RE classes as well as during Worship and Social Justice Sundays. In fact, Joanie has quite possibly logged more hours in RE than almost any other volunteer. She assists in the activities and is a wonderful warm presence for our children. In addition to her storytelling skills, she has led yoga classes and provided childcare during church events. For the past few years at Camp de Benneville Pines, Joanie has organized the children (even the youngest) into an impressive act during the annual talent show at our June church weekend. For her ready smile, her warmth, her volunteer spirit and her willingness to jump in and be goofy with the kids, we honor her this month.

August, 2005

RE Shining Star: Stanley Johnson

Stanley Johnston, this month’s RE star, has taught a variety of ages in the RE program at 9 a.m., including an innovative seventh grade class which captured the kids’ interest by exploring spiritual messages from a popular TV show, "The Simpsons." Stanley is also a longtime member of the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education team and was one of the teachers in our first OWL class for eighth and ninth graders. The kids continued to meet for many months after the curriculum was finished, simply because they felt the group experience was so valuable. Stanley is one of those people who genuinely loves our kids and seems to find and nurture their best selves. For the gentle, kind, and warm man he is, we honor him this month.

July, 2005

RE Shining Star: Liza Cranis

From the youngest of our children in the Superfriends class (3 to 5 year olds) to the oldest in YRUU (senior high school), kids of all ages know that Liza Cranis has been an incredibly dedicated RE teacher. One of Liza’s greatest strengths is the way she identifies so closely with the age group she’s working with. Her offbeat humor (remember the wonderful Halloween cow costume with an udder?) and her warm and nurturing acceptance make her a hit with all ages. Whether decorating the classroom in a bright and cheerful way, writing a monthly newsletter to each child in the class, or listening really carefully to what you have to say, Liza has a knack for making each young person feel special. For the many ways Liza makes all of us in RE feel special, we honor her this month as our R E Shining Star.

RE Sunday

Religious Exploration Sunday was on June 5. Each grade level participated, giving the congregation an insight to its program. The morning concluded with a ceremony and thanks for the volunteers.

June, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

Summer is so close—I can almost feel the warm summer breezes, the hot summer sun beating down on me. But wait: There is still so much to think about before summer really arrives. The RE Council and I have been busy planning our program for next fall. And we have a question for all of you: Have you had a chance to explore the UU principles lately?

It just so happens that kids in RE will be exploring the fourth and fifth UU Principles next year—the “Free and Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning” and “The Right of Conscience and the Use of the Democratic Process.” We also will offer, for the second year, the “Neighboring Faiths” comparative religions curriculum for 6th and 7th grades, “Coming of Age” for 8th grade, and our senior high YRUU youth group at 11 a.m., as well as a new addition to our youth program, a contemporary issues-based class offered at 9 a.m.

There is no better way to learn and live your UU principles than by learning with and teaching our youth and children. Presenting stories to them and listening to their efforts to interpret and understand can be a wonderful way to explore these issues and concepts for yourself. Without teachers, interesting curriculum is of no value. Over the next few weeks, we will be searching for more “RE Shining Stars” to help us create a vibrant RE program next year with our children and youth.

Think about how sad a place UUCCSM would be without our enthusiastic kids. Consider the wonderful energy there is in an intergenerational community (a model that is increasingly rare). Feel the warm arms of a child wrapped around you in a hug.

And we need you. To fully staff our fabulous programs, we’re looking for more than 50 members of our congregation to volunteer to teach for one to two Sundays per month, for the months of September to December and February to April. Teachers will have a break in January and May when we offer our new month-long “intensive” programs; namely, Social Justice in January and the Arts in May.

Think about it. Think about teaching RE. Then visit the RE table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour on Sundays this month to hear about our program in more detail and let us know how you’d like to be involved. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

— Catherine Farmer

RE Star for June: Celia Goetz

What makes a good RE teacher? Age and experience, you say? Five years ago, Celia Goetz was an eighth grader. That year, she and her brother, Noel, both volunteered to assist in the 11 a.m. kindergarten/ first grade class. Faithfully bringing juice and snacks and helping out with class activities, Celia and Noel became role models of youth participation in our church.

The following year, Celia and Noel became fullfledged members of the RE team, planning and leading their own lessons. As Noel grew busier in high school, Celia teamed up with her mother, Gretchen, and moved to the pre-school class. Celia’s smile, warmth, and nurturing ways have provided a welcoming first experience for the three-and-four-year-old RE children. Sad to say, Celia is graduating soon from Santa Monica High School and is heading off to UC Berkeley. We wish her well but will miss her quiet and stable presence in RE.

Congratulations and good luck, Celia!

May, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

We’ve just finished our program planning for next year in RE, and it looks great! I’m just so tickled with what we’ve planned that I decided I can’t wait to tell you about it.

Similar to our format last year, our focus will be on two of our Principles during the year, and will include lessons from published UU curricula, as well as from a rich variety of outside sources. For the first half of the year, we’ll explore the fourth Principle, “the free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” and then we’ll shift to the fifth Principle, “the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process.”

We will maintain the first Sunday of the month as Worship Sunday. We hope to integrate the children’s choir into Worship Sundays as song and celebration leaders, and each classroom will be in charge of one Worship Sunday during the year, starting with the oldest kids first (after, of course, the kickoff Worship Sunday which the adults organize and lead), with our fabulous children’s choir director available to provide support and resources.

During the remaining three Sundays per month, our Classroom Sundays will provide additional time for smaller age-specific classes to be together. Lessons will focus on Principles, and each will now include specific ideas for how to integrate the arts and social justice projects as well as tactile and active learning into the day’s plan.

Then comes the most exciting new part of our program — intensives. In January, instead of continuing our worship to classroom rotation, we will have a month-long Social Justice focus; members of the congregation with passion for and experience in various aspects of social justice work will be invited to create single or multi-week action projects for our program. Each week during the month, kids will have four or five projects to choose from, allowing us to really get indepth as we engage the kids in “putting hands and feet” on our UU Principles.

From February to April, we’ll go back to our worship– classroom rotation, for the second half of our program. But in May we’ll have our second intensive — Arts month. It’s the same concept as in January, only this time we recruit members to offer various arts projects to the kids: music, dance, painting, acting, videography, crafts, movement — you name it. The kids will choose which they want to take part in each week, and we’ll spend the whole month exploring our spirituality through making art together.

We’ve got a lot planned for the RE program next year, and we’re in the market for volunteers. Join us as we continue to celebrate “being you and being UU” with our children and youth.

— Catherine Farmer

Ross Altman Sings to RE Classes of Moses and Slavery

On April 3, folksinger Ross Altman brought his guitar, banjo, harmonica, and “SongFighter” presence upstairs to our First Sunday Children’s Worship. He gave an exciting explanation of how Moses saved his people from Pharaoh, and the children sang with him the rousing, “O, Mary, Don’t You Weep.” He told how this ancient tale has inspired many people, including Southern slaves who were led by Harriet Tubman and others to cross not the Red Sea but the Ohio River on the Underground Railroad. Ross then shared the mournful, “Let My People Go.” He pointed to images in our UU history mural in Room 4 to help him weave the story of freedom.

— Joyce Holmen

RE Star for May: Beverly Alison

One reason our RE kids love Beverly Alison so much is that they think she’s one of them. She greets and welcomes each new child with a warmth and affection that makes them glow. She’s not afraid to wear bunny ears, and if you’ve ever had the good fortune to visit her house, you might have seen the racks of dress-up clothes in her garage. Beverly is a very special person — her political activism, her community work, her willingness to host and/or cater events and provide lovely decorations — she is like the “Energizer Bunny,” always reaching out to someone in need.

