The Heritage UU Church office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Occasional variations in the schedule may occur, so you may want to call before you visit.
Posted 7/20/2022. Updated 1/17/2023.
HUUC Tax Statements
During the week of January 9, Heritage UU Church emailed to each member and giving friend a tax statement, showing the tax-deductible contributions that person/family made to the church during calendar year 2022.
If you expect a statement but did not receive one, please contact our Church Administrator, Martha Viehmann. You may call her at 513-231-8634 during church office hours*, or email her at:
(* The church office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.)
1/16/2023.
Call for UUA General Assembly Delegates
At GA 2017, delegates voted by holding up their yellow delegate cards. At GA 2023, all voting is likely to be electronic.
Do you think you might want to be a voting delegate at the upcoming UUA General Assembly, which occurs June 21–25? It is possible to be a GA delegate by traveling to its location in Pittsburgh, or by connecting remotely through the Internet.
For more on GA in general, see this article from the December Heirloom: General Assembly 2023. The broader GA program includes lectures, workshops, worship, entertainment, and talking with UUs from all over the continent. All of this can be a great experience, whether you are a delegate or not and whether you attend in person or remotely.
Indications are that most of the business of this year’s GA will be about two things: The UUA Presidential election and the Article II Bylaws revision. For more information, see the accompanying article, The 2023 General Assembly Has Important Business.
Lay member delegates from our church generally pay their own registration fee, which can range from $0 (or a donation) for people who participate remotely in only the business sessions, to $400 for people who participate in person and register by February 28, to $600 for people who participate in person and register late. The registration fee can be reduced or eliminated by being accepted to work in volunteer jobs at GA, and some financial assistance is available from the UUA. Scholarship assistance is also available from Heritage Church, and those needing such help should contact Rev. Bill Gupton (email below). More information on registration fees is on the UUA website page for General Assembly Registration.
Heritage UU Church can have up to four lay member delegates at GA. (Our Senior Minister is automatically a delegate by virtue of his position, and our Director of Lifespan Faith Development can be a delegate automatically if certain conditions are met.) Heritage Church also can (and probably will) appoint alternate delegates. The decision on who will be our church’s lay member delegates will be made by our Board of Trustees, and the Board plans to do this at its February 13 meeting.
If you would like to be considered for a delegate role, please send an email to both our Senior Minister, Rev. Bill Gupton, and our Board President, Julie Kane. The deadline to apply to be a delegate is February 5, 2023. In your email asking to be considered, please indicate why you want to be a delegate, and state what you consider to be your qualifications to be a delegate. Email addresses are provided below.
Rev. Bill Gupton:
Julie Kane:
12/14/2022.
What’s Your Ikigai? A Guide to Living a Long and Meaningful Life
by Dr. Dave Stefan
On Sunday, January 8th, I will be facilitating an interactive worship service that challenges us to consider our ikigai, a Japanese word that means “reason for being,” and to construct well-being goals for the new year. Leading up to our January 8th service, please take time to complete the following as you reflect on your own sense of well-being. This process is designed to help you find your ikigai, or a part of it, and includes identifying what you love, what you are good at and what some of your well-being needs are. The goal is to then create a 30-day well-being project that will help you start off the new year in a happier and healthier frame of mind.
1. What you love: First, take some time to reflect on what your interests/ passions/ dreams are and jot those ideas down into a Life List of at least 25 items. Then, also, think about those items on the list that are top priorities that you might want to focus on for the next period of your life. Here is one resource to help you think about the various pieces of a Life List:
https://chrisguillebeau.com/how-to-write-a-life-list.
I often do a new Life List every few years after I accomplish most of what is on my list. You can add to your list at any time. For now, this is really just a draft on your way to narrowing down some ideas for a new year’s well-being project. The goal is to have fun dreaming and exploring.
2. What you are good at: Once you have your Life List in hand, complete this VIA Strengths Survey to get an idea of your values and strengths. You will utilize some of your strengths in the completion of your well-being project: https://www.viacharacter.org. When you get the results of this survey, pick one of the top five that you’d like to integrate into your project.
3. After identifying your Life List and completing the VIA inventory, visit the UC Berkeley Greater Good website and explore the Keys to Well-being. Peruse the various keys, and then narrow your focus on one or two that you would like to include in a 30-day well-being project: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/key.
Then on January 8th, we will revisit some of these results, interact with one another about our ikigais and set our course for the new year. And for those who are interested, we will meet weekly via zoom over a lunch hour to share our progress on the projects and keep one another motivated.
