Dear Heritage Church community,

We are living in difficult, anxious, unprecedented times. I am certain that each of you has been experiencing a wide range of emotions while, together as a society and as a religious community, we navigate the changes to our lives, our plans, our hopes and dreams, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Feb. 1, when I began my sabbatical, I have watched the news with growing concern and compassion, and my heart has ached imagining all that you must have been going through. My prayers for the health and safety of you, and those you love, have been and remain a constant part of my spiritual life.

As the pandemic began to take shape, and to reshape our lives, I opened lines of communication with Rev. Leslie Woodward, and we have been discussing appropriate responses for me, considering that I was on sabbatical. You may recall that part of my sabbatical covenant included procedures that we would initiate in the event of a national crisis or emergency. Certainly, we are in such a situation now.

Therefore, I am ending my sabbatical, and returning to an active role as your Senior Minister. Together with Rev. Leslie, we will be acting as a pastoral and ministerial team, effective immediately. This is simply no time for me to be on the sidelines, or even behind the scenes; I want to be with you as we live in and through these fearful times, and as we find new, “virtual” ways to remain in community and mutual support.

Let me acknowledge and express my profound gratitude to my trusted colleague, Rev. Leslie, for the amazing ministry she has been providing to the Heritage Church family. I have simply been blown away at how she has, with skill and grace, risen to the occasion, and to this moment we are all facing. Although we Unitarian Universalists don’t do canonization, I think “Saint Leslie” has a pretty good ring to it – and is a well-deserved moniker. Thank you, thank you, Rev. Leslie!

I know that many of you have developed strong, important connections with Rev. Leslie in these past months (and years), and we assure you, she will continue to be there for you. It’s just that now, the two of us will be back together serving as your shared ministry team.

While I’m at it, I am also aware that countless lay leaders in the church have also stepped up and taken on additional responsibilities, gladly and graciously, over the past two months. Though I cannot list you all (and certainly don’t even know who all of you are), I definitely want to lift you up; please know that the many ways you have expressed and embodied the Love that is the spirit of this church are deeply appreciated! They mean the world to your fellow congregants – and to your ministers.

Now let me say just a little bit about how my return to the church will look, in the weeks ahead. Keep in mind that we are all creating this new reality as we go.

My primary focus in the next few weeks will be pastoral care – reaching out to those who are most affected, most fearful, most at risk. And I will be available, by phone or email or even (gulp!) Skype, to speak with or just to listen to anyone in our community who needs a shoulder to lean on and a (sadly, virtual) hug.

I will also begin slowly re-engaging with administrative activities such as meetings (Zoom, here I come!), the pledge drive and fundraising, staff concerns, and so on.

Thanks to the hard work of Rev. Leslie and our outstanding Worship Committee, worship services are in good hands for the immediate future (and I understand that the Cincinnati churches are banding together for certain Sunday and other services). So my return to whatever amounts to “the pulpit” these days will be a little slower than my return to pastoral and administrative duties. It is also hoped that, now that my sabbatical has ended, and she will not be spread so thin, Rev. Leslie will be able to give more time and loving attention to our families and the Religious Exploration program.

I realize this is already a lengthy letter, but if you will indulge me just a couple more paragraphs, I’d like to update you on what has been happening in my family. Most of you are aware that our son, Patrick, has been living in New Zealand since graduating from Ohio State in 2018. Recently, his visa expired, and he began the next stage of his planned adventure, in Thailand – rock-climbing, backpacking, snorkeling, and just all-around “living the life.” However, when the U.S. State Department issued a warning that American citizens abroad should return home immediately, or risk being stranded abroad indefinitely, Patrick, Jennifer and I put our heads and hearts together to reconsider things. Soon, we were scrambling – along with countless other Americans — to find flights home. Many flights have been cancelled. The past week has been quite an emotional rollercoaster, but two days ago, our prayers were answered and Patrick made it back to Cincinnati. We are incredibly relieved!

Our new reality looks something like this: Both Jennifer and I are working from home – in different parts of the house. Patrick is re-acclimating to life at home, while experiencing to-be-expected jet lag. We are striving to follow shelter-in-place and self-quarantine guidelines. All three of us are isolating ourselves as much as possible from each other in the house, and venturing outdoors only for exercise, walks, and the occasional work at Heritage Acres.

There are many stories to tell, at another time, about Patrick’s adventures both in New Zealand, and in getting home – but for now, the bottom line is, the three of us are reunited, at home, and wishing very much that we could hug and hold each other. Yet we – like all of us – must adapt to what is needed right now, holding to the faith that this too shall pass. We are feeling blessed to be alive, in the same home, and currently symptom-free.

So that’s how our family is doing. I am eager to hear how you and yours are doing. Feel free to reach out, if you are so inclined. And know that I am here for you, praying for you, and giving thanks, as always, for the Love that is the spirit of our church.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Namaste,
Rev. Bill Gupton
March 26, 2020

by Jim Nolan

Hello all –

On Monday, I turned 50. I spent it at home with my family, eating a cake that a friend dropped on our front porch. She couldn’t come in. I couldn’t give her a hug. Many of my gifts and cards were online. My brother-in-law sent me a card that he left unsealed, because he didn’t want to spread any germs.

Welcome to the new normal. As I said before, we are all heartbroken by this.

As with all tragedies, I have seen incredible acts of kindness, and I have seen despicable acts of selfishness across the world, the nation and in our own communities. This gives me concern but it also gives me hope.

The best thing I can think to do at this time is to remember these words:

This will pass.

One day this will be a memory, a reason to share stories, and a reason to reflect on what we have learned. For now, though, we can do much more than just “wait it out.” We can make calls, send texts, send emails — check in on each other.

Keep sharing ideas with each other – ways to cope, ways to stay engaged and ideas for keeping our younger ones connected and supported. It really matters.

Meanwhile, I want to try to express my gratitude to so many of you — like Rev. Leslie who has reached out several times to make sure I was okay and to see if I needed any support; to Russ Araujo, Reid Hester, Laura Knight, Regina Pugh, and many other unnamed individuals who have keep the wheels turning and who have worked to ensure that we all stay connected.

Also – to Denise Martinez who has truly been the heart & soul behind everything since this all started.

This will pass and I can’t wait until it does.

Until we meet again.

Jim

Posted 3/27/2020.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

I keep forgetting what day it is. Last week we forgot to put out the trash. I missed my online piano lesson on Tuesday and a Zoom meeting with other religious educators this morning. It appears that we’ve entered a strange new world. Or have we?

Looking out my window I see daffodils blooming and my neighbor walking their dog. Birds are singing and a spring breeze rustles the brown leaves still on the trees, poised to be pushed away by new growth. Sunshine warms my face and my pup sidles up for pats, a ball in his mouth waiting for me to toss.

“The more things change, the more they remain the same” is an old adage from Alphonse Karr, usually said in a resigned or sarcastic tone. But there are some things that we want to remain the same even as we navigate these challenging times of social distancing and online connection.

The Light of Truth
The Warmth of Love
And the ENERGY of Action.

My dear ones, seek out reputable sources of information. Watch for opportunities to connect with the important people in your life. Look for ways to help.

Stay apart; yet stay connected.

With the Love which is the Spirit of this Church,
Rev. Leslie

for April 2020.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

Every once and awhile it is useful to point out that I am disabled.

I have what is called an “invisible disability,” that is, a disability that is not always obvious to an onlooker or acquaintance but sometimes or always limits daily activities. This may range from mild challenges to severe limitations and vary from person to person and sometimes, even from day to day.

“Invisible disabilities” refers to symptoms such as cognitive dysfunctions, chronic pain, fatigue, learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, as well as hearing and vision impairment and more. In my case the hearing in my left ear was severely damaged in late 2015. While I wear a hearing aid, it is nearly useless in some conditions, such as in the Great Hall during potlucks or anytime when several people are talking at once.

Why is this important to know? You might think I’m ignoring you when I don’t respond to a question or comment when I simply didn’t hear you. You might get annoyed when I ask you to repeat something several times. I might mis-hear something that you said and seemingly reply inappropriately. Every day I wonder what I’m missing when I don’t hear the clever quip that makes everyone else chuckle or catch the anxious tone behind a simple request. And sadly, my hearing will only get worse as I age.

The quote in my headline is from the Rev. John Watson and I chose it deliberately because it doesn’t just speak to invisible disabilities but to other things we cannot see. There are people around us struggling with incredible disruptions in their lives. Disruptions like divorce, custody battles, food insecurity, the death or severe illness of a loved one, the loss of a job — the list is endless. The political atmosphere has struck terror in the hearts of many who fear they may lose their livelihoods, their families may be torn apart or indeed, that their very lives may be in danger. These too, are things that you cannot see.

These things are not only happening somewhere “out there,” they are happening within our beloved Heritage community. Please, my dear ones, be kind. Above all else, be kind.

Faithfully,
Rev. Leslie

2/21/2020.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

Winter into spring is a fruitful time for most religious educators. Often our religious education programs have begun and while they require support, thoughts are moving toward the NEXT BIG THING.

At Heritage, the “next big thing” is our summer programming. Watch for more information coming soon. If you are making summer plans for yourself or your family, now is the time to consider attending a camp or conference that will honor your identity as a Unitarian Universalist and strengthen your faith while you are making wonderful new friends and generally having an awesome time.