Beverly has taught RE at the 9 a.m. service for over a decade and has been instrumental in all of our winter pageants. She is endlessly creative in her teaching ideas and shares them willingly with other teachers. We have many things to learn from Beverly, but it is her heart that has touched us the most.

April, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

In UU circles, “ritual” sometimes seems as if it has become a bad word. But it doesn’t need to be. I think that we, as Unitarian Universalists, have tended to associate ritual with dogma, and have lost something in the process of letting go of old ways and other faiths.

In my extended family, when we gather for meals, we always pause for a prayer before we eat. And though the theology in the prayer sometimes makes me squirm, I have always appreciated the practice of being mindful, in community, when we eat together. In some UU families, this means holding hands and sharing something that each person is thankful for that day. Or having a short meditation over words that remind us of the many people who made the meal possible. Lately I’m enamored with the idea of lighting a chalice at the table, and saying something like “May the food we eat help us build up strength to change the world.”

In RE classes, we like to bookend our lessons with classroom rituals that help us focus on our UU principles: light a chalice, say our covenant or sing a song, check in with one another and share something good that happened or something that illustrated one of the principles in our lives this week.

At the end of class time, we share a snack together, and a closing such as a “pass the squeeze” circle, or a reminder to take what we’ve learned out into the world with us. But for all that we do in our hour on Sunday mornings, how much stronger is our kids’ RE experience when it mirrors what is happening at home?

Our principle for the rest of this church year is Principle #3: Acceptance and encouragement to spiritual growth. Parents, as the primary religious educators of your kids, what can you do to reinforce this focus in your home life? I invite you (as well as all the rest of us who don’t have children at home) to create some rituals of your own that you enjoy. Sing a song together, create a bedtime meditation, light a chalice and say the principles, start a family spiritual practice, do a project in the community that engages you in acceptance of people’s differences. Practice mindfulness before heading out to school and work in the mornings by saying together, “May I enter this day with clear thoughts, wise words, kind heart.”

My guess is that many of you already incorporate lots of meaningful rituals into your family lives. In that case, I invite you to think about what you do that is distinctly UU: what can you do to help your kids feel connected, on a daily basis, to their identity as Unitarian Universalists?

—Catherine Farmer

What's it Like to Be a Teen at UUCCSM?
An Interview with Emily Hero

How long have you been coming to our church?
I started in seventh grade and I’m in the eleventh grade now at Santa Monica High School. My mom started coming at first; then I joined her, then my younger sister, Madeline, started coming, too. That first year we did Neighboring Faiths, which is really great. You get to learn about different faiths and visit the churches, mosques, and synagogues. I really like learning about different cultures. I also did Coming of Age and we then started the current YRUU group. YRUU hadn’t been around for a long time, but now it is really big.

What do you enjoy about the church? 
This is really a community based on trust and working together. I like seeing my friends and feeling that community. YRUU is really fun and exciting. Right now we are getting ready to do a worship service in April. We also have rap sessions and take on different service projects.

Is this really different from school? 
Oh, yes, at school we don’t get to do projects together like this. Here we can have fun working on something, see the results, and have people enjoy it. Because YRUU is basically youth-run, I have worked on my leadership skills. I’ve learned you have to delegate and have everyone involved. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy. Plus, the end result is better this way.

Has YRUU changed in the last four years? 
We’ve grown a lot from the original three or four teens. Now because we are much larger, there are new pressures. We are doing more, like the book drive for Sojourn House, getting to the food sort at Westside Food Bank, doing a children’s worship service and the haunted house at Halloween. We also did the Graham Jarvis Talent Show last summer, which was a lot of fun, too. Hopefully, we can keep getting better at balancing fun and activities. That is not always easy, and I think that is what we still need to work on.

—Karen Patch

Our RE Star for April

Peggy Kharraz has worn many hats in our congregation — working with Dining for Dollars, signing up folks for the church’s Camp de Benneville Pines weekend, just to mention a couple — but it is her service to Religious Education that has made her this month’s RE star. Peggy has been teaching RE since her own children were in it a number of years ago.

This year she is teaching the 9 a.m. sixth and seventh grade class, Neighboring Faiths, in which they are learning about other faith traditions and visiting many religious services in the local area. Because only two teachers volunteered to teach this group, Peggy and her co-teacher, Amy Giles, teach every single Sunday. In addition, Peggy is currently a Coming of Age mentor to Jordan Paddock.

Despite her many years of teaching RE and three years of mentoring Coming of Agers, Peggy still bubbles over with enthusiasm for the kids and the curriculum. Her warmth, smile, and genuine joy in what she does shines through to all who meet her. For all these reasons, we honor her this month. Congratulations, Peggy.

RE Group Visits a Mosque and Learns Beliefs of Islam

On Sunday March 13, sixth and seventh graders from our Religious Education classes journeyed to downtown L.A., across from USC and Exposition Park, to visit the Masjid Omar mosque, part of their continuing exploration of world religious faith traditions. This was their sixth visit to other religious communities, having already attended Catholic, Jewish, Methodist, Quaker, and AME services.

We were met at the mosque by Daser F. Dakhil, Director, Community Development and External Affairs for the Omar Ibn Al Khatab Foundation, associated with the mosque. After removing our shoes, we were lead into the expansive sanctuary that was mostly devoid of furniture and wall decoration. The women and girls, respectful of the Muslim tradition, wore head scarves when they went into the sanctuary.

The room was filled with natural light from floor-toceiling windows on three sides and from windows that circled the dome.

Mr. Dakhil was joined in the sanctuary by a calligrapher and an Imam who worked at the mosque. These three men came from Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Mr. Dakhil described the congregation for Friday noon services as a little United Nations.

As the group sat on the blue rug delineated by long yellow lines, Mr. Dakhil described some of the beliefs of Islam, including the belief in one God, that the prophet Mohammed was not divine, that Islam recognized Jesus as a prophet, and that Islam does not believe the idea of original sin as portrayed by Eve or Adam. Men and women, Mr. Dakhil said, all have part of the divine in them. While he was talking another group, including children, sat on the floor in the middle of the sanctuary learning and reciting verses from the Quran.

The Imam demonstrated the call to prayer for the group and then when it came time for the Muslims’ time of prayer, our group moved to a comer and watched as men lined up in front of the Imam with the women and children gathered in the back behind a rope. The Imam, like a cantor, sang out the prayer, and the men, women, and children alternately stood and prostrated themselves before God. The dome, acting as an amplifier, brought the musical voice to everyone in the sanctuary.

Later the group was led up to the roof to see the dome from the outside and to see the surrounding area from 50 feet up. We then went to the basement recreation room and saw pictures of the religious interfaith outreach the mosque performs. While there, each person in the group had his or her name written in Arabic. Before leaving, we were treated to cookies and juice.

—Nels Hanson

March, 2005

March RE Star: Chris Brown

Chris Brown rocks! Have you seen his infamous rock star Halloween costume? Or perhaps been spooked by him in the bloody tub in the Haunted House at the UNICEF carnival? This month’s RE shining star serves as one of the advisors of our highly successful Young Religious Unitarian Universalist (YRUU) program.

