April, 2025 Board Meeting Highlights

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 8, via Zoom. 

Board Members attending included President Eileen McCormack, Treasurer Rebecca Crawford, Past President Barbara Kernochan, and Members at Large Norm Richey, Audrey Erbes, Shanna Shaked, Cassie Winters, and Trish Brassard.  Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, Consulting Minister Kikanza Nuri-Robins, and congregation members Julie Nyquist, Patricia Wright and John Zinner also attended.  Secretary Linda van Ligten was absent.

Call to Order and Spiritual Grounding

Eileen called the meeting to order at: 7:04 p.m. Norm lit the chalice and read the UU Value of Love: 

“As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love.

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.”

Norm also gave an opening reading, and then attendees provided a personal check-in and answered questions based on the theme of “Living Love Through the Path of Joy.”

Membership and Standing Reports

Our current membership is 258. There were no changes this month, though it was reported that at least two visitors will very likely become new members.

The Standing Monthly Reports were noted, and a consent agenda motion to accept the reports and approve the March minutes was approved unanimously.

Minister’s Report

Introducing his report, Jeremiah read a quote from Maria Popova:

“In this world heavy with robust reasons for despair, joy is a stubborn courage we must not surrender, a fulcrum of personal power we must not yield to cynicism, blame, or any other costume of helplessness… And when the war within rages, as it does in every life, the practice of joy, the courage of joy, becomes our mightiest frontier of resistance.”

Jeremiah began his report by reflecting on what the queer community faced during the HIV/AIDS crisis, when the vast majority of Americans, the US government, the medical community, the mass media, schools, and religions all looked the other way while a generation of queer people died from a terrible plague.  Then he quoted Dan Savage, who lived through that “dismal generation of American history” and wrote:

“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced at night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. It didn’t look like we were going to win then and we did. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to win now but we could. Keep fighting, keep dancing.”

In our time, Jeremiah said, “if authoritarians, fascists, and bigots think they can silence us, keep us from offering our resistance, or deprive us of the joy of life, they’ve got another think coming! We will find joy in life to empower us, inspire our movement, and to make, as Toni Cade Bambara had similarly expressed, the revolution that’s coming irresistible!”

Finally, on a more personal note, Jeremiah said, “I am sad to see another Queen of Months (Ramazan) depart and I am grieving the loss of my late friend, mentor, and seminary advisor, the Rev. Dr. Dorsey O. Blake, who returned to his Beloved in the course of the Sacred Month. As more and more friends join the Ancestors, I am reminded of June Jordan’s sentiments in Poem for South African Women that “we, [now,] are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” May we remember the mighty cloud of witnesses of those gone before us who are there at our backs as we move into the complexities of the future.”

Jeremiah also reported that:

• We’ve gathered for four Sunday Worship services since our last Board Meeting. Rev Kikanza offered the service Trust Walk to introduce our monthly theme of Living Love Through the Practice of Trust. Next, Jeremiah offered Gender Liberation in honor of the Transgender Day of Visibility and in light of the escalating attacks on Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming people in our society. Jessica provided the multigenerational service Trusting Our Inherent Worth, which considered the rights of children, the disability rights movement, immigration, and the problems of capitalism. And lastly, Jeremiah kicked off our annual Stewardship Campaign with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which “explored the pastoral dimensions of the emotional dysregulation affecting society and communities right now, the prophetic imperative that we lift up and defend our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the face of rising authoritarianism and fascism, and the emboldening of white supremacist cisheterosexual and ableist ideologies in our larger world.” Jeremiah also reported that our sanctuary remains comfortably full most Sundays, and there has been an outpouring of praise from the congregation – especially in the last month –  for our many and varied spiritual offerings to the community.

• Our Worship Team met last month to review our practices, deepen relationships, and prepare for upcoming services.

• Our Pastoral Care Team and Pastoral Executive Team met this past month to receive reports from our Pastoral Associates, and continued its study of the UUA PWR resource, “When Anxiety Trumps Covenant,” with an emphasis on anti-racism. Jeremiah said this has evolved into a three-part didactic and discussion, which is helping to address the emotional dysregulation at play in our lives and the larger community right now.

• Jeremiah continues to offer Pastoral Meetings and Spiritual Counseling to members of the community as requested, which helps strengthen trust and healthy relations in our communal practice.

• Jeremiah continues to hold weekly, biweekly, and/or monthly Ministry, Administrative and Governance Meetings with all of our senior staff, our president, the executive committee, worship chair, consulting minister, pastoral co-chairs, UUA congregational life staff, and/or other congregational leaders as needed or requested.

