The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica board of directors met via Zoom on February, 10, 2026.
Call to Order, Spiritual Grounding, and Opening Remarks
President Vilma Ortiz called the meeting or order at 7:02 p.m. Other board members attending included Vice President Karl Lisovsky, Treasurer Sue Bickford, Secretary Linda Van Ligten, and Board Members at Large Larry Weiner, Cassie Winters, Jef Travis, Jila Tayefehnowrooz, Anne Bridgins, and Rebecca Avery. Minister Jeremiah Kalendae also attended, as did congregation member Denise Helton. Past President Eileen McCormack was absent.
Vilma acknowledged the passing of Larry’s beloved wife Laura, and Larry expressed thanks for the support of board and community members.
Sue lit the chalice and read the UU Value of Interdependence: “We honor the interdependent web of all existence. With reverence for the great web of life and with humility, we acknowledge our place in it. We covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation. We will create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice. We will work to repair harm and damaged relationships.”
She also quoted anthropologist Margaret Mead, who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Board members provided a personal check-in and answered questions related to this months worship theme of Practicing Resilience.
And Vilma reminded attendees to be mindful of others by speaking in turns, waiting for others to speak before speaking again, avoiding crosstalk, and be aware of the queue for speaking.
Ongoing Discussions
Reviewing new and revised Policies, discussion of the Child and Youth Safety Policy revealed the need for further revisions. Vilma will follow up. Board members voted to approve new General Communications Guidelines…and reviewed the new Communications Charter, though no approval was needed.
Denise presented the timeline for this year’s Stewardship campaign, which will kick off on March 29 with a pizza event, and continue through the next three Sundays. Denise also talked about office support for the campaign, the schedule/calendar, and help requested from board members, including communication, reporting, packet distribution, gatherings, and phone calls.
Other upcoming events mentioned were the February 21 Dining for Dollars kickoff (with bidding ending on March 1), and an Earth Day/Green Living event, which may not be held on April 19.
Discussion of the Strategic Plan was held over until next month.
Cassie provided an update from the Search Committee, confirming a candidating week from April 18-26, and a congregational meeting on April 26. Discussion of Ministerial Transition efforts was held over until next month.
Treasurer’s Report
Sue presented the Treasurer’s report, including information on January’s income ($37,903 actual vs. a budgeted amount of $48,391), year-to-date income ($401,877 actual vs. the budgeted amount of $378,741 for this point in the fiscal year) and expenses for both January ($50,485 vs. $51,857 budgeted) and YTD ($374,569 actual vs. $375,490 budgeted).
For more information, see this month’s Statement of Income and Expenses.
Minutes and Membership
Board members voted unanimously to adopt the minutes of the January board meeting, and the consent agenda for this meeting. Total current membership was reported as 266. There were no new members to read into the membership roll.
Minister’s Report
Introducing his report, Jeremiah read a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer:
my heart, a cottonwood seed,
landed on rock instead of soil—
love says, time to trust the wind.
He also introduced our Soul Matters theme for the month – Embodying Resilience – saying, “We embody resilience day by day, month by month, and year after year. We help each other to bear the weight of these times by spreading it out among us in beloved community and knowing our limits and respecting those of others. Our faith reminds us that even when it feels as though our “heart, a cottonwood seed,” finds itself upon a rock instead of fertile soil, “love says, time to trust the wind.” So let us hold fast to our liberal faith and the values and principles we cherish, knowing we too will be carried by the wind of our dreams and our labors to a better future.”
He also noted that, “While we may not yet have arrived in that better future, we are busy laying the groundwork for it through the many activities of the congregation, as our ministerial search progresses, and our continued commitment to institutionalizing the changes both technical and cultural in our developmental work. Our sanctuary has been largely packed since the beginning of the calendar year and this is wonderful as we are co-creating an even more vital and engaged community in these dire times!”
Jeremiah also reported:
- Our congregation has gathered for four Sunday morning worship services since the last board meeting. Jeremiah provide Antidotes to White Supremacy Culture (Part III) as a continuation of a multi-service series on the topic of addressing white supremacy culture. This installment focused specifically on the uprisings and tragedies in Minneapolis. Next, Our Divine Names explored the multiple ways we Unitarian Universalists may attempt to name the ineffable grounded in multiple religious traditions and with consideration of the meaning and divinity of our own names. Our Imbolc and Brigid Celebration was a new service proposed by our newly emerging CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) group to celebrate this major holiday and important figure in the broader Neopagan culture. Jeremiah said he was happy to provide support for this service and “so grateful for Judith Martin Straw’s inspiring sermon.” He also noted that this was the third service this congregational year that has directly aligned with important Pagan holidays (Samhain, Winter Solstice, and Imbolc). Finally, Jeremiah offered the service on our Embodying Resilience theme, in anticipation of Ramazan and the Sheb-i Arus of Ibrahim Baba (HU!) and reflecting on the legacy of Black/Mutiracial/multireligious prophetic leadership within and beyond Unitarian Universalism.
- Our Worship Associates Team met this month and worship planning continues as usual.
- Our Pastoral Care Team and Pastoral Executive Team met and explored pastoral realities in the congregation, current and future outreach efforts, and started to prepare for the transition in leadership which will happen later in the year. The team also welcomed Jef Travis as its first new Pastoral Associate in quite some time, after they completed the application process last month.
- Jeremiah continues to offer Pastoral Meetings and Spiritual Counsel to members of the community as requested. These efforts help strengtheb trust and healthy relations in our communal practice.