RE parents marvel at the dedication of this non-parent, who does RE out of a love for working with children and youth. Before settling in with YRUU, Chris taught both pre-school and K–1 children at the 11 a.m. service and also worked with the first Way Cool worship team. Of course, Chris does come with an illustrious pedigree — his mother, the Rev. Jean Brown, is minister of religious education at the Universalist Church of West Hartford, CT, the church where he grew up. We feel blessed to have his silliness, his enthusiasm, his warmth and his incredible hard work. Thanks, Chris.

Our DRE Heartily Welcomes New Nursery Caregiver Team

Please join me in welcoming our new nursery team, Lori Davis (left in photo) and Tamara Harati (right). Lori is a preschool teacher with two children of her own, a 16-year-old and a five-year-old. She is warm and welcoming to children and parents alike, and brings a depth of experience to the program that we are lucky to find.

Tamara, who grew up right here at UUCCSM in our RE program, has spent many years as a babysitter and her experience also includes working at Gymboree, so she is no stranger to keeping up with energetic kids. She also brings a deep grounding in Unitarian Universalism as well as in the history and culture of our own congregation that will be a great asset to the nursery program.

Both Lori and Tamara have jumped right in, and already have lots of great ideas for improving the nursery space to make it more kid-friendly, and are quickly getting to know the youngest members of our community. Parents of infants and toddlers, make sure to come by on Sunday morning and check out the new program. Lori and Tamara are here every Sunday, along with our nursery assistants, Tom Ahern and Adrienne Silsbee (who alternate Sundays). Once again, welcome, Lori and Tamara.

— Catherine Farmer

March 20 Party for RE Teachers and Committee

RE teachers and committee members, mark your calendars. You and your family are invited to a party in your honor, hosted by Bronwen Jones and Tom Hamilton at their home in Culver City. So set aside Sunday, March 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. Food and drink will be provided. Invitations with more details are coming soon. For more information or to RSVP, please call Bronwen. Thank you for all that you do for our church and for our kids.

What's It Like to Be a Teen at UUCCSM?
An Interview with Jesse Figueroa

How long have you been coming to the church?
I started in sixth grade and I’m in tenth grade now. So that is about five years. Wow, it feels longer.

What made you start coming? 
I came with a friend. It was a lot of fun and I kept coming, even though my friend stopped. I really enjoy the people and how everyone is so accepting. They don’t tell you what to believe and take you the way you are. That means a lot to me.

Did you do Coming of Age when you were in eighth grade? 
Yes, and I really loved it. I learned a lot during the process, especially writing my credo. It really gave me a chance to think about what I believed in and that is so important. We don’t get a lot of chances to really think about that.

Are you in our high school group,YRUU? 
Yes, which I really enjoy, especially being the group’s social-action leader. That is really important to me and I think the youth need to start making an effort to give back to the community. We are old enough now to do something to help.

Has YRUU changed much in the last few years? 
We’ve gotten more mature. Before, we didn’t have much of an agenda. Sometimes we’d pull questions from a jar and answer “If” questions. That was fun, but I like it much better this year; we even have an agenda. We’re getting more business done and are able to get beyond just talking about stuff. I also enjoy the fun monthly activities like bowling, which we do with the Coming of Age teens.

Anything you’re looking forward to in YRUU? 
I'm always looking forward to doing more social action projects. I'd like to do something with the Tree People, maybe planting trees at a school. That would be good.

— Karen Patch

Feburary, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

This month our Way Cool Sunday School program shifts its focus to the Third UU Principle, “Acceptance and encouragement to spiritual growth.” From now until the end of the church year in June, children will explore this principle in their classrooms as well as on Worship, Social Justice, and Arts Sundays. I’ve seen the principle written, in more kid-friendly language, as “Accept one another and keep on learning together,” and “Yearn to learn throughout life.” I admire the effort, but I don’t particularly care for either one; it’s difficult to simplify without losing content. The Third Principle’s not just about learning together but about helping one another grow “spiritually.” But what does that mean?

I came across a lovely story recently that I think answers the question. Betsy Spalding was a student minister, teaching in an RE classroom for the first time, and one Sunday a parent shared a story about his son.

“It so happens,” said Spalding, “that there had been an incident of some magnitude that week, involving some colored marking pens, a wall in their home, and Ben. Ben knew that he would have to face his father when he came home from work. And the father was late coming home that evening, so there was plenty of time for Ben’s anxiety to mount. When the dad got home they went straight upstairs to Ben’s room. Before he could find words to start the discussion, Ben said, ‘Dad, could we talk about this around my chalice?’ and the dad, in wonder, said, ‘Sure.’

“And so they turned off all the lights except Ben’s night light, which became the chalice, and they huddled within the circle of its light. They talked seriously and respectfully about the situation — by the light not of a night light, but by the light of liberal religious community and all the fairness, justice, and love that the chalice could evoke. And there is the evidence, a demonstration that the symbol for our religious community provided Ben a tool to help him get what he needed in order to face a hard situation in his life with dignity and responsibility. He invoked the symbol of our tradition, calling his father to be his ‘best self’ in companionship. Ben called around him the whole tradition of justice. He put himself in the expectation of the healing of compassion. He called all of those in his religious community to stand around the chalice with him.”

Encouraging spiritual growth is calling one another to be our “best selves,” and doing so by being in community together and by modeling the growth we want to see. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

—Catherine Farmer

Holiday Party a Smash Hit

Our December holiday party for students at the Head Start preschool just a few blocks from our church was a huge success. Religious Exploration students put lots of time and creativity into baking and decorating holiday cookies, and their parents generously donated new unwrapped gifts for the preschoolers.

Church members and friends who participated included Marguerite Spears, Lyn Armondo, Sylvia Berke-Foster, Phyllis Nides, and Dagmar Schnauss, who contributed a book for each child. Special thanks to RE Director Catherine Farmer and party chair Marge Zifferblatt for planning the party. It was great fun to watch the preschoolers demolish the refreshments and the piñata with so much joy.

Our RE Star for February : Beth Rendeiro

Beth Rendeiro is this month’s Religious Education star. You might know her as the driving force behind the lifespan sexuality education program, Our Whole Lives (OWL). As a result of her efforts over the past five years, we are now one of the few congregations in the country offering all five levels of the OWL curriculum (K to 1, 5 to 6, 8 to 9, 10 to 12, and adult).

For several years (including this one), Beth has taught the 4th/5th grade RE class at the 9 a.m. service. Last year, she was a co-advisor for the Coming of Age class, which guided nine of our young people through a year of self-examination, learning and growth, culminating in a lovely and meaningful service last May. Her exuberance and drive inspire our children and energize the many adults whose lives she has touched. She epitomizes the positive can-do spirit that makes things happen.

January, 2005

From the Desk of the DRE

Happy New Year! This month, the RE Council and I are kicking off a new way of recognizing the many gifts that our volunteers bring to our RE programs. Each month we’ll select one RE Shining Star of the month. I like the imagery of the stars; not only do they give light and beauty, and when up close (like the sun) provide life and warmth, but they also are something we ought to pay attention to. I’m reminded of one of my favorite meditations, from Clarke Wells:

“Several years ago and shortly after twilight our three-year-old tried to gain his parents’ attention to a shining star. The parents were busy with time and schedules, the irritabilities of the day and other worthy preoccupations. ‘Yes, yes, we see the star – now I’m busy, don’t bother me. ‘On hearing this the young one launched through the porch door, fixed us with a fiery gaze and said, ‘You be glad at that star!’

