October’s Ministry Theme is Deep Listening
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.
COVID Update May 2023: The congregation’s Pandemic Policies and Protocols were adopted specifically in response to the pandemic. Given that the state of emergency has been lifted, they are no longer in effect. Masks are optional, but always acceptable and welcome. If you or someone in your household is not feeling well or have 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 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, mediate, and sing along.
Sunday Worship: Blessing of the Animals
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesRev. Jeremiah Kalendae, preaching; Cassie Winters, Worship Associate. "All creatures of the earth and sky, come, kindred, lift your voices high!" You are invited to our annual multigenerational service joining congregations around the globe in celebrating our non-human animal companions and this tradition of St. Francis Day weekend. You are welcome to bring your furry friends with you to the service this morning for a special blessing, or you may send a picture of them to Worship Associate Cassie Winters for inclusion in the service. We will also remember those who have crossed the rainbow bridge. Join us for worship in-person and online.
Sunday Worship: High Holy Days
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesRev. Jeremiah Kalendae, preaching; Chela Metzger, Worship Associate. Join us as we learn about the High Holidays of the Jewish tradition which call us to reflection and repair in our relationships and in the world. With our new neighbors at the Santa Monica Synagogue, we have a great opportunity to build beloved community this season with Unitarian Universalist, Jewish, and Islamic leadership right in our spiritual home. We will also welcome new members into our multi-religious community this Sunday. Following the service, we will build and decorate a Sukkah—a sacred dwelling—for the ancient Jewish holiday of Sukkot together with our neighbors and friends in the courtyard. It will remain there for one week as a place of gathering, hospitality, and remembrance. Join us for worship in-person and online.
Sunday Worship: Listening with the Heart
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United StatesRev. Dr. Kikanza Nuri-Robins, preaching; Chela Metzger, Worship Associate. As children no one teaches us to listen. There are no contests or trophies. No recognition in the class yearbook for "Most Likely to Listen." Few people praise us for listening. Why? We are taught that listening is passive. Listening makes you vulnerable. Listening means you are not in charge. Deep listening requires that you turn off the voices in your head. You have to set your agenda aside and pay attention, and paying attention to only one thing is not always easy. What might change for you if listening becomes your spiritual practice? Join us for worship in-person and online.
Sunday Worship: Dia De Los Muertos
Sanctuary 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA, United States +1 moreRev. Jeremiah Kalendae & Jessica Place, preaching; Dr. Susan Hendricks & Vilma Ortiz, Worship Associates. Our annual multigenerational service honoring the Day of the Dead and this season of holidays invite us to think of another world and celebrate our beloveds who have moved beyond us from this life. Our Garden of Eternity service will follow the Sunday service as we remember those whose names are inscribed in our hearts and in our memorial garden with sacred song, the sharing of memories, and blessings. Join us for worship in-person and online.
October Generous Congregation Recipient: Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council
Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offering to support the life of our church and the other 50% to organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist values. This month, half of our Sunday Offering will go to the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council.
The Council’s mission is to create a collaborative environment among peoples of all faiths in this region, through education, community activities, and interfaith dialogue, that will foster peace and justice for everyone regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious affiliation or belief, or other communities, and result in a better and safer life for all. Membership includes First Presbyterian Church, Agape International, Santa Monica Synagogue; the Church in Ocean Park, and UUSM. The group collaborates on an Annual MLK Interfaith Breakfast, an Annual Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Day, and protests and rallies such as the latest “Reproductive Justice is Life” Rally to counter the “Right to Life” Rally on the Santa Monica Pier.
Thank you for your generous support of our beloved community, and the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council. 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.
October 2024 Theme: Deep Listening
Our theme this month invites us to consider our world, our communities, and our lives in the light of Deep Listening.
- 85% of what we have learned is through listening (not talking or reading).
Listening is where love begins. ~ Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers)
Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. ~ Rachel Naomi Remen
On What Slips by Our Deep Listening:
What else has my oblivion—self-induced or socially-constructed—hindered me from perceiving? My guess is that it is not only delights, such as these nests but violence, too, that’s within perception’s range, if only I gave it my true attention. Acts of exclusion, discrimination, and the impacts of systemic oppression are all there, right before me. I don’t always perceive them—I have been taught to not see them—but they are there, nevertheless… ~ Rev. Karen G. Johnston, “Inviting Our True Attention” Full piece is found here.
On Listening to Those We Disagree With:
Listening to both sides of a story will convince you that there is more to a story than both sides. ~ Frank Tyger
It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. ~ Audre Lorde
I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life – whoever you are, whatever our differences. ~ John Denver
On Listening and Love:
I have been called countless times just this morning, just this moment
This breath that I am holding for one extra heartbeat is calling…
This child with sticky hands
that wants me to look! look! is calling…
This dream of before you died and longing for more time, more time is calling…
This place and this whole world full of suffering and beauty are always calling. ~ Rev. Sean Parker Dennison, “Always Calling,” from Breaking and Blessing, a UUA meditation manual, a Skinner House Book.
On the Practice of Deep Listening:
In any relationship, you may want to check whether you have understood the other person… Don’t wait until the other person has left or is full of anger to ask the important question “Do you think I understand you enough?” The other person will tell you if you haven’t understood enough. He will know if you’re able to listen with compassion. You may say, “Please tell me, please help me. Because I know very well that if I don’t understand you, I will make a lot of mistakes.” That is the language of love. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
What do I lose when I don’t treat the bird in the neighboring apartment in Chicago with the same intention as the ones hidden among Michigan’s cedar trees? What do I miss when I only hear the mistakes in a performance, and not the little idiosyncrasies that make it unique? How might I grow when I listen to someone who I don’t quite know, confiding in me on a problem I don’t quite understand? ~ Adam O’Dell, from Reflections from the Forest
How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!
The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic;
Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences,
While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull. ~ Howard Thurman’s “Center Down,” from Meditations of the Heart, a Beacon Press book.
Our service in the world continues.
