The Heritage UU Church Board of Trustees met on December 12, 2022.

1. Our endowment balance currently sits at $61,653, with a 72% stock / 28% bond split. Under the terms of our endowment, we cannot spend any funds from the endowment until the balance exceeds $100k, and then we can access any excess funds over $100k. $25k will be added to the endowment fund as part of the Feders’ generous bequest to our community, bringing us much closer to being able to derive benefits from the endowment fund. After this $25k addition, the Endowment Committee is planning to transition the fund’s ratio to a more conservative 65% stock / 35% bond split.

2. The Board approved a $36k minister’s housing allowance for 2023.

3. The Board approved the appointment of the 2023 Heritage Acres board members: Tom Bosarge, Donna Buckley, Donelle Dreese, Bill Gupton, Laura Knight, Dave Spinney and Jeff Syroney.

Our Heritage Christmas Tree was set up on Sunday, December 4. Thanks go out to everyone who helped!

(Thank you, Jaime Castle, for providing these pictures!)

2022.

On Sunday, October 30, 2022, “The Gang of Us” (Jen Ciolino, Kay Inskeep, Bob Lamb, Alison Lang-Hickey, Laura Palmer, and Steph Tacy) led our morning worship service using the theme “A Salad of the Season.” By the end of the service, a fine “salad” had been assembled on our altar. Alison Lang-Hickey took some pictures, which are shared here.

 

 

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.

Once again this year, Heritage UU Church collected toys and cash donations for the Inter Parish Ministry Holiday Stores. Our Outreach Coordinator, Regina Pugh, made a video of all the toys collected, which you can view at the YouTube video IPM Holiday Gifts.

Bob Drake is one of several HUUC members and friends who volunteer at IPM locations. He passed along this message from IPM:

Thanks to YOUR generosity, the spirit of the season came alive in powerful ways at IPM Food Pantry’s 2021 Christmas Store at Crossroads East Side Church last week.

At the two-day event, 425 client families were able to shop from an abundance of gifts for their families at the Christmas Store, choosing items ranging from baby toys to presents for senior citizens. Additionally, IPM was able to distribute toys and gifts to over 200 clients at the Amelia and Newtown Drive-Through Pantries. The remaining gifts were transported to western Kentucky to be given to families devastated by the recent tornadoes there.

“There were more gifts to choose from than I ever imagined” said Christina, a mother of three teenaged girls and a year-old son. “My shopper was helpful and I could take my time to shop. It was such a fun experience picking out what my kids wanted. It was just easy and very organized … the Christmas Store was wonderful!”

We are so grateful for the thousands of gifts that were donated, the hundreds of hours put in by volunteers and the partnership with Crossroads East Side to make the Christmas Store an unforgettable experience for IPM clients.

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If you have questions about IPM, talk with Bob Drake or Regina Pugh.

12/22/2021.