“I will not forget the incident or his perfect words. It was one of those rare moments when you get everything you need for the good of your soul – reprimand, disclosure, and blessing. It was especially good for me, that surprising moment, because I am one who responds automatically and negatively to the usual exhortations to pause-and-be-more-appreciative-of-life. Fortunately, I was caught grandly off guard.

“There is a notion, with some truth in it, that we cannot command joy, happiness, appreciation, fulfillment. We do not engineer the seasons of the soul or enjoin the quality of mood in another, and yet, I do believe there is right and wisdom in that imperative declaration – you be glad at that star!

“If we cannot impel ourselves into a stellar gladness, we can at least clean the dust from the lens of our perception; if we cannot dictate our own fulfillment, we can at least steer in the right direction; if we cannot exact a guarantee for a more appreciative awareness of our world — for persons and stars and breathing and tastes and the incalculable gift of every day — we can at least prescribe some of the conditions through which an increased awareness is more likely to open up the skies, for us and for our children.

“It is not always the great evils that obstruct and waylay our joy. It is our unnecessary and undignified surrender to the petty enemies, and I suggest it is our duty to scheme against them and make them subservient to human decree — time and schedules, our irritabilities of the day, and other worthy preoccupations. Matters more subtle and humane should command our lives. You be glad at that star.”

—Catherine Farmer

Our RE Star for January: Kris Langabeer

For many of the parents in this congregation, our first introduction to Kris was as the children's choir director. For many years, she worked with successive groups of boisterous, talkative kids and patiently guided them into an organized group of sweet young voices. As her own son, Skye, grew older, she moved in a different direction and became an RE classroom teacher. Throughout this time, and for the past 11 years, she has been the stalwart force behind the beloved “Friendly Beasts” in the annual winter pageant. Each year, as children move through various animals (usually starting out as the mice), the congregation and parents witness each child's evolution into donkeys, cows, sheep, and doves — at one point, dogs were even written into the verses to accommodate some children's wishes. For all of the kind and gentle care that epitomizes Kris Langabeer, we have chosen her to be our first RE star of the month. Congratulations, Kris.

What’s it like to be a teen at UUCCSM? 
An Interview with Kyle Ludowitz

How long have you been coming to UUCCSM? 
Only since September of this year.

How did you hear of our church? 
I met Amelia Harati and Daniel Teplitz at the Renaissance Feast for Dining for Dollars. My parents have been coming for a long time, but I haven’t. Amelia and Daniel made YRUU (Young Religious UU) sound “neat-o bonet-o.”

So you’re really new. A lot of the teens have known each other a long time. Do they make you feel welcomed? 
Yes they do. I felt comfortable right away. YRUU gives me a social community and we can have fun. We do good deeds, too. I also went to a conference where I got to meet lots of YRUUs from throughout the district. That was really fun. I heard it was a small conference, but that's okay because I could get to know people.

Do you feel that you have an understanding of what the UU principles are? 
Yes, part of the raps that YRUU has includes reviewing the principles. I feel comfortable with them.

Anything else you want to add? 
I’m excited about January’s social action event we are doing. We are asking the congregation to donate books and school supplies for women and their children at Sojourn, which is a shelter for battered women and children. Sounds like a great place and they could use our help.

—Karen Patch

Book and School Supply Drive Benefits Shelter for Women, Kids

YRUU is sponsoring a book and school supply drive for Sojourn, a shelter for battered women and children, on January 9, 16, 23, and 30. Money donations are also appreciated. For more information please call Jesse Figueroa. Please donate.

—Amelia Harati

December, 2007

From Our DRE

As the holidays approach each year, I think more and more about what makes a place home. California has been my home for a dozen years now, but still I “go home” to Georgia to visit my family for the holidays. My home at the church has been the little office upstairs for the past four years, but now I’m moving out, into the new space in our newly finished cottage. How long will it be before it feels like home?

This month we’re thinking hard about our building plans as well as how we’ll live in the space that we have for the time being. Everything’s in flux, and as we gradually move our RE program over to the cottage I’m mindful of the importance of creating a welcoming home for the children and youth of our community. This move is a big step in the right direction, and we want to make sure that from the moment our young people step into their new classrooms they know that this is a home that we’ve created just for them. As we get the rooms ready, some of the older classes will begin meeting in the cottage right away, but our preschool and elementary programs will wait to start the new year in their new space, so we have time to get it just right. So this month we’ll be moving furniture, putting up bulletin boards, filling shelves with books and supplies, and decorating the walls in anticipation of our official launch of RE in the cottage at the beginning of January.

We may have some hard decisions to make about our facility in the future, but I know that whatever we decide, this church will continue to be a safe and nurturing home for all of us as we live our liberal religious values both within our own community and out in the larger world. I look forward to the next year, and many more, at home here at UUCCSM with all of you.

Holiday Toy Drive

On Sundays, December 2 and 9, we’ll be collecting toys for the Santa Monica Head Start program’s holiday party. This year we need approximately 35 unisex gifts that are new, unopened, and unwrapped for three- to five-year-olds. This year we’re taking signups so we know how many gifts to expect. Please sign up on November 25 or December 2 at the Head Start table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour, or contact Catherine.

-- Catherine Farmer

December RE Star - Zac Geoffray

Did you know that December RE Shining Star Zac Geoffray represented the Boy Scouts soap-box derby contest on the Jay Leno Show? Well, his car wasn’t the fastest, but it was the most creative. He used a bird theme incorporating a beak and feathers. Because of this creativity his car was chosen above all others. The producers were so impressed by Zac that they invited him back again the following year. WOW! He can now be found cavorting with the youngsters in the kindergarten through second grade class at 9 a.m. His positive disposition, creativity, confidence, and sense of humor serve him well in working with his young students.

Zac is “giving back” to our community in the very class he first attended when his family joined our community 11 years ago. He had enjoyed his experience as an RE student so much that during his Coming of Age year he started assisting in the preschool class. He assisted almost every week for two years. Then Zac taught a wonderful lesson to the K through 2nd grade class on one of the Five Senses last summer. During his class on taste his young charges had a great time touching a plastic tongue and tasting a variety of foods which were sweet, bitter, or salty. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Zac is a sophomore at Santa Monica High School where he enjoys Latin and Choir classes. He also loves acting and will be performing in SAMOHI’s upcoming production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” He has also performed with the Santa Monica Shakespeare’s productions of “A Comedy of Errors” and “Richard III.” Next summer he will move from volunteering with kids to a paid gig as a teaching assistant at Rustic Canyon Performing Arts Camp, combining two of his loves — kids and theater.

We are grateful for Zac’s work with our children and hope that he will continue. He is a shining star in so many ways.

Friendly Beasts Pageant Update

The Friendly Beasts, preschoolers through 5th graders, will continue their rehearsals of “The Friendly Beasts Song” for the holiday pageant, which occurs December 23 at both services.

Below is the rehearsal schedule:

Dec. 2 and 9 — Preschoolers and K–5 in their classrooms (10 minutes each)

Dec. 16 — Group rehearsal for all at start of RE

Dec. 22 — Saturday dress rehearsal in sanctuary (9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.)

Dec. 23 — Pageant! (both services — please arrive at 8:15 a.m.)

We realize that the pageant day is a long one for the children, so please contact me if you can help by: supervising the children and providing crafts and games for between the services and during most of the second service, when they’ll be in the RE cottage until they sing, bringing food for between the services (small sandwiches, bagels, cream cheese, muffins, crackers, cheese, cut vegetables and fruit, juice, water, etc.), or compiling paper activities (we have packets from previous years that you could build upon) and bagged crayon sets for during the first service.

