December 2025 Worship Services

December’s Ministry Theme is Choosing Hope

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.

Masks are optional, but always acceptable and welcome. If you or someone in your household is not feeling well or has 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 free 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, meditate, and sing along. 

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December Generous Congregation Recipient: UNICEF

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 nonprofit organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist principles. This month we’ll share our Sunday Offering with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

UNICEF’s mission is to help children survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence. Founded in 1946, UNICEF is the agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. Among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, it has a presence in over 190 countries and territories.

The agency has worked in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. UNICEF is the world’s largest provider of vaccines and supports child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality education and skill building, HIV prevention and treatment for mothers and babies, and the protection of children and adolescents from violence and exploitation.

Before, during and after humanitarian emergencies and despite remarkable challenges, UNICEF is on the ground, bringing lifesaving help and hope to children and families. Non-political and impartial, they are never neutral when it comes to defending children’s rights and safeguarding their lives and futures.

Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community and the UNICEF. 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.

 

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December 2025 Theme: Choosing Hope

Our theme this month invites us to consider our world, our community, and our lives in the light of the practice of Choosing Hope. This month let us seek opportunities to notice and share ways of Choosing Hope. Every kind word, every act of help, every smile is a spark. And when we remember those who have helped us shine, we carry their light forward to others. 

The hope that interests me… looks the world full on, it looks reality in the face, and it refuses to accept that things have to be this way. And then this orientation of hope throws one’s intelligence, one’s energy, one’s persistence, one’s creativity and courage behind that insistence. ~ Krista Tippet

At times when our own light goes out, it is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. ~ Albert Schweitzer

This month of Choosing Hope coincides with hopeful holy days in many different religions: the hope of a child at Christmas, the hope of a flame still lit through Hanukkah, the hope of a resilient community in Kwanzaa, or the hope of the darkest night giving way to the light at Solstice. Depending on the make-up of your congregations, there are many different ways in which music might foster the imagination and the strength of hope. As we enter into the colder, quieter months, remember that our communities need to keep their fires burning. May the music we make be the initial spark, the flame, and the oil to keep it burning.  ~ Adam, Soul Matters

The chalice lit among us is a beacon
A beacon of hope, in a world in crisis
A beacon of possibility, made manifest in community … ~ Debra Faulk, full piece

A Prayer for Gloomy Thinkers
Dear God,…
All day long, when my thoughts get gloomy:
is this the end of days?
will AI take over everything just like in all those movies?  ~ Nadia Bolz-Weber, full prayer

Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are. ~ Author Unknown

Active Hope involves identifying the outcomes we hope for and then playing an active role in bringing them about. We don’t wait until we are sure of success. We don’t limit our choices to the outcomes that seem likely. Instead, we focus on what we truly, deeply long for, and then we proceed to take determined steps in that direction. ~ Joanna Macy

At a rally, songwriter and activist Holly Near asked people to sing her song, “We Are a Gentle Angry People” (which is in our hymnal, by the way). One of the lines is about being a hopeful people, and someone in the crowd shouted that she was not feeling hopeful. Near replied, “Hope is not a feeling, it’s a commitment.” ~ Story told by Rev. Tess Baumberger

The Gates of Hope
Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope —
Not the prudent gates of Optimism…
Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense…
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of “Everything is gonna’ be all right.”
But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling… ~ Rev. Victoria Safford, full piece

 

Our service in the world continues.