• Our Stewardship Team has been meeting weekly to refine messaging and strategy, organize the logistics, and launch the “This is the Moment!” Stewardship Campaign. Jeremiah extended a “huge thank you” again this year to Denise Helton for chairing the team, and to Gretchen Goetz for bringing her considerable talent and input to the table. He also thanked “all who’ve been able to support this effort and better institutionalize it so that it is more sustainable for all involved,” and said the campaign is “another developmental ministry milestone we should be proud of as a community.”  He also urged people to get their campaign buttons after an upcoming service and to wear them this month to support the campaign, a critical effort that is the result of a lot of thought, time, and creativity.

• We are continuing Onboarding Our New Congregational Administrator, Alfie Wilkerson. Jeremiah said he approved extending Alfie’s training period, since both Nurit and Alfie felt more time was needed for the amount of information that needs to be conveyed while still also addressing the day-to-day matters of church administration. Both Nurit and Alfie were grateful for and relieved by the extension, and Jeremiah has also met with them to discuss matters of congregational life and administration.

• Staff and congregational leaders organized and hosted both a special small dinner and a larger congregational Celebration of Our Retiring Congregational Administrator Nurit Gordon, recognizing her nearly 15 years of service. Everyone appreciated the opportunity to say goodbye and express their gratitude…and Jeremiah also noted that “it helps us all to model good exits as we live more completely into our aspirations.”

• We hosted an All Staff Spring Luncheon at Thai Dishes to celebrate our amazing staff and give everyone an opportunity to say goodbye to Nurit and to welcome Alfie.

• Our congregation gathered for the Hands Off Rallies and Marches in DTLA, Culver City, and Glendale. Jeremiah was able to join the DTLA march with about a dozen other UUs and some friends. He thanked everyone who was at the events either in person or spirit, and reported that more than 5 million people gathered in 1,200 locations around the country to side with love and justice… noting that there will be more opportunities for this kind of activism coming soon.

• The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (LDNC),  beginning the Ministerial Search Process, has completed its canvass of the entire congregation. Jeremiah extended a special thank you to the LDNC, the Board, and the Membership team for completing the task with skill and grace. The Committee has now been able to use the data it gathered to help identify a slate of candidates for the Ministerial Search Committee. 

• Jeremiah met with the Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO) this past month to process how we can show up and respond to unexpected IARAO right relations issues in the congregation. He expressed his gratitude to the team members for their wisdom and commitment to helping us all live into our commitments to anti-racism, anti-oppression, and inclusion. He said he was also happy to report that Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education Jessica TenHave-Place has been able to join the team, too.

• The Board Policies Review Team continues to make incredible progress on this developmental task and Jeremiah said we are all grateful. He is providing feedback and consulting as an ex-officio member of the team.

• The Mission and Vision Team has concluded its work and provided data and examples so a small team can be selected by the board to craft this information into mission and vision statements for the congregation to consider. Jeremiah said we will learn more from Rev. Kikanza and Julie Nyquist (see below), and we are profoundly grateful for the many hours of love that went into the endeavor.

• The Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council (SMAIC) hosted its annual spring luncheon for members of the Interfaith Council at the Santa Monica library. Jessica and Jeremiah both attended. Jeremiah also facilitated a presentation and community reflection on personal and communal resilience through self-care plans. The Council and its Leadership Team also met this past month, but Jeremiah was unable to attend the leadership meeting because he was celebrating his birthday. UUSM once again hosted the annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Service with the Santa Monica Synagogue this month, and Jeremiah is on the planning team for the event again this year.

• Jeremiah continues to meet monthly with the UCLA Medical Center Ethics Committee, to help shape health care practice affecting the larger community and to engage in ethical learning, policy formation, and clinical discernment.

In conclusion, Jeremiah said, “I love each of you, and I deeply appreciate the care, dedication, compassion, leadership, and wisdom you bring to this congregation. Thank you for being who you are. I am proud to be in this ministry with you in these difficult times.”

Mission and Vision

Kikanza and Julie presented the work of the Mission and Vision task force, beginning with conversations with many congregants and ending with a statement of “who we are.” The group’s work will now lead to “crafting the poetry of it” into statements of two or three sentences by members of the Board.

Policy Update/Request for Approval

Patricia Wright and John Zinner reported that 26 policies have been approved by the Board since the task force began its work in November 2023.

Three new Board policies were presented to the board this month: Active Shooter, Disruptive Behavior, and Associate/Assistant Minister.  The board voted unanimously to approve them.

