The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - December, 2005

Search Committee Town Hall Scheduled for December 4

The Board of Directors has charged a search committee consisting of John Fels, Charles Haskell, Marv Pulliam, and Melanie Sharp to identify potential candidates to replace Marie Kashmer-Stiebing as our congregational administrator. The committee has been specifically charged to:

• Complete the composition of the search committee by adding up to three people;
• Define the scope of the search;
• Schedule a town hall meeting;
• Recommend salary ranges to the board by its December meeting;
• Post the position widely;
• Design the interview process;
• Conduct preliminary interviews;
• Coordinate interviews and the selection process with the Rev. Judith Meyer upon her return from sabbatical;
• Recommend the preferred candidate to the board for final approval.

A key step in this process is to convene a Town Hall meeting to obtain congregational input. Among the questions to be addressed at that time are the following:

• Should this be a country-wide search with payment for relocation or a search limited to our geographic region?
• What will be the salary range for the position?
• Should church members be eligible to be candidates? And, if not, should a future administrator be allowed to join the church?
• Should Sunday be a required workday for the new administrator, or should we strive to cover the church office on Sundays with volunteers?

This Town Hall meeting will be held in Forbes Hall from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 4. The full position description for this job is available on request in the church office. Please come and help us develop an informed strategy for filling this critical church position.

—Charles Haskell

$o Much to Do...$o Little Time...SILENT AUCTION Preparation...Gift Baskets are Coming!

The $o Much To Do, $o Little Time silent auction will be in the spring. Please help us put together some terrific theme baskets for our newest fundraiser. Pick up a few items when you are out shopping for the holidays. Bring a new item from these theme lists to church during the months of November and December and leave it in the box labeled with a basket’s theme. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Sports & Play Basket—sport balls, games, equipment
Kitchen/Gourmet Basket—cookbooks, utensils, aprons, kitchen gadgets
Bath, Spa & Beauty Basket—soaps, lotions, bath salts, aromatherapy
Gardening Basket—tools, planters, gloves, seeds
Children’s Basket—games, toys, books, puzzles
Infants/Toddlers’ Basket—blankets, booties, toys, bibs, binkies.
Pet Basket—toys, treats, leashes, brushes, grooming
Home Repair Basket—tools, books, gadgets, tape measures, screws & nails
Chocolate & Treats Basket—cookies, candies, cocoa, baking mixes, anything chocolate
Arts & Crafts Basket—paints, brushes, glitter, glue, pipe cleaners, beads, paper
Computer/Tech Basket—mousepad, glare protector, blank disks
Entertainment Basket—CDs, DVDs, movie or theater tickets, popcorn
Coffee & Tea Basket—teas, strainer, grinder, coffee press, coffee
Book Lover Basket—bookmarks, clip light, book covers, books, books on tape, banned books
Miscellaneous Basket—anything else . . . especially re-gifting unwanted Xmas presents!

Remember, gift baskets are perfect to have on hand so you have a gift for any occasion. If you also have a large basket to donate, please leave it in Forbes Hall next to the themed boxes. For information, contact Leslie Reuter.

Pledge Drive Began Well on Commitment Sunday

I’m excited to report that on Commitment Sunday approximately 80 people expressed their commitment to our community by filling out pledge forms and joining together to celebrate over brunch. They joined nearly 60 others who had expressed their support in advance of Commitment Sunday. Pledges as of November 15 stand at $183,000 with more people making 2006 pledges than did during the entire 2005 campaign. The average pledge increase to date is 13%. This response is unprecedented in my short time here and I hope it is a harbinger of a sea change taking place among us.

Since I joined the church I’ve observed an active community seeking transformation within our walls and beyond them. Now we appear to be learning to walk our talk: supporting our values with the resources to turnhope into reality.

We still have more than 200 pledges to confirm for the coming year. We’ll do that through phone calls, mail and any other kind of contact we can think of. I hope to report in January that our work is done and that we’ve reached our $400,000 goal. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to fill out your pledge form—or if you can’t find it, drop by the office, phone it in or send an e-mail to office@uusm.org.

— Jacki Weber Chair, Stewardship Committee

TOP Needs More Callers

TOP, one of the newer acronyms at UUCCSM, stands for our Telephone Outreach Program. This initiative is still in its infancy, but it shows great promise.

TOP callers make weekly phone calls, at times convenient to both parties, to assigned phone buddies. The buddies are church members who were initially contacted by the minister and who would like the friendliness and support of a weekly call. Some of the buddies are shut-ins and are dealing with health issues, but some simply look forward to a weekly call.

Each caller undergoes training beforehand by the TOP Committee headed by Anita Brenner with the support of Michael Eselun. The committee meets monthly to ensure that all phone buddies are receiving their calls and to answer question about the process. New phone buddies are assigned to callers, if needed, at the meeting.

TOP is now actively looking for callers and also would like to know if there are other church members who would like to receive a weekly call. As a caller, you will participate in shared ministry at our church; you will get to know a fellow UU a little better and form a remote friendship with relatively little time and effort. Calls are typically fifteen minutes long. As a recipient you know that someone cares and is willing to listen, and you too will make a new connection with someone from church. Our experience so far is that both parties are enriched by the weekly calls.

Please contact Anita Brenner if you are interested in knowing more about this new program at our church or if you would like to be a new recipient or caller.