Experiences at summer camps can include week(s) long age-based camps, institutes and camps for all ages, family retreats and specific training programs. When attending these camps and institutes, UU’s from all over our region (and beyond) experience the living of our UU values in communities outside the walls of our congregations, strengthening their ties and commitment to Unitarian Universalism. Here are some opportunities within driving distance from Cincinnati.

• SUUSI — the Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute; July 19-25; Western Carolina University in North Carolina.
• MUUSA — the Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Assembly; June 28 – July 4; YMCA of the Ozarks near Potosi, Missouri.
• CERSI — Central East Region Summer Institute; July 12-18; California, PA.

Additional opportunities for high school youth and young adults abound. (Note that many of these programs have registration deadlines in March and April.)

• River Rising Summer Youth Immersion — July 5-11; UU Church of the North Hills, Pittsburgh and July 27 – Aug 2; Main Line UU Church, Philadelphia
• Youth Midwest Leadership School — July 12-18; Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington IL
• GROW Racial Justice (UU College of Social Justice) June 17-20; New Orleans, Louisiana (for young adults)
• Activate West Virginia (UU College of Social Justice) June 20-27; UU Church of the South Hills

If that isn’t enough, other UU summer camps are located in the Adirondacks of upstate New York (Camp Unirondack), on the Jersey Shore (Murray Grove), the coast of Maine (Ferry Beach), in the mountains of North Carolina (The Mountain) and on an island off the coast of New Hampshire (Star Island).

Summer is a great time to be a UU. Won’t you join us?

Faithfully,
Rev. Leslie

March 2020.

by Jim Nolan

We are a few weeks into Rev. Bill’s sabbatical and the board and all the other groups and committees at Heritage are working diligently to keep all the various wheels spinning smoothly.

On the first Sunday of this month, the board and the Committee on Ministry collaborated to bring you a service that provided a bit of insight into what we are doing to make sure all bases are covered and to let you know what to look forward to in the coming months. I am very grateful to everyone who worked to make that service come together.

We then hosted our second Town Hall Meeting of the year. The discussions were excellent and provided both the board and the Finance Committee an opportunity to hear from you – and to provide you with a deeper insight into our collective plans for the future.

In conjunction with that, the board had the first of several meetings with the Finance Committee to prepare the budget for 2020-2021. The proposals being drawn up for the next fiscal year have an eye on the future of the church, with long-term maintenance being a focal point. We strive to remain vigilant for the care of our congregation as well as for our aging building, and to provide a warm and welcoming environment for our first-time visitors as well as our long-time members.

In closing, I want to thank you, as always, for putting your trust in the board and in me – and I want to remind you of two very important dates coming up:

• Sunday, May 1 – Our Annual Congregational Meeting.
• Sunday, April 26 – Our 3rd Town Hall Meeting – the last one before the Annual Meeting and your best opportunity to have your voices heard.

I hope to see you there.

Best wishes,
Jim

For March 2020.

by Jim Nolan

Happy New Year!

With a new year comes changes for many of us – and the Board is no exception.

The incomparable Jaime Castle let us know in December that she is leaving her board position so she can pursue a much bigger, if not higher, calling. No matter where she lands, Jaime will do great things with incredible passion and energy – just like she has done for us over the years. I am sad that I won’t get to see her every month in our meetings but, though she can’t truly be replaced, we are incredibly grateful and happy to welcome Bob Booth, who has volunteered to serve out her term. I don’t know that I could have asked for a better alternative.

As you probably know, our beloved Rev. Bill will be heading out on sabbatical soon. This has been very top-of-mind for the Board; as well as the Committee on Ministry, Worship Committee and pretty much all the other groups and committees that keep Heritage running. Joint meetings are being scheduled and much cooperation and collaboration is taking place. We want to make sure Rev. Bill’s absence has a minimal effect on our day-to-day church lives, while providing him with much-needed time to reflect and re-energize.

Lastly, I want to make sure everyone is aware of our upcoming Town Hall Meeting on February 2. This will be our second Town Hall and we hope to build upon what we started with the first one. Representatives from the Board of Directors, the Finance Committee and other groups will be there to help answer questions and provide a greater sense of transparency to the congregation. We hope to see you there and look forward to hearing what matters most to you.

Best wishes,

Jim

Posted January 18, 2020.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

By the time you read this, Christmas 2019 will have passed into memory and we will be poised on the brink of 2020. Can you believe it? Weren’t we just celebrating the arrival of 2000 a few years ago?

Many of us get a chance to pause right before the New Year before plunging back into work or school or simply surviving, while some of us need to work straight through the holidays. Be extra kind to those who simply cannot take time off, whether they are medical personnel, first responders, package deliverers, retail staff or some other job or profession. Family caregivers, too, deserve our extra love and consideration.

If you do have a moment to sit and catch your breath, this can be a fertile time, a time that songwriter Carrie Newcomer calls “the beautiful not yet.” What are you hoping to see happen in the New Year? What are you willing to work for? How will you take care of yourself and the ones you love?

In this beautiful-not-yet time, know that your church community is here for you. We will laugh, cry, sing, and pray with you. We will hold you when you are hurting, rejoice with you when you are glad, celebrate with you when that beautiful-not-yet time comes to fruition.

The New Year is a great time to form new intentions. Form the intention to come to church every Sunday this year. (Yes, we know that this is nigh on impossible for most of us, but form that intention anyway.) We need to you be part of our circle of sorrow, circle of sadness, circle of anger, circle of joy. We need you to hold us as we will hold you.

May your New Year be merry and bright.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

This will be my last Heirloom column until late summer. I will be taking a six-month sabbatical beginning February 1 – a leave of absence from my Heritage Church ministerial duties that will allow me to focus time and attention to the startup of our Heritage Acres natural burial sanctuary. By the time I return to church work in August, Heritage Acres will be open for business.

This will be my third sabbatical since coming to Heritage in 2002, but the first that is taking the form of what our Board and I are calling a “hybrid sabbatical” – one in which I will continue to work on a major project that will benefit the church, as well as the wider Cincinnati community. As many of you know, green burial has been a passion of mine for years, and I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I realize that we – this church community – have created the Tri-State Region’s first fully dedicated green burial ground, right here on the east side of Cincinnati. I am deeply grateful for this congregation’s support of, and commitment to, the work that we are doing to change the way people think about death and dying – through Heritage Acres, through our amazing End-of-Life Ministry Team, through Death Café Cincinnati, and more.

Since this upcoming sabbatical is a bit “different,” I want to explain several things about our plan. Because I will be working on getting Heritage Acres up and running, I will still be communicating and interacting with numerous members of the church during a time (sabbatical) when normally I would not. Several folks on the Heritage Acres Board are HUUC members. The same is true for those in the Heritage Acres Founders Circle, and still others who do volunteer work at Heritage Acres. And of course, when we at last have our Grand Opening at 796 Locust Corner Road in Pierce Township, I imagine there will be lots of you in attendance. So I will be seeing, and working with, many folks from Heritage during this “hybrid sabbatical.”

I also will be performing a couple of already-scheduled weddings for Heritage Church members during the six months I am out of the pulpit and away from church. (Lest I fall prey to “scope creep,” however, I will not schedule any other weddings until after early August.)

Otherwise, the boundaries of this sabbatical will be similar to those in the past: I won’t be looking at, or responding to, church emails or phone calls, and I won’t be following what’s going on in the life of the church. I will be unavailable for ministerial duties except in the direst of circumstances (Rev. Leslie Woodward will be your go-to minister). To learn more about the sabbatical, read the 2020 Senior Minister Sabbatical document elsewhere in this newsletter.

While there remains much work to do – particularly in terms of infrastructure and logistics – before we can declare Heritage Acres “open,” do not worry that I will be working too hard! I plan to allow myself plenty of time for rest and renewal – as it should be, during a sabbatical. And, I will be doing some traveling (definitely to the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps even out of the country). I may even spend some time living the life in an RV!

I hope to see you throughout January, and then will look forward to seeing most of you again in August. In the meantime – Happy New Year, and may 2020 be a year of positive change in our lives, and in our world.

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

by Jim Nolan

Hello –

As I write this, it is getting close to the holiday season, there’s a bit of snow on the ground and, as the song goes, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”

That being said – 2019 has not been my favorite year. From medical issues in my own family to a social and political environment that just seems to get more and more contentious each day, to concerns within our own congregation about finances, safety and security – it’s been a wild 12 months.

But, throughout all of that, I am constantly being reminded how, when things feel very dark, there is always someone willing to step up and do whatever needs to be done. When something is broken or needs replacement there’s always someone willing to say, “I can do that.” When someone is sick, there’s always someone offering to drive someone to an appointment or to bring over a meal, or just to sit and spend time and offer comfort and companionship.

We truly do have a remarkable community at Heritage. The people that bless us with their presence each week bring with them an extraordinary variety of skills and life experience, and they – I should say YOU – are always willing and ready to offer up the time, the energy and the love that you carry within you.

As you read this, the holidays will be behind us; the new year will be upon us; and with that, the promise that the Winter will give way to Spring. The days will get longer, the sun will shine again and there are brighter things in our future. And we will be there – together – through it all.

So here’s to the new year – with blessings and gratitude – for the joys we will share and the lessons we will learn.

Jim

for January 2020.