January Board Highlights

2024-2025 Board and Leadership Development & Nominating Committee members at the 2024 Annual Meeting

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 14, via Zoom. 

Board members present included President Eileen McCormack, Vice President Vilma Ortiz, Secretary Linda van Ligten, Past President Barbara Kernochan, and Members at Large Larry Weiner, Norm Richey, Audrey Erbes, Shanna Shaked, and Cassie Winters. Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae and Church Administrator Nurit Gordon also attended. Treasurer Rebecca Crawford and Member at Large Trish Brassard were absent.

Due to the wildfire emergencies at the time of the meeting, the agenda was more abbreviated than usual.

Call to Order and Spiritual Grounding

Eileen called the meeting to order at: 7:04 pm. and read the UU Shared Value of Transformation: “We adapt to the changing world. We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.”

Larry provided a reading from Generous Assumptions by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer:

“I would like to open my heart to you and keep it open, but the truth is sometimes all it takes is a glance, or the lack of a glance, or a certain tone, or a serrated word, and instantly the heart puts on its armor, which is something like a coat of porcupine quills, only the quills go inward, too, and the instant I wear it, I am aware of how much it hurts to wear it. How in that moment when I seek to protect myself, I wound myself. What if I believed you are doing the best you can considering the forces that have shaped you? What if I listened past your words, looked through your actions to see how you, too, feel threatened? The Buddha said we are always moving toward or away from freedom. Could I, in that moment before the prickly coat has started doing its prickly work, could I move toward freedom by refusing to put it on? Could I choose instead the silken robe of generous assumptions, the one that allows for compassion, connection, even kindness toward you, toward myself? Already, just thinking about it being possible, I notice a softening, a curiosity about how I might change not you, but myself. Already, I feel how fluid this robe is, how gently it swirls around me, how strong its fibers are, how freeing it is, cool and breezy, this gift to myself.”

Attendees provided personal check-ins, then answered questions based on this month’s worship theme of Transformation: “In your family of origin, what story was told about you? Were you the funny one? The talented one? The troublemaker? The quiet one? The clumsy one? The rebel? The leader? The smart one? The difficult one? The “good” one? How has that story about you lived on, either by supporting your growth and relationships or by hindering them? OR What story told by or about your ancestors has shaped or supported you the most?”

Membership and Standing Reports

Our current Membership is 256. The monthly standing reports were noted, and both the reports and the December board meeting minutes were approved unanimously.

Church Administrator Report 

Although the Church Administrator’s report is included in the monthly standing reports, Nurit was present at this month’s meeting and shared the following financial information:

  • The December finance report “demonstrates financial stability and income higher than budgeted, with December income as budgeted, and year-to-date about $8,000 higher than budgeted. Nurit said both monthly and YTD expenses are close to the budgeted amounts.
  • We have submitted our RE matching grant materials to the Spirit Level Foundation and we are expecting to receive the next disbursement in the next few weeks. The total of our contributions and grant funds comes to about $60,000, half of which was used in the last fiscal year. This second round of funding, Nurit said, will be about $16,400.
  • We received our annual dividends from Church Mutual in the amount of $1,449.
  • 2024 tax statements will go out around the end of January via email, and we will post a notice in the Weekly Announcements when they are sent.
  • We are currently waiting for staff W-2 forms to arrive from Paychex, and Nurit has started working on 1099 forms for all vendors.
  • Nurit has started working on the first draft of our 2025-26 budget. The complete draft should be available to the Board in April and to the congregation at the Annual meeting this year.
  • Church rental income for December met the budgeted amount, but YTD rentals were a bit under budget. There were no new group rentals in December. 
  • YTD pledge income at the end of December was $200,967 (vs. $196.000 budgeted), our YTD expenses were $309,221 (vs. $314,921 budgeted), and our YTD net income was $32,165 (vs. $37,006 budgeted).

Regarding facilities, Nurit noted that the church’s phone lines were disconnected by mistake by Frontier Communications on November 26. She said she spent about 10 hours on the phone with them over the course of a week, after which they apologized and reconnected the lines. At first, however, Nurit said Frontier restored only incoming service, while outgoing calls still didn’t work. So after another month of customer service frustration with Frontier, Nurit signed us up for a new system that uses our wi-fi network for phone service and includes six new phone lines and extensions “with better technology and lower monthly bills.” She said the phone issues also affected our fire alarm, so the alarm vendor will install a new system. In addition, Nurit said she also called the gas company to check our heaters and light the pilot lights. It turns out that only one pilot light is working, however, and the heater on the North side is not working, even though its pilot is lit…which might indicate a disconnect between the pilot light and thermostat.