— Lee Voegtlen and Marv Pulliam

Meet Our Congregation's Staff in This Major Transition Period

If you were at church on Sunday, November 6, and read the pink paper insert in your order of service, you learned that Marie Kashmer-Stiebing has resigned as our congregational administrator. Marie was our administrator for five years, working not only Monday through Friday, but also Sundays and sometimes office Saturdays as well. There’s nothing like realizing how much work someone does only after the person has left.

The work Marie did is now being spread between Melinda Ewen, whom you know at church for many of her talents and often see standing under the “Ask Me” sign after Sunday services, and Chuck Craig, who came on board originally to help Warren Mathews with the financial tasks.

But we thought it would still be good to introduce, and re-introduce, our staff to the congregation. These are the people who keep the church running day to day.

Chuck Craig started with the church at the end of July. With a willingness to jump in and help wherever he could, Chuck has also learned many of the administrative functions in the office, including preparing announcements and the order of service, filing, and providing general office support. Chuck runs a food services business and caters throughout the Los Angeles area. He lives in and loves Santa Monica, where he was born and grew up in the shadow of Pacific Ocean Park. He says of our church that it is “an ideal church, a church that is open to everybody.

Melinda Ewen, who has an MBA, experience heading a non-profit, and, fortunately for the church, also some free time, will be working with Chuck over the next three months while the search committee looks for a new administrator. Besides helping with the day-to-day administration tasks, Melinda will analyze the tasks of the administrator and make recommendations on how to make the position fit into a 40-hour work week .

The responsibility of the sextons is to keep the church clean and have rooms ready for the various meetings and events at the church.

Kevin Roller maintains the church during the week. Kevin has been our weekday sexton for almost three years. He comes to the church after finishing work as a custodian at a middle school in Torrance (where he and his 15- year-old son live). Soft-spoken and friendly, Kevin has done a great job of making sure church activities and meetings can function smoothly. He has recently taken on the role of maintaining security at our church. You will also find Kevin making sure our fountain is presentable, removing trash people throw in as well as cleaning out dead leaves.

Mark Dwyer, a friend of Kevin, started as our weekend sexton this summer after Jose Ruvalcaba resigned. On Sundays you will see Mark setting up tables, changing light bulbs, and making sure everything is in order for our Sunday activities. He is semiretired and is overjoyed with the recent arrival of a second grandchild. He also finds time to play guitar. In the eighties, he was part of a production crew that produced albums for artists such as Bill Medley and Debbie Gibson. He is glad to be able to work in the welcoming environment of our church.

When you see these people, please say hello and thank them for the work they are doing at our church.

— Nels Hanson

Small Group Ministry Conference Taught Us and Others the Program

A covenant group is a small relational group helping people to connect, engage in shared spirituality and draw newcomers in, giving them “a place at the table.” Members become a lay ministry to one another through honoring and supporting one another, service, and joyful celebration of life.

On October 29 the UUA Pacific Southwest District presented, and our UU Small Group Ministry (SGM) members hosted, Dr. M’ellen Kennedy, who traveled from Vermont. She is the co-founder of the UU SGM Network. M’ellen is passionate in guiding this program’s growth. Seventy-five people from San Diego, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, and beyond enjoyed a daylong instructional workshop for UU churches starting and nurturing covenant groups. Because a covenant group has a distinct purpose and a unique structure, stressing support through deep respectful listening, it takes dialogue and practice to help a group to fully understand why and how to proceed.

M’ellen highlighted having a clear purpose, format, commitment to agreed-upon ground rules, and shared leadership among all members. A cornerstone of a group’s success is offering our love through service to our cogregation and larger community.

For the lunch break Step Up on Second provided our tasty lasagna lunch for enjoyment in our sunny garden area. Haley Paddock and her friend, Samantha, young people from our community, helped us serve.

Program members will continue to learn and support SGM. You are invited to join a future group, be a trained facilitator, and/or a part of the planning team.

— Carol-jean Teuffel, for the SGM committee

Living Green is Possible Even at Christmas Time

As the holiday gift-giving season approaches, let’s consider how to minimize unnecessary trash and packaging.

• Use canvas totes for shopping and giving.
• Use crumpled-up newspaper instead of styrofoam peanuts when packaging boxes for mailing.
• Make donations to your friend’s or family member’s favorite charity.
• Buy tickets to concerts, plays, or movies, to give as gifts.
• For church friends make a donation to the UUCCSM building fund or general operating fund in their honor or offer to buy them tickets for a Dining for Dollars event.
• Buy consumables as gifts (i.e., food and drink) since they won’t take up space or end up in a landfill.
• Stock up on patternless wrapping paper and coordinating ribbon in colors that will work year round.
• Make the holidays more meaningful. Give the life-changing gift of an animal in honor of a friend or loved one. Contact Heifer International at catalog.heifer.org.

— Sandra Trutt

The Louis Durra Trio Jazz Concert Did It Again

Louis Durra’s enjoyable jazz concert took place on November 6, at 7 p.m. Complemented by Larry Steen on bass and Jerry Kalaf on drums, and on several numbers by vocalist Julie Millet, Louis explored various moods and rhythms for a solid 75 minutes—which is a generous set at such a high level of musicianship. The 40 people in the audience were thoroughly entertained.

The Music Committee sponsors four Louis Durra concerts per year, which are exceptional opportunities for church members and the public to hear first class live jazz—for the very modest admission of $10.

Next month will mark the five-year anniversary of Louis as our pianist/organist. When he started, he was introduced as a graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and already had television and theatrical credits. Louis’ next concert in the Sanctuary will be on Sunday, January 22, at 7 p.m. Mark your calendar and invite your friends.

— Rob Briner

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