The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - June, 2003

Talented Church Members Schedule a Great de Benneville Pines Program

As this issue goes to press, our de Benneville Pines registrations exceed any for the past eight years. We are now at 90, and closing in on the camp’s capacity.

The program includes a mix of first-time events and old favorites. Dean Voegtlen will once more be leading the traditional dam building, an event joined by many campers, adults and children, participants and watchers. Last year’s “new tradition,” Chris Brown’s seed spitting contest, will be repeated. He still hasn’t decided whether to use watermelon or cherry seeds. And Bill Damerell will again be leading a hike.

The lodge porch will be the setting for singing, crafts, and socializing. Joyce Holmen will lead children and adults in singing Woody Guthrie songs on Friday and decorating cookies on Saturday. Kerry Thorne will lead the Santa Monica UU Troubadors, which includes all the campers. The campfire program, led by Michael Branton, will feature at least four guitars and promises to be scary.

Judith Meyer will lead a workshop, sharing what she learned from the religious education transition process. Alan Cranis’ workshop will help us understand Islam. Suzanne De Benedittis’ workshop, “Finding Your Bliss,” will teach the difference between passing pleasure and lasting fulfillment. Judy Schonebaum will lead a community service project of making dolls for children in need, for ages 8 to 88. Chris Hero will teach landscape drawing and painting. For early risers, Judith Martin Straw will lead pre-breakfast yoga classes. Anne Silver will be doing a Sunday morning writing workshop.

Joanie Wilk is providing a children’s program of arts and crafts for those who are four and over. The pool and hot tub will be open, with bathing suits optional after 9 p.m. Other programs are swimming at Jenks Lake, aerobics, crafts, and a DJ.
Best of all, we will be in the church community, enjoying the clean mountain air and each other’s company. If there is space left, come join us.

About 160 People Have Sent Us Their Congregational Survey

The survey task force is happy to report that as of the newsletter deadline about 160 of you have returned your surveys. Others have told me that they intend to complete and return theirs, but just haven’t done it yet. If you want to be part of this project, now is a very good time to respond. We have begun data entry into the church’s new computer program. During June I will be using the software to print and distribute lists to committee chairs and activity group leaders of those who are interested in specific areas. After this initial mass distribution, we will continue to add information as surveys come in. This information will be available on an ongoing basis to those who are in charge of committees and activities.

We would like very much to start off with your skills and interests included in the initial distribution of information. If you have already returned your survey, THANK YOU! If you can’t find the time or courage right now, we will be glad to accept your survey whenever you get it done, but would be even happier to have it now. Remember that expressing an interest is not a commitment. You can say “yes” or “no” later. Surveys are available from the church office or from me, via e-mail. Thank you for thinking about how to share your talents with our congregation.

Kathy Cook,
Survey Coordinator

Jacki Weber Tells the Stewardship Story

Last month, Judith Meyer, members of a newly-created stewardship committee, and another dozen members of our congregation began a dialogue on stewardship and what it means to our church. Stewardship is defined as the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care – and this church is entrusted to our care.

We talked about why we come to church and what we want out of it. We talked about how we express ourselves in ways that support our UU principles and what the church’s obligation is beyond our walls. We articulated what makes us feel good about being religious people and what is reasonable for the church to ask of us in return. We didn’t come to conclusions. We simply asked and answered questions for ourselves and for each other. Everyone involved found it gratifying and enlightening. And we’re excited to continue the dialogue.

This month we expand the conversation. During June we’ll hold a series of informal stewardship discussions to explore the attitudes and beliefs of our congregation. And we want you to give voice to your own thoughts on matters like those mentioned above.

Next month we’ll seek to synthesize that feedback, reflect it back to the congregation, and continue the discussion in all of the committees in which we volunteer and from which we benefit. Ultimately, we hope to create pledge materials that will speak to a newly articulated mission that represents the conversations we’ve been having for months.

What will be the effect? We hope to deepen our spiritual lives as individuals and as a congregation, making us a stronger, more dedicated congregation.

Please join the conversation.

In faith,
Jacki K. Weber

The Folks at Interweave Say a Great Big Thank You

As I write this, the May 18 congregational vote committing us to be a welcoming congregation, one that welcomes, embraces, and supports bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgenders (BGLTs), is days away. However, I trust that when you read this, the majority of voting members will have made that commitment.

What a blessing and honor it is to be a part of this church!

As other religions face divisive debates over whether to ordain gays and lesbians as ministers and whether to bless same-sex marriages (or have decided to somehow “love the sinner, but hate the sin”) UUs have ordained many BGLT ministers, same-sex marriages are routinely performed in UU churches, the UUA has an office devoted to our concerns, and, for the most part, when other UUs are tempted to hate us, it’s because we’re obnoxious at meetings or we voted against the latest ballot measure — not because of whom we love! What those religions, as well as whole societies, are struggling with is basically the question of whether BGLTs are less than or fully human.

Which is why the UU welcoming congregation program is so important. When a church becomes a welcoming congregation, it is a declaration that BGLTs are indeed fully human and deserving of love, support, and a spiritual home.

On a recent trip back to his home state of Kansas, welcoming congregation committee chair Ron Crane saw a bumper sticker saying, “Stop AIDS: Kill a Queer.” Last October, a transgender youth in Newark, California, was murdered after a number of young men discovered she was biologically male. In our son’s elementary school, two common pejoratives are, “He’s so gay!” or “Gaylord.” This is the embedded hatred and intolerance that we are choosing to counterbalance with our love.