Finally, in other matters, Nurit reported that:

  • Staff celebrated the winter holidays at the Thai Dishes restaurant not far from UUSM, and had a gift exchange. She said, “It was nice to be with everybody outside of work, eat, chat and play.”
  • Nurit announced her retirement to the congregation in an email on January 6 and has placed ads for the Administrator Position on Craig’s List and Indeed, and at the AUUA. She said she has also been sorting through the incoming resumes but has found most of them so far do not meet position’s requirements.
  • December’s Sunday in-person attendance was 669, with another 200 people attending our Christmas Eve service on Dec. 24. 

Minister’s Report

In the introduction to his report, Jeremiah addressed the tragic wildfires still accelerating at the time of the meeting. “While the holiday month did bring a season of lights, joy, and respite for many in our community following a brutal election season,” he said, “we are now worn thin after experiencing terrifying and destructive wildfires at the beginning of the new year. Everyone in our community was impacted by this trauma to some degree and we are still in the midst of it this week as fires continue to burn and the potential for others to ignite remains high given the severe winds and arid conditions in the region. We are mourning the losses of lives, homes, possessions, and our basic senses of predictability and safety. Our hearts are with all of those suffering the most direct and immediate impacts of these fires and with the firefighters and frontline emergency workers who are grappling with this unprecedented emergency in the place we all call home.”

Jeremiah also related these sentiments to the monthly worship theme of “Living Love through the Practice of Story,” saying “it would seem we are living the story now rather than telling it…and it is certainly one of profound grief, fear, and destruction, in addition to untold heroism, courage, and the power of beloved community.”

“Let’s keep offering our prayers and aligning our actions to serve the wellbeing of those close to home and our larger Los Angeleno family.”

Jeremiah also reported that:

  • Our congregation has gathered for six worship services since our last Board Meeting. First, he offered the service Sacred Tradition, “which considered how our liberal heritage can be an inspiration and a balm in a time of illiberalism.” The next week, he provided our annual Winter Solstice holiday service, which considered what we need to release to enter the new year prepared for the future. Then came the annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service: The Peace of Christmas, an anti-war offering in the spirit of the holiday. (Jeremiah said this also may have been the largest service we’ve had in many years, with a packed sanctuary and full overflow seating in Forbes Hall). The following Sunday, Rev. Kikanza offered Let There be Peace, which considered the contradictions of life that we have to learn to make peace with in the journey. Chaplain Michael Eselun gave his excellent annual New Year’s pastoral service, Wheels on my Suitcase, which contemplated finding meaning in life amidst all of the brokenness, heartbreak, and loss. And then, on January 12, Jeremiah offered Storytelling for Wholeness, which required the whole worship team to adapt at the last minute to respond to the emerging fire crisis. The service was also followed by a special all-congregation meal that Julie Nyquist and friends prepared for the community to bring some fellowship and soul healing into our community…and Pam Teplitz arranged a special virtual coffee hour with Rev. Kikanza to extend the fellowship online. At the board meeting, Jeremiah thanked everyone who helped to create that special sanctuary for the whole community. Finally, he noted that our physical sanctuary continues to be comfortably full on most Sundays, and we continue to receive much positive feedback from the congregation.
  • Our Worship Team continues to meet and support the Sunday morning worship life of the congregation. The group took a break from its monthly whole-team meeting in December, but Jeremiah said he continued to meet and communicate during that time with Worship Chair Chela Metzger, Rev. Kikanza, and our guest worship leaders.
  • The Pastoral Care Team met in December to hear reports and continue discussing the work of ministering during the holidays and in a difficult cultural climate. The team also finished organizing its annual holiday card outreach to the congregation.
  • Jeremiah continues to offer Pastoral Meetings and Spiritual Counseling support to members of the community as requested, strengthening trust and healthy relations in our communal practice.
  • Palisades and LA Fires Pastoral Outreach was also a focus in the last few weeks, as our congregational and pastoral leaders reached out to everyone who seemed to live in or near the affected areas. Jeremiah said they tracked social media updates, made calls, and sent text messages and emails until they reached most church members or heard about their status from one source or another. Jeremiah offered a special thanks to Cassie Winters for starting this effort, and to everyone else who stepped up to help. Finally in fire-related efforts, Jeremiah reported that he and Eileen also sent out a congregational letter containing fire evacuation notifications, pastoral contacts, and the decision to temporarily close the church when the fires first broke out. (The building reopened the following Sunday for services.)
  • Jeremiah continues to hold weekly, bi-weekly, and/or monthly Ministry, Administrative, and Governance Meetings with our senior staff, consulting minister, president, executive committee, worship chair, pastoral chair, UUA congregational life staff, and other congregational leaders as requested.
  • Personnel & Administrative Planning continued to be in the forefront as we concluded the transition from interim to regular staffing in religious education, announced Nurit’s retirement, and began planning and then launched the search for our next Congregational Administrator. Jeremiah said he and Nurit revised the job description with input from personnel, developed a timetable, discerned salary range, and he formed an interviewing committee with the key stakeholders (i.e., President, Treasurer, Church Administrator, Personnel Representative, and Developmental Minister).
  • As Nurit did above, Jeremiah also mentioned the annual Staff Winter Holiday Party at Thai Dishes, saying, “We had a lovely meal, exchanged gifts, and the staff and our consultants received their special gifts from the board and congregation, and everyone was very appreciative of the time to be together outside of church business and the great sharing of abundance.”
  • Also related to Nurit’s report, above, Jeremiah said he has signed off on the authorization to receive the second disbursement of our Spirit Level Matching Grant for our new RE initiatives and investments. He also noted that Spirit Level is currently accepting matching grant proposals for next fiscal year, but he said he’s not sure we have the capacity for additional fundraising right now, given the expanded DMRE hours and settled minister search in the next congregational year.
  • Nurit joined this meeting as part of our monthly Board Meeting Staff Rotation to report on activities in the administrative and facilities life of our congregation.
  • The Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression (IARAO) Commission meets monthly, with Jeremiah serving mostly as a consultant and ex-officio member, providing feedback as requested.
  • The Board Policies Review Team continues to make progress in reviewing, assessing, and renewing our congregational policies. Jeremiah also serves primarily as a consultant and ex-officio member of this group, providing feedback as requested.
  • The Communications Team held its first large meeting in recent memory in December, bringing together leaders from the office, website, newsletter, and tech team. The group reviewed preliminary roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers in a RASCI-style chart that Pam Teplitz developed, and explored challenges and opportunities to streamline our communications functioning. Jeremiah said he continues to be very grateful for Pam’s interim leadership of this important but sometimes loosely-organized group.
  • Jeremiah continues to meet monthly with the Santa Monica Interfaith Council and Leadership Team, where he continues his term as Vice President. He reported that as the group was planning its Annual Interfaith MLK Day Service for January 17, the original featured speaker, Dr. Ruha Benjamin, had to cancel her trip to LA after being disinvited to another engagement that was bringing her here, due to her pro-Palestinian remarks at another organization. Jeremiah said the Interfaith Council offered its support to Dr. Benjamin, and re-booked the MLK event to feature Pastor Carolyn Baskin-Bell from First AME of Santa Monica. 
  • Jeremiah continues to meet monthly with the UCLA Medical Center Ethics Committee to help shape health care practice affecting the larger community, and to engage in ethical learning and clinical discernment.

In conclusion, Jeremiah returned to the themes of spaciousness, sustainability, resilience, and regenerativity he has emphasized throughout his ministry here. “We will need spaciousness amidst the overwhelm, stresses, and demands caused by the wildfires,” he said. “We do not need to stick exactly to schedule or try to do everything at once in the life of our congregation and in our own lives. We will need to find sustainable patterns in these extraordinary times that attend to our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. We will need to find resilience and regenerativity by leaning into community and practicing self-care. Be gentle with yourselves and those around you as many are beyond their capacities and in need of some extra TLC.”

Treasurer’s Report

Rebecca did not attend the meeting, but submitted a report noting that we have now finished six months of the fiscal year. Of our budgeted pledge total of $362K, she wrote, we would expect to have received about $196K by the end of December…and we have actually received $201K (largely due to an influx of pledges at the end of 2024), which is good. 

