The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - February, 2005

Building Committee Prepares Applications for City Agencies

The Building Committee has been hard at work preparing the plans and application materials for submission to the City of Santa Monica. The application materials include a request for Development Review and a Conditional Use Permit to remodel our existing facilities at 1260 18th Street, adding a new religious education wing to Forbes Hall at the back of the new property at 1248 18th Street, and moving the house forward and remodeling it for use as office space. We are also requesting a variance for a reduction in on-site parking and use of off-site parking facilities very similar to the request approved by the Planning Commission last year. Alison Kendall, chair of the Building Committee, is completing the necessary application materials with our architect, Ralph Mechur, and our pro-bono land use attorney, Chris Harding.

With plenty of committee input on the design, the architect is finalizing all the drawings required by the city, and we hope to submit the application in early February. We will be holding a community meeting sometime in March to describe our proposal and offer discussion about concerns that our neighbors might have.

We hope to have a Planning Commission hearing in the spring. Remember, however, that our previous application (about the 17th Street property) had been deemed complete in October 2003, yet the hearing about that application was not held until early March 2004, so we are likely to encounter delays this time around as well. After Planning Commission approval we will need to go through Architectural Review Board approval, and then prepare and submit construction drawings for building permits. We hope to expedite the house relocation and remodeling to give us usable space before remodeling Forbes Hall and building the new wing. Expansion of the sanctuary will be the final phase.

The sale of our 17th Street parcel netted over $1 million, a major start to our new capital fund, which was depleted by the purchase of the lot at 1248 18th Street. A new capital campaign is expected to start soon to close the gap between our current funds and the anticipated total amount needed for all three phases of construction. We are starting to work with our architect and the contractor we had selected for the 17th Street project to refine our original planning level estimate of $1.8 million.

The Building Committee meets every other Monday at 6:30 p.m. This month’s meetings are scheduled for Monday, February 14, and Monday, February 28. Please contact Alison Kendall or Marie Kashmer-Stiebing, Church Administrator, to confirm meeting dates.

—Alison Kendall

UNICEF Donations Total Over $4,000; More Will Be Given for Tsunami Victims

Our congregation has raised $4,323.46 for UNICEF, an international agency providing humanitarian relief to children and their families affected by the tsunami disaster in southeast Asia.

In announcing at the January 2 services that UNICEF would receive the non-pledge collection, the Rev. Judith Meyer said, “UNICEF is already active in all the coastal areas affected by the tsunami. One of the many sad realities about the destruction from the tsunami is that so many children have suffered and died; those who remain alive face drastically altered lives from the aftermath of trauma and the threat of disease.

“There are many worthy organizations stepping up to the challenge of providing relief, and Unitarian Universalist organizations are doing their part,” Judith added. “The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee will be collaborating with the Unitarian Universalist Association to work with grassroots organizations in India.”

As part of our “generous congregation” program, our church will also collect money for the UU Service Committee (UUSC) and for Global Health Access Program, a local humanitarian relief agency that has sent Los Angeles doctor Larry Stock to Sri Lanka.

“Even if you think you don’t have much to give,” Judith commented, “it is worth more than you may think. And if it is difficult to give right now, there will be many opportunities later. Once the media attention has waned, the public health crisis will continue. The support we give in a couple of weeks or even months will be just as badly needed as it is now.”

—Paula Bernstein

Dining for Dollars Events

Bidding Dates: Sunday, February 20, and Sunday, February 27, 2005. (10:00 – 11:00am; 12:00 – 1:15pm)

Meet the New Capital Campaign Leader:
Ron Crane Has Extraordinary Background

Ron Crane, a psychotherapist active in the life of our church since he joined four years ago, is the chair for our 2005 capital campaign.

“The serendipity, magic, or mystery of life has given us the last-minute opportunity to own the property next door,” Ron believes. “Now our children will be in a safe space going to class, and now there can be room for all of our students without some of them having to go a block away to reach their RE class. Now the Anderson Courtyard can expand and the garden can be a place where we can walk as well as sit. Now our crumbling building can have a new face.”

Ron brings plenty of experience to his new job raising money for our expansion and remodeling. “I’ve chaired two capital campaigns with goals of over $1 million (Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center in 1994 and Youth Shelters and Family Services in 1995), and I’ve been involved in fundraising at numerous non-profit organizations (Ocean Park Women’s Shelter, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Council for Secular Humanism, The Newbridge School, Lifering Secular Recovery Organization, Youth Shelters, Family Services, and others,” he says. “I’ve done everything from selling raffle tickets at the mall (Big Brothers) to organizing a Hispanic Music Festival in Santa Fe (1992).”

Raising money didn’t come naturally, though. “About 15 years ago,” Ron says, “I completed the UCLA certification program for fundraising and non-profit development. I took that series because I had such difficulty asking people to donate money.”

Ron joined UUCCSM in 2001 with John Fels, his partner for over 20 years. Since then, Ron has served the church as a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee, president of Interweave, chair of the Welcoming Congregation Committee, member of the Faith in Action Commission, member of the Stewardship Committee, chair for Planned Giving, secretary of the Board of Directors, and instructor for the senior high school OWL program. He came to our church after over 25 years of awareness of UU philosophy, primarily through work with humanist and existential organizations, including the Council for Secular Humanism, American Humanist Association, Humanist Psychology Association, and Society of Humanistic Existential Psychology.

“The reasons people attend our church are as individual as the individuals attending,” he says. “There are as many reasons for refurbishing and building our church as there are members. After 75 years we now have the opportunity to clean up, beautify, and expand ‘that wonderful little church at 18th and Arizona.’ ”

Since 1972 Ron has been in private psychotherapy practice with an emphasis on chemical dependency and substance abuse; gay and lesbian issues and relationships; and individual, group, and couples therapy. He is a clinical supervisor of licensed mental health professionals, UCLA School of Medicine, and a lecturer in the Department of Adult Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine.

Born and raised in Muncie, KS, Ron received both his bachelor’s degree in social science and English and his master’s degree in counseling psychology from Kansas State University. He taught social science and English and was a high school counselor in the Shawnee Mission Public Schools before serving in the Army in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970.

A self-described “avid learning junkie,” he continued his studies in postgraduate programs in group therapy at the University of Missouri and in the counseling psychology doctoral program at USC.

In addition to interests as diverse as horseback riding and gardening, Ron is a member of the American Sociology Association and the American Society of Geographers, embracing two subjects that have interested him since his undergraduate years.

—Paula Bernstein

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