The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica board of directors met via Zoom on December 9, 2025. The meeting was called to order by President Vilma Ortiz at 7:06 pm. Other board members attending included Vice President Karl Lisovsky, Treasurer Sue Bickford, Secretary Linda van Ligten, and Board Members at Large Larry Weiner, Rebecca Avery, Jef Travis, Jila Tayefehnowrooz, and Anne Bridgins. Past President Eileen McCormack and Member at Large Cassie Winters were absent. Minister Jeremiah Kalendae also attended.
Jeremiah lit the chalice and read the UU Value of Generosity: “We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.”
Board members provided personal check-ins and answered questions based on this month’s worship theme of Choosing Hope.
Update on Developmental Ministry and Strategic Plan Development
Jeremiah presented a summary of the November 15 board retreat discussion on our Strategic Plan development. The overview included information on Developmental Ministry accomplishments and goals, identifying areas for continued growth, the drafting of Stage 1 of the 5-year (2026-2031) plan, identifying priorities, congregational connections and next steps, considerations for financial sustainability and abundance, and multigenerational religious education growth.
Other Updates
Board members provided updates on several other programs and efforts, including:
- Our Children and Youth Policies document is still being developed. Board Members were asked to add their suggestions to the document so the Policies Committee can review them.
- Sue reported that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a grant for Safety Implementations that houses of worship can apply for. This year’s deadline was November 21, but Sue recommended that a Safety Committee be established to file an application before the next deadline in November 2026. Also, she said, the Santa Monica Synagogue should be included in the application process.
- Our Christmas Eve service will be held on Wednesday, December 24th, at 6:00 pm, with Jeremiah preaching about Hope. The parking structure will be open for attendees and there will be a reception after the service. Linda is gathering volunteers for the reception.
- Karl presented the plan for next year’s Dining for Dollars fundraising events, with host recruiting starting now. On Saturday, February 21, there will be a D4$ kickoff event from 6-9 pm, including a potluck dinner, silent auction, and the start of the online auction.
- There was no ministerial search update (since Cassie was not at the meeting), but it was noted that Ministerial Transition events will be for both Jeremiah and Kikanza, who may not have the same relationship with the next settled minister. January dates are being discussed.
- Board members unanimously approved minutes from the November board meeting, and the consent agenda and standing reports for this meeting.
Minister’s Report
In the introduction to his monthly report, Jeremiah quoted Jürgen Moltmann, who said:
“Hope causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in [all of us.] Those who hope…can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it.”
Jeremiah further wrote that, “The Season of Lights invites us into the dazzling darkness of the winter and its summons to move inward, rest, and be nourished by the long nights.”
“I love this period in our multireligious communities,” he said, “because we acknowledge the many holidays that give meaning to this time: Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Our Candlelight Christmas Eve service, like most Unitarian Universalist congregations, is our largest service of the year and a time for family and community and reconnecting with old friends and relatives we sometimes only get to visit with on special occasions. Each year, our Music Director Saunder [Choi] and I select a theme for the holiday service that speaks to the state of our world and the needs of our congregation. This year, we selected The Hope of Christmas and, likewise, our monthly Soul Matters theme for December is Choosing Hope. I feel like that’s been a personal theme for me all year long as we’ve navigated a brutal year of long wars, People of Color being disappeared, corruption festering in our government, and attacks on the lives, healthcare, and rights of our Transgender siblings, to name but a few of the tragedies of 2025.”
But Jeremiah said, “I have refused to be limited or diminished by those in power who want just that of me and all of us. Cole Arthur Riley, the author of Black Liturgies, writes: “Be careful of who you let regulate your dreaming. All dreaming is dangerous to those who benefit from our hopelessness.” Our collective unwillingness to being diminished or silenced has resulted in us making progress on many fronts as a congregation as we hold space for the flourishing of beloved community and the prophetic witness so needed in these dire times. Thank you for all that you’ve contributed and the ways you’ve helped to keep hope alive in our community and world.”