For more information and resources on these various dimensions of ikigai, visit https://www.thecomealivecollaborative.com/resources.
12/23/2022.
What’s Happening at Heritage?
There’s a lot happening at Heritage Church these days! You can learn about it in the new issue of the “What’s Happening at Heritage” catalogue.
In its pages, you will find an alphabetical listing and description of many of our ongoing events, activities, and groups. Each listing also includes contact information.
You can pick up your copy of “What’s Happening at Heritage” in the church lobby.
12/18/2022.
Save the Dates for the UUSC on April 29 and 30
Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, President of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
The Unitarian Universalist Council of Greater Cincinnati is sponsoring two events to which all area UUs are invited. The events focus on the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC).
On Saturday, April 29, at 6:00 p.m., there will be a UUSC-focused potluck meal at St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, 320 Resor Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 454220.
On Sunday, April 30, at 10:30 a.m., there will be a joint worship service of area UU churches, held at the First Unitarian Church, 536 Linton Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219. Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, the UUSC President, will preach, and a question-and-answer session will follow the service. The plate offering that morning will go to the UUSC.
The UUSC advances human rights and social justice around the world, partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and mobilizing to challenge oppressive policies. The work of the UUSC is grounded in the belief that all people have inherent power and dignity. You can learn more at the UUSC website.
For more information, please contact Dan Schneider at:
11/22/2022.
Cooking a Meal to Help in Time of Need
One of the ways that people can feel connected to our church community is by cooking an occasional meal for someone who needs it.
The Heritage UU Church Caring Circle organizes meals for church members and friends who are home from the hospital or face some other situation where meals would be helpful. “Meal Train,” an online organizing site, is used to share information and allows people to volunteer to provide a meal.
If you would like to be included in the list of people who are notified through Meal Train when a meal is needed, and you are not already on the list, please let Russ Araujo know. Email Russ at:
(If you know of a need for meals to be provided, please contact the Caring Circle Chairperson, Barb Beezley.)
Thanks go to everyone who serves our community in this way.
10/10/2022.
A Welcoming Venue for Your Gathering or Organization
Heritage UU offers a welcoming venue to people and groups of all genders, sexualities, nationalities, abilities, and origins. Whether you are looking for a one-time event location or repeated meeting space, take a look at the Heritage building and grounds and see if they meet your needs.
Some people who have used our space have said:
“It was just great to have all the dishes, flatware, serving accessories we needed for a lovely sit-down dinner.”
“The space is roomy, open and inviting, and the patio is very nice for gathering before or during the event in the main hall.”
“The Heritage kitchen is a dream! The space for preparing and serving food is more than adequate and thoughtfully designed and decorated.”
To learn more about the spaces, click here to see building and ground spaces.
To learn more about rentals, click here to see the rental agreement form.
To learn about renting, contact our Administrator, Martha Viehmann, by calling the office at 513-231-8634, or sending email to:
Heritage UU Church Gathering Policy (COVID-19 Policy)
Heritage UU Church Gathering Policy
This and all policies regarding meetings in the church building will be periodically reviewed and potentially updated by the Board of Trustees.
The following applies to HUUC-affiliated gatherings regardless of location.
Masks are optional.
Any persons exhibiting fever, cough, or shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19 should avoid any in-person meetings of any size. For their safety, we recommend unvaccinated individuals to avoid large indoor in-person gatherings and take advantage of remote options.
Any meetings should:
- Be held in the largest room/area possible. Room choice and assignment will depend on
anticipated attendance. - Include an option for a video connection for those who do not feel comfortable, or
cannot, attend the meeting. - Have hand sanitizer and masks available for those who wish to use.
Staff and volunteers working directly with children will still be required to wear masks for their protection.
HEPA air circulators located in the sanctuary and Great Hall should be turned on to increase airflow and ventilation for all meetings and should be operating in any meeting rooms.
3rd-Party Use of HUUC Facilities (e.g. rentals) will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Board with aligned expectations on personal safety that may not necessarily conform to the above policy designed for our HUUC community.
Posted 5/26/2020. Last revised by the Board of Trustees on 10/10/2022.
Keep Your Contact Information Up-to-Date
We are asking everyone to check the contact information that the church currently has for them, to see if it is complete and up-to-date. Access the church directory from this password-protected page: https://huuc.net/members-area/church-directory/
(If you don’t know the password, you can email Martha Viehmann, Church Administrator, to ask for it. Martha will call you, since passwords are provided by phone call only.)
Having correct information makes it SO much easier to contact you!
You can email Martha with updates at: