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October 12, 2004 NOTE: This Tentative Board Agenda reflects items to be considered at a special meeting of the Board of Directors. Additional items of new business may be added prior to the Board meeting. An Updated Agenda is available from the Church Office on the day of the Board Meeting. |
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October 7, 2011
October 7, 2011 Calendar of upcoming events: Saturday, 10/8 This Week in RE: 9:00 Preschool: “Congregations are Places of Caring” This week our preschool class will explore our church community as a place where people care about and help one another. Meets in the NW room of the cottage. Kindergarten-1st Grade: “The Rooster Who Learned to Crow” This Sunday we’ll explore our third UU principle – in Spirit Play referred to as the “Yellow Promise”: “Yearn to learn throughout life.” – with a story about a rooster who had to look inside himself to find the answer to his question. Meets in the SE room of the cottage. 2nd-3rd Grade: “Loss Workshop” This week we’ll continue our exploration of October’s theme of LOSS with special stories and activities that help children think about the losses as well as the gains that come as they grow and change. Meets in the NE room of the cottage (formerly known as “the couch room”). 4th-5th Grade: “Out of Africa” This week in the UUniverse Story program, we’ll learn that all humans come from Africa and to physically walk the map from Africa to the continents of our ancestors to present day North America. Meets in the mural room at the end of the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall. 6th-7th Grade: “Hinduism Visitor” This week our Neighboring Faiths classes will continue their study of Hinduism with a special visit from UUCCSM friend Smitha Chandrabose, who will talk with the class about her own Hindu faith and practice. Meets in Room 3, the third room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall. 8th Grade: This Sunday in Coming of Age UUCCSM historian Rob Briner will visit to share some stories about our own church’s history, and then we’ll head down to the sanctuary to hear the “It Gets Better” message in the service. Meets in Room 2, the second room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall. 9th-12th Grade: This Sunday we’ll start out by attending the “It Gets Better” service together in the sanctuary, then will meet in the YRUU room to plan YRUU’s involvement in next week’s service (youth are invited to lead the chalice lighting, welcoming words and offertory – we need to decide who’s doing what as well as prepare the message for the chalice lighting). This week, we’ll start out in the sanctuary together, in the section of pews near the Forbes Hall doors, then will move upstairs to Room 1, the first room at the top of the stairs above Forbes Hall. 11:00 Preschool: “Congregations are Places of Caring” This week our preschool class will explore our church community as a place where people care about and help one another. Meets in the NW room of the cottage. Kindergarten-2nd Grade: “The Girl who Loved Animals” This Sunday we’ll explore our second UU principle – in Spirit Play referred to as the “Orange Promise”: Offer Fair and Kind Treatment to All – with a story about a young girl and a community of animals who learn to play together despite their differences. Meets in the SE room of the cottage. 3rd-5th Grade: : “Out of Africa” This week in the UUniverse Story program, we’ll learn that all humans come from Africa and to physically walk the map from Africa to the continents of our ancestors to present day North America. Meets in the mural room at the end of the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall. 6th-7th Grade: “Hinduism Visitor” This week our Neighboring Faiths classes will continue their study of Hinduism with a special visit from UUCCSM friend Smitha Chandrabose, who will talk with the class about her own Hindu faith and practice. Meets in Room 3, the third room down the hallway upstairs above Forbes Hall. 8th grade meets at 9:00 only. 9th-12th Grade: YRUU for 9th-12th grades alternates services from week to week; this week they will meet at 9:00. Announcements: NEW Tending the Flame: Copies of “Tending the Flame: The Art of Unitarian Universalist Parenting,” by Michelle Richards, are available for sale at the UUCCSM book cart on Sundays, along with many other great resources for parents and families. From the book description: “In this first of its kind guide to UU Parenting, Richards encourages a practical and proactive approach to raising UU children. This comprehensive resource offers suggestions for incorporating spiritual practices into family life, teaching the Principles in age-appropriate ways, answering difficult questions on religious matters and dealing with religious disagreements.” Support Group for Parents of Middle Schoolers Forming – First meeting Nov. 6: Resa Foreman will host a gathering of middle school parents and youth at her home on the evening of Sunday, November 6th, at 5pm. Please bring a dish for a potluck dinner. Youth will have a movie night while parents gather in a separate room for support and encouragement. Please contactCatherine@uusm.org for the address and to rsvp. Assistants Still Needed in Nursery & Preschool: We have a strong need of volunteer assistants in these classes. Assisting with our youngest children