March 2025 Board Meeting Highlights

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 11, via Zoom. 

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

Call to Order and Spiritual Grounding

Eileen called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

Jeremiah spoke about our UU Value of Generosity, saying, “We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.”

As an opening reading, Audrey presented “For the Beauty of the Earth”:

For the Glory of the Skies
For the love from which our birth
Over and around us lies
Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our Hymn of Grateful praise. 

— Folliott Pierpoint

Attendees provided personal check-ins and answered questions based on the theme of “Living Love Through the Path of Trust.”

Membership and Standing Monthly Reports

Norm reported that our current membership is 258, with no changes this month. He also noted that the Faith Forward series has ended.  Attendance averaged seven people per session, with three people attending all sessions. The Membership 101 class will be offered in the near future.

The Standing Monthly reports were noted, and a consent agenda motion to approve the January minutes and accept the reports was approved unanimously.

Minister’s Report 

In the introduction to his report this month, Jeremiah spoke about responses to current world challenges, and the sacred month of Ramadan. “Our liberal faith calls us to be proactive in identifying, cultivating, and sharing what can sustain us in the midst of a society facing so many brutal challenges,” he said. “Rather than being reactive to every latest news headline which keeps us ensconced and diminishes our capacities for resistance and forward progress, we can chart our own course through, guided by our own commitments, practices, and values.”

Currently, he said, “This sacred Islamic month of Ramazan is reminding me of the truths that joy and inspiration still abound, creativity is thriving, compassion and caring are alive and well, and generosity is abundant. Ramazan is an annual opportunity for me to turn my attention to my spiritual exercises through fasting, eating well, studying the Quran, and offering the daily cycles of adoration and prayer. All of these practices–like any spiritual exercises–help me to re-center and to remember that reality is greater than all of the bluff and bluster and turmoil and tragedy of the present moment. So like at the beginning of the pandemic, this is a good time to check in with yourself regarding what practices can sustain you, inspire you, fortify you, and empower you in this time. What did you learn to trust in that period to get you through the challenging days? How did you show up for yourself and others when times were rough in other periods of your life? How might you attend to heart, mind, body, and spirit in the weeks, months, and years before us?”

Jeremiah also reported that:

• Our congregation has gathered for four Sunday worship services since our last Board Meeting.  They included Rev. Kikanza’s Opportunity is Knocking, which contextualized the current cultural climate and considered wisdom for moving through challenging times. There were also two multi-religious holiday services. One Light, Many Windows was our annual service honoring Mahashivarati and considering the yogic path to enlightenment, a face of the Divine Feminine, and more topics related to the Hindu tradition. And Gems of Islamic Wisdom marked the beginning of the sacred month of Ramazan and reflected on Sufi mystical engagement with the Hadith tradition and how it summons followers in this way to put their faith into action. And finally, the Rev. Anne Gardner, an Episcopal Priest, offered And So I Walked: A Journey of a Lifetime and shared her experience of pilgrimage walking the famed 500-mile Camino de Santiago. She also made her new book on this topic available to the community. Jeremiah said the sanctuary continues to be comfortably full on Sunday mornings and spirits remain good as people collect themselves, remember their roots, find solace in the midst of unprecedented challenges, and mobilize in many different ways.

• Our Worship Team met last month to review and prepare for upcoming services. Jeremiah said worship continues to function smoothly with a strong team and new Worship Associates making the workload more sustainable.

• Our Pastoral Care Team and Pastoral Executive Team met to receive reports from our Pastoral Associates and strengthen our resilience in these times. Jeremiah said we’ve also been following up with a number of members who have been hospitalized in the past month with serious conditions. And this month, he also offered the first half of a didactic to the team from the UUA PWR When Anxiety Trumps Covenant workshop that Linda and Norm attended, which explored how hyper- and hypo-arousal of our nervous system affects behavior in communities and what we can do to be good stewards of community well-being as pastoral care givers and leaders. Finally, Jeremiah said the pastoral care teams are also in discussion with Faith in Action, Jessica, and IARAO to offer community gatherings to process events in the larger world.

• Jeremiah continues to offer Pastoral Meetings and Spiritual Counseling to members of the community as requested. This helps strengthen trust and healthy relations in our communal practice.

• Jeremiah continues to hold weekly, biweekly, and/or monthly Ministry, Administrative, and Governance Meetings with our senior staff, president, executive committee, worship chair, consulting minister, pastoral co-chairs, UUA congregational life staff, and/or other congregational leaders as requested.

• With the support of our Interviewing Committee, the Congregational Administrator Search process has completed with the hiring of Alfonso “Alfie” Wilkerson as our new Congregational Administrator. Many hours were dedicated to the effort by Eileen, Vilma, Rebecca, Nurit Gordon, Garlan Allen, and Dan Nannini, and Jeremiah thanked them for their contributions to a thorough process that yielded excellent results. Together, he said, they conducted multiple interviews, checked references, and entered discernment together over the past month. Then Jeremiah wrote an all-congregation email to announce Alfie’s arrival, and planned his formal introduction to the congregation on a Sunday. Later, said Jeremiah, Nurit handled Alfie’s onboarding process and provided transitional training.

• The Board changed the date for Celebrating Our Outgoing Congregational Administrator, Nurit Gordon, to honor her almost 15 years with us, to March 23, and also planned a smaller special event, on behalf of the board, in her honor.

• The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee has been meeting regularly and is currently canvassing all members of the congregation as the first step to solicit input for the formation of the Ministerial Search Committee. Jeremiah said committee members have been consulting with Eileen, while he provides support as an ex-officio committee member, including drafting correspondence and developing processes and assessments with the committee. The group also developed and provided training for the board facilitators on Thursday, February 20. Jeremiah thanked everyone who is engaging in this critically important process.

• The Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Commission (IARAO) continues to meet monthly. Beth Rendeiro expressed interest in Mosaic facilitator training and the committee is exploring that. The committee also provided updates on Beloved Conversations and Widening the Circle offerings.

• The Board Polices Review Team continues to make excellent progress on its herculean task. Jeremiah said he provides feedback and consulting as an ex-officio member of the team.

• The Mission and Vision Team has been meeting with groups throughout the church to get their input into the process, and they are now wrapping up their work and hope to present it to the board soon.

• Jeremiah presented at the Faith Forward Membership Program meeting on Sunday, February 23, which resulted in a discernment meeting with a visitor who is interested in pursuing the ministry.

• The congregation has been busy showing up for important Social Justice Marches and Rallies in the past few weeks. These have included CLUE’s March for Dignity, the Women’s March, and Stand Up for Science (noting the ableist language). Jeremiah thanked those who were able to coordinate logistics and show up for the events, noting that we’ve been creating media content with the organizations to further their educational and social change impact in our community and beyond.

• The UU Animal Ministry provided an Animal Rights film screening for the community on February 22.  The event as well attended, brought in many members of the larger community, and helped to raise funds for the Ministry’s ongoing work. This was the group’s third major function of the congregational year, and Jeremiah lauded its important and successful work.

• The Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council (SMAIC) and Leadership Team met this past month. UUSM will once again host the annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Service with the Santa Monica Synagogue at UUSM this year. Planning is also underway for the annual Spring Interfaith Luncheon.

• 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, policy formation, and clinical discernment.

In conclusion, Jeremiah asked that we “continue to provide leadership that is pastoral, prophetic, rooted in our values, traditions, and multi-religious/multicultural embrace by sustaining ourselves with personal and communal spiritual practices that can help us to be non-anxious, well differentiated, counter-oppressive, and caring even when our nervous systems and lives are so taxed by the many pressures of life. Holding each of you, and our congregation, Los Angeles, our UU movement, troubled nation, and world in my prayers for resistance, peace, and transformation for the better. Let us be gentle as we go about life together.”

Policy Update/Request for Approval

On behalf of Board Policies Task Force, Barbara moved to approve the updated policies for Vice President, Kitchen, and Animals… and the Charters for the Personnel and Investment Committees. The motion was seconded by Audrey, and it passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report 

Rebecca reported that pledge receipts for February were quite low compared to the amount budgeted: $15K received vs. $27K budgeted. She said she hopes this will be just a one month aberration.

Rebecca also noted that we’re still at about $7K toward the $11K of extra monies we added to the budget by increasing Jessica’s hours. We have received the Spirit Level Foundation (SLF) matching funds.

Meanwhile, Rebecca said Nurit created a second version of the budget for 2025-26. This version has a 3.5% staff salary increase and some lowered expenses for things that are below our expense budget. 3.5% was chosen because 2.5% would be a cost of living increase, and the extra 1% would count toward the 5% increase ultimately needed to get us to GEO Index 6. The SSA increase for 2025 is 2.5%. We will lose the budget lines for SLF grant and matching. Right now, Rebecca said, the budget shows a prospective deficit of about $59K.

Expenses are generally predictable. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened so far this year.

Even though the market has been going down, that is not reflected in our current endowment balance, which is about $418,000.

Stewardship

Eileen reported that Denise Helton and Gretchen Goetz have agreed to lead this year’s Stewardship Campaign. Denise created a procedure manual last year, which will greatly help in this process.

Summer Camp

Linda and Shanna gave a brief update on this year’s Summer Camp, which is discussed in greater detail in Jessica’s report below.

Multi-Generational Religious Education

Director of Multi-Generational Religious Education (DMRE) Jessica TenHave-Place, in her written report to the board this month, said February 2025 was “an exciting month for Children and Youth Religious Education (CYRE) and for me personally, since in addition to keeping our programs for kids and youth running, I have been expanding my work to include participation in UUSM’s Intersectional Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Commission and the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council.”

“These have been great opportunities to learn and make connections both within and beyond our congregations,” she said.  And also to “think about how CYRE and the wider ministries of UUSM can best cultivate community and spur people to fruitful action in the midst of the challenges facing our country.”

In addition, “CYRE participated in the March for Dignity along with other folks from UUSM and our faith partners connected to CLUE Justice, which was a great opportunity for our kids and youth to do hands-on learning about interfaith cooperation, justice activism, and living our values. “

And finally for achievements this month, Jessica said, “I’ve made more progress this month in planning our big program for the summer, Peace Camp, which will include special guests and participants from UU, Jewish, and Christian congregations, as well as Pagan and Humanist communities.”

Next, Jessica further reported that, “It’s been great to connect with IARAO, which allows me to connect the anti-racism work already present in our CYRE programming with programs that connect the wider congregation. IARAO members helped me gain context about the work that has been done in our congregation around Beloved Conversations, and how we might integrate the Mosaic Anti-Racism curriculum into this work for both adults and kids. We’re currently working through the facilitation training provided online through UUA, and looking at how the program can be put into practice at UUSM.

She reported, “The Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council has been another great point of connection, where I get to hear from colleagues in the community about our shared concerns and events that may interest our community at UUSM. SMAIC put me in contact with new people who are interested in participating in the interfaith Peace Camp with us this summer, and brought the March for Dignity to my attention. This month I had the privilege of sharing my story of faith with the group, and it was wonderful to receive the support and affirmation of my diverse colleagues in being open about the evolution of my spiritual path and how it has informed who I am as a leader in my community. This connection to supportive colleagues is so important for this time in the world when it is easy to feel isolated and burnt out.”

She continued, “Another great remedy to feeling isolated is getting to participate in activism as a community, and the March for Dignity on March 1st was the perfect opportunity for all ages to live out our values together. I was very proud of the kids and youth in attendance, who all participated in their own ways — chanting, carrying signs, asking questions about the meaning of other protesters’ chants and signs, speaking to independent media about why they were there, and supporting each other by sharing snacks or a helping hand. I taught the kids some chants, pointed out the meaning of different religious symbols we saw, and talked with them about why it’s important to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors. I look forward to sharing more of these opportunities – there’s really no substitute for the great educational value of getting out in the world to apply the things that we learn in the RE classroom to real life.”

Finally, regarding summer camp, Jessica said, “Something else I’ve been working on behind the scenes this month is planning our big program for the summer, Peace Camp, which will run from July 7-11 and culminate in a Multigenerational service on July 13. Each day, kids in grades K-5 will explore the concept of peace through the lens of a different faith tradition or philosophy. Two groups (K-3 and 4-5) will rotate through different stations for stories, games, art, and music, led by myself, volunteers from UUSM, and special guests from neighboring faith communities.”

“So far,” she said, “I have confirmed special guests from Santa Monica Synagogue, All Saints Church, and Reclaiming LA. I’m in conversation with folks who can represent UU, Humanism, and Islam. This year we will cap the registration at 25 participants, but I think even this small pilot program will be great for outreach to potential partner congregations and to unaffiliated community members unfamiliar with our congregation. Families are always looking for low-cost day camp options during the summer, and UUSM is positioned to provide a safe and inclusive space for them. I will continue to keep the board in the loop about plans for Peace Camp as they progress, but I am excited about the progress we’ve made so far in getting neighboring spiritual communities on board!”

Board Liaisons

Cassie provided a brief update on behalf of the board liaisons.

Faith in Action/Adult RE

James reported that current Adult RE offerings include Soul Collage, Building Your Own Theology (BYOT), Book groups, and Meditation. FIA has recently participated in the CLUE march for dignity, he said, and is working with the IARAO committee to train facilitators in UUA Mosaic program, an Lifespan Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression program.

Mission and Vision

The Board received an application from Alan Carey for the Mission & Vision committee, but voted unanimously to table it for now.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m.

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.