Ideally, we would like all children to sing at both services on pageant Sunday, but if your child can sing at only one service, please let me know.

Here’s to another great pageant!

-- Kris Langabeer

July, 2007

RE Shining Star: Tom Ahern

Tucked away on the side of our campus, the nursery program is easy to overlook if you’re not the parent of a young child. This month we’re making a bit of a departure from our usual pool of Shining Stars in order to recognize a staff member who has been instrumental in our program for the very youngest members of our community for a very long time: Tom Ahern. Tom, on staff first as an assistant and now a lead nursery caregiver, spends every single Sunday morning with the babies and toddlers in our nursery program, and has done so for many years. He makes sure that the younglings are safe and lovingly cared for in the none-too-ideal office area that makes up our nursery space while we wait for our new building to be constructed. The children respond right away to Tom’s calm, easy-going presence, and it’s clear that he enjoys his time with them, too. For all that you’ve brought to our nursery kids, Tom, thank you!

June, 2007

Summer is almost upon us, believe it or not, and the RE Council and I have been busy planning our program for next fall. And we have a question for all of you: How have you engaged the UU principles lately?

There is no better way to learn and live your UU principles than by learning and teaching with our youth and children. Presenting stories to them and listening to their efforts to interpret and understand can be a wonderful way to explore these issues and concepts for yourself. Without teachers, interesting curriculum is of no value. Over the next few weeks, we will be searching for more “RE Shining Stars” to help us create a vibrant RE program next year with our children and youth.

In our elementary program next year we’ll embark on an exciting new program called “Spirit Play,” grounded in the sharing of core stories of our faith in order to help children make meaning through wondering and art, create a spiritual community, support multiple learning styles and challenges, and create a strong Unitarian Universalist identity. We also will continue to offer the very successful “Neighboring Faiths” comparative religions curriculum for 6th and 7th grades, “Coming of Age” for 8th grade, and our senior high YRUU youth groups at each service.

Think about how sad a place UUCCSM would be without our enthusiastic kids. Consider the wonderful energy there is in an intergenerational community (a model that is increasingly rare). And we need you. To fully staff our fabulous programs, we’re looking for more than 50 members of our congregation to volunteer to teach for one to two Sundays per month.

Think about it. Think about teaching RE. Then visit the RE table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour on Sundays this month to hear about our program in more detail and let us know how you’d like to be involved. Help us bring our vision for RE to life.

— Catherine Farmer

YRUU is looking good for 2008–2009

Can you believe we are already getting excited about next year? Well, we have a lot of reasons to feel that way about next year’s program for our high school youth group, YRUU.

Our beloved advisors Liza Cranis and Chris Brown have been awarded Advisors of the Year for the Pacific Southwest District. Bravo!

We have recruited additional advisors for next year to bring the team up to seven. Welcome aboard to Tom Kafka, Cindee Hallinan, Gretchen Goetz, Karen Patch, and Sarah Gaillot.

District-wide YRUU Advisor Training took place on May 19. This all-day workshop was facilitated by two specially trained leaders (adult and teen) and was open to all congregations in the district. It was a great day to really look at what makes a successful youth program.

We have a great group of teens — full of energy and wonderful ideas. Have a great summer and we’ll see you in September.

— Catherine Farmer

Summer RE at UUCCSM -

The Senses - Preschool–Kindergarten 
Join us for a different “sense-sational” celebration each week: sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, intuition, and humor.

UU World Travelers - First Grade and Up 
Members of the congregation with experience in or an affinity for a particular culture or country are invited to lead our kids in exploring the world with us. We’ll have music, food, games, dances, crafts, languages, costumes, art . . . what would you most enjoy sharing?

Both classes will be staffed by volunteers who will sign up to lead or assist for one Sunday. Grownups, we need your help. Please consider volunteering for one or more Sundays this summer. Signup sheets will be available at the RE table in Forbes Hall. For more information or to sign up, you can also contact DRE Catherine Farmer.

Summer Adult Religious Exploration Offerings

“Building Your Own Theology 3: Ethics,” led by Bernie Silvers, begins June 5 and continues for eight consecutive Tuesdays. Time is 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, contact Bernie

“Soul Work,” a reading and discussion group cosponsored by the Adult Religious Exploration Committee and the Committee on Multiracial Development. “Soul Work” is a compilation of nine papers presented at a three-day meeting on racism and theology sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2001. Read the book (available from our bookstore) and join Leon and Nicole Henderson- MacLennan on three Monday evenings, July 2, 16, and 30 in room 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. To sign up, contact Leon or Nicole

“Soul Food: Writing as a Tool to Stir the Spiritual Soup,” a group exploring writing as a spiritual activity. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, June 24, July 8, July 22, August 5, and August 19. Emmy Cresciman, convenor, with shared leadership. Contact Emmy to sign up or ask questions.

RE Shining Star - Jennifer Westbay

That star you see rising in the west over 17th Street is our RE Shining Star of the month for June, Jennifer Westbay. Jennifer is often found across the alley from Forbes Hall, upstairs, acting as an adult advisor to the Coming of Age (CoA) group. Last month Jennifer and her two partners saw the culmination of nine months of work as the six young Coming of Agers hosted the Sunday service on May 20 — presenting their personal credos to the UUCCSM congregation and being welcomed into the larger church community.

This is Jennifer’s second year volunteering as a CoA advisor. One of last year’s CoA participants described Jennifer as the glue that held the advisor team together. She juggles an amazing array of organizational details: keeping track of the calendar, making sure notices get e-mailed to everybody, collecting the credos for the CoA service, and putting together their script and the order of service so the girls don’t get lost halfway through. Her real strength is her sense of Unitarian tradition, and she shares her appreciation of Unitarian lore with the youth in CoA. All the while she does this with her indomitable humor and aplomb. Oh, and she’s also been known to bring hot, fresh, homemade banana bread for the snack, a major component of the CoA curriculum.

So this month, look to the west about 8:50 on Sunday mornings to see a shining star rising up the steps to the CoA classroom. That would be this month’s RE Shining Star, Jennifer Westbay.

January, 2009

From Our DRE

What is the Religious Exploration programall about, anyway?We’re now halfway through our church year; it’s almost time for us to start planning for the next one, and the RE Council and I have some big questions for you.

Over the past couple of years we’ve been adjusting our programs and trying new things. I’m proud of the programwe’re offering.We’re asking the “big questions” —not because we think things aren’t going well. They are. But it’s important that we stay in touch with the whole congregation’s desires and dreams for our programs, and so we’re coming to you to start the conversation. This is especially important as our congregation begins to assess its overall identity and direction as part of our preparation for settling a newminister over the next couple of years.

This spring we will embark on an RE visioning process that will help us determine, as a whole congregation, what our priorities and goals are for the children and youth of our UUCCSMfamily. Thismonth, on both January 11 and 25, there will be a short “REVisioning” survey in the order of service which we hope allmembers of our church will take the time to fill out.Whether or not you’re a parent or volunteer in the RE program, we need to hear fromyou.What are themost important elements of our educationalministry to the youngest members of our community?Members of the RE Council will be on hand during coffee hour to take completed surveys and talk with you about your responses.

Next, the RE Council and I invite you to join us on the evening of Sunday, February 22, for a visioning meeting for RE at UUCCSM.We’ll provide dinner and childcare if you’ll show up to help us determine the future direction of our program. And then onMarch 22 we’ll share the results of our visioning with the whole congregation at a Town Hallmeeting following the 11 a.m. service.