Rebecca also reported that we now have about $7K toward the $11K of extra monies we added to the budget by increasing Jessica’s hours. We’ve also received the Spirit Level Foundation matching funds, she said, but they came in too late to be noted in this month’s accounting.

On the other side of the balance sheet, Rebecca’s report said expenses are generally predictable right now, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened so far this year. As she also mentioned last month, however, the church’s Geo Index – a measure of the cost of living in our area – will change during our next fiscal year from Group 5 to Group 6. This means the average target salaries for our employees will go up 5% in addition to whatever cost of living increase is provided. Rebecca said we don’t necessarily need to meet the the new income targets immediately, but it will affect future budgets. Right now, she said, our salaries are about average for each employee’s qualifications according to Geo Index 5.

Finally, Rebecca noted that the stock market went up a bit in December, so our endowment is now worth about $419,000.

Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education Report

DMGRE Jessica TenHave-Place did not attend the meeting, but also submitted a report noting that December was a busy month for CYRE, filled with holiday celebrations. Throughout the month, Jessica wrote, “RE focused on learning about different winter holidays, including Christmas, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. Kids and families contributed to the winter clothing drive as a way of practicing generosity during the holiday season. All ages gathered together for the Christmas Eve service, which the CYRE committee also targeted as a potential outreach opportunity to visiting families.”

Jessica said that as the new year begins, the devastating fires present a challenge to everyone in our community, but also “an opportunity for CYRE to provide a space for people to process emotions, connect with others, and serve people in our community who are suffering the most.”

In other RE news, Jessica said the Soul Matters RE Curriculum provided a lot of great learning opportunities in December, and “we decorated the Cottage with different holiday decorations representing the main holidays our curriculum explored, which gave the kids a visual/tactile way of engaging with the theme.” She said holiday crafts, such as making Christmas ornaments and Kwanzaa Mkeka, were a big hit, with kids still wanting to keep working on the projects when it was time to leave. And that inspired her to come up with more activities tied to seasonal events, and/or projects that can be given as gifts or used to decorate the cottage, since those seem to get the kids most invested.

Although Jeremiah noted that our Christmas Eve service was one of our best-attended ever, Jessica also said that because many families travel for the holidays, there were only a few of our regular RE attenders at the service…though some new families came, too. She said Cole, a teenager whose mother sings in the choir, came early that night to help set up luminaries, which gave Jessica the chance to get to know him and invite him to future teen activities. Jessica said she also prepared activity bags for kids who attended the service, which also contained a parent flier promoting our upcoming family events – and at least 15 bags were handed out. And finally, she said, RE families also participated in the event by contributing cookies to the post-service refreshments in Forbes Hall.

After the busy holiday season, Jessica said, “the downtime between Christmas and New Year provided a wonderful opportunity to rest after the holiday rush and visit my family in Arizona. Slowing down our pace a little as a church at this time is both incredibly helpful for staff, and a good example for the community, modeling the necessity of rest during winter. When I returned home, I focused on prepping for our next Soul Matters unit on “Story,” and our Youth RE activities and Building Bridges curriculum.”

Finally, though, Jessica said she also had to make the disappointing choice to postpone the first meeting of Youth RE for grades 6-12 due to the fires. “With families coping with many unpredictable factors,” she said, “and with my own emotional capacity quite low, I wanted to make sure that I could be there fully both for the people needing support in this disaster, and to truly be available to encourage a fun atmosphere at Youth RE when we do have our first meeting on 1/19.”

Jessica said she hoped, however, that the convergence of the new first RE date with our our multigenerational MLK service (on January 19), would actually increase participation. “The youth have a lot of energy around doing service and activism together as well,” she said. “I spoke at length with a high school student, Julia Ong, about her passion for working with immigrant and refugee communities and her ideas for projects Youth RE could take on. I look forward to working with her, other youth, and the CYRE committee on planning a volunteer project for this year that will allow students to take an active role.”

Adjournment

Due to the fire emergencies, all other reports this month were submitted in writing, but not discussed, and there were no other voting items. The meeting was adjourned at 8:16 pm.

Draft minutes used to create this report were provided by Linda van Ligten, Board Secretary. Documents distributed and reviewed at the meeting can be found here.