Our Senior Minister, Rev. Bill Gupton, is on sabbatical. Much of his sabbatical time will be spent preparing for the opening of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary. He has provided these pictures of the land, taken in the fall and early winter of 2019.
Posted February 14, 2020.
As Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary prepares to open to the public this spring, there remains a great deal of work to be done. To that end, Heritage Acres is forming teams of individuals who will support that work.
If you have a skill set or interest in helping Heritage Acres, this is your chance to get involved!
Please consider stepping up to become a member of one or more of the following teams:
Administrative Team
Burial and Funeral Services Team
Communications and Promotion Team
Community Relations Team
Fundraising Team
Infrastructure Team
Land Management Team
To volunteer, go to https://www.heritageacresmemorial.org/contact-us/ or contact Vice-President Donna Buckley. Indicate which team(s) interest you, and what skills you hope to bring to the work. Thank you!
Heritage Acres, October 2019
On October 10, 2019, Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary purchased 40 acres located at 796 Locust Corner Road in Pierce Township, Ohio, completing a three-year search for land and making Heritage Acres a reality. “It feels wonderful to be ‘grounded’ in this very special place,” said Rev. Bill Gupton, President of Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary LLC.
“This day would not have been possible without the generous support of more than 200 individual donors. Thanks to you, we were able to buy this beautiful property without a mortgage, and without incurring interest payments.” He also expressed gratitude to the members of the Heritage Acres Founders Circle (listed below), the visionaries who came forward to make the initial donations to get the Heritage Acres project started.
Heritage Acres will now begin working with a natural burial consulting firm as it prepares to open to the public by the summer of 2020. “We had intended to be open by the end of this year,” Gupton said, “but the shift from property acquisition to becoming operational has brought new layers of complexity to the process. Luckily, we have great resources available to us, including the support and expertise of many in the national green burial movement who are cheering us on and want us to succeed.”
You can learn more at the Heritage Acres website. Watch this newsletter, as well as the Heritage Acres monthly e-newsletter, for updates.
Antoinette and Richard Asimus
Bob and Connie Booth
Maureen Boylan
Forrest Brandt and Kathy Wade
Donna and Mark Buckley
Frank Collins and Louise Lawarre
Gretchen and Rowley Elliston
Peg Fay-Feder and Sam Feder
Bill Gupton and Jennifer Sanders
Ann and Hank Jarboe
Bob and Ellie Lamb
Joann Meyer
John and Shannon Murley
Julia Sandman
Tracy Jo Small
Joan and Mark Stoffregen
Les and Steph Tacy
Volunteers take a break at a recent work day at Heritage Acres.
As Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary enters the final stretch of fundraising to complete its purchase of 40 acres in Pierce Township next month, our unique green burial project has been accepted into the Faithify program. Faithify is a Unitarian Universalist crowdfunding platform that encourages UUs from all over the world to support innovative programs created by UU churches and groups. We are proud to be among the select projects that Faithify has chosen to promote.
It is important that we demonstrate widespread support for our Faithify project, so please visit our campaign at Growing Green Burial the UU Way and give generously. Then, watch the Heirloom and your church bulletin and announcements next month for the grand announcement of our closing date on our Heritage Acres property. Thanks to all who have made this possible!
September 2019.
The American way of dealing with death is fraught with problems. For several years, Rev. Bill Gupton and others at Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church have worked on many fronts to develop an end-of-life ministry. This ministry has included:
For more information on out end-of-life ministry, contact our Senior Minister, Rev. Bill Gupton, at:
