The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - September, 2008

An Invitation from the Membership & Leadership Chair

As we begin a new church year together we are letting go and looking forward. We have said our reluctant “‘So long for now’” to the Rev. Judith Meyer and we welcome our interim minister, the Rev. Roberta Haskin.

We will come together at Ingathering Sunday on September 7, perhaps with fond sadness, but anticipating newness and change. We will look forward to enjoying our new outdoor spaces, and are eager to participate in the programs that enrich our lives and connect us to one another.

Watch for Friendship Dinner sign-ups and information on Small Group Ministry and Covenant Groups. Mark your calendars and save the date for the first Courtyard Connection on Sunday, September 21. A continental breakfast will be served following the 9 a.m. service and Julie Nyquist will cook up Tacos on the Terrace following the 11 a.m. service.

I look forward to meeting those of you I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting and of working with all of you. And I invite you to join us on the Membership & Leadership Committee. We want to hear your ideas, concerns and suggestions.

Greeters, ushers, Ask Me and bookstore volunteers, coffee hosts, Friendship Dinner coordinators, New Member Committee leaders are among the members of M&L. Each of these groups is eager to welcome additional volunteers.

Call, e-mail me, or leave a note in the Membership & Leadership box in the church office to talk about how you can enhance your UU experience by participating in the life of the UUCCSM community.

— Pat Gomez Chair,Membership & Leadership Committee

Dining for Dollars (D4$) is Ready for Action

Have you heard of our Dining for Dollars silent auction fundraiser? It’s the most important fundraising event our church does because it consistently raises over $20,000 every year. The board just appointed me as the chair of the incredible group that works hard to make this event so successful. Besides me, there are two additional people who joined the team this year, Rebecca Crawford and Beverly Alison, with continuing members Sue Moore, Natalie Kahn, and Gerrie Lambson.

Helen Burns was the chair of Dining for Dollars for a long time, but sadly, she died earlier this year. We will miss her dedication. Last year’s event was the most successful of all, and I hope we can do as well.

On the last two Sundays in February immediately following each church service, we’ll have the Dining for Dollars silent auction. Features occurring throughout the year include dinners, brunches, hikes, subway tours, and even a choir concert, hosted by members and friends of the church who donate their time and money to provide activities for us all to enjoy. It’s very exciting. Will you get to go to the events you select? I hope so.

The team has lots of work to prepare for that February auction. We’re getting ready to make phone calls to all the people who participated in last year’s event, and others. We want to include you in the fun, and you can volunteer even before we call you. If you’re interested, please contact us at one of the numbers below. I’m looking forward to all the fun and the hard work these next months will bring.

To volunteer to do a Dining for Dollars event, contact: Melanie Sharp, Sue Moore, Natalie Kahn, Beverly Alison, Gerrie Lambson or Rebecca Crawford.

— Melanie Sharp

Marriage Equality Team Fights to Defeat Proposition 8

Labor Day weekend kicks off the big campaign to defeat Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage in California. Same-sex marriages have been authorized by the State of California since June 17 of this year. Many couples in our beloved community have been married this summer. As Judith Meyer said, “It is truly a summer of love.”

If Proposition 8 wins, the right to marry for lesbian and gay couples will evaporate. It is an extremely serious and close race. UUs are on the forefront of this fight. It is time for all of us to be passionate and strong, standing on the side of love.

We are working with Equality for All, a coalition of many groups, including the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU in California, California NAACP, and PFLAG. An important member of Equality for All is EQCA, Equality California. Equality California was founded in 1998 and is a respected advocate for the rights of BGLT people. Let California Ring is a campaign by EQCA to support marriage equality. Perhaps you have seen their advertisements on television. Money donated to Equality for All will be well spent. Supporting the campaign through the UULM Action Network will reinforce UUs’ reputation as core activists on this issue.