What does REmean?

RE is where we create a community for our children to explore our seven UU principles.

RE is a supportive, loving setting where children’s authentic selves are nurtured and celebrated. RE is a community where our children can be safe and have fun.

RE is_______________________.

What does REmean to you?

Share your vision this spring, and help us turn the meaning into action.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

November, 2011

“Love is the doctrine of this church/the quest of truth is its sacrament/and service is its prayer,” begins the congregational covenant we say together each Sunday morning. Have you ever taken the time to think about what we’re saying when we recite these words together? Are they just nice words to say on Sundays, or do they carry a deeper message for us?

This month our congregational ministry theme is SERVICE. Our covenant says that service is our congregation’s prayer. But what does that really mean? Prayer or meditation is a way of connecting with our very deepest selves, with the sacred, and with the whole world around us. So in the words of our covenant, perhaps we are saying that these connections are found when we serve others and work to make the world a better place.

“Faith in Action” is what we call this work in our congregation, and there are many ways to join our community in acts of service to the world. In the RE program this month, we’re especially excited to be conducting our annual donation drive to benefit homeless teens served by Common Ground. On November 27, children and youth will compile “hygiene kits” from donated toiletries and will count and sort donations of clothes, blankets, and backpacks. Last year our members’ generosity resulted in 86 hygiene kits — can we make it to 100 this year?

What a gift it is to our children that they are invited to participate in putting their hands and feet on our UU principles, that we not only talk about what it means to be a UU, but also give them opportunities to live our values. As our young people are learning, giving feels good. And doing feels even better. As Unitarian Universalists, we know that what we do matters, and that each of us has the ability to make a difference in the world. How will service be your prayer this month?

— Catherine Farmer Loya

Lifespan RE

UU Kids: We have a very full month planned in the children’s RE program. In November, preschoolers will celebrate trees — how important they are and how we can help take care of them. Early elementary participants will explore our UU principles through story, and they will engage our November theme of SERVICE. Upper elementary children will learn about DNA as a common building block of all life — we’ll even extract strands of DNA from strawberries right in our classroom! Middle schoolers in Neighboring Faiths will complete their study of Hinduism with a trip to the Hare Krishna Temple.

And we’ll all take part in this year’s donation drive to benefit Common Ground’s homeless teen drop-in center. On Sundays in November, please bring donations of unused travel-sized hygiene products, as well as warm clothing, socks, underwear, blankets, and sleeping bags. On November 27, children and youth will compile “hygiene kits” and will count and sort all donated items. Last year we made 86 hygiene kits — can we make it to 100 this year? Children’s Programs subcommittee members welcome your comments and questions — Nicole Henderson-MacLennan, Susan Hendricks Richman, Sabina Mayo-Smith, and Kim Santiago-Kalmanson.

Youth in the Glow: An impressive crowd of enthusiastic beachgoers came out to enjoy a bonfire at Dockweiler on October 8. Thanks to the dedicated parent volunteers Karl Lisovsky, Lara Del Piccolo, and Carol Cromer who organized the festive teen event, about 25 folks had fun playing games, talking, laughing, and eating in the glow of a roaring fire. The setting sun was especially dramatic that night and the breeze mild. After roasting dogs, marshmallows got hot and gooey for delicious s’mores.

Watch your email for details about the next youth get-together on Saturday, November 12 for Bowl-ORama! Questions or ideas can be directed to any of the youth committee members: Teri Bond, Liza Cranis, Elaine Gordon, and Nalani Santiago-Kalmanson.

Adults look inward in November with the return of Building Your Own Theology (BYOT) on November 6 upstairs in Room 1 at 1 p.m. Based on the assumption that everyone is their own theologian, this classic UU adult education program invites participants to develop their personal credos: the fundamental beliefs, values and convictions that inform and direct the living of their lives. Facilitators are Judy Federick and Max Johnson. Register at the Lifespan table in Forbes Hall after the service on Sunday.

Vespers with The Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur on Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary offer an opportunity to enjoy a little serenity before the onslaught of the holiday season.

Mark your calendar for November 27. Between services we’ll have a patio chat on the monthly theme of Service. Then at 1 p.m. in the Sanctuary, Adult Programs will co-host with AAHS (Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, Secularists) a lecture by renowned sociologist Dr. Phil Zuckerman. For more information about this lecture see Ian Dodd’s article elsewhere in this newsletter.

If you have a question or an idea about a workshop, stop by the Lifespan table in Forbes, or contact a member of the Adult Programs Committee: Emmy Cresciman, Joe Engleman, Tom Hamilton, Judith Martin-Straw, and Rhonda Peacock.

All-church activities in November:

November 13: Second-Sunday Games and Supper Games start at 4 p.m. Bring your own to share and teach or play one of ours (Scrabble, Dominoes, Bananagrams, Pictionary, etc.) Players of all ages are welcome. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. Bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. Main dish is provided. The food is tasty and the company is beyond compare.

November 19: No movie — Come to Thanksgiving Feast, the potluck to end all potlucks!

Have ideas for all-church activities? Contact members of the Multi-Generational Programs subcommittee — Judy Federick, Leon Henderson-MacLennan, Carol-Jean Teuffel, and Larry Weiner.

— Emmy Cresciman

RE Faith in Action
Common Ground Donation Drive: Can You Help?

On Sunday, November 27, the RE program will be collecting and sorting donated items to give to homeless teens served by Common Ground Westside.

Please take a look at the list of items below and bring some things in for our donation drive. Undergarments, socks and personal care items should be new. Other items can be gently used or new.

Items can be dropped off at the "Common Ground Donations" table at church on November 13, 20, or 27.

The following items are needed:

For “Hygiene Kits” 
Travel- or hotel-sized toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.), toothbrushes, shaving razors, feminine hygiene products, etc. (available at most drug stores or brought home from hotel stays).

Clothing Items 
Socks, underwear, bras, hoodies/sweat shirts (larger sizes — will be worn over other layers), warm hats or beanies, gloves, scarves, etc.

Other Items 
Blankets, sleeping bags, backpacks

Questions? Contact Catherine@uusm.org or (310) 829-5436 x105. Thank you for helping us support the work of Common Ground!

April, 2011

Do you know our church covenant? Here’s a hint: we say it together in the service every Sunday.

Love is the doctrine of this church. 
The quest of truth is its sacrament 
And service is its prayer. 
To dwell together in peace; 
To seek knowledge in freedom; 
To serve humankind in fellowship; 
Thus do we covenant with each other.

Unitarian Universalist congregations are covenantal communities, directly descended from Puritans in early America, who created a form of governance in their churches known as congregational polity, which we UUs still practice today. What binds us together is not a particular profession of faith or creed, nor fealty to any higher authority than the members of our own community. Instead, what unites us is our covenant: all who agree to “walk together” in support of this covenant may become members of our church.

The Religious Exploration Committee, Adult Programs Committee, and I are deep in planning for next year’s program, and I am delighted to be able to share a little bit about what’s to come. As part of our movement toward offering a truly lifespan RE program, our 2011- 2012 church year will include a congregation-wide focus on our covenant, with monthly themes drawn from each line of it: Love, Truth, Service, Peace, Freedom, Fellowship, and Covenant. These themes will show up in different ways, including chalice lightings, readings, and sermons. We’ll offer at least one Adult RE workshop or course that relates to each month’s theme and will have special weekly opening words in all our classes for children and youth. We’re creating a brand new 2nd and 3rd grade class that will explore these themes as the central part of the program, with sessions that engage different styles of learning, including drama, service projects, artwork, presentations from special visitors, cooking, building, and other hands-on modes of exploration. And several times during the year we’ll celebrate our covenantal themes through intergenerational worship and social events.

