by Russ Araujo

On Sunday, October 28, 2018, Rae Jane and I attended the Installation of the new minister at First Church, Rev. Connie Simon. An Installation is a solemn and joyful event, not to be missed. Unitarian Universalist ministers come from miles around and process in wearing their robes and stoles. Our own minister was there.

Rev. Connie is an African American, and First Church is in a mostly black area of the city. Back in the second half of the 20th Century, First Church had stuck it out in the city while other churches, including our own, followed “white flight” to the suburbs. Fifty years ago, First Church had a congregation that was much more racially mixed, but over time had become majority white. The members of the church now wanted to get back to an anti-racist vision and mission, and had chosen Rev. Connie, the first black minister of their church (or of any UU church in Cincinnati, for that matter).

The Installation had wonderful music, from “Lean on Me,” to “With Love” (written just for this occasion), to a version of “Amazing Grace.”

And the Installation had wonderful examples of public speaking. There were Greetings and Prayers and the Sermon. The sermon was by the Rev. Dr. William G. Sinkford, the former president of the whole Unitarian Universalist Association. He had grown up in this very church. His return made this a historic moment. And boy, could he give a good sermon.

But this was a really historic moment for another reason, emphasized over and over by speaker after speaker. Rev. Connie was about to become the first African American minister of the church.

Throughout the service, there were two or three people who came halfway down the aisle and took pictures. One of these was the “he” of the title of this piece. He is a long-time member of another UU church in Cincinnati. He had been a Tuskegee Airman in World War II. And by my telling you that, you know that he is African American. The military services were not integrated in WWII, and the black men who wanted to serve their country were grouped into segregated companies. And also by my telling you that, you know that he is old. For privacy reasons, I am not using his name.

There is something else about the “he” of the title of this piece. He is the grandson of the Rev. W.H.G. Carter. In 1918, Rev. Carter had organized his own church in Cincinnati. He believed in Unitarianism, and had named his congregation “Church of the Unitarian Brotherhood.” He applied for his church to become a member of the American Unitarian Association, and the AUA had sent someone to investigate. That person reported back to Boston that the church was in a storefront and had a Negro minister. The AUA turned down Rev. Carter’s request.

The story of Rev. Carter came to light in the late 1990s. And at that time, the Tuskegee Airman let it be known that Rev. Carter was his grandfather.

And now here, at the Installation of the first African American UU minister in Cincinnati, the old Tuskegee Airman came down the aisle and took some pictures with his cell phone. Then he returned to his seat.

As the Installation progressed, he again made his way down the aisle, took some pictures, and returned.

At the end of the Installation, Rev. Connie’s niece, singing with the Installation Choir, sang “Love’s in Need of Love Today.” Up until now, the music and the words of installation reflected the European-American origin of Unitarian’s roots. The ministers had processed in while singing “Rank by Rank Again We Stand,” a song of long (white) tradition, originally written in England in the 1800s. But now in this Installation, Connie’s niece moved and swooped across the chancel, the choir swayed, and the singing brought forth the joy and energy usually found in the black church. And as the niece sang her joyful song, she clapped her hands above her head, and got all of us to clap our hands too. And as she sang, she motioned for all of us to stand, and we stood too. It had a rhythm and an energy that seemed like it could go on forever.

And then the Tuskegee Airman, the grandson of the rejected Rev. Carter, made his way down the aisle one last time for this Installation of the church’s first black minister. He was the only one in the aisle at that moment. He held up his cell phone and took more pictures. Then he put away his phone. He had waited his entire life for this. His body started swaying, his fingers started snapping, and, though his old feet did not move, he danced.

Five members of Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church—Rae Jane Araujo, Russ Araujo, Tracey DuEst, Bob Lamb, and Ellie Lamb—traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to participate in the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual General Assembly (GA). Bob, Ellie, Tracey and Russ were Heritage Church’s delegates to GA. Rae Jane and Russ were Heritage’s delegates to the MidAmerica Region’s annual Assembly, which was held at the same location just prior to GA. Bob and Ellie also joined their voices with UUs from dozens of other churches in the GA Choir. The assembly took place from June 20 to 24, 2018.

GA consists of worship services, workshops, lectures, public witness, and other activities, as well as the governing business meeting of the UUA.

You can find many on-demand videos, transcripts, and workshop materials from GA at the UUA GA Online webpage.

Below are some scenes from GA.

A Heritage Church member helps the EqUUal Access banner carrier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly for 2018, a few members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest (on the left side of the street), and a much larger group of Unitarian Universalists quickly assembled to sing (right side of street).

 

 

One way to connect with the wider UU world is on the Internet, through websites and social media. Here is a list of links that you might want to check out.

International Council of Unitarians and Universalists

Learn about the activities of UUs on six continents. Website: icuu.info/.

Unitarian Universalist Association

Heritage UU Church is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). There is an abundance of information on this website; use the Search box to help find what you want. Website: uua.org/. Facebook: facebook.com/TheUUA/.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

The UU Service Committee is a relief and justice organization powered by UU values. Website: uusc.org/.

UU World

The UU World is our denominational magazine. The website often has additional information and articles that are not in the print magazine. Website: uuworld.org/. Facebook: www.facebook.com/uuworld/. (There are also some great photographs on the UU World’s Flickr page, here: flickr.com/photos/uuworld/.)

MidAmerica Region of the UUA

Heritage UU Church is part of the MidAmerica Region of the UUA, which is one of five regions (see map here: www.uua.org/regions ). You can learn about training sessions and support available in our region. Website: www.midamericauua.org/. Facebook: facebook.com/MidAmericaUUA/.

UU Justice Ohio

Heritage Church is a member of Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio (UUJO), which was formed to bring a unified view and energy to social justice work in Ohio. Website: www.uujo.org/. Facebook: facebook.com/UUJusticeOhio/. There is also a Facebook group for UUJO in southwest Ohio / Cincinnati, and it is here: facebook.com/groups/1323622811048071