Our church is mobilized and ready for action. Many of our members are already recruiting volunteers on the streets and phone banking to recruit volunteers and identify voters. On September 3 we will begin phone banking at the church. We are looking for people to make the calls, donate their cell phones for three hours on Wednesday nights, and feed the eight to ten folks making the calls.

We are also reaching out to other people in the community who want to defeat Proposition 8.

Individual endorsement forms and other information can be found at our table at church on Sundays. Websites to check out are equalityforall.com and uulmcaaction.org. To join the team contactl Bronwen Jones.

— Bronwen Jones and Kris Langabeer

Speaking from the Heart for Equality

One of the most important things we can do is talk to people we know who are undecided about marriage for gay and lesbian couples. On Sunday, September 7 (12:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the Cottage), you can learn how to personalize your message and use your words to change hearts and minds to help defeat Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage initiative that will be on the November 4 ballot.

Join UUs and other people of faith in this threehour faith-centered messaging development training on marriage equality. Learn how to speak about and live your faith. You’ll not only be empowered to talk to your friends, colleagues, and neighbors, but you’ll also learn key media strategies to move your entire community.

Vivien Hao, director of Communications and Community Resources at the UU Legislative Ministry, California (UULM-CA), will facilitate the training. Vivien has many years of work experience in the public relations field and will be utilizing a training model developed by GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Please confirm your participation in this training by contacting Kris Langabeer by September 5 (but come even if you don’t RSVP).

Lunch will be provided at noon in Forbes Hall for a small donation. Proceeds will be sent to the UULM-CA for their work in support of marriage equality.

Please note that this training is separate and distinct from the phone-bank training provided to volunteers by Equality for All (equalityforall.com), the umbrella organization fighting Proposition 8. If you would like to volunteer for the phone bank, please contact Bronwen Jones.

Visiting Calvary Baptist

Edna Bonacich, John Raiford, and Sandra Trutt, from our Multi-Racial Development Committee, attended a Sunday service at Calvary Baptist Church of Santa Monica, on 20th Street, in July. We were delighted with their service, led by Pastor Herman Kemp, and want to share with you some of what we experienced. We came away with the feeling that there are things we can learn from this congregation.

The music was glorious, and we couldn’t keep still in our seats (very soft cushy pews for the two-hour service). During the praise and adoration part of the service the pianist played the entire song through once before we began singing and the deacon spoke the words into the mike of some songs just before we sang them. The choir was accompanied by an organ and a piano. The choir had hanging microphones to pump up the volume.

In the communion and dedication part of the service, visitors were asked to rise to say their names and the congregation they attended. An usher came around with a hand-held mike as visitors stood and introduced themselves. The three of us said we were visiting from the nearby Unitarian Church, and people seemed really pleased that we had come. Then the deacon said, “Let’s show our visitors that they are someone special.” The congregants rose and walked towards the visitors, shook hands and welcomed them to the church.

After announcements, which were read from the pulpit, came the children’s period. They asked all the young people, mainly teenagers, to come to the front row and steps of the chancel. Sister May Kemp, the pastor’s wife, welcomed the children and gave a mini lesson about how they are caterpillars waiting to change into butterflies and do wonderful things at church and in the world. The five high school seniors were reminded that there were scholarships available for college and they would help them get the information.

Some of the students were ushers, showing people to their seats and helping with the collection. The deacon gave a short sermon about giving and blessed those who could give and those who could not. An altar prayer was said with members coming forward and holding hands together. A 45-minute sermon followed on Christian beliefs and actions.

On our way out after the service, people shook our hands and hoped that we could come back again. Some expressed interest in visiting our church. It was a good experience and the welcome seemed genuine and heartfelt.

The idea behind our going was to try to develop relationships with nearby churches, especially with African American congregations, so that we can start breaking down the barriers of class and race that make us such a segregated society. We made some contacts during this visit and hope to build upon this first experience.

— Sandra Trutt Multi-Racial Development Committee

All Church Picnic

Photos courtesy of Bryan Cahill and Charles Haskell

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