November’s Ministry Theme is Nurturing Gratitude
Join us in-person and online on Sundays at 10:30 am. All are welcome! We as Unitarian Universalists in Santa Monica look forward to being with you.
Masks are optional, but always acceptable and welcome. If you or someone in your household is not feeling well or has tested positive for COVID, please stay home; you can still join us via our Facebook or YouTube live-stream worship.
Parking at the UCLA parking structure at 1311 16th St. is available to people attending Sunday services. The entrance is from 16th St. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Arizona Ave., on the SE corner of Arizona and 16th; ask the attendant for a free UUSM parking permit to place on your dashboard. For those with a handicap parking tag, several spaces are also available onsite, via the alley west of 18th St., as well as in the UCLA structure.
Worship Online: We livestream our service from the sanctuary. Join us by clicking the WATCH NOW button above where the video is live every week beginning at 10:20 am, or watch on YouTube or Facebook. You don’t need to have a YouTube or Facebook account, or be logged in, to watch the service. You do have to be logged in to comment and chat with other members of the congregation.
Explore past services on our Sermons page, available 24/7. Tune in anytime to catch up and worship with your community. We encourage you to light a chalice or candle at home, meditate, and sing along.
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Sunday Worship: Dia De Los Muertos (Multigenerational)
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWorship ServicesDaylight Savings Time ends - FALL BACK! DMRE Jessica Ten-Have Place, MDiv, preaching; Rebecca Haggerty and Vilma Ortiz, Worship Associates. Join us for this special multigenerational service with our ancestors of blood and spirit. You are invited to bring a picture of your beloveds of memory to place on the ofrenda (altar) we will construct together. After the Sanctuary service, our brief annual Garden of Eternity Service will remember those memorialized on the hallowed ground of our beautiful campus. Gather with us for Sunday morning worship in our historic Sanctuary at 18th and Arizona, online or in-person.
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Sunday Worship: Heritage Sunday
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWorship ServicesRev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae and Karl Lisovsky, preaching; John Hart, Worship Associate. Heritage Sunday is an opportunity for us to hear from an elder of our community and reflect upon the many stories that make us who we are as a liberal religious congregation. This year, Karl Lisovsky will be our guest speaker and will share some of his spiritual odyssey with us. Join us for Sunday morning worship in our historic Sanctuary at 18th and Arizona, online or in-person.
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Sunday Worship: Say, Thank You
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWorship ServicesRev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching; Chela Metzger, Worship Associate. It's easy to say thank you. It is one of the first phrases we teach children to say. It is much harder to be a gracious receiver. How can you say thanks for something you don't want? Or when you feel unworthy? Gratitude as a spiritual practice requires compassion and understanding directed at both the giver and yourself. Does gratitude get you through hard times? What happens when you say thank you but you don't mean it? Let's give thanks for meaningful Thank-yous. Join us for Sunday morning worship in our historic Sanctuary at 18th and Arizona, online or in-person.
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Sunday Worship: Thanksgiving / Thanxgrieving
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWorship ServicesRev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae, preaching; Judith Martin Straw, Worship Associate. "Direct experiences of transcending mystery and wonder are primary sources of Unitarian Universalist inspiration. These experiences open our hearts, renew our spirits, and transform our lives... Grateful for the experiences that move us, aware of the religious ancestries we inherit, and enlivened by the diversity which enriches our faith, we are called to ever deepen and expand our wisdom," challenges our new Unitarian Universalist Inspirations statement which our movement adopted at last year's General Assembly. Nurturing Gratitude is this month's theme and we will explore how we are to live lives of thanksgiving in the context of our many holiday celebrations. Join us for Sunday morning worship in our historic Sanctuary at 18th and Arizona, online or in-person.
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Sunday Worship: Open-Hearted
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesWorship ServicesRev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae, preaching; Judith Martin Straw, Worship Associate. Love is at the center of our faith and we are therefore called to strive to live with open hearts. That can be difficult in times such as these when empathy, compassion, and love are threatened in our wider world. Join us as we consider how we can spiritually resource ourselves so that our love is expansive, bold, and resilient. We will also learn more about the ministerial search process and our "Break Barriers, Build Beliefs" assessment and workshop as we prepare to conduct an inclusive national ministerial search. Join us for Sunday morning worship in our historic Sanctuary at 18th and Arizona, online or in-person.
November Generous Congregation Recipient: United American Indian Involvement
Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offerings to support the life of our church and the other 50% to nonprofit organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist principles. This month we’ll share our Sunday Offering with the United American Indian Involvement (UAII).
With over five decades of commitment and resilience, UAII has played a pivotal role in fostering empowerment, cultural preservation, and holistic well-being. Its mission is to promote and support the physical, behavioral, and spiritual well-being of American Indian/Alaska Natives in the urban Los Angeles area by providing comprehensive, integrated services that focus on all age groups and incorporate American Indian/Alaska Native cultures and traditions. This work includes youth programming, elder services, and cultural teachings in an area with the largest population of American Indians in the nation.
UAII was founded in 1974 by two Indigenous women, Marian Zucco (Paiute) and Babba Cooper (Lakota), in response to the lasting impact of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. That federal policy encouraged American Indians to leave reservations for cities like Los Angeles with promises of jobs and housing. However, many who relocated faced racial discrimination, economic hardship, and cultural erasure, often with little to no support. In the face of these challenges, a strong urban Indian community emerged.
Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community and the United American Indian Involvement. To give $10 right now, text “$10 GCC” (or another amount) to 844-982-0209. (One-time-only credit card registration required.) Or visit uusm.org/donate.
November 2025 Theme: Nurturing Gratitude
Our theme this month invites us to consider our world, our community, and our lives in the light of the practice of Nurturing Gratitude. This month let us seek opportunities to notice and share gratitude. Sometimes we feel gratitude when learning about those who came before. Are you interested in the history of Unitarian Universalism? With more than 400 years to consider, here’s a pair of resources:
After 12 years of research and 11,000 pieces of data, I did not interview in all that time a person who would describe themselves as joyful or describe their lives as joyous who did not actively practice gratitude. And for me it was very counterintuitive because I went into the research thinking that if you’re joyful then you should be grateful. But it wasn’t that way at all. It was really that practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives. ~ Brené Brown
Languages of Gratitude:
We arrive carrying / the familiar ache / of not enough —
not enough time, / not enough rest, / not enough certainty
about what comes next. / But here, / in the space
between one breath / and another,
something small / and persistent / whispers:
you are held….
Some of us learned / to count blessings / on our fingers,
others to whisper thanks / to ancestors / or earth or sky.
We carry different / languages of gratitude,
different ways / of recognizing / what sustains us.
All of them / welcome here. ~ Rev. Michelle Collins
Otherwise:
I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
Otherwise… ~ Jane Kenyon, full poem: https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/050.html
Sabbath Home:
Even in our sorrows, we feel our lives
cradled in holiness we cannot comprehend…
Into this home we bring the courage to walk on after hard losses.
Into this home we bring our joy,
and gratitude for ordinary blessings.
By our gathering we bless this place.
In its shelter we know ourselves blessed. ~ Rev. Kathleen McTigue, full piece in UUA meditation manual Shine and Shadow, p.48
We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish, and sustain us. The gift of the world is our first blessing. ~ John O’Donohue
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. ~ Maya Angelou
Video: A Guided Meditation on Gratitude by the Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, past UUA President
When linguist Daniel Everett was learning from a hunter-gatherer community in the Brazilian rainforest, he observed a hunter that had brought home a sizable kill, too big to be eaten by just one family. Everett asked how he would store the excess. Smoking and drying techniques were well known; storing was possible. The hunter was puzzled by the question—store my meat? Why would he do that? Instead, he sent out an invitation to a feast, and soon the neighboring families were gathered around his fire. This seemed inefficient to Everett, who asked again: why didn’t the hunter store the meat himself for later, which is what the economic system in the researcher’s home culture would suggest. “Store my meat? I store my meat in the belly of my brother,” replied the hunter. ~ Story told by Robin Kimmerer
Our service in the world continues.