People who come to our church, no matter what age or stage of life they are in, are looking for many of the same things: a sense of community and opportunities for learning more about Unitarian Universalism as well as other varieties of religious faith, inspiration to grow personally as well as spiritually, and ways to live our values through acts of service to the church community and to the world. A common thread runs through all that we do — when we meet in groups separated by age or interest as well as when we gather as one community. I’m so excited to strengthen those common threads over the next year, and I invite all in our congregation to walk together in deepening our connection to the covenant that binds us together as one family of faith as UUCCSM.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

A Useful Toolkit for Meditation

A useful toolkit for meditation This class will start on Wednesday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the cottage. The last class is on Wednesday, June 8. It provides a toolkit of eight to ten meditations from several spiritual traditions. Present-time and sit-down versions will be taught and both brands of meditation (mindfulness and inquiry) will be presented. The class is experiential and learner-centered and not lecture and teacher-centered. We discuss each meditation, do it, and use it as homework. Printed descriptions of all meditations are given to participants.

This is Bill Blake’s fifth meditation class. It differs from the others in that the first five weeks will focus on “growing up” and the last three on “waking up.” Growing up relates mainly to increased conscious awareness, i.e., more mindfulness or presence with our thoughts, feelings, and environment. Growing up never ends. Waking up points toward spiritual awakening or enlightenment: knowing what we are. The two approaches are distinct yet interconnected. Each builds on the other.

These meditations are simple and user-friendly. Some individuals relate more to particular meditations than others because each of us has distinct predispositions. When a participant finishes this class, he or she will have a “toolbox” of meditations benefiting relationships, self-confidence, and career. Often a participant chooses to practice one meditation for several months and then releases it for a few months or years — and then vigorously re-practices it.

Newcomers to meditation are 100% welcome. Steady attendance and dedication to homework will amplify mindfulness and groom you for awakening.

— Bill Blake

Adult RE: UU Controversies -- Communism

In April the UU Controversies discussion will be about the Unitarian relationship to Communism, a subject that caused fierce division within Unitarianism. National Unitarian leaders Noel Field and Stephen Fritchman were fired from their Unitarian jobs because of their Communist activities. In the 1950s controversy over the State of California requiring churches to sign an anti-Communist loyalty oath contributed to a split in our own congregation. We will discuss the sharp Unitarian debate accompanying these events. A brief background paper is available at https://sites.google.com/site /uusmcontroversies/home. The discussion will be at Tom and Bronwen’s house.

— Tom Hamilton

March, 2011

A s I write this column, I am preparing to load up a giant van with seven of our UUCCSM high school youth, YRUU advisors Liza Cranis and Gretchen Goetz, and many pieces of luggage and bedding to drive to San Francisco to participate in a “street retreat” with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry. Created in 1998 by a UU Minister and Franciscan nun, the Faithful Fools is a charitable and educational organization whose mission is to be present with and to address the existence of poverty in the midst of material wealth. Each month they host a “street retreat” when members of the public are invited to join them in a ministry of presence in the heart of San Francisco’s Tenderloin.

This is our first experience with the Fools, though we are joining youth from Neighborhood Church in Pasadena who have participated for several years already. I am glad to be joining a group of repeat-retreaters, though even so I head out with a great deal of excitement and a little bit of trepidation. What can I expect from the retreat on Saturday?

The instructions are intentionally vague: the truth is that there are no instructions, nothing that requires doing. Participants are asked to be present. We are told to allow ourselves to be led and have the experience we were meant to have. We are encouraged to listen and be aware of our own judgments. We are not given tasks or brochures or food to hand out. The most instruction we are given is a suggestion to stand in a food line and eat a free meal at one of the soup kitchens serving hot lunches.

Have you heard the old adage that the role of religion is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”? On Saturday morning, before heading out into the Tenderloin, we’ll encourage our youth to push themselves, to move beyond their expectations and limitations. Certainly, those of us going on the street retreat – adults as well as youth - will be stepping out of our comfort zones. It’s a little bit scary, but it is there, in the space just beyond the realm we usually inhabit, that transformation becomes possible.

Our annual YRUU Sunday service will be offered on Sunday, March 27, and our youth will be speaking about what they have learned, in San Francisco as well as elsewhere in their lives, from stepping out of their own comfort zones. Make sure to attend – perhaps you’ll find inspiration for transcending your comfort zone and entering into a “ministry of presence” in your own life as well as in the world beyond your doorstep.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

Adult RE Offering: UU Controversies

T his March the UU Controversies discussion will be about the Unitarian debate over the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Under the terms of the 1820 Missouri Compromise, California south of Monterey was slated to be a slave state. In 1850, Massachusetts Unitarian Daniel Webster made a deal with part of the South. Slavery would be outlawed in southern California. In return, the North would accept a strict Fugitive Slave Act. While most New England Unitarians agreed that slavery was evil, they were sharply divided about whether making deals with evil was morally acceptable. Excerpts from historical documents are available at https://sites.google.com/site/uusmcontroversies/home. If that doesn’t work, e-mail or call Tom Hamilton, or just pick up hard copies at the church office. The discussion will be at Tom and Bronwen’s house on Monday, March 14.

— Tom Hamilton

COA and FUUsion Join for Community Service

Several Coming of Age youth and their parents teamed up for a joint COA/fUUsion service project this past January on MLK day. FUUsion cooked a meal in Forbes, and COA made sack lunches for Turning Point. Overall the event was a fantastic success. With vegetarian chili for dinner, and very full sack lunches, everyone was happy to participate and shared some knock-knock jokes! It is a goal of RE and fUUSion to have more intergenerational events in the future.

-- Jessica Clay

Campaign Against Torture

At its Town Hall meeting January 30, the Faith in Action Commission (FIA) agreed to promote a resolution at our annual congregational meeting (in May) calling for our church to become a member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) www.nrcat. org. Former FIA chair Cathie Gentile told the assembly about NRCAT’s statement of conscience, “Torture Is a Moral Issue.”

Item 1 on NRCAT’S 2011 agenda is to “Increase the number of people in the U.S. who believe that torture is always wrong — without exception.” Item 2 reads, “Urge President Obama to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. This treaty would protect all prisoners in U.S. custody from torture by setting up mechanisms to assure that U.S. laws prohibiting torture are followed in all detention facilities, including domestic prisons.” NRCAT provides resources to congregations, including a video FIA hopes to show at church, “Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever.” If you’d like to add your name to the petition to the board to put the resolution to join NRCAT on the congregational meeting agenda, please contact Cathie Gentile.

The Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur opened the meeting by emphasizing the importance UU’s place on fighting for social justice and on helping those in our society who most need help. Each of the five groups operating under the FIA umbrella — Interweave, Hunger Task Force, Green Living, Peace and Social Justice, and Multi-Racial Development — gave a brief explanation of its purpose and activities.

Rhonda Peacock explained that the Hunger Task Force currently receives no funds from the church budget and needs contributions from individuals to continue to provide a monthly meal to people recovering from mental illness at Step Up on Second.

It was a busy day for FIA: while the Town Hall meeting was underway in the Sanctuary, Forbes Hall was being set up for the exhibitors participating in Peace Sunday.

UUCCSM Celebrates MLK Day

Our church honored The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at three celebrations in Santa Monica on the weekend of January 16. On Friday night we celebrated King’s legacy of resistance to social and economic inequities in an interfaith event at Beth Shir Shalom. The temple was crowded with members of the temple, guest speakers, and singers. UUCCSM people attended, along with other members of the community.

On Sunday members of Calvary Baptist and Beth Shir Shalom joined us at UUCCSM to continue our remembrance. Accompanied by Early McAllister, the choir sang “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield and “Abraham, Martin and John.” At the closing of the service, The Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur, Rabbi ComessDaniels, and Cantor Ken Cohen led the congregation in a heartfelt musical commemoration. We look forward every year to this weekend and to continuing our work in the Multi-Racial Development Committee (MRDC).

On Monday, January 17, members of MRDC attended Santa Monica’s annual interfaith Martin Luther King Day celebrations held at the Soka Gakkai International-U.S.A. (SGI) Auditorium. In light of recent events in Tucson, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of Dr. King’s message of non-violence. Instead of gathering signatures for a petition, we decided to take a video camera and interview participants at the reception afterwards. We spoke to a diverse group of people, and you can see the results at http://bit.ly/ UUSM_MLKDay.

— Peggy Rhoads, Will Coley

February, 2011

From Our DRE

This is an exciting time of year in the RE department, as the RE Committee and I launch into an assessment of our current programs and do a lot of dreaming and asking around and planning for what next year’s program will look like. September may feel far away now, but it will be here before we know it. Because of this, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what RE is. But I wonder what we might learn about RE if we also think about where it happens.

The easy response is that religious education happens on Sunday morning in our classrooms. It happens when we gather together in groups to learn about our faith and its history and about the world’s religions, and it happens when we ask our young people to think for themselves and to find meaning in the world and in their lives. It happens when we lead our kids in creating caring communities right there in their classrooms, and it happens on Social Justice Sundays when we work together to make the world a better place.

That’s not the only place where religious education happens, though. Religious education includes everything we do at church. Religious educator and author Maria Harris proposed that there are three kinds of curricula: explicit curricula (what we intentionally teach), implicit curricula (what is learned from the patterns and structures that surround the explicit curricula), and null curricula (what is learned from the things we don’t see because they are missing). Learning doesn’t stop when class is over. Our young people are learning about being UU and about our community when they come to Forbes Hall and see how the adults interact at coffee hour, and when an adult who isn’t their RE teacher greets them by name, or doesn’t. They learn something, too, by whether they feel known and loved when they are at church. Don’t we all?

But is that the end of the story? Does religious education stop when we leave the church grounds? Is one hour a week (assuming perfect attendance) enough to give our young people a grounding in what it means to be UU, to teach them to think for themselves, respect all people, and take action to make the world a better place? Of course not. Parents, you are your children’s primary religious educators. They watch what you say and what you do. How are you living your own faith? What are you doing at home to help your kids develop and live their own UU identity and values? What more could we do to support you in this role? Remember, friends, that ours is not just a Sunday religion. In the words of Unitarian religious educator Sophia Lyon Fahs, “Life becomes religious whenever we make it so.”

— Catherine Farmer Loya

UU Pals is coming!

Q: What is UU Pals? 
A: UU Pals is a beloved UUCCSM program that encourages communication between the generations. Many times it has been the foundation of lasting friendships. It is a great way for children, youth, and adults of our community to learn more about one another in a wonderfully fun way!

Q: How does UU Pals work? 
A: Adults, children and teens sign up for UU Pals in February. Then, on Sundays during the month of March, the UU Pals will exchange notes, small handmade items, or thoughtful tokens of friendship. Each child or youth is paired with an adult and they exchange information about themselves by writing notes to one another. Each note contains clues about who they are—their likes and dislikes, personal gifts, and talents or hobbies, or “list of favorites.” We have a special “double-blind” Pal system for matching younger and older pals. One young person and one adult will be paired with each other, and the pair will be assigned the name of a famous UU to use. For example, one young person will be known as “Ralph Waldo Emerson Jr.” and will have “Ralph Waldo Emerson Sr.” as an adult Pal. Make sense?

Q: How do I sign up? 
A: Signups will begin on February 13 after each service and last through the end of February. After signups close, each participant will receive specific information about the exchange dates, UU Pals Reveal Party, and helpful hints for giving clues to your Pal.

Q: What else do I need to know?
A: If you have to miss a Sunday or two, don’t let that stop you from signing up—you can leave items with us ahead of time and we’ll make sure they get in your pal’s bag on Sunday. And mark your calendars now for April 1, from 6 to 8 p.m., for our April Fools’ Day UU Pals costume party, when all identities will be revealed! So, whether you’re a kid, a youth or a grown-up, don’t miss out on this great opportunity to get to know more about someone new at UUCCSM. For more information, contact Catherine Farmer Loya at the church office.

Girl Scout Cookies are Coming Soon!

Watch the Order of Service for more information.

January, 2011

From Our DRE

Personal and spiritual growth are among the primary reasons people of all ages join religious communities, and I am very excited about the future of our congregation’s educations ministry to people of all ages. In my seven years as Director of Religious Education here at UUCCSM, I have never seen a more passionate and visionary group of people than those who emerged during the course of the RE Covenanting process undertaken on December 4. The members of the RE Committee, along with representatives from the board, the Adult Programs Committee, and the RE teachers, as well as the Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and me, spent a full day together discussing our hopes and dreams for Lifespan RE at UUCCSM. We began the process of crafting a covenant between me and the congregation about how we will work together to achieve our common vision for the future. Out of that process emerged a strong commitment to the goal of Lifespan RE as well as the seeds of a deep assessment of our current program’s structure with regard to developmental goals for all participants.

My own goal for Lifespan RE at UUCCSM is to provide programs for people of all ages that inspire each person to develop a firm ground of belief, rooted in our Unitarian Universalist principles, from which they can stretch and grow, question and explore. Together as one religious community of all ages, we can learn love of one another and ourselves, search for truth with an open mind, and work to make the world a better place. This, to me, is what UU faith development is really all about.

“Faith” is another of those tricky words, I know. Here’s what I mean when I use it: our faith is that in which we place our trust. Thus, “having faith” means trusting that who we are and what we choose to do matters. A person of faith is one who makes a commitment to living in a way that reflects that trust. There is no specific belief or dogma that one must hold in order to be a person of faith; rather, faith is an act of living with integrity and purpose. More narrowly, in Unitarian Universalism “faith development” is the development of a way of life informed by our UU principles and values and committed to living them out in the world.

What could we be offering to better support you in deepening your own UU faith? What would a truly Lifespan RE program look like? We’ll continue asking these questions as we begin the important work of planning for the future of religious exploration at UUCCSM. Change — another word for development — is in the air, and I can’t wait to see where we will go from here.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

Neighboring Faiths Field Trip

Teachers Tom Kafka and Laura Carlson-Weiner took the Neighboring Faiths class on a field trip to St. Anne’s Catholic Church on Colorado Avenue. The classS is studying Catholicism as part of their study of various Christian faiths. The class attended the First Sunday of Advent Mass celebration with the St. Anne’s congregation. Father Arturo and the whole congregation were very welcoming. Teri Bond, our trip coordinator, took the photo.

Winter Pageant

Kris Langabeer wrangled cows, doves, dogs, donkeyss, mice, grown-ups and other friendly beasts for another joyful winter pageant.