August’s Ministry Theme is Hospitality
Join us in-person and online on Sundays at 10:30 am. All are welcome! We as Unitarian Universalists in Santa Monica look forward to being with you.
COVID Update May 2023: The congregation’s Pandemic Policies and Protocols were adopted specifically in response to the pandemic. Given that the state of emergency has been lifted, they are no longer in effect. Masks are optional, but always acceptable and welcome. If you or someone in your household is 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.
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 to place on your dashboard. For those with a handicap parking tag, several spaces are also available onsite, via the alley west of 18th St., as well as in the UCLA structure.
Worship Online: We livestream our service from the sanctuary. Join us by clicking the WATCH NOW button above where the video is live every week beginning at 10:20 am, or watch on YouTube or Facebook. You don’t need to have a YouTube or Facebook 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: A Thief of the Heart
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesSunday Worship: A Thief of the Heart. Rev James Ishmael Ford, preaching; Karen Hsu Patterson, Worship Associate. What does a spiritual life look like over the long haul? Today friend and occasional speaker at UUSM, the Rev. James Ishmael Ford, will share a story that explores what that might look like. Join us for worship in-person and online. Rev. Ford served as a UU parish minister for 25 years. He's the minister emeritus at the First Unitarian Church of Providence. Today while officially retired, he serves an affiliated minister with Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena. James is also a Zen teacher and the author of five books on aspects of the Zen life. His sixth, the Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey, has just been released by Shambhala Publications.
Sunday Worship: Small Gestures
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesSmall Gestures. Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching; Cassie WInters, worship associate. How can you communicate without words that you care? What are the small gestures the make the biggest difference to you? What do you know makes a difference for others? Join us for worship in-person and online.
Sunday Worship: Sophia’s Revolution
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesJames Witker, preaching; Dr. Susan Hendricks, Worship Associate. A child of missionaries, Sophia Lyon Fahs' own spiritual odyssey would transform liberal religious education from rote study into an experience-centered search for truth and meaning. Her lifelong dedication to children’s learning, and to the quest for knowledge from all sources, helped usher an era of rapid and unprecedented growth that was dubbed “The Unitarian Renaissance.” Even today, we at UUSM remain part of the revolution of ideas that Sophia Lyon Fahs instigated — and she still has much to teach us. James Witker has been a member of UUSM since 2010, during which time has been involved especially with the Faith In Action Commission (FIA) and Adult Programs (RE). He has also served on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association (UUHA), and works professionally as a documentary film and TV editor and producer whose work can be seen on Showtime, Netflix, Tennis Channel, and other networks. Join us for worship in-person and online.
Sunday Worship: The Process of Becoming
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesThe Process of Becoming. Change is hard. Transformation is even more difficult. How might the butterfly's cycle of life offer us a pathway toward transforming the world through courageous love? Join us for worship in-person and online. We welcome back the Rev. Liz Murphy (she/her), who is a staff chaplain at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Loma Linda, CA. She is also the affiliated community minister at Orange Coast UU Church. She previously served as the Interfaith Programs Assistant at the University of Southern California's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, as well as a chaplain intern at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Liz graduated from the Claremont School of Theology with a Master of Divinity in 2020. Originally from Pittsburgh, she lives in Monrovia with her wife, Hilary.
August Generous Congregation Recipient: Sojourn Domestic Violence Services
Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offering to support the life of our church and the other 50% to organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist values. This month, half of our Sunday Offering will go to Sojourn Domestic Violence Services, providing trauma-informed and culturally responsive services to individuals and families who have experienced domestic violence; and empowering communities with the knowledge and support to build healthy relationships.
Since 1977, Sojourn, now a program of The People Concern, has been meeting the emergency and long-term needs of thousands of domestic violence victims locally each year. They do this by providing a confidential crisis hotline (310-264-6644), shelter programs, support groups, workshops, children’s empowerment programming, legal services, and service referrals.