Jeremiah further reported that:
- We’ve gathered for worship four times as a congregation on Sunday mornings since our last meeting. Rev. Kikanza offered the service Say, Thank You which reflected on last month’s theme of Nurturing Gratitude. Jeremiah offered our holiday service, Thanksgiving/Thanxgrieving, reflecting on faith as it is understood in the Islamic tradition and the story of the first Thanxgrieving. Jeremiah also offered Open-Hearted which reflected on pastoral care wisdom for surviving and perhaps even thriving in these difficult times, and spoke to the breaking barriers and building beliefs dimensions of our ministerial search process. And finally, last Sunday, Rev. Kikanza offered Hope Full which considered our new month’s theme of Choosing Hope.
- Our Worship Associates team took a break last month as many of our members were traveling or away and unable to attend the meeting. Thankfully, said Jeremiah, we have a strong team and everything is in good order so we are able to function with a greater degree of ease and effectiveness.
- Our Pastoral Care Team and Pastoral Executive Team met and to strengthen our relational practices, receive pastoral reports, consider pastoral logistics, and discuss the article To Be a Safe Space: The Art of Emotional Self-Regulation and the Practice of Hosting Others.
- Jeremiah continues to offer pastoral meetings and spiritual counseling to members of the community as requested. This helps strengthen trust and healthy relations in our communal practice. The pastoral need remains high, and the work has included multiple hospital visits and pastoral calls in the last month.
- Jeremiah has been in regular communication and also met with Trish Brassard’s family to plan her Celebration of Life. Although Rites of the Church are usually coordinated by Rev. Kikanza, Jeremiah has made an exception as Trish had requested that he officiate at her service. It will be on Saturday, January 10th.
- We hosted our annual Thanksgiving/Thanksgrieving Feast last month and Jeremiah was able to cook an enormous amount of vegan beef bourguignon and mashed potatoes to help us live into our commitments to more environmentally sustainable and plant-based congregational practices. He gave thanks to the “greenies” and animal ministry members for staying late to wash the dishes and to everyone who attended and/or cooked and prepared such an extravagant feast for all to share.
- Jeremiah continues to hold weekly, biweekly, and/or monthly ministry, administrative, and governance meetings with each of our senior staff members, our president, the executive committee, worship chair, our consulting minister, pastoral co-chairs, and/or other congregational leaders as needed or requested.
- We hosted our annual 2025-2026 Board Retreat in November, which included worship, deepening our relational grounding, accomplishing substantial work around financial planning and staffing, a review of developmental goal accomplishment, and the development of a foundation for a new strategic plan (see above). Jeremiah said the group also met with representatives from the search committee and developed a timeline for that process.
- In our continuing office restructuring effort, we have expanded our advertisements for the office support staff position but still do not have any serious candidates. We continue to receive applications and resumes and are grateful for Alfie’s juggling of multiple functions and needs in the office in this transitional period.
- The Intersectional Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO) is continuing its standing work.
- The Board Policies Review Team is also continuing its standing work. Jeremiah has met with the Policies Team in this period, worked with Patricia Wright to get policies posted, and strategized implementation plans with board leaders.
- Jeremiah said that as part of the Ministerial Search Team and Congregational Profile effort, he has reviewed the 100-page congregational profile and provided substantial feedback in writing. He said he has also met with the ministerial search team to discuss their excellent work and ways to enhance some dimensions of it. “They’re really working so diligently and skillfully on behalf of our community,” he said. “We should all be proud.” (December will be mostly a break for this team.)
- The Communications Team‘s work is ongoing. Jeremiah recommended that everyone read Pam Teplitz’s great article on the communications gathering that happened over the summer.
- Jeremiah and the UU Animal Ministry hosted another Dining-For Dollars Luncheon that featured a vegan version of his grandmother’s split pea soup and offerings from Jacinda Virgin, Amy and Bruno Lacombe, and others from UUAM. Jeremiah thanked Jacinda and everyone who made the event possible…and noted that the UUAM would like to request financial support from the board to provide a catered meal for its film screening in the new calendar year.
- The Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council (SMAIC) hosted a Trans 101 workshop at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church last month. Jeremiah helped to organize the event, consulted with the leadership team, and offered opening words. He said it was well attended by members of various local communities, and our congregation was represented by Linda and Greg.
- Jeremiah continues to meet monthly with the SMAIC and its Leadership Team to build bridges in the large community and plan interfaith events and initiatives.
- Jeremiah also continues to meet monthly with the UCLA Medical Center’s Ethics Committee to discern policy and complex clinical cases. He also occasionally serves in emergency consults when requested and available.