- Jeremiah holds 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.
- Eileen has been helping Alfie with Office Restructuring and the search for new office staffing, and we hope to have progress on that front soon, insha’allah.
- The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee continues to meet and engage in organizational development work (Charter, Covenant, etc.) before it turns to the leadership development aspect of its new charge. Committee members are now meeting twice a month and Jeremiah attends one of the meetings that doesn’t fall on his day off.
- The Intersectional Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO) continues its standing work.
- The Board Policies Review Team (see brief report above) also continues its standing work. Jeremiah asked board members to review and provide feedback, if needed, as policies are circulated. He noted that Rebecca Avery now serves as the Board Liaison to this team.
- We are now “in the thick of” the Ministerial Search Processes, which are a priority for both the congregation and Jeremiah, and “everything appears to be progressing smoothly on all fronts.” Jeremiah thanked the Ministerial Search Team for all the work going on behind the scenes during this important phase of the effort.
- We need to reconstitute a Committee on Shared Ministry and although Jeremiah said he hoped we would be further along with this at this point in the year, the events of January and the ministerial search processes led to an understandably slower start. He said our hope is the new team will serve as both bridge for the new minister and have right relations responsibilities. Jeremiah said he has discussed the committee with a number of folks who expressed interest, and just needs to wait until he has more time to dedicate to the effort.
- The Communications Team also continues its work. There were no updates this month.
- The UU Animal Ministry has now been funded with an additional line item added to the church budget, and Jeremiah said, “we are happy to encourage their innovative and important ministry for all beings.”
- Jeremiah was not able to make it to the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council’s Leadership Team meeting this month, but said he will be presenting at the Council meeting in a few days.
- Jeremiah continues to meet monthly with the UCLA Medical Center Ethics Committee to discern policy and interventions or non-interventions in complex clinical cases. He also occasionally serves in emergency consultations when requested and available.
In conclusion, Jeremiah thanked board members for their many and varied contributions to the work of the board, our congregation, its members, and our wider Unitarian Universalist movement.
“It is deeply appreciated and I cherish these few remaining months with you.”
Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education Report
In her report to the board this month, DMRE Jessica TenHave-Place wrote, “January was a month of both opportunities and challenges for CYRE.”
She said, “Students in Preschool, Beginners, and Middle Grades RE continue to thrive in their Sunday lessons, with support from both adult and youth volunteers. Since the expansion of our classes calls for a greater number of volunteers, CYRE Committee members helped sign up new volunteers this month to add to our Sunday RE rotation. Once background checks are processed and I have met with new volunteers to walk them through our classroom routines and safety policies, we will have up to nine new RE volunteers available to serve, which will be a great help.”
On the other hand, she said, there was one less-happy note: “While we met our initial registration goals for 7th-9th grade OWL (we needed a minimum of eight students) and held a parent orientation and the first student workshop, we were forced to postpone the program until next school year due to three students withdrawing from OWL at the last minute due to conflicting obligations.”
“This was a big disappointment, but since we prepared the parents for this possibility when we agreed to start OWL with a smaller than ideal class size, and let them know that their places would still be reserved when OWL is held again in the fall, we were able to maintain positive connections with the families who registered, and expect to have most of them come back for a second try. The space in between will give us the opportunity to do more outreach to potential students to get a bigger class size, and to get more facilitators trained so no one is too overburdened by their OWL responsibilities. Guidance from Beth Rendeiro has been very helpful, and I look forward to working with her more when OWL organizing starts back up again.”
Jessical also reported that “other things in the works for CYRE are youth meetups (like movie night at Rocky Horror Picture Show!) and multigenerational field trips (at no/low cost locations like the California Science Center) to help build community and connections.”
The film night, she said, “will be led by Erik Paesal and Maddie Van Beek, with a pre-movie discussion held the week before.”
“My proposed schedule for our multigenerational field trips is the last Saturday of the month, starting in March. This will give young families the opportunity to get to know each other better at kid-friendly locations, but the field trips will be open to the wider congregation as well, and will help us build more multigenerational connections. These events will be added to the church calendar as soon as dates are finalized.”
Next, regarding Adult RE, Jessica said, “I’m excited to be leading a book discussion group on Peter Beinart’s Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, which I selected as an accessible entry point for UUSM to learn more from Jewish voices speaking critically about the Israeli state. It is a short book, so the plan is to meet over two consecutive Sunday afternoons, and then see where we’d like to go from there – possibilities include bringing in guest speakers on the topic, selecting another related book to read, or hosting a discussion on the Apartheid Free Pledge or other advocacy actions to take as a congregation. The date is TBD, since I want to do whatever I can to find dates that will accommodate participation by Rabbi Shira and members of Santa Monica Synagogue, but we will put something on the calendar soon.”
Finally, Jessica reported that “two multigenerational services are currently in the works, one on March 15th focused on Shaker spirituality – which means some beautiful music, lessons from history, and dancing! We will have another multigenerational service for Earth Day on April 19th, which will feature art and poetry from our RE students that we have already been working on. CYRE will also have kid-friendly activities after the service for the Green Living Fair.”
“I’m very excited for both of these services and the participation we’re expecting from kids, youth, and adults.”
Additional Business and Adjournment
Jila asked if the congregation could comment on the situation in Iran, and Jeremiah asked her to reach out to the Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East and report back to the board.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m.
Draft minutes used to prepare this story were provided by board Secretary Linda Van Ligten. Documents and reports used at the meeting can be found here.