Because of their work, Sojourn brings safety, connection, and hope to individuals and families. As part of their mission, Sojourn also works to educate the broader community and advance public policy that affirms the rights of oppressed populations. To learn more, click here.
Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community and the Sojourn Domestic Violence Services. 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.
August 2024 Theme: Hospitality
Our theme this month invites us to consider our world, our communities, and our lives in the light of Hospitality.
The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It’s about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment. ~ Shauna Niequist, Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes
People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Both hospitality and friendship benefit from our attention and intentionality. In a song, Judy Collins’ wholeheartedly proclaims:
Open the door and come on in! I’m so glad to see you my friend.
You’re like a rainbow coming around the bend.
And when I see you happy, well, it sets my heart free.
I’d like to be as good a friend to you as you are to me.
Where and how have you been made to feel welcome? What are your hospitality strengths and weaknesses? What are ours as a congregation? Denominational resources for hospitality and inclusion include detailed considerations of personally welcoming newcomers as well as how our physical spaces and our meeting practices are inviting or… need attention. At UUSM our Greeters and the Membership Committee, as well as our Religious Education program and the Intersectional, Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO), are working on these matters. But each of us plays a part, and we can start by wearing our nametags. We can notice if, on a Sunday morning or other event, we take time to meet and engage with new people, or only gravitate to our friends? Let’s greet strangers with smiles, open hearts, invitations, and more. To delve further, there is important UUA report called Widening the Circle of Concern, available at no charge here as an audio book and a print-friendly download. For additional additional perspectives:
- Hospitality and Inclusion – LeaderLab resources from the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) – Practicing radical hospitality opens up possibilities for interaction with different people, allowing for diverse experiences and an expanded creative interchange. And it’s about meeting people where they are. It’s about learning together. We are all works in progress. Radical hospitality is about putting our own assumptions up for examination. … Look at the congregations that are growing. These are communities that see each new person who comes through their doors as a gift – a mysterious treasure whose value will be revealed over time and that will enrich the community in some way. And they know that this takes time, patience and unconditional loving-kindness.
- What about ableism? Unitarian Universalists have a history of fighting for justice. Ableism is yet another issue in which we are called by our faith to seek justice, to deepen relationships, to break the barriers that exist in society at large, in our congregations, and in ourselves. Our denomination’s General Assembly (GA) Planning Committee is committed to addressing the inclusion of all people (whatever their abilities might be) in all GA activities. Coordinating services and accommodations for meetings includes seeking out opportunities to raise awareness around inclusion and accessibility.
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This sermon by Elizabeth Foster, “When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Skylight,” won the 2020 EqUUal Access Sermon Contest: “Doors are one of our most beloved metaphors for new beginnings, for opportunities. … It has been 30 years since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It has been in effect for nearly all of my life. And yet one in four people with a disability live in poverty. For Hispanic Americans, that number jumps to nearly one in three, for black Americans, nearly 40%. Even if we make it through higher education and obtain advanced degrees, many of us cannot work for free of losing the Medicaid benefits keeping us alive. ,,, A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit a new church with a friend of mine. I cried because the pastor’s sermon on racial justice was incredibly moving and I cried because I nearly always cry in church. But mostly, I cried because the associate pastor at that church uses a powerchair, and I realized that I had never, in the 30 years I have been alive, in the 30 years that the ADA has been law, seen a minister using a mobility device in person. It brought home to me how much representation matters. We all of us have a need to see ourselves reflected in our church community. But so many of our churches tell people every week that they are welcome regardless of ability, but do not use microphones or have captioning or interpreters or have spaces for wheelchairs, that hold religious education classes and social events in rooms that are only accessible by stairs, that do not provide sensory-friendly or fragrance-free spaces. We often say in the UU and UCC [United Church of Christ] traditions, ‘Whoever you are, wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.’ And I dream of a day when this is true. I dream of a church where I and my siblings are more than an afterthought or a burden.” ~ excerpted
Our service in the world continues.
