Join us each Sunday ONLINE as we celebrate and worship as a community.
We as Unitarian Universalists look forward to being with you virtually and in spirit on Sunday morning. We continue to develop our new spiritual practice of co-creating beloved community together in the midst of a global pandemic. We’re finding ways to spiritually prepare and fortify ourselves and to support others in uncertain times. If you need help getting to the online services, please contact board member Eileen McCormack for assistance.
Join our live online Sunday service broadcast on the church’s Facebook or YouTube pages on Sunday mornings and join the conversation. You can also watch it live on the UUSM website on the main page (uusm.org). You don’t need to have a Facebook or YouTube account or be logged in to watch on any of the websites. You do have to be logged in to comment and chat with other members of the congregation. The video will also be archived on our YouTube channel and website after the end of the service, so tune in anytime to catch up and worship with your community.
Join us for a Zoom Coffee Hour Check-In and Conversation after the service from 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Email zoomcoffee@uusm.org for the Zoom link or find it in our private UU Santa Monica Facebook Group. Ask to join.
Starting in September, at 10:30 am (please note the time), our worship leaders began livestreaming from our sanctuary and courtyard. We’ve made significant investments to enhance our technological infrastructure and staffing to allow us to broadcast live on Sunday mornings! We had hoped to be able to reopen our sanctuary to everyone then, too, but that is not possible at this time.
Sunday, October 3, 2021
“St. Francis Day & Blessings of the Animals”
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, preaching
Cassie Winters, Worship Associate
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
Join us for our annual service dedicated to our beloved animal companions and the interdependent web of all existence. We are collecting pictures of our furry, feathered, and finned friends to include in our online blessing this year. Please send a picture of you and your friend to worshipassociates@uusm.org by 5 pm Thursday, September 30.
Sunday, October 10, 2021
“Telling Stories: Reflecting on a Fairy Tale by A. S. Byatt”
Rev. James Ishmael Ford, preaching
Charles Haskell, Worship Associate
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
Our guest, the Reverend James Ford, thinks we can learn a lot about a lot of things from fairy tales. But then he stumbled upon a revisioned fairy tale by A. S. Byatt, and finds himself pointed in entirely new directions.
We welcome back Rev. Ford, who has been a Unitarian Universalist parish minister for over 30 years. He is Minister Emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. He is also a Zen Buddhist priest, guiding teacher of the Empty Moon Zen sangha, writes the “Monkey Mind” blog, and has penned several books addressing Zen and Buddhism.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
“Now, What Do I Say?”
Rev. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching
Chela Metzger, Worship Associate
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
Sometimes we just don’t know what to say. We see something; we know it is wrong, but we say nothing. The next morning we think of several things we might have said, but the moment is gone. The perpetrators think we agree with them. The targets feel alone and abandoned. And we feel like failures as witnesses, allies, or advocates. And then there are the times when “sorry” isn’t enough. But we just don’t know what to say. Join the chorus of a very human community of goodhearted people who want to do the right thing, but sometimes just don’t know what the right thing is to say.
Sunday, October 24, 2021
“Our 7 Unitarian Universalist Principles”
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, preaching
Robbert Schalekamp, Worship Associate
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
Our liberal faith affirms and promotes 7 Principles that we hold as strong values and moral guides. Join us as we explore the history, meaning, and application of these liberal religious principles to our lives right now.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
“Whispers of Our Ancestors”
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, preaching
Alison Kendall, Worship Associate
ONE SERVICE AT 10:30 am online
Día de los Muertos, Allhallowtide, and Samhain all recognize this is the season of our ancestors. Join us for this special holiday service as we listen for the whispers of our ancestors and honor death in the midst of life. Please submit pictures of those who you would like to include in the service to worshipassociates@uusm.org by Thursday, October 28. If you would like to purchase a memorial brick to add to the Garden of Eternity, please contact the church office.
October Generous Congregation Recipient: Westside Food Bank
We come together for more than ourselves. 50% of our Offering in the month of October will go to the Westside Food Bank. Many people are turning to hunger-relief organizations to meet urgent needs, including thousands of unemployed and underemployed workers who face poverty and food insecurity. 
The Westside Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger in our communities by providing access to free nutritious food through food acquisition and distribution, and by engaging the community and advocating for a strong food assistance network.
Our congregation has a long relationship with the Westside Food Bank – volunteering, donating
food, providing labor, and raising money. Most UUSM youth and young adults remember trekking over on a Sunday morning to sort food and learn more about hunger in our community. Thank you for your generous support of this beloved community and Westside Food Bank.
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/make-a-donation.