is one of the easiest ways to help out – and make a big difference – in our RE program. Assistants sign up for one Sunday each month, and just show up at the beginning of church time to be an extra adult in the room with our younglings. An extra bonus – you’ll be among the first to really get to know our fantastic new nursery and preschool staff members, ZaNyaa and Carmen! If you’d like to help out, contact Catherine@uusm.org. RE Wish List: I am currently developing a “master wish list” for the RE program, which includes general and lesson-specific RE supply needs for this year’s classes. While the RE operating budget does have some money for supplies, this year’s budget is very tight and donations are happily accepted. The list so far includes: RE Furniture General Supplies: Backup snack supply RE Books Wish List on Amazon: Another arm of the “master wish list” for the RE program, is an Amazon Wishlist of books that will be used in RE lessons for this year’s program or that will be valuable resources for teachers & families in our church. We do have some money budgeted for book purchases, but we are running on a tight RE budget since the congregation’s budget cutback a couple of years ago, and donations are happily accepted. If you’d like to help out by donating a book or two to the program, check out the Amazon list at http://tinyurl.com/rewishlist. (Used books in “good” condition are just fine!) THANK YOU to the members who have already sent books our way – they are so appreciated! UU Everyday (resources and ideas for practicing your UU values at home): Chalice Lighting Words of the Week (October’s Theme – LOSS): October 9: For the 2011-12 church year we’re trying out a new way of living as one lifespan religious community: congregation-wide ministry themes. Each month we’ll explore a new theme, and in September our theme is LOVE. The chalice lighting shared here will be used on Sunday in all of our RE classes, and I hope that your family will also share it at home during the following week. I’m tickled by the idea of all of our UUCCSM families sharing a reflection in common each week as we go about our daily lives. At-Home Activities to Explore our Congregational Theme for October - LOSS Taking it Home – Let’s Talk about Families and Loss: (by Carol Galginaitis) The document linked below is a fantastic resource designed to help UU families explore the topic of loss with one another. It offers information about how children understand loss. This booklet also provides a wealth of activities and resources to help families examine their own histories of, and reactions to, loss over their lifetimes. Families have so much to gain from these discussions. As adults, you will have a chance to reflect on your own assumptions and beliefs about loss, gain greater understanding of your responses to it, and become more comfortable sharing your thoughts and feelings with others. If your family includes children, parents (and grandparents) can help children accept loss as a part of life and find ways to cope with it rather than deny its impact. Just as importantly, you can communicate your willingness to accompany children not only through the joys of life but also through its struggles and hardships. http://www.uua.org/documents/galginaitiscarol/familiesloss.pdf This Week in UU History: (From This Day in Unitarian Universalist History, by Frank Schulman) October 5, 1655: Having determined that John Biddle was so controversial that any court decision on his case would endanger the Puritan government, Oliver Cromwell, the lord protector of England, exiled him and imprisoned him on the Scilly Isles. October 6, 1779: Nathaniel Appleton was born in Ipswitch, New Hampshire. He was a merchant, manufacturer, financier, politician, and philanthropist. A mill owner and operator himself, he was concerned about the human suffering caused by the factory system, and sought to change working conditions in the United States. Appleton believed the Unitarian principle of the goodness of human nature could be combined with sound business practices. He was an active member of the Federal Street Church (now Arlington Street Church) in Boston under the ministries of William Ellery Channing and Ezra Stiles Gannett. As one of the 10 richest men in Boston, he engaged in large-scale philanthropy and public service. He served six terms in the Massachusetts legislature and one term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nathaniel Appleton died on July 14, 1861. October 6, 1967: The Emergency Conference on the Black Rebellion began on this day at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City. Organized by the Unitarian Universalist Association in response to racial strife in American society, this conference marked the beginning of what is known as the Black Empowerment Controversy within Unitarian Universalism. The controversy focused on the creation and funding of a Black Affairs Council (BAC), which would be run by African-American leaders within the UU movement. At the 1968 General Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio, the delegates voted in favor of the BAC but complications arose regarding funding and the all-black nature of the council. A year later, a substantial number of black delegates walked out of the General Assembly in Boston in protest over the failure of the UUA to fully support the plan. In 1970 the BAC disaffiliated with the UUA. The