Our theme for Stewardship Month is “This is The Moment”. And oh my goodness, am I feeling the weight of that right now. On a societal level, our values have never been more imperiled. And I have never appreciated UUSM more. My confession to you is that I don’t know if I ever would have dreamed of actually protesting, taking to the streets, if I weren’t part of this community. I am, on a lot of levels, a stereotypical Gen-X’er. When I was 12 years old, I’d come home to an empty house, put Oprah on the TV, and pop a Hot Pocket into the microwave. When I was in my teens, I was discovering message boards and listening to Nirvana, and really leaning into the joys of anonymity and reveling in the ennui.
Please don’t get me wrong. My liberal values were always there. And I expressed them in art and writing, and small projects with friends. And I must also acknowledge that there are plenty of Gen-X’ers who have always shown leadership in social justice. I know many of you here! But larger collective action just wasn’t part of my experience. And I would have been totally unprepared to meet this moment without this community. My leadership role in this community means that I can’t give in to my instincts to cocoon on my couch and watch bad TV while everything good in this world is under existential threat. Sure, I do some of that. But when it comes down to it, I know that I need to be there for this community, just as this community is there for the world. I cherish my obligations to UUSM, as much as I cherish the nourishment and support that I receive in return.
I was delighted recently when a congregant mentioned that her young grandson’s favorite protest chant is, “This is what democracy looks like!” That happens to be my favorite, too! This is who we are as a community – people, who in the face of truly frightening, terrible circumstances, are enjoying our favorite protest chants, and passing them down to the next generation.
Despite spending the last few paragraphs writing about myself, I know that this isn’t about me. I tell my story because it’s mine to tell, and it’s the one I know best. But I also know that every one of you has your own story. Something that brought you here, and many things that keep you here. The joy and spiritual nourishment of the Sunday services. The religious education that helps our children understand our values, find their own paths, and have a wonderful time learning in a supportive environment. The community, fun and intellectual stimulation of social groups, hiking groups, reading groups, meditation groups, among many others. The collective action and education that come from being part of the Green Committee, the Animal Ministry, and so many initiatives that are organized by our Peace & Social Justice teams. The community of people who share your values, can celebrate, mourn, or take to the streets with you, as any given moment might require. The certainty that we’re stronger together. This is The Moment when we’re needed, and need each other, perhaps more than ever.
On a more parochial level, this is also The Moment for our congregation. We’re headed into the search for a settled minister. Many thanks to all of you who participated in the canvassing for a search committee. The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (LDNC) received a tremendous amount of useful feedback and are hard at work in putting a slate together. I expect that we’ll be in a position to have a Special Meeting of the Congregation sometime in May to vote on the Search Committee slate. We plan to have our Annual Meeting on June 29th, taking advantage of having a fifth Sunday in June, and avoiding making the Annual Meeting the memorable highlight of yet another Father’s Day. So, a May Special Meeting should allow the Search Committee to get organized and begin their work sooner rather than later.
The last few years have been a very strange time to be on the Board, between COVID-19 and the political unrest. A bright spot of this period is that we had a few years with zero deficit budgets. My understanding is that, up until the last couple of years, we’ve run deficit budgets dating back to shortly after the economic crash in 2008, which was well before I joined UUSM. The loss of rental income that came with the pandemic was hugely detrimental to our budget. We’ve made a lot of headway on that front, particularly with our long term rental arrangement with the Santa Monica Synagogue, but we still aren’t back to pre-pandemic levels. Many of the outside groups that used to meet regularly at the church are now permanently on Zoom, similar to our internal meeting patterns. We had a couple of years where we could make up some of that lost income through grants from the federal government and the Spirit Level Foundation. But we don’t have those sources of income available to us at this point, so, for the first time in a few years, the draft budget that I recently saw shows a deficit. This timing is particularly poor, since financial health is an important factor in our getting the best settled minister that we can. At the same time, we’re fortunate – we have savings and the ability to run at a deficit when so many congregations do not have that option.
We aren’t planning to run a high pressure Stewardship Campaign. Life feels so complicated and stressful for so many of us right now. We aren’t planning to arrange meetings to make sure that people have turned in their pledge packets and are maximizing their pledges. That just doesn’t suit the mood of the moment, or what it feels like our community needs right now. We’d like everyone to enjoy Stewardship month. Find community. Focus on what is important to you and what brings joy to your life. Pick up your collectors edition “This is The Moment” button. Have some pizza!
At the same time though, please know that your financial support really does matter to the congregation. It matters to our future and our search for a settled minister. It matters to the programs that we make available. It matters to the wonderful people we employ. It matters to our impact on the world. So I’d ask that, when you’re completing your pledge packet this year, you do it with the knowledge that it supports all of the things that I mention above – our search for a settled minister, our Sunday services, our Religious Education, our collective action and our collective joy, our values. And that you give in a way that honors that, with consideration to whatever your personal circumstances allow.
Thank you for being part of this community. And for being here for this moment.
Eileen McCormack
President, UUSM