The Board also agreed that all approved policies be implemented at the first Board meeting following the Annual Meeting. Board members discussed who might accept the job of oversight, action items that need to be completed per the policies, and how to make policies easily available to the congregation, such as adding them to the “For Members” section of our website. Cassie also suggested creating a Policies Handbook, perhaps a binder, and a special section of the website. These could include our policies, contact information, resources, communication procedures, and other information any member might want to know. Kikanza and Cassie offered to work on this, and said some of the information will be covered in upcoming communications policies.

Treasurer’s Report

Rebecca reported that we are currently behind in pledges by about $13,000, and we will probably end up around $36,000 behind our approved budget for the year, due to the DMRE hours increase and low pledge receipts, and because Dining for Dollars (our major fundraiser of the year) has not yet taken place.

Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education (DMRE)

In her written report to the board this month, Jessica said March 2025 was a great month for Children and Youth Religious Education (CYRE), as we worked through our Soul Matters elementary curriculum on the theme of Trust, had important conversations with both youth and adult members of the community regarding the difficult times we are living through, and held a multigenerational worship service that highlighted the participation of kids and families.

“I am glad to see our CYRE program continuing to grow,” she said. Three new families have been attending regularly. The children participate as readers in our services, contributing thoughts during both the Time for All Ages and RE lessons. And even the shy ones have had fun with stories and art while accompanied by their parent in RE lessons. “I’m very proud of how the kids who have been at UUSM for a while welcome these new friends into the community, showing kindness and a willingness to help,” said Jessica.

Jessica also reported that, “Young families at UUSM experience many of the same concerns we all do in our current political moment – there are worries about services and education for kids with disabilities, protections for queer and trans youth, and concerns about job loss and economic insecurity faced by parents working in organizations that are reliant on federal funding.”

“I’m grateful,” she wrote, “that UUSM is able to provide them with supportive community, both to share our concerns together, as we did at the Listening Circle on March 16, and to offer emotional and material support to one another in community. I appreciated being a part of the Listening Circle, both to hear from youth, parents, and others about what’s weighing on their hearts, and to have the conversation serve as a learning opportunity for how we can do a better job in the future at being an actively anti-racist congregation. I continue to be involved with the Intersectional Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Commission, and it’s been wonderful to have the group’s input on navigating difficult conversations and which resources will be most helpful to our congregation as we move forward.”

Jessica also noted that, “My favorite day of the month was our Multigenerational Service on Trusting Our Inherent Worth. These services are a lot of work to plan, but always so rewarding for everyone. Kids participated along with their parents as readers, we led the congregation in learning a new song, kids and adults worked together to lead a ritual, and we had the opportunity to introduce disability rights, immigrant/refugee rights, and children’s rights to the larger conversation on our inherent worth. In the future I will try to take into account in my planning that these services have been running a bit long, but I’m so grateful for these opportunities for our community to connect across generations and experience worship a little differently.”

Finally in her March report, Jessica wrote: “In the coming month of April, we’ll be looking forward to special activities for the Green Living Faire and Easter Sunday, as well as continued planning for this summer’s Peace Camp interfaith program, and plugging into any available opportunities for civic engagement and living out our faith in the public sphere. I’m so proud of the way that our kids are able to articulate how their faith informs how they move in the world – from teens having conversations about the injustice of particular political policies to our youngest kids pointing out that it’s not nice to make fun of people who are different. While the times we are living through are very challenging, they are an opportunity to teach our kids (and simultaneously our adults) that it’s crucial to put our values and principles into action to help others. I’m excited to see that happening here at UUSM, and look forward to doing more of that work across the many generations in our community.”

Shanna and others praised Jessica’s work and the plans for summer and beyond.

Ministerial Search Committee Canvassing

Eileen thanked Board Members for their participation in canvassing for Search Committee members. As noted above, the LDNC is now working on the slate of seven potential Ministerial Search Committee members, which will be presented for congregational approval. The Board will schedule a Special Meeting in mid-May to approve the slate.

Stewardship

Eileen reported that this year’s pledge drive will be relatively low-key, with a pizza party at the end but no courtyard conversations and no house parties. Cassie suggested that the Board offer a Dining for Dollars event, such as a pancake breakfast, which was met with great enthusiasm.

Adult RE/FIA Update

Larry spoke briefly about our current and recent Adult RE offerings, including Bring Your Own Theology and the Common Read. He said we will also be renewing Faith In Action (FIA) efforts with UU the Vote.

Larry presented a motion to adjourn the meeting and Audrey seconded the motion.  It was approved unanimously.

 

Draft minutes used to create this report were provided by Past President Barbara Kernochan. Documents distributed and reviewed at the meeting can be found here.