by Rev. Leslie Woodward

On the last Sunday in August, we launched the beginning of Heritage’s church year with a terrific water ceremony and a great picnic with special activities. Yes, those of you who weren’t able to attend missed the chance to dunk Revs. Bill and Leslie and Board President Jim Nolan via a dunking booth. This is unfortunate as this opportunity is not likely to be repeated, LOL!

Life often gets in the way of church attendance. Sports, trips, school obligations, family responsibilities — all of these might make it hard or even impossible to attend worship and religious exploration events. Yet I often hear from congregants that they had a hard time getting to church that morning but they came and they were so glad they made the extra effort!

Because, it does take extra effort for most if not all of us to make it to Heritage on Sunday morning. When you can’t make it, you miss out on opportunities to hear wonderful music, inspiring words, and to make connections with other church members.

What you might not realize is that when you can’t come, we miss out too! Our spiritual community is made stronger when we can experience your presence even if it’s just through a smile or seeing you across the sanctuary. As Rev. Bill so wonderfully shared in last Sunday’s service, “I am because we are. We are because I am.”

One thing that helps many of our members on those days when it just feels like too much work to go to church is viewing their Sunday attendance as a spiritual practice. A spiritual practice is an action or activity that is performed regularly and intentionally to deepen your connection with the divine and/or the Spirit of Life. This could be meditation, yoga, prayer, nature walks, singing, or any other regular activity that is intended to enhance your spiritual life.

When your children or youth ask why they go to church for worship or religious exploration, you might explain that it enhances all of your lives to be in spiritual community together, especially in this era where so much of human communication is mediated through computers and phones. There is no better time to begin this practice than now. Right now.

Come to church. We are blessed by your presence.

Faithfully,
Rev. Leslie

September 2019.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

We said goodbye to summer – and hello to fall – with a bang (or was it a splash?) on August 25, with our annual Ingathering Sunday worship service, our water ceremony, a lovely picnic potluck outside, and . . . a dunking booth! Yours truly, along with my colleague Rev. Leslie (it was her idea) took the plunge as folks lined up to toss balls at a target that released one of your church leaders (Board President Jim Nolan also graciously joined in) into a few hundred gallons of water.

Speaking only for myself, I must say getting dunked was a very fun way to start the new season at Heritage Church! From the gorgeous, cooler weather to the truly intergenerational atmosphere of the day to the return of our Choir to the taste of baked beans and potato chips to the face-painting and temporary tattoos (thank you Eva Sofge!) to the joy on a child’s face when they hit the bulls-eye and watched Rev. Bill fall into the water – well, it was a day to remember.

We strive to create many days to remember throughout the year in our church community. Coming up in the next few weeks, you’ll have a chance to take part in more. There’s the Friday the 13th Game Night. I’m looking to start up a walking group. Don’t miss the Halloween Party. There are special events – and regular, weekly and monthly gatherings – for everyone.

As I said during that Ingathering Sunday service, one of the most beautiful things about Heritage Church is the sense of community that always seems to welcome more and more people into the circle. That morning there were several newcomers, who quickly fit right in. Maybe it’s because we don’t take ourselves too seriously. I mean, how many churches can you walk into for the first time, and take part in a picnic, then get to see the preacher being dunked in a water booth?

Sure, we can be serious, and frequently spiritual, but having fun is also high on our list. In these challenging times, a good sense of humor can be one of the best vaccinations against anxiety, fatigue and stress. This month, I encourage you to laugh. To smile. To do something – even if it’s just one thing – that is completely silly. And enjoy doing it!

Welcome to fall! Have a wonderful month.

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

September 2019.

by Jim Nolan

I am very happy to share with you that the Board of Trustees held its annual retreat on August 17 and came out of it with focus, energy and goals for the coming year.

Our theme for 2020 is “Putting Energy into Action” and at the core of this initiative is Stewardship.

Our Mission Statement is three-fold:

1. To be excellent stewards of our spiritual home.
2. To strive to recognize and acknowledge our service to each other.
3. To empower and encourage each other to make positive change in the wider world.

You will be hearing much more about Stewardship in the following months as there are many and varied needs inside and outside of our church.

To that end, I want to echo my message from last month and ask you to reflect upon what skills and abilities you might have and be willing to offer, whether that is in physical activity, planning or management of resources.

There will be many opportunities in the coming year to help maintain our thriving, active and loving community, both for the immediate future and as part of a long-term vision. I hope you will be engaged with us in whatever capacity you are willing and able to share.

As always, my very best wishes to you all.

