Heritage UU Church

Celebrating Life
Creating Community
Seeking Justice

New Church Plantings

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.

Board Briefs for November 2021

Heritage UU Church Board of Trustees for 2021-2022

The Board of Trustees met on November 8th, 2021.

Financial reports were reviewed, and there were no major findings or decisions made, regarding the finances.

The senior minister and DLFD gave their reports. There is a need for a membership team, greeters for the services, and volunteers for the children’s programs.

The Board voted to amend the COVID-19 Policy for HUUC to allow for up to 75 people in the sanctuary, in preparation of holiday services, and to allow better logistical flexibility.

The board members met with the Social Justice Collaborative members to learn more about the message they will be sharing, surrounding the proposed 8th principle. The Board was in agreement with the efforts of the Social Justice Collaborative to plan optional, educational events for members, to elaborate upon the history of the 8th principle.

Grounds Clean-up. The grounds clean-up day was re-scheduled for November 13th, from 8:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Heritage Member Joins Other UUs in Out-of-the-Darkness Walk

Area Unitarian Universalists participated in the Cincinnati-wide Out-of-the-Darkness Walk to raise money and awareness to prevent suicide. October 10, 2021.

On October 10, 2021, Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church member Rebecca Pace (third person from the right in the picture above) joined others from Harmony UU and St. John’s UU Church in the city-wide Out-of-the-Darkness Walk. The walk was held to raise money and awareness to prevent suicide. The UU “Side with Love” team raised $1,370.

Out-of-the-Darkness Walks are promoted nationwide by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

For Everything There Is a Season: Memorial Trees Taken Down

On Saturday, September 19, 2021, at the beginning of our Church Beautification Volunteer Work Day, a somber ceremony marked the end of an era at Heritage as our two remaining memorial trees – planted just after our current building opened in 1985 – were removed. The trees had been dying for a couple of years, and no longer even had very many of their evergreen needles remaining.

Three young evergreen trees were planted next to the entrance to Heritage Church as part of the opening of our building, and they flourished, as did the congregation. They were known as the “Three Sisters,” in honor of three church matriarchs – Clara Hasameir, Alma Weiner, and Elsa Waterman.

As the three evergreens grew, several older church members who had been with us since the time we were known as First Universalist Church – including those three elder members of the Clara Barton Guild – passed away, and the area around the trees became the first memorial garden at our new location. Bob and Meredith Vickers’ ashes are buried there, and others’ have been scattered under those beloved trees.

In time, one of the “Three Sisters” itself died, the victim of a bagworm infestation – but the other two thrived so much, and grew so tall and brilliant green that in 2016 they won the very first “Great Tree Award” given out by Anderson Township.

The late Connie Booth, who by then had become one of our wise elder women, was present to receive the award when the trees were honored by the township. Connie, of course, was a horticulturalist and a Master Gardener, and knew just how special, and how delicate, these Colorado Blue Spruce trees were. She also happened to be a native of Colorado herself.

Sadly, not long after we received the Great Tree Award, the two remaining trees developed a fatal fungus called “needlecast,” the result of a particularly wet spring. The disease causes evergreens to lose their needles, and slowly die. After several treatments by an arborist, it was determined that the Two Sisters could not be saved, and so on September 19, 2021, they came down – but not before we said a few words of thanks and honored all that they had meant and symbolized to our congregation over the years.

Other trees will take their place, and grow, and thrive – just as other people will join the church. Such, as Rev. Bill told us that day, is the turning of the wheel. Such is the turning of the seasons.

The “Two Sisters” evergreen trees when they were healthy.

 

Award given for the “Two Sisters” trees, 2016.

 

The “Two Sisters” trees suffering from needlecast fungus.

 

Preparing to cut down a tree

 

 

After removal of the trees

Farewell and Blessings for Moundview

After a summer of meeting alternate weeks for Sunday worship at Moundview Park, we held our last service there for a while on August 29. (Our upcoming services will be a mixture of outside at church and Zoom-only.) A couple of Heritage Church members took a few pictures that day to commemorate our time at the park.

2021.

Introducing Laci Lee Adams, our new Director of Lifespan Faith Development

Laci Lee Adams

The Settled Religious Educator Search Committee (Kay Inskeep, David Knight, Katie Kpaeyeh, Amy Leirer and Ann Roberts, with consultation from Rev. Bill Gupton and Interim Religious Educator Karen Hager) is thrilled to announce that Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church has hired Laci Lee Adams as our Director of Lifespan Faith Development.

Laci has just completed four years as first the Coordinator of Religious Exploration and more recently the Director of Religious Exploration at the First Parish UU Church in Brookline, Mass. Laci is a warm, engaging, passionate advocate for children, youth and families, for social justice, and for true lifelong learning, exploration and spiritual development for Unitarian Universalists of all ages.

She came to Unitarian Universalism via the United Methodist Church, where in 2007 she completed an M.A. in Specialized Ministry with a concentration in Spiritual Formation and Religious Leadership at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Her B.A. was in Religious Studies from Centenary College in Shreveport, La.

Laci’s career prior to UU religious education included transformative work in multicultural education and cultural competence at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and grassroots organizing work in Chicago, Madison (Wisc.), Denver and Atlanta.

She and her wife, Emily Popler, are the proud parents of 18-month old Benjamin Alexon Popler-Adams (Ben). They live in Northside. Emily is a Clinical Fellow in the Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

We look forward to welcoming Laci as our very first Director of Lifespan Faith Development. She will officially join our staff on Sunday, August 1. We invite you to come meet her at our in-person, outdoor worship service that morning.

2021.

Heritage Member Travels to Rally in Support of Voting Reform

Rebecca Pace at Moral Monday rally in Charleston W. Va. on June 14, 2021

As noted in the news, the For the People Act establishes standards for voting, elections and representation, including congressional campaign financing and gerrymandering. It has passed the U.S. House but not the Senate. A procedural rule change that would increase the likelihood of passage in the Senate has been opposed by West Virginia senator Joe Manchin.

On Monday, June 14, the national Poor People’s Campaign held its Moral Monday rally in Charleston, West Virginia. The purpose was to add pressure for the rule change. Heritage member Rebecca Pace was there to show her support for the rule change and for the For the People Act.

Rebecca said “It was great to hear Rev. William Barber speak about the Poor People’s Campaign. I believe voting reform is the first step, to the policy changes we need, to address the poverty and inequality that plagues our country.”

2021.

HUUC Hires New Church Administrator

Vali Dugan

Heritage Church is pleased to welcome our next Church Administrator, Vali Dugan! Vali (pronounced like “Molly” but with a “V”) was hired after a two-month search process that included 30 applicants. Our Church Administrator Search Committee (Michael Wilhite, Donna Buckley, Bob Booth and Maureen Boylan) received 30 applications and narrowed the field to three finalists before unanimously recommending Vali to the Board of Trustees, which itself unanimously voted to hire her, beginning May 1.

Vali will work throughout the month of May alongside Denise Martinez, who is retiring on May 31 after 19 years as our Church Administrator. With a full month to overlap with and become oriented by Denise, Vali will be more than ready to take over the reins of the church office beginning in June.

Vali is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, but has lived in Deer Park with her partner, Chris, since 2014. She is the proud mother of three daughters, ranging in age from 17 to 25, and loves being a grandmother to her 22-month old grandson. While living in Albuquerque, Vali was a member of, and Religious Education Assistant at, First Unitarian Church, where she says she enjoyed the UU community, served on committees, and sang with the band for the contemporary worship service. Her professional background includes administration and office management. In her free time, Vali creates 3-D collage art, writes poetry, loves to travel, and practices yoga and Zumba.

2021.

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Heritage UU Church …

Has Hearing Assist Devices

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