failure to fully fund BAC called into question the UUA’s commitment to racial justice, and over 1,000 black Unitarian Universalists left the church over this controversy, including William Sinkford, recent president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (2001-2009). October 8, 1793: John Hancock, a Unitarian merchant, political leader, and signed of the Declaration of Independence, died at age 56. October 11, 1564: The anti-Trinitarian Martin Cellarius died in Basil, Switzerland, at the age of 65. Considered the first self-proclaimed Unitarian, he was imprisoned in Germany for his beliefs. Cellarius is the author of several biblical and philosophical works, and he influenced both the Polish and the Transylvanian Unitarian movements. October 12, 1576: Adam Neuser, minister of St. Peter’s Church (Unitarian) in Heidelberg, Germany, died. Said to be the first Christian to insist on the complete humanity of Jesus, he disputed church authorities over the Trinity. Neuser is credited with introducing Socinianism into Germany.Five years before he died, he fled to Turkey to escape persecution and became a Muslim. October 13, 1841:Thomas Lamb Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of William Greenleaf Eliot, Jr.As a student at Washington University, he suffered a serious eye injury that often required him to have someone read materials to him.Nevertheless, he graduated from Harvard Divinity School and became minister-at-large and then associate minister in St. Louis. Repeating his father’s legacy, Eliot headed to a frontier town of 6,000 inhabitants – Portland, Oregon – and entered the ministry of its new Unitarian church. He built up the congregation, founded Reed College, and was a civic leader with great impact on the cultural and political development of Portland. In later years, his eye injury forced him to accept his son-in-law, Earl Morse Wilbur, as an associate minister.He died on April 26, 1936 |
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October Art Wall Artist - Michael Rohde Michael Rohdes exhibition at the UUCCSM in Santa Monica During the month of October the vivid, woven tapestries created by distinguished Southern California artist, Michael Rohde, will be displayed on the Art Wall of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica. Rohde mixes many of his own dyes to achieve a range of colors and contrasts in his pieces, which address the impact of human and natural causes on the homes and lives of people. By limiting the vocabulary to color and woven texture, the works are better able to stimulate reactions and emotions that these raw color and spatial relationships can have on the viewer. Rohde studied at the Glassel School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, where he was heavily influenced by the teaching of C. Arthur Turner, based on Bauhaus approaches, notably Joseph Albers and Johannes Itten. His work has been included in the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, the Art in Embassies Program, an exhibit at the American Craft Museum in New York, Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland, from Lausanne to Beijing, Houses for Nomads (solo at the Janina Monkute-Marks Museum in Lithuania), an exhibition at the Mingei Museum in San Diego and the permanent collections of the Mingei and The Art Institute of Chicago. Rohde’s weavings are for sale and a portion is donated to the church. Michael F. Rohde’s “Sustainability” (exhibited in the American Tapestry Biennial) expresses a hope for people of all skin colors to live together, but also stands as an icon for global overcrowding. Tapestry: wool, silk, alpaca, mohair, llama, camel; indigo, madder, walnut, cutch, weld, 66” x 39 1/4” Hours: Open to the Public: Artist Reception: All other times are by appointment: Contact: |
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October, 2003Economic Justice is Added to Our Social Justice PrioritiesEconomic justice is added to our social justice priorities Forty people participated in the third annual |
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October, 2003Economic Justice is Added to Our Social Justice PrioritiesEconomic justice is added to our social justice priorities Forty people participatedin the third annual First, we reviewed the work of the Hunger Task Force (HTF). Cathie Gentile,the founding chair, explained that the HTF now has three main components thatfunction independently: (1) Paula Bernstein coordinates food sorts at the WestsideFood Bank; (2) Janet Goodwin coordinates the preparation of dinners at TurningPoint; and (3) Lyn Armondo coordinatesmonthly meal preparation for Step Up on Second. Continuation of this programunder this leadership was endorsed unanimously. Cathie was warmly thanked forher wonderful work on the task force since its creation in 2001. Next, we reviewed the work of the Peace Committee. S.J. Guidotti, the committee’schair, briefly described the committee’s charge and his vision for thefuture, including an expanded emphasis on civil liberties. His proposed planswere unanimously endorsed. Nominations for additional social action issues were considered. Five programareas were nominated, four of which were included in the final vote. The issuesand their votes are as follows: a proposal for economic justice for low wageworkers in the hotel industry (20 votes); a proposal for at-risk youth involvingthe development of urban gardens (6 votes); a proposalto promote universal health care (2 votes); and, a proposal to expand and deepenour congregational involvement in the United Nations (2 votes). The congregation has spoken. Economic justice for low wage workers will beadded to our congregational list of high priority social action programs. CathieGentile will lead this effort, assisted by the Rev. Judith Meyer and the Rev.Alexia Salvatierra of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE). — Charles Haskell