Jim

September 2019.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

To paraphrase my colleague, Rev. Leslie Woodward, “It’s going to be a wonderful month at Heritage Church. Won’t you join us?”

Late in the month, one of my favorite annual church rituals – the Water Ceremony during our Ingathering Sunday – will allow all of us (regardless of who you are, where you’ve been, or even if you brought water) to symbolically and literally join together in community as we kick off the fall season and a new “church year.” This meaningful ritual reminds us of our physical Source (water) and our spiritual Source (God, community, the Spirit of Life, Om…). It reminds us of our interconnection with one another, of the rites of passage (weddings, funerals, the welcoming of babies) yet to come this year. It reminds us of the sacred cycle of life of which we are a part. And it allows us to blend our experiences (and water) into one common container – all while creating beloved community.

Rev. Leslie and I also have some other plans for our Ingathering Sunday that we’re keeping a secret – at least for now!

Earlier in the month, I will be offering a couple of “seeker services” – worship services that are particularly newcomer-friendly, designed to give a good sense of Unitarian Universalism, and Heritage Church, to those who are less familiar with us (and serve as a refresher for those who are very familiar who we are and what we do!). Please be sure to invite a family member, neighbor, friend or co-worker. I will continue the “seeker” theme on the 1st of September by exploring the ways our church and our faith differ from other churches – in our own, and in other, faiths.

Meanwhile, your Worship Committee is thinking of new and innovative ideas to make our services fresher and more enjoyable for all ages and all stages of faith development.

Can you tell I’m excited about worship at Heritage this summer/fall? I hope you’ll join me – not only in the sanctuary, but at all the other fun and friendly gatherings we have lined up in the coming months. And if you think you want to join Heritage – if you are ready to become a member – please speak with me or drop me an email. Our next Membership Ceremony is September 8.

See you at church!

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

August 2019.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

September begins a new year in our Religious Exploration (RE) Program and this year we are trying something new. Our RE program will be using curriculum built around a subscription program called Soul Matters — sharing resources with a network of over 150 Unitarian Universalist congregations who follow the same monthly themes.

Each month will have a different spiritual/religious theme that will be explored in RE throughout the entire month. In September, our theme will be “Expectation” and our children’s RE groups will explore what it means “to be a people of expectation.”

This fall we will also have three separate age groups for religious exploration so we can assure we are using age-appropriate activities for children and youth. Our three groups will be Sparks! — preschool and kindergarten; Flames! — first through sixth grades; and Ignite! — seventh through 12th grades. Watch for more information on how you can help lead and assist in our RE groups!

One of the greatest benefits of using Soul Matters is that children and their parents can explore the same theme together throughout the month. Families can continue their discussions of the themes at home through dinner conversations, car chats, bedtime stories, movies, and books tying into the themes, allowing religious exploration and education to be more than just a couple of hours on Sunday morning.

To help with this, I will be sending out a monthly email with ideas and resources about that month’s theme to weave into your family’s week. These will, of course, be only suggestions. Use them as it works for your family. And if you have ideas to add or something about which you want more information, please let me know.

Religious exploration is going to be great at Heritage!

Won’t you join us?

Rev. Leslie

August 2019.

by Jim Nolan

Hello my fellow gentle, angry people.

I want to begin by saying how grateful, honored and humbled I am to have been asked to take on the role of President of the Board for the coming year.

I’ve never been President of anything before – so I’m feeling mildly intimidated by the task. I keep thinking of the 1993 movie Dave, starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, in which an ordinary person is thrown into an official position and must learn how to do the job on the fly. To paraphrase the main character, “I was hired to do a job for you and it is just a temp job at that.”

I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor than Jaime Castle. Her boundless energy and incredible creativity have taught me a great deal about leadership. In doing so, she has also set the bar pretty high, but I promise to always work my hardest to do the best job I can.

Under Jaime’s leadership, we were given the mission of “Recharging our Individual and Collective Energies.” She also provided for us an anthem in Sade’s “By Your Side.” For this coming year, my goal is to build upon what Jaime achieved and to guide us all into putting that renewed energy into action.

In Physics, Velocity is defined as Speed with a Direction. Similarly, by action, our individual and collective energies can do so much good in the direction of our church, our community and into the wider world.

For the next week or so, I would like us all to reflect upon what skills we have and what we would like to contribute to putting energy into action.

Are you good with tools? Can you cook? Do you like to read to kids? Can you plant and maintain a garden? Do you play an instrument? Can you lead and organize a group? Are you good with computers? Or – do you have time to offer where you can watch, lend a hand and learn a new skill? All of these – and more – will prove to be so valuable in maintaining the future of our church and its mission.

I can’t think of another Sade song to share to motivate you to action – but might I offer James Brown’s classic “Get Up Offa That Thing?”

Or, to take another quote from the movie Dave:
“You don’t really know how much you can do until you, stand up and decide to try.”

I look forward to putting energy into action with you all in the coming year.

~Jim Nolan

August 2019.

Rev. Bill Gupton

What have you been doing with your summer? The longest day of the year has already come and gone, and the days are getting ever so shorter. But it’s not too late to make the most of this special season – to make memories, share laughter, experience something new and exciting.

For some, that means travel. Do you have any fun trips lined up? (I did my traveling in May, when it was still springtime here in the States but downright chilly and on the cusp of winter in New Zealand!).

For others, summer is a family time, with children out of school and the opportunity to spend more time together – hiking, swimming, going to Kings Island or an FC/Cincinnati game. For still others, summer is a chance to reconnect with far-flung friends, be that on a shared vacation or by meeting up at a Unitarian Universalist summer camp. Jennifer and I always join a thousand or so of our closest friends at the Southeast UU Summer Institute in the mountains of North Carolina. This year, Jennifer is the Director of SUUSI! It’s a huge volunteer role, but definitely a labor of love.

You can learn more about all the UU camps and conferences here:
https://www.uua.org/beliefs/get-involved/where/camps-retreats-and-conferences
(and yes, that’s our own Chris Whittaker and a much younger Henry Sofge featured in the picture; yours truly is somewhere off camera).

Wherever you go this summer, whatever you do, keep Heritage Church in mind (and in your heart) by collecting some water, and saving it to bring with you to our annual Ingathering Sunday worship service on August 25, when we mark the “end of summer” and our “homecoming” with a UU tradition: the Water Ceremony.

And when you are in town, be sure to come to church on Sunday mornings. There will be a wide variety of interesting topics for reflection, outdoor activities for the children, and Heritage’s amazing, loving community to welcome you. Plus, in August we’re planning some special worship services for newcomers, as well as the aforementioned Ingathering Sunday.

Have a safe, refreshing, love-filled summer. I hope to see you at church soon!

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

by Jaime Castle

“Recharging our Individual and Collective Energies” was the focus of this church year that the Board of Trustees came up with at our Board Retreat last August. Actually, it was the theme that I presented to them and that they willingly went along with. I told them that to prepare for that meeting/retreat, they were to prepare by listening to Sade’s “By Your Side.” Think of Heritage Church as Sade while you listen, I instructed! It’s a love song to you! I knew back then that we were all feeling drained: physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, culturally, politically, individually and as a community. Our batteries were low and needed to plug in and recharge.

I wanted for Heritage to be a positive place – positive in a supportive way offering social gatherings and uplifting messages throughout the year. This is to give us what we need now with the anticipation that the 2020 year would drain us again. These are important times, but we need to take care of each other and ourselves. Our work continues to offer support and to uplift as we take our renewed selves out into the world working to make it a better place.

Looking back, it seems that this past year has flown by. I’m checking my pulse now and unpacking how I’m feeling. Truth be told, my battery is in that treacherous red zone. It has been one event to plan and hold after another and one meeting after another and I’ve been working full time these last months as well. But this past Saturday was the last event that I was in charge of for a while and Thursday was the last day of school (so no more full time for me!). I’m ready to crash.

I know that many of you have gone through this or something like this before and know what I’m talking about. I am not bitter nor resentful – I knew that in recharging others, I was going to have to give of my own energies. I knew that I was going to give freely and thoroughly but would get the chance to recharge myself afterwards.

Afterwards is upon us. My time as Board President ends June 30th and in looking back I hope that I’ve done well. There have been so many good Presidents before me and I know that there will be great ones after me too. I was so fortunate to have wonderful folks on the Board with me. I enjoyed working with them and serving you all together.

I leave you all with a challenge: I challenge you all to be the hero that you can be.

I don’t think that you read that right. You probably read it like this: Be the hero that you CAN be! Like: Hey you! You can be a hero! But that’s not what I mean. Read it again like this: Be the hero that YOU can be. You see, you know what you can give and when and how. Whatever you can give in your current capacity is good enough. Sometimes you can step up more, but sometimes you cannot. And that is ok. Together we will be each other’s heroes and we can take turns. Sometimes we are Sade keeping others warm, and sometimes we are the ones that she is bringing home, drying our eyes, and staying by our side.

I’m going to go recharge for a while Friends, but I leave you with Sade: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8QJmI_V3j4