Our church is no less than a haven for BGLTs, a true sanctuary from the swirling undercurrent of threats that we face. For this, we thank you!

Participants in the welcoming congregation committee have been Ron Crane (chair), Judy Federick, Charles Haskell, Christine Haskell, Achim Jung, Kris Langabeer, and Aidan Tanner.

We thank the following church friends for their generous help or support over the past 18 months: Carol Agate, Steven Andrews, Kelly Bryan, Peggy Butler, Jim Cadwell, Alison Chipman, Kathy Cook, Louis Durra, Michael Eselun, Melinda Ewen, John Fels, Jerry Gates, Cicely Gilman, S.J. Guidotti, Joyce Holmen, Susanne Intriligator, Gina Isaacs, Max Joffe, Marie Kashmer-Stiebing, Dan Kegel, Lisa Kohane, Ofelia Lachtman, Lee Lipinski, Warren Mathews, Lira Maywood, Pat McGuire, Debbie Menzies, Judith Meyer, Leah Moore, Aire Norell, Pat Parkerton, Ernie Pipes, Clare Rampling, Beth Rendeiro, Jose Ruvalcaba, Marguerite Spears, Kerry Thorne, Linda Van Ligten, Dean Voegtlen, Steve Wight, Alyssa Wood, and Jim Weinberg.

We also thank the following church groups for their support: administration committee, adult religious growth and learning, bienvenidos, board of directors, faith in action, finance committee, gallery wall, Our Whole Lives, personnel committee, religious exploration, social action, and women’s alliance.

And finally, we thank Keith Kron, director of the UUA office of BGLT concerns and the following community groups for their contributions to our welcoming congregation efforts: Invisible Lives Through Invisible Eyes multi-media exhibit; Center for Transgender Sanity; Gays and Lesbians Initiating Dialogue for Equality; Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services; BiNet Los Angeles; ACLU of Southern California; and the Los Angeles chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Gays and Lesbians.

-- Kris Langabeer

The Story Behind Our Website

From the first four pages in 1999, our church’s website has grown to over 100 pages today, containing newsletters, sermon summaries, photos, and descriptions of activities. But webmaster Liz Fuller envisions even more important changes soon.

“I have two major goals for the next year or so,” she says. “I want to update the site's layout and navigation system to make it even easier to find things, and easier for users to bookmark individual pages within the site. I also want to continue to build the site’s evolving ties to the church’s other publications and communications efforts.”

In the beginning, recalls Liz, many people didn’t even know the site existed, and when they did, they didn’t consider it a useful resource. “But as the site grows, people involved in other church communications projects become more aware of our online presence and the opportunities it presents to them. I’m now working to more strongly coordinate the content and planning of the site with the newsletter, the Faith in Action Bulletin, and projects like the forthcoming ‘Getting Involved’ brochure.”

Jim Cadwell spearheaded the original website project in 1999, and contacted fellow church member Dan Kegel, a software engineer and now Liz’ husband, for help in expanding and re-designing his initial efforts. “So Dan helped Jim with some of the technical and administrative issues of setting up a new and improved site,” says Liz, “and then Dan and I worked together on re-designing the pages, with Jim’s input.” After it was up and running, Dan turned over the bulk of the project to Liz. “And ever since, I’ve done all the routine maintenance, updates, occasional major expansions, additions, and design changes, bringing Dan in every now and then, when necessary, to help with new technical challenges.”

Liz, who moved to LA in 1991 for her MFA degree in screenwriting from USC, came to our church looking for one similar in spirit to the one she attended in her native Minneapolis. Dan, born and raised in Seattle, moved to LA in 1980 to attend CalTech. In 1997, he joined the church, and that year he and Liz had their first date at a Sunday service. In October 2000 they were married in the sanctuary by the Rev. Judith Meyer.

Dan is a software engineer at Ixia Communications, a company that makes network test equipment. He specializes in creating highly sophisticated multi-user networks and works mostly with the Linux operating system. Liz is a freelance writer and video producer, winner of numerous writing awards, specializing in corporate communications for blue-chip clients, including 3M, Hughes Electronics, Kaiser Permanente, Great Western Bank, and the LA Times.

“I got into web design about four years ago as a rather natural extension of my other communications skills,” says Liz. “I just wanted to be able to communicate as effectively, both personally and professionally, in this new medium as I do in print and video.” Between client projects, Liz is writing a book of advice for aspiring screenwriters, helping remodel their 1926 duplex, caring for their six cats, and getting ready for the birth of their first child in July.

As if this weren’t enough, she often updates her personal website and her professional site, and, of course, continues her creative work on our church’s website, which draws an increasing number of visitors each month.

“Every now and then,” says Liz, “ I receive a very gratifying note from someone who hasn’t really explored the site before or just got around to it for the first time in a long time, expressing their surprise and delight with how much information we actually have on the site. These are always fun and much appreciated!

“Several times, during the coffee hour after services, I’ve been chatting with visitors or new members, and they’ve told me that they first found the church through the website. I think this is one of the most important functions of the site — and we do know for sure that the church now has at least several new members who might not have found us otherwise, because of it.”

And, she emphasizes, “feedback of all kinds is always welcome — just write me at webmaster@uusm.org.

-- Paula Bernstein

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