The Peace Committee Chair Reports at September 14 Town Hall MeetingPeace. This is obviously something we don’t have. If I went around theroom, I’m sure that everyone could come within an ambush or two of thenumber of Americans who have died in Iraq — just as I am equally certainthat no one in this room could tell me how many Iraqis have died in Iraq. Thisis, of course, a trick question. No one could. We’ve made it a deliberatepolicy not to count Iraqi dead or wounded. Take, for example, the friendly firekilling of eight Iraqi police officers at a roadblock in Fallouja. Initiallythe Pentagon acknowledged the death of only one officer. Presumably, the manyfunerals were burying the living. This has, in the past year, become our everyday reality, or rather, non-reality.Has there been any situation this side of “we had to destroy the villagein order to save it” that cried out more clearly for opposition by peopleof good will? If this were not enough, the same government that perpetuates this grosslyexpensive fraud at the expense of health care, education, and the environment,all the while cutting taxes for the richest Americans — this same you’vetaken from the Santa Monica Library or bought through Amazon.com, and who maynow imprison you without the right of habeas corpus or keep you from seeingan attorney or judge merely by the declaration that you are an enemy combatant. This is the twin charge of the Peace Committee: to oppose this intolerableoccupation of a foreign nation and to preserve those liberties that make usAmericans. If you have ideas or energy to commit to these goals, then pleasejoin our committee. Yes, your assistance will be greatly appreciated for ourongoing lecture series, and the many vigils and protests in which we’vetaken part. But if you have new ideas, if you’ve ever said to yourself that stillseems good to you, then perhaps you should join our committee, share that idea,and lead others to its fruition. The Peace Committee meets in the 17th Street building at 7 p.m. on the firstWednesday of each month — S.J. Guidotti
FIA Audience Gets Firsthand Glimpses of Life in Baghdad Before and After WarKelly Hayes-Raitt was the 10th speaker in the Faith in Action series. Her talkon August 29 was sponsored by the Peace Committee. Hayes-Raitt had just returnedfrom her second trip to Iraq. Her first was weeks before the cruise missileshit Baghdad and her most recent was in July, where the absence of electricity,continuing gunfire, and 120-degree heat definitelymade it the off-season for tourism. Hayes-Raitt, whose Iraqi experiences have appeared recently in the Santa Monicapress, reported on her many conversations with civilians who suffered throughthe Bush administration’s bombings, bombings supposedly conducted to protectU.S. civilians from yet-to-be-found weapons of mass destruction. She pointedout that this occurred despite opposition by every major religious group inthe world, making this the first time in history that such unanimity of opinionoccurred prior to war. She exhorted the crowd to join her three-pronged personal response to our currentsituation. First, to examine how we can conserve energy to end our addictionto the Middle-Eastern oil; second, to prepare to Iraq for the political onslaughtof the Bush candidacy in 2004, which will doubtlessly center on waving the flagat ground zero; and lastly, to reclaim our stake in the world rather than lettingthe administration invoke “God”on their side to continue their aggression. An ominous ending note settled over the Friday evening crowd when Hayes-Raittrelated the story of a Bechtel representative hiring local contractors for thelucrative task of rebuilding Iraq. When the interviewer turned down a candidate,he told him to be optimistic and stay in touch because “we might havesomething for you later, in Iran.” — Melinda Ewen |
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October, 2007
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October, 2007
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October, 2008FIA Speaker SeriesCarol Watson, legal scholar and lecturer, was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) delegation who visited Iran earlier this year. She will speak on that experience in the sanctuary on Friday, October 10, at 7p.m. FOR-USA was founded in 1915 and is an interfaith and international movement with branches and groups in more than 40 countries and on every continent. Today the membership of FOR includes Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and people of other faith traditions, as well as those with no formal religious affiliation. |
Ann Fagan Ginger, Executive Director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute and author discussed "New Paths for Action" in a panel discussion on October 19 in the church sanctuary with Professor Antonio Brown. Professor Brown currently serves as Vice President of the ACLU Southern Californi