Heritage UU Church

Celebrating Life
Creating Community
Seeking Justice

The First Annual Heritage Stuffed Animal Sleepover

Friday through Sunday, July 31st through August 2nd.

Although humans can’t gather in our Heritage church building, stuffed animals still can! There will be a Stuffed Animal Sleepover at HUUC the weekend of July 31st- August 2nd. The sleepover will be chaperoned by Mr. and Ms. Bun, two very responsible long-time members of HUUC, with technical support from Dr. Kimo, who will post photos of the stuffies’ activities to the HUUC Facebook page. Dolls are welcome too!

Registration: Please register your stuffed animal in advance, so we can have a name tag for them. Use this form: https://tinyurl.com/HUUC-stuffie-sleepover

Drop-off: Please place your stuffed animal in a sturdy bag (like a paper grocery bag) with your stuffie’s name and your name on it. Drop them off near the front entrance of HUUC on Friday, July 31st, between 5 and 7 p.m. Please stay in your car and wait for Rev. Leslie to come get the bag with your stuffie. Stuffies will then stay in quarantine overnight in the Heritage Room. If it’s impossible for you to drop off your stuffie on July 31st, please email Rev. Leslie to arrange a convenient drop-off time.

The party will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 1st. Mr. & Ms. Bun will be the chaperones, and Dr. Kimo will post photos of their activities to the HUUC Facebook page late Saturday morning. The stuffed animals do fun things all day, spend the night, and be part of the worship service on Sunday morning. Be sure to watch the Sunday service to see your stuffie!

Pick-up: You can pick up your stuffed animal on Sunday, August 2nd, between 3 and 5 p.m. at the same place you dropped them off. Again, please stay in your car, and Rev. Leslie will bring your stuffie to your car, in their bag. We recommend that you leave your stuffed animal in quarantine for a day or two when you get home (don’t worry, we’ll give them some snacks to tide them over until they get out of quarantine). If it’s impossible for you to pick up your stuffie on August 2nd, please email Rev. Leslie to arrange a pick-up time.

Rainbow Discovery — Celebrating the Age of Reason (Before COVID-19)

Rainbow Street ArtThe Rainbow Discovery program provides a formal religious rite of passage for children in the primary grades to honor and celebrate their growing up and passage into the “age of reason” where they are now ready to begin searching for their own religious path. Using a rainbow metaphor tied to our seven UU Principles, our program honors our children’s religious growth, fosters their emerging UU identity, and embraces them as part of our faith community. Typically Rainbow Discovery is offered to second and/or third grade children in 6 to 8 sessions meeting outside of our regular Sunday morning religious education program.

Religious Exploration Overview (Before COVID-19)

Two GirlsReligious Exploration for Children

Parents and guardians seek a spiritual home that cherishes their children while providing a safe place for them to explore and grow their beliefs and values. Unitarian Universalism encourages questioning and thinking broadly about faith and spirituality. Here at Heritage, our goal is for our children and youth to deeply feel that Heritage is their church — here they are loved and respected.

On Sunday mornings, our children typically join their caregivers in the sanctuary for the opening elements of worship, and later may adjourn with their teachers for their religious exploration gatherings. Children are always welcome to stay with their caregivers through the adult worship service.

During the church year (September through mid-June) religious exploration will have several modes depending upon the Sunday. Children experience whole church worship at least one Sunday each month. On another Sunday, we have Chalice Chapel, a special worship service just for children and youth. Additional Sundays are devoted to hands-on social action projects and experiential learning sessions about various spiritual practices.  For more information, contact our Assistant Minister for Religious Exploration, the Reverend Leslie Woodward.

Babies and toddlers (age two and under) are welcomed in our Nursery, under the care of two paid childcare providers. This bright and cheerful space offers a fun, safe, and social environment for imaginative play. A changing table is provided as well as toileting facilities sized for toddlers. Nursing mothers are also welcome.

Religious Exploration for Youth

Older children benefit from having a group of peers that understands that spirituality is a process and that faith is a journey, not a destination. Youth at Heritage will find a safe place to develop their own sense of identity, explore their emerging values, and learn what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist in a diverse, ever-changing world.

Our junior high youth (grades six through eight) meet every Sunday morning. They begin in the Sanctuary with their caregivers then adjourn to the Youth Room for discussions, activities, and fun. Typically their adult leaders will use one of the Tapestry of Faith curricula or other UU lesson plans designed specifically for junior high youth. Junior high students may also participate in service learning, take special field trips, and attend youth conferences (CONS) at other UU congregations.

Senior high youth (grades nine through twelve) typically meet twice each month from noon to 2 p.m. Meetings usually start with food and conversation in the Heritage kitchen before moving to the Youth Room for activities and discussion. Community building is nurtured through social outings such as movie nights or laser tag as well as community service opportunities. Many youth also participate in youth conferences (CONS) and leadership training typically held at regional UU congregations.

Special Programs for Children and Youth

Summer Fun

During the summer (mid-June through August) our Sunday religious exploration program is more casual, combining age groups and offering theme-based activities that might include cooking, outdoor explorations, crafts and more. Recent summers have included stories from Dr. Seuss and Hogwarts School of UU Wisdom and Wizardry.

RE Community Days

Several times during the church year, our religious exploration programming schedules RE Community Days to provide opportunities for children of all ages to socialize, play, and learn together. Often (though not always) Community Days are scheduled when we anticipate low attendance at church, such as during school breaks. Past Community Days include Pajama Day, Take-Apart Day, Standing on the Side of Love activities, and celebrations marking the end of the church year.

Our Whole Lives (OWL)

Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a series of sexuality education curricula. Our Whole Lives helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. It equips participants with accurate, age-appropriate information in six subject areas: human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society and culture. Grounded in a holistic view of sexuality, Our Whole Lives provides not only facts about anatomy and human development, but helps participants to clarify their values, build interpersonal skills, and understand the spiritual, emotional, and social aspects of sexuality.

For more information on how the Our Whole Lives program is implemented at Heritage Church, contact Rev. Leslie Woodward.

Rainbow Discovery — Celebrating the Age of Reason

The Rainbow Discovery program provides a formal religious rite of passage for children in the primary grades to honor and celebrate their growing up and passage into the “age of reason” where they are now ready to begin searching for their own religious path. You can learn more about Rainbow Discovery.

Religious Exploration for Adults

Exploring religious truth, meaning and experience is central to Unitarian Universalist faith. In communities and as individuals we seek lives of meaning anchored by values. We want to deepen in spirit and nurture our souls; we strive to contribute to and shape the wider world for the greater good. We recognize that we are part of an interdependent web of life. We also recognize that living our values in the world takes an understanding of ways to bring about social justice. To these ends, various groups and individuals at Heritage provide a wide variety of classes, workshops, discussions and activities. You can find these among the Events and Meetings of Heritage,

Stay Home. Stay Safe.

At press time for this July Heirloom, most states (including Ohio) are reporting dramatic spikes in coronavirus cases. Far from being behind us or even on the decline, the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading rapidly. Doctors and scientists are telling us that the situation is even more dire than it was in March, when we shut down, sheltered in place, and began implementing various safeguarding measures.

The good news is, those measures worked to slow the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve” – so long as we were following them. They can again.

Even the governor of Texas (!) is saying it: As much as possible, stay home. When you are out avoid large crowds, stay outdoors whenever you can, wear a mask, and practice proper physical distancing from others who are not part of your household. Your health and safety, and that of others, depend on it.

Senior Minister on Vacation

Our Senior Minister, Rev. Bill Gupton, will be on vacation this month, taking contractually accrued time off totaling three weeks, from July 6th through the 27th. In case of emergency you may reach him via the church office at 513-231-8634 or by contacting our Church Administrator, Denise Martinez, at:

July means Little Fires Everywhere for the Babes with Books

Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 7:00 p.m. On Heritage’s back patio.

The Babes with Books (Heritage’s Women’s book club) July 15th meeting will discuss Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. Vogue describes this bestseller as taking “unerring aim at upper-middle-class American blind spots . . . a nuanced study of mothers and daughters and the burden of not belonging to our families or our communities.”

Due to pandemic restrictions, the group will meet from 7 – 9 p.m. on Heritage’s back patio. Please bring a lawn chair to aid with social distancing. We are limited to 10 people so please contact Barb Barnes to reserve a spot at this gathering. You can email her at:

Our future meetings and reads as of this writing are as follows:

  • August 19: Second Glance, by Jodi Picoult.
  • September 16: Before We were Yours, by Lisa Wingate.

All women and female friends of Heritage are always welcome to attend, whether or not they have read the month’s selected book.

Gathering for Remembrance and Mourning

Thursday, June 25, 2020, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. At the Fire Pit in the back parking lot at HUUC.

Please choose a ½ hour time slot. Space is limited to 10 households during each of the ½ hour time slots.

Please take time with us as we pause, reflect, pray, mourn and honor all those we have lost.

More than 456,000 people have died worldwide due to the pandemic, over 118,000 in the U.S. alone. This is a call for us to mourn, lament, honor the dead and to acknowledge the unequal nature of our suffering. A forest requires an occasional fire in order to renew and rejuvenate the forest. We will use this sacred fire as a time to mourn and renew ourselves and others. There is no formal service; our time together may include silence, readings, reflections, quiet song and prayer. You may feel called to say the name(s) of loved ones who have died or are sick.

This is a SOCIAL DISTANCE EVENT; you can choose to come as close to the group/fire as you want. Feel free to stand or sit at a distance that feels right for you.

Bring a chair, a reading, a poem and/or a scared offering for the fire.

Children are welcome; please note that the playground is currently closed.

A fire will burn from 7:00 to 9:00pm. To reserve a space for your household in any one (or all) of the time slots, YOU MUST RSVP TO Tracy Jo at the email address below:

The time slots are:

7:00 to 7:25
7:30 to 7:55
8:00 to 8:25
8:30 to 9:00

Town Hall Meeting Video is Available

A video recording of the May 31 Town Hall Meeting is now available online.

You can reach it by going to the HUUC website, pointing on the menu to CONGREGATIONAL LIFE, pointing and clicking on MEMBERS’ AREA, then on that page, clicking on “Town Hall Meeting Videos.” You will need to enter the standard Members’ Area password. Heritage Church congregants who don’t know the password may learn it by placing a phone call to the Church Administrator.

Other Links

What’s Happening at Heritage Catalog
Space Rentals
Turpin High School Parking
Church Auction Catalog
Upcoming Church Sales
LGBT Ally Training Curriculum

More Links

Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary website
Heritage Acres on Facebook
AmazonSmile
Kroger Plus Card
Glossary
Privacy Policy
Site Map

Heritage UU Church …

Has Hearing Assist Devices

Is an LGBT+ Welcoming Congregation

Is Wheelchair Accessible