The monthly meeting of the UUSM Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 via Zoom. Board members attending included President Vilma Ortiz, Vice President Karl Lisovsky, Secretary Linda Van Ligten, Past President Eileen McCormack, and Board Members at Large Larry Weiner, Cassie Winters, Jef Travis, Anne Bridgins, and Jila Tayefehnowrooz. Minister Jeremiah Kalendae also attended, as did congregation member Melinda Ewen. Treasurer Sue Bickford was absent.
Call to Order and Spiritual Grounding
Vilma called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm. Karl lit the chalice and read the UU Value of Love:
“As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our Association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love. Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.”
Attendees provided personal check-ins and answered a question based on this month’s worship theme, Flourishing Together.
Announcements
- There will be a Board farewell dinner for Jeremiah at Vilma’s house on Tuesday, June 16.
- Jeremiah’s last Sunday in the pulpit will be June 21, and will include a formal farewell.
- June 28 will be Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robin’s last Sunday in our pulpit (see the Minister’s Report, below, for further details). The service will be a hymn sing, and will include a formal farewell and a reception afterward.
- There will be a celebration of life for Laura Carlson Weiner on Saturday, July 18.
- The Dining for Dollars Pancake Breakfast will be held in Forbes Hall on July 25.
- Chaplain Michael Eselun will provide pastoral support this summer.
- Our new settled minister, Rev. Diana Smith, starts on August 7, and her first Sunday in the pulpit will be later that month. There will also be a reception for Rev. Diana, but the date is still TBD.
Motions/Discussions
Board Members reviewed drafts of the new Safety Team, Letters to the Board, and Non-Smoking policies. There were no objections and all passed unanimously. The policies will be implemented when our new Settled Minister is on board.
Eileen moved that revisions to the Board Communications Policy also be approved. There were no objections, and the policy was approved unanimously.
Minutes of the May board meeting were adopted unanimously, as was the consent agenda for the June meeting.
Reports
In her report from the Accessibility Committee, Melinda said Cathie Gentile would like to join the committee. She also reported that Steven DePaul is working on improving the sound in the sanctuary, and now has three of our hearing devices working. In addition, she said Karl will install safety strips on the steps to Forbes Hall, and we now have large-print Orders of Service available on Sundays.
Melinda also reported on our Finance and Membership Systems reboot, saying new membership software will come this summer, and we will add new accounting software in year two of the project.
Church membership now stands at 270. New members Elizabeth Thorne and Felix Purki were read into the membership roll.
Minister’s Report
In the introduction to his report this month, Jeremiah wrote, “I am feeling the love as I prepare for my transition out of the City of Angels and into the Emerald City. I’ve had many opportunities to meet with and celebrate the many committees, groups, and people who have been a part of my ministry with you over the past seven years. The farewells will continue through this month as I also navigate the move and find time to rest and restore myself after another demanding year of congregational ministry. You’ve helped to make me a better minister and I will carry this community in my heart as I continue on my path of service and leadership in our liberal and liberatory religious movement. It has been an honor to know each of you and to have had time to serve with you in various ways over these many years. Thank you for everything. We near the completion of developmental ministry but our ministry of love and liberation is ongoing in the many spaces we call home.”
Jeremiah also reported:
- We have gathered as a congregation for four Sunday worship services since our last meeting. Jeremiah offered the service Enlivening Spirit, which reflected on the Buddha’s Flower Sermon and the lessons it has for us at this moment in the nation. Rev. Kikanza provided What is the Story?, which considered the theme of awakening curiosity. Jeremiah helmed our annual Flower Communion Service, followed by Our Pride: Volunteer and Staff Appreciation, which celebrated the beginning of LGBTIAQ2+ month and our staff and volunteer leaders of this past congregational year. Jeremiah has one more Sunday service with us on June 21, which will be his last time in the pulpit as our developmental minister. Jeremiah said the sanctuary remains comfortably full most Sundays, and the spirit of the community is exuberant.
- Jeremiah is in the midst of coordinating the summer worship calendar, which will include many familiar faces from within the community and beyond for our summer worship series.
- Our Worship Associates Team did not meet this month, as the year is winding down and folks have had many commitments, but Jeremiah was able to meet with our worship chair. The team plans to have one final gathering this month.
- The Pastoral Care Team met over a celebratory farewell lunch this past month, and is preparing to move into the summer with Chaplain Michael Eselun as our professional pastoral backup.
- Jeremiah continues to offer pastoral meetings, spiritual counsel, and pastoral support to members of the community as requested, which helps strengthen trust and healthy relations in our communal practice.
- Jeremiah has been holding 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 are in the process of completing annual staff evaluations. They should be done before the summer break.
- As part of our office restructuring, our former office assistant, Sibylla Nash, has returned as our new office support and communications staff support person. We are thrilled to have her back!
- We prepared for and then gathered for the 98th Annual Meeting of the Congregation on Sunday, June 7. All candidates were elected to their respective offices and the budget passed with some discussion of ways to improve the presentation of information next year. Jeremiah said it was one of our quickest and smoothest annual meetings, and it continued the newer pattern of fast, effective, and non-anxious business meetings of the community.
- This month, we say farewell to Rev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, who announced her intention to take a month of Sundays (i.e. a year) to go on adventures and step back from her ministry with the congregation. This was shared on a Sunday morning and in an all-congregation news update. Rev. Kikanza is beloved and will be dearly missed by the community. She has two more Sundays in the pulpit and her decade-long ministry with us will be celebrated at the end of June.
- Jeremiah will participate in the standard UUA Developmental Ministry Exit Interview process with congregational life staff this week.
- Jeremiah will march one last time with our congregation this Sunday in the LA Pride March. All are invited to attend. Both DMRE Jessica TenHave-Place and music director Saunder Choi plan to march with us this year.
- The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee’s work for the year ended with the submission to the board of the candidate slate for the elections at our Annual Meeting. Committee members plan to turn to leadership development when they resume meeting this fall.
- The Intersectional Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO) is continuing in its standing work.
- The Board Policies Review Team’s developmental work is complete.
- We are in the midst of preparing for our Ministerial Transition from developmental ministry to settled ministry. Our new settled minister, Rev. Diana Smith, takes over on August 7th.
- The Committee on Shared Ministry met and reviewed its foundational documents and the work that is ahead of it. The committee will need additional members once Rev. Diana has a chance to get settled and gets to know people.
- The work of the Communications Team is ongoing, with no updates this month.
- Jeremiah had his final meeting and a celebratory dinner with the officers of the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council & Leadership Team.
- Jeremiah also had his last meeting with the UCLA Medical Center Ethics Committee and shared that he would be leaving following almost six years of service to the larger community.
In conclusion, Jeremiah wrote, “I love you! I look forward to the bright future that awaits us all! Blessings for the journey.”
Treasurer Report
In her report this month, Sue wrote that at this point – month 12 of our 12-month fiscal year, or with 91.7% of the fiscal year completed – year-to-date pledge receipts ($332,979) are at 105% of what we budgeted ($317,167), and total 96.2% of what we budgeted for the full year. On the other hand, our pledge income for May ($20,024) was lower than the monthly projection of $28,833, which translates to only 69.4% of the amount budgeted for the month.
Similarly, our year-to-date fundraising total ($31,139) is higher than we projected ($28,875), or 108% of the amount budgeted…while the amount for the month of May (-$392, due to commissions paid to artists from funds brought in last month) was much less than projected ($2,625).
Next, with the third budget line exhibiting in this over/under pattern, Sue reported that our year-to-date rental income ($90,404) is higher than projected for this point in the year ($88,000), while our May rental income ($6,782) was slightly lower than the monthly projection ($8,000). This means our YTD rental income is 102.7% of our budgeted amount, but our monthly rental income for May was only 84.8 % of what we had budgeted for the month.
In summary, our total Income so far this year (for 11 of 12 months or 91.7% of the fiscal year) is $570,828, which is 99.7% of the $572,309 budgeted for this point in the year and 91.9% of the total amount we expect to receive in 2025-2026.
The less good news, though, is that our total Expenses so far this year are $607,106 which is 104% of the $582,685 we budgeted up to this point in the year, or 94.6%% of the total amount budgeted for 2025-2026. And that means that although we expected to be $10,376 into a planned $20,677 deficit by now, we now have a YTD deficit of $36,278, and will end the year with a larger deficit than originally projected. (Physical plant expenditures and Spiritual Life and & Programs account for for 84% of the amount spent beyond the originally projected deficit.)
For more detailed numbers, see this month’s Statement of Income and Expense.
DMRE Report, Executive Session, and Adjournment
There was no Director of Multigenerational Religious Education Report this month.
The Board moved into executive session from 8:19 to 9:13 pm, and after the executive session, the meeting was adjourned at 9:15 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.
