The HUUC Board of Trustees met on September 12, 2022.

Peg and Sam Feder gift

Peg and Sam Feder left an extraordinary bequest to the church in the amount of $78,452.58, and we are forever thankful for their generosity! This gift will continue Peg and Sam’s legacy at HUUC and provide lasting support for future generations of our membership. While the Board is currently working on a plan to best use these funds to benefit our community, we voted on two distributions:

1. $6,000 will be transferred to the general fund to meet Peg’s annual pledge.
2. Up to $2,000 has been approved for repairs/improvements to the church sign. The board was unanimous that the church sign is in dire need of updates, and it is often the first thing that visitors to our building notice. As they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Music Director position

Les Tacy has announced his retirement from the Music Director position. Les has agreed to stay on through the end of the 2022-23 year, but he will also willingly step away before then if his replacement is found prior to the end of the year. Les, thank you for your exceptional service—you leave big shoes to fill! More details on the search process will be announced at a future date.

Coffee Hour donut volunteers needed!

We have recently resumed our post-service coffee hour on Sundays, and they have been going great! We have also offered donuts during coffee hour which have been a big hit, especially with the children—many of you have surely noticed them sprinting for the Great Hall after service ends! We are looking for volunteers to occasionally provide donuts/snacks for these coffee hours—if you are interested in helping out, please let a staff member or board member know!

The HUUC Board of Trustees met on August 8, 2022.

Balance sheet cleanup

Through the generosity of our community, HUUC had built up a number of unrestricted named funds of varying amounts on our balance sheet. To streamline our funds and give us a better sense of the resources available to us, the Board voted to consolidate a number of these named funds into a single new “General Fund” line item on the balance sheet. Money in the General Fund is available to the Board to be used for any purpose that meets the needs of our community, including building/grounds maintenance and improvements, new initiatives, etc.

Updated list of Board Liaisons to committees

Kay Inskeep: Music, Ministry
Michelle Kelly: Building, Grounds
Meredith Meyer: Personnel, CARE, Membership (TBD)
Rebecca Pace: Finance, Social Justice
John Sandman: Endowment, Stewardship
Luke Walczewski: Communications, Lifespan Faith Development

Personnel committee

The Board is planning to reinstate HUUC’s Personnel Committee. This committee would not meet regularly—only when a human-resources-type function is required (hiring new staff members, etc.). If you have HR experience and are interested in serving on this committee, please let us know!

On July 3, Heritage Church held a summer picnic on its grounds, after the Sunday worship service. Here are some pictures from the event.

2022.

Heritage Church is pleased to welcome our new Church Administrator, Martha Viehmann! She joined our church staff in July 2022.

Martha has lived in Anderson Township since 2002, raising two sons here with her husband, Rick Boyce. Martha is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and attends Eastern Hills Friends Meeting. Through her meeting, Martha learned about Greater Anderson Promotes Peace (GAPP) and began working with this organization more than a decade ago, which is how she has come to know Heritage and many of our congregants. She has previously worked as an English instructor and in a wide variety of other jobs, most recently at the Holocaust and Humanity Center.

Martha has a heart for service and seeks to care for all our neighbors, human and otherwise. She enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, and being with people.

7/14/2021

The Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival was a huge success this year. A number of Unitarian Universalists participated, many from Heritage Church. The UU booth gave away 1,100 bracelets, along with pamphlets describing UUism and the various congregations in Cincinnati. Some people stopped by just to say thanks for being there. Many thanks go to Bob Lamb, who organized the Heritage involvement in Pride this year.

2022.

Kevin Palmer joined Heritage Church with his wife Laura in 2018. In January 2022 he joined the church staff as Technology Coordinator. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He brings to Heritage over 25 years of information systems experience, ranging from graphics and print production to business systems. Kevin enjoys spending time with his family, camping, home renovation and maintaining the fleet of vehicles for his family. He and Laura are beekeepers, wrangling a few hundred thousand bees in their back yard.

1/21/2022.

January 6, 2022, marked the one-year anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Heritage UU Church people took part in vigils and rallies for democracy at three area locations: at the Cincinnati City Hall Plaza, outside Allen Temple AME Church in Bond Hill, and in Batavia, Ohio. At the City Hall Plaza event, HUUC’s Peter Boylan played taps, and Rev. Mitra Jafarzadeh, from St. John’s UU Church, was one of the speakers.

Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church returned to holding an in-person Christmas Eve service for 2021. Participants could join the service in the sanctuary, in the Great Hall (where a new, large video screen has been mounted), or via Zoom. These photographs are courtesy of Bill Lyon.

Posted 12/25/2021.

The Clara Barton Guild is pleased to inform the congregation that we have replaced the landscaping we lost when we had to remove the two Colorado Blue spruce that graced our northwest corner along Newtown Road. We have installed two Green Giant arborvitae and three Allegheny viburnum. We would like to dedicate our new landscaping to the memory of Connie Booth, longtime supporter of the Clara Barton Guild of which all the women of Heritage are members. We remember her with love and thanks for all the care she gave the people and gardens of Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church. Bless your memory, Connie.

11/24/2021.

Here are a few of the costumes at the worship service on Sunday, October 31, 2021.