Week of January 10, 2021.

This week we have a guest contributor for our Hymn of the Week: Michael Tacy, Music Director of The Gathering at Northern Hills UU Church. Our hymn this week is #318, “We Would Be One.” The lyrics were written by Unitarian minister Samuel Anthony Wright. The music is set to the Finlandia tune by Jean Sibelius.

Kimberley Debus, author of the Blog farfringe.com, suggests this hymn has “given us one of the most beautiful songs we have, about love, yes, but more. It not only talks of joining together in love, but it gives us the next ten words – namely ‘we pledge ourselves to greater service, with love and justice’”. She goes on to say that she “needs this aspiration of love and justice, of coming together to show the world what beloved community really looks like. And yes, if you’re just waking up to our nation’s long and ugly history of hate and violence, well, we’ll ignore the fact that you’re late to the party and just be glad you showed up at all.”

Considering the events in Washington D.C. last week, the concept of unity, of “being one,” really makes sense right now. Meditate or sing with Michael Tacy as he sings #318, “We Would Be One”.

YouTube link: We Would Be One

Week of December 27, 2020, through January 2, 2021.

This week we have a guest contributor for our Hymn of the Week: Michael Tacy, Music Director of The Gathering at Northern Hills UU Church. Our hymn this week is #213, “There’s a Wideness in Your Mercy.” The lyrics, by Frederick William Faber, employ wonderful metaphors, such as “like the wideness of the sea,” to understand the expansiveness of God’s mercy.

Kimberley Debus, author of the Blog farfringe.com, suggests this hymn has “an incredibly important message: STOP LIMITING GOD.” She goes on to say that this hymn is helpful on “those days when it’s rainy and dark, when the to do list is so long you have several of them cross reference to keep track, when exhaustion and allergies and the unrelenting sadness and anger of the times beats down. Those days a hymn like this gets inside and pulls me out of the funk as I remember how wide, merciful, kind, and loving the Divine truly is.”

For the week of December 27, meditate with Michael Tacy as he sings #213. YouTube link: There’s a Wideness in Your Mercy

Monday, January 11, 2021, 7:00 p.m., via Zoom.

The cries for racial justice this summer touched our hearts. The disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on People of Color illustrate the stark reality of unequal health care. There is so much evidence that separate is not equal, in schools, housing, employment…you name it. Awareness begets the question: But what can I do? The answers are plentiful, as Heritage members are learning with the Racial Justice Action Group. We are sharing ideas, offering encouragement for personal actions, exploring public actions, and supporting each other to take the first step, and the next, and the next.

This is an open group, so all are welcome. Bring a friend, or find a friend waiting for you when you join the Zoom meeting. The Zoom link will be on the Heritage Church homepage before the meeting.

If you have questions, please contact Louise Lawarre and others on the HUUC Racial Justice team at:

Michael brought the Board’s suggestion for changes regarding the newly created Investment Policy to the Finance Committee. They responded with changes to the church’s investment splits. Jim motioned that the revised and final “Investment Policy Statement for the Heritage Unitarian Universalist General Fund – December 2020” be accepted by the Board. John seconded. The Board voted unanimously to accept this statement.

Michael requested the Board consider the following people be appointed to the Church Administrator Search Committee: Michael Wilhite, Donna Buckley, Maureen Boylan, Bob Booth and Joan Stoffregen. Jim motioned that the Board approve the proposed appointment. John seconded. The Board voted unanimously for the motion.

PPP Loan round two: Michael proposed that the Board pursue the next round of PPP loans that are now available. Michael would lead and Rae Jane Araujo would again assist with the paperwork. We would again go through 5/3 Bank. Mark motioned that the Board pursue the loan. Michael seconded. The Board approved unanimously.

Eagle Scout Project: A new Eagle Scout project is in the works to build a walkway from the back parking lot to Turpin High School property.

Friday, January 1, 2021, 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.

Greater Anderson Promotes Peace (GAPP) will hold its 16th Annual New Year’s Day Candlelight Vigil, Our Dreams for Humanity, at the Peace Pole in Beech Acres Park, 6910 Salem Road, Cincinnati Ohio 45230 (in Anderson Township). This will happen on New Year’s Day from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to stand with our neighbors for a different kind of gathering. To help us come together safely in this time of COVID-19, we will gather for silent meditation this year.

January 1! A brand-new year lies ahead. What are your dreams for our community and all people? Let’s welcome 2021 with 30 minutes of silent meditation, holding our hopes and dreams in our hearts, knowing we share them with all who gather.

Each participant can light a candle (candles provided) as they begin their time of meditation. Please join us for as long as you choose, whether that is 5 minutes or half an hour. The Vigil will begin and end with the sounding of a chime.

Being together, even in silence, is a special joy. We hope you’ll join us.

(COVID-19 Protocols require masks and social distancing.)

For more information, send email to:

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

My last official day as your Assistant Minister for Religious Exploration is December 31st, and I hope you will feel empowered to contact me with any concerns until that day arrives.

Your interim religious educator, Karen Hager, begins working on January 1, 2021, though she and I will be coordinating in these last few weeks to ensure a smooth transition. On her first day, the email address RE1@huuc.net will begin forwarding to her instead of me.

According to the professional guidelines from both LREDA (Liberal Religious Educators Association) and the UU Ministers Association, once retired I am required to step away from all aspects of congregational life for a minimum of two years. This separation is intended to create space for everyone in the congregation to develop a strong working relationship with their Interim Religious Educator. It is also intended to create space for me — to step out of my familiar ways of being within my current role and explore other ways of living into my full, authentic self.

If you happen to run into me at a UU event or other gathering, it is perfectly fine to say hello. Just remember that I cannot be part of any conversation about what is happening at church.

Because of the winter holidays and my upcoming retirement, online religious exploration opportunities may be on a different schedule. It will be up to Karen to decided which, if any, of these offerings will continue in 2021.

Here is the schedule for the remainder of 2020:

November 29:
10 a.m. Family Chapel

December 3
4 p.m. Flames! Online RE

December 6
10 a.m. Family Chapel
12:30 p.m. Crossing Paths
7 p.m. Junior & Senior High Youth Holiday Party

December 10
4 p.m. Flames! Online RE

December 13
NO Family Chapel
10:30 a.m. Worship for All Ages with Rev. Leslie
12:30 p.m. Crossing Paths

Friday, November 27, 2020, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If “Black Friday” is not your thing, why not plan to have a Green Friday the day after Thanksgiving this year? Skip the consumerism and be part of some conservation instead! Join other folks at Heritage Acres on Friday, November 27, anytime between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., for a special Thanksgiving-themed Community Work Day.

You know you’ve been meaning to volunteer at Heritage Acres for some time now. This is your chance! Pack up some Thanksgiving leftovers and we’ll join in gratitude by eating lunch together (appropriately socially distanced and outdoors) around 12:30. Come at 11:00 and get some work in, then stick around afterward and help out some more. There are plenty of opportunities to help, from the sedate (processing recycled cardboard shipping containers) to the more intense (digging post-holes, removing honeysuckle and invasive rose); maybe we’ll even have a couple of fires going (brush-burning).

If you’re otherwise occupied the day after Thanksgiving, there is one more weekend Community Work Day in 2020 – on Saturday, December 5. Note the time on this day is from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Join us for one, or both of these volunteer days. It’s fun, it’s outdoors, it’s refreshing, and it’s inspiring!

For more information, including the worksite address, visit the Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary website.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020, 7:00 p.m.

Live on Zoom.

Join us for an hour of contemplation of this season of holidays. Readings, music, and silent reflection will center on a variety of faith traditions that observe special days in the month of December.

See the church homepage prior to the meeting for the Zoom link.

If you have questions, please contact Mimi Sinclair and Steph Tacy at:

Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Via Zoom.

BYOE@H – Bring Your Own Everything at Home.

Even a pandemic can’t stop the Babes with Books (BWB, the Heritage Women’s Book Club) from observing their traditional holiday gathering. However, just like everything else in 2020, we are just doing it a bit differently, on Zoom. So “BYOE@H” or bring your own everything at home for our December 16, 7 to 9 p.m. Zoom party. Supply your own snacks and beverages without concern for the consequences (nearly all of us have already gained the “pandemic pounds” and you won’t have to worry about driving home!) Previous BWB attendance is not required to join the party.

Since we usually watch a video during this meeting, we’ve changed the focus slightly. We suggest watching on our own the movie RBG, the bio/documentary on Ruth Bader Ginsburg, then discussing it during the gathering. Both Hamilton and Clermont county library have several available copies on DVD or Blue Ray. Or try the library’s free streaming service Hoopla. A one-time rental is also available on YouTube.

The Zoom email invitation will be sent to the BWB Google group approximately December 8. If you are not a part of this group but wish to be, contact Denise in the office to be added to BWB email communications. (If you were a part of the previous BWB Yahoo group, you were added automatically to the Google group.) If you wish a one-time only invitation to the December gathering, then send an email requesting an invitation before December 15. Send the email to:

Moving forward, the January 20 meeting’s selection is All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. The February 17 selection is Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. The Babes have yet to settle on selections beyond February, but contenders include The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix Harrow; Dear Edward, by Ann Napolitano; and Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons – if you want to read ahead. Final decisions on further reads will occur no later than the January meeting. See future announcements for details.