Join us in-person and online on Sundays at 10:30 am. All are welcome! We as Unitarian Universalists look forward to being with you.
COVID Update January 2023: We are trying to keep our members and visitors as safe as possible while following new recommended information and guidelines. Vaccinations are required and masks are strongly recommended while attending services or events inside the Sanctuary, Forbes Hall, or the cottage. If you or someone in your household are not feeling well or have tested positive for COVID, please stay home; you can still join us via our Facebook or YouTube live-stream worship. Thank you for helping us keep our congregation safe. Safety Policy
Parking at the UCLA parking structure at 1311 16th St. is available to people attending Sunday services. The entrance is from 16th St. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Arizona Ave., on the SE corner of Arizona and 16th; ask the attendant for a UUSM parking permit. For those with a handicap parking tag, several spaces are also available onsite, via the alley west of 18th St., as well at in the UCLA structure.
Worship Online: We live-stream our service from the sanctuary. Join us on YouTube, or join us on Facebook where the video is pinned to the top of the page starting at 10:20 am. You don’t need to have a Facebook or YouTube account or be logged in to watch the service. You do have to be logged in to comment and chat with other members of the congregation.
Explore past services on our Sermons page, available 24/7. Tune in anytime to catch up and worship with your community. We encourage you to light a chalice or candle at home, mediate, and sing along.
Sunday Worship: The Soft Underbelly
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesRev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching; Sue Bickford, Worship Associate. Sometimes your greatest strength comes from what you perceive to be your weakest area. What wondrous things might emerge from the most tender and vulnerable side of your yourself?
Sunday Worship: Easter Celebration
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesThis Easter Celebration, we will explore new Biblical research that paints a controversial and complex picture of one of the most influential figures in religious history. Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae, preaching; Chela Metzger, Worship Associate.
Sunday Worship: Our Living Earth
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesOur Living Earth. Our natural world is where many Unitarian Universalists encounter the Spirit of Life. This multigenerational service will celebrate the interdependent web of all existence and remind us of our responsibility to it. Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae, preaching; Alison Kendall, Worship Associate.
Sunday Worship: Our Promises
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesOur Promises. The Awakened One, the Buddha, taught that the Sangha — the spiritual community — was a necessary dimension of enlightened living. Join us as we honor the birth of this important religious teacher and reflect upon the promises in our Covenant of Right Relations that bind us to each other and help us to follow the liberal religious spiritual path in our beloved community. Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae, preaching; Johnny Canales, Worship Associate.
Sunday Worship: What You Resist, Persists
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWhat You Resist, Persists. Have you ever gotten exactly what you didn't want? When you focus on what you don't want, you often get just that. Are we focusing on the wrong things? Are we clear about what we actually want? Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching.
April Generous Congregation Recipient:
Rainforest Action Network
Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offerings to support the life of our church and the other 50% to organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist principles. This month we’ll share our Sunday Offering with Rainforest Action Network (RAN). This environmental organization preserves forests, protects the climate, and upholds human rights by challenging corporate power and systemic injustice through frontline partnerships and strategic campaigns. RAN works toward a world where the rights and dignity of all communities are respected and where healthy forests, a stable climate, and wild biodiversity are protected and celebrated. Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community and Rainforest Action Network. To give $10 right now, text “$10 GCC” (or another amount) to 844-982-0209. (One-time-only credit card registration required.) Or visit uusm.org/donate.
April 2023 Theme: Resistance
We’ll explore in our worship, small groups, and personal reflection this month’s theme, The Path of Resistance, and consider the power of resisting together.
A river cuts through a rock not because of its power but its persistence. ~ James N Watkins
A boy and his father were walking along a road when they came across a large stone. “Do you think if I use all of my strength, I can move this rock?” the child asked. His father answered, “If you use all of your strength, I am sure you can do it.” The boy began to push the rock. Exerting himself as much as he could, he pushed and pushed. The rock did not move. Discouraged, he said to his father, “You were wrong. I can’t do it.” His father put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and said, “No son. You didn’t use all your strength – you didn’t ask me to help.” ~ Rabbi David Wolf
You cannot save a world you don’t love. You cannot reach a person who’s worth and dignity you do not see… ~ Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd
Don’t tell me to be calm / when there are so many reasons / to be angry, so much cause for despair!
I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind, / I said to breathe. / We’re going to need a lot of air / to make this hurricane together. ~ Lynn Ungar
Our times ask us to exercise our capacity for prophetic witness. By prophetic witness I mean our capacity to see what is happening, to say what is happening and to act in accordance with what we know. Prophetic witness is the ability to name those places where we resist knowing what needs to be known. ~ Rebecca Parker
People cry not because they are weak. It’s because they’ve been strong too long. ~ Shane Koyczan
Rebellion, unless it can transform itself into resistance, inevitably becomes self-destructive. When we rebel without challenging the framework of reality the system has constructed, we remain trapped… Resistance differs from rebellion because it embodies a reality incongruent with that of domination. We do more than defy reality: we present its alternatives, communicating our beliefs and values. ~ Starhawk
Two people can keep each other / sane, can give support, conviction…
Three people are a delegation… / A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall. / A thousand have solidarity…
it starts when you say We / and know who you mean,
and each day you mean one more. ~ Marge Piercy, “The Low Road”
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. ~ The Dalai Lama
Our service in the world continues.