In conclusion, Jeremiah wrote, “Let’s all choose hope in the ways we are able this holiday season and as we embark upon a new calendar year. We have much to be hopeful about, including the thriving state of our congregation, the progress being made in our ministerial search process, and the powerful ways people are showing up for each other in these difficult days.
Thank you for your service to the congregation and our larger Unitarian Universalist movement.”
DMRE Report
Board members also reviewed the monthly report submitted by Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education Jessica TenHave-Place. Jessica began by saying that the past month has seen “growth in K-6 RE, with a new attendance record of 28 kids on Sunday, December 7, the day of our annual Holiday Pageant.”
“This growth,” she said, “necessitates the addition of a new classroom to ensure that all the students are getting sufficient attention and care.”
“The next classroom we will be expanding to,” wrote Jessica, “is a special class for preschoolers – any kids under the age of five. These young children need extra supervision and care, and more time for less structured play. Moving them into their own class, which will include a storytime, snacks, and playtime, which will be more beneficial for them as well as the older kids in the Beginners class, where teachers will be more available for them.”
“Jen and Jason Buhle and Shanna Shaked have signed up to help in RE,” said Jessica, “as they are available for the rest of the month, and in January Children and Youth Religious Education (CYRE) will do a new volunteer recruitment push to get more preschool teachers committed in the long term. We plan to have a sign-up table after service for three weeks in January – I’m hopeful we will attract new volunteers who prefer working with younger kids in a classroom with less focus on delivering a structured curriculum.”
Also, Jessica wrote, “The growth of our program was evident at the Holiday Pageant, where we had one scene featuring the Beginners and another featuring Middle Grades, with help from parents and volunteers as well as our high school and young adult support workers.”
“It was a full house, and the kids were glowing when they heard the applause and appreciation of the congregation! We had a cast party afterwards, with holiday treats and lots of excitement as the kids decorated the Cottage for the holidays. I got to greet another new family who was there in person for the first time, though the boys could already sing along to “Go Now in Peace” from watching the service on the livestream!”
“While our Preschool, Beginners, and Middle Grades groups are steadily growing,” noted Jessica, “we have not seen the same growth in High School RE. After discussing this with the committee and Maddie van Beek, who has been serving as our main High School leader, we decided to shift our strategy to organizing a few big events per year for teens, possibly in collaboration with other congregations – ideas include lock-ins, weekend service trips, or fun outings to theme parks or sports games. We think that this will be a better strategy for building up a base of teens that come together to have fun and make new friends, and from there they will be more likely to commit to weekly educational offerings.” She said she’s working with El, the DRE in Pasadena, as well as Jen, the youth leader from nearby Santa Monica Presbyterian, “to see what we can do cooperatively to get a bigger group together.”
And finally, Jessica said, “Another main focus of CYRE work this month is preparing for Our Whole Lives (OWL) – so far we have four students signed up to participate, and our goal is 10-12 students. I’m working with the CYRE Committee to do more outreach to reach youth in our community with this important program.” Also, Jessica noted, “OWL is another potential outreach vehicle for teens, though we still need more students to sign up in order to start a viable program in January. I will be reaching out to local youth organizations this week to let them know about this free program, focusing on LGBT-friendly organizations and organizations for “at risk” youth. We have five trained facilitators ready to lead, so once we have a few more youth signed up the program will be ready to take off at the end of January. I’m excited for OWL, and everything else to come in the New Year!”
Treasurer’s Report
Sue reported that our year-to-date pledge income ($186,664) is higher than we budgeted ($156,667), though our pledge income this month ($24,997) was lower than our monthly projection ($31,333).
Also, Sue said both our our year-to-date ($3,541) and monthly ($1,922) fundraising are lower than budgeted ($13,125 and $2,625, respectively) for this time in the fiscal year…though our big fundraiser is Dining for Dollars, which has yet to occur.
Finally, Sue said our year-to-date rental income ($36,161) is also lower than projected ($40,000), and our monthly rental income this month ($6,481) is lower than our monthly projection ($8,000).
In percentages, she said, our year-to-date income of $250,210 is 88.7% of what we have projected, and our year-to-date expenses of $272,217 are 100.2% of what we have projected...so we expect to end the year with a deficit of approximately $31K.
For more in-depth numbers, see the November 2025 Statement of Income and Expense.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
