by Barbara L. Barnes, Heirloom Editor
Ever wanted an immediate answer to what is next Sunday’s morning worship theme/speaker, or when is the Sunday potluck lunch? Ever wonder what’s happening at Heritage any day this month, the next, or beyond? Ever wonder about Heritage (HUUC) or UU-ism (Unitarian Universalism) in general? Both HUUC congregants and people beyond HUUC’s current community find these answers (and much more) instantly on Heritage’s website – HUUC.net.
HUUC.net delivers more detailed information about HUUC events, service offerings, and issues than each Sunday morning worship service’s order of service announcements, the weekly Heritage Connection, or the monthly Heirloom newsletter. This article highlights the website’s areas (homepage, worship, events, and calendar) that quickly answer common questions about Heritage activities for members, friends, and the interested public.
The homepage that appears upon opening https://huuc.net, and scrolling down past the “One Community, Many Paths” horizontal gray band provides answers to some of the most common questions from all readers. The homepage reveals a brief description of the next Sunday’s morning worship service (including the Zoom link placed there by the Saturday before the service), information on the current week’s donation recipient, and other featured upcoming events/activities. The bottom of this screen has links to other popular website items of interest – All Upcoming Events, Heirloom Newsletter, Worship Videos, and Building and Parking Rentals.
Along the top of the website is the menu bar of the website’s content categories. These categories are: About, Worship, Ministries, Community, Support, Calendar, Events, Search, Give, and Contact Us. Clicking on a category activates a possible additional drop-down menu of subcategories.
A common use of HUUC.net is discovering the Sunday morning services’ topics and speakers – both future and past. For future service information, open the Worship/Worship Dates and Information (category/subcategory) and a chronological list appears of the upcoming services and speakers for the next several weeks with a brief blurb regarding each worship service’s theme. The Kids Programming subcategory of the Worship category contains the most recently posted information on the children’s Sunday morning religious education sessions.
For past worship service information, Past Worship Dates and Information at the bottom of the Worship Dates and Information subcategory links the reader to a list of previous worship services’ blurbs. Find edited videos of most past worship services in the Worship/Worship Videos subcategory.
Both congregants and the wider community use HUUC.net to obtain information on upcoming church events. Clicking on the top menu bar’s Event category takes the reader to a long, chronological list of upcoming events. Each event shows a title, featured graphic, and a one or two sentence summary excerpt of the full article. Access the full article by clicking on the associated Read More … hyperlink. The first few events in the list are routine events occurring every week or month, such as the Healthy Lifestyles group, Midweek Mindfulness, or Sing Out Sisters.
If a specific event or meeting isn’t in the events list, it may be on the church calendar. Clicking on the Calendar category in the top menu bar presents the current month’s calendar of all church activities. Use the left/right arrow scroll buttons ( < > ), found just below the Calendar title, to look beyond the current month. Clicking on an event in the calendar shows the activity’s date, time/duration, location, and possibly a brief description.
These four website areas reveal just some of the information available on HUUC.net. Congregants and the wider community find useful information about Turpin High School parking, renting the building for an event or meetings, and general tidbits about HUUC and UU (such as organization, beliefs, and history) in the About category. The Ministry and Community categories discuss many HUUC service offerings and groups. The Search and Contact Us categories provide useful tools to answer other questions. The bottom banner to each category contains applicable data, such as directions/map, and associated links to HUUC Facebook pages/groups and the Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary website.
HUUC.net is continually updated. Poke around the website often to discover not only what is happening at HUUC but additional information about Heritage and the richness it offers to all.
Image source: https://tinyurl.com/58bmfprh and HUUC.net homepage screen shot