The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - October, 2005

Give Some Thought to How Much Our Community Means to You

It’s pledge season, the time that each of us is asked to make a financial commitment to the church for the coming year. With all the activity going on — our building project being nearly funded, Small Group Ministry’s gaining popularity, and a fantastic infusion of energy from dozens of pre-schoolers to high-schoolers — we look forward to an exciting year.

We haven’t been setting goals in recent years for our pledge drives, but this year we’re going to. It’s $400,000 in stated pledges for the coming year. That is, in pledge cards filled out between now and the end of the year.

In the next few weeks, you’ll receive pledge materials. When you do, please fill out and return your pledge card in advance of Commitment Sunday, November 13, a day when we recognize and celebrate all of those making a commitment (of both time and money) to the church for the coming year.

When you make your pledge, consider what this church means to you and your family and how your involvement here will impact your life.

It costs us approximately $1,200 per adult member to facilitate church activities. Some people have to stretch to make this number. Some just can’t do it. Others give well over that, knowing they have the resources to more fully support the work we are called to do: caring for each other, working for justice on the streets and in government, and raising a new generation of children who think for themselves and honor the great mystery of life.

We are asking each one of you to consider increasing your pledge by a minimum of $20 per month. If you are giving less than $1,200 per adult member in your household, we’re asking you to consider an increase to or toward that amount. If you are giving more than $1,200 per adult member, we’re asking you to increase your pledge by 10%. (In some cases, people have already made modifications to their “continuing” pledges during the course of the year. In this case, only you know if you are prepared to undertake an additional increase in support of the 2006 operating pledge drive.) Giving generously supports our highest vision of good in the world.

Giving generously is not supposed to bankrupt you, but it may affect the number of lattes you buy. Giving generously says that your church and this community of friends have a significant place in your heart, in your life and in your world.

In faith,

— Jacki Weber, Chair, Stewardship Committee

New "Goods and Services" Auction May Help Us Balance Budget

During the congregational budget planning meeting in March, the attendees discussed ways to bring about a balanced budget. In a discussion about ways to develop more income, Leslie Reuter volunteered to lead an effort to increase opportunities for members to support the church and pledged to bring in at least $5,000 for this fiscal year. We have Dining for Dollars for the chefs among us, but what about someone who needs a recipe to make ice cubes?

Jackie Schwartz connected Leslie with a fellow UU who helped the Costa Mesa church develop a successful fund raising effort — a goods and services auction. Members donate a variety of goods and services, babysitting, home repair, and leading outings to museums, sporting events or concerts. On September 11, Leslie led a brainstorming meeting that was attended by Katie Gross, representing the youth in our church; Sandra Trutt, who also works on Dining for Dollars; Carol Kerr, our president; Ron Crane, from the board; and Kathy Cook.

We plan to launch our own church program this winter and hope that many of you will rush to participate. We will provide copies of the catalogue of goods and services from the Costa Mesa church for you to peruse to help generate ideas. The program also will include a silent auction for donated goods that can support an initial bidding price of at least $100 (thanks to Victor Paddock for offering his piano) and many services and fun events.

Please think about what you can do to help increase our income and build community through activities that you enjoy. We have something for everyone — help with planning, volunteer your services, entertain fellow church members, help with staffing the table, solicit donations of talent/skills/time/items, keep track of everything, and more. Look for our table in Forbes Hall or the Anderson Courtyard on Sundays during October and November. If you would like to volunteer to be on the task force, please contact Leslie Reuter.

— Leslie Reuter and Kathy Cook

Small Group Ministry at UUCCSM

The new members who signed up in September will meet in their Covenant Groups (CG) in October. The new members will be in newly formed groups or will fill openings in existing groups.

Pacific Southwest District is sponsoring a day-long workshop to be held at our church on October 29. The workshop will be an introduction to Small Group Ministry (SGM) with a focus on facilitator training. UU Rev. Mellen Kennedy will fly in from her home in Vermont to lead the Saturday workshop.

The day would be helpful and informative for anyone who is currently facilitating or who is interested in developing their skills in facilitation, whether they are currently facilitating or not. It is appropriate for those with existing programs as well as those just thinking about or in the start-up phase.

Mellen will first explain the power and promise of small group ministry, followed by a review of the basic SGM model of Covenant Groups and the necessary components for a healthy program. Workshop attendees will then form small groups for an actual CG experience, with attention to developing facilitation skills and confidence dealing with difficult members. The afternoon will also provide time to work in small groups on their own issues and challenges with facilitation.

Rev. Kennedy is UUA Small Group Ministry Network Co-coordinator and editor of the SGM quarterly newsletter. Marv Pulliam met her at GA this year where she demonstrated her considerable facilitation skills at the SGM sessions. The workshop shows great promise for a personally rewarding day, and it is close to home for us. Watch the Order of Service Bulletins during October for more information about this interesting event.

Do you want to read more about SGM in UUA? There is a fine newsletter at http://www.smallgroupministry.net

If you are new to the church and want to get involved in this grass roots movement contact Caroljean Teuffel or Marv Pulliam.

— Carol-jean Teuffel

Sociological Association Gives High Honor to Edna Bonacich

Edna Bonacich has received a Career Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on International Migration. Edna is a professor of Sociology and Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside, where she has taught for about 35 years.

The American Sociological Association is divided into sections based on substantive interests. For example, there are sections on the Sociology of Medicine, Social Psychology, Political Economy of the World System, Race and Ethnicity. One of them focuses on International Migration.

Edna’s nomination by Ivan Light for the award states, “Dr. Bonacich’s long-term research contribution to migration studies changed the whole field for the better in decisive ways that continue to mature and emerge today, and that the next generation’s migration scholars will find inspiration and guidance in her work to date.”

Edna received her doctor’s degree in sociology from Harvard University in 1969, and joined the faculty at the University of California, Riverside, shortly thereafter. She has written 60 research articles and four monographs, and edited three books. All her publications have dealt with race and ethnic relations and/or international migration. She has served as an associate editor on important journals including the American Sociological Review, Social Science Quarterly, Social Forces, Amerasia Journal, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. Professionally active as well, she was vice president of the American Sociological Association, a mem- 8 October ber of the ASA Council, president of the ASA’s Marxist Section, and chair of the ASA Section on Political Economy of the World System.

The nomination letter adds, “When Dr. Edna Bonacich took an interest in the topic, back in 1966, immigration was a matter of historical interest only. Those few who addressed it appropriately used historical methods because the subject was strictly historical. Few in professional sociology gave a hoot about immigration in 1966. Of course, now that immigration has come roaring back in the United States and also worldwide, professional interest in the topic has hugely expanded. Currently governments and peoples are gasping for intellectual guidance about immigration issues. Happily, sociology has new and useful ideas to provide them thanks to the prescient scholars whose study of the immigration began decades ago when the topic was unfashionable and unfunded. Among the new and useful ideas that sociology can offer the troubled world today, split labor market theory and middleman minority theory, both appropriately expanded and updated, are very prominent and obvious. We should not take these resources for granted. As I have maintained elsewhere, ‘demand does not explain supply.’ We have these intellectual resources now thanks to the contribution of Dr. Edna Bonacich, whom I am honored to nominate for our illustrious and distinguished section’s highest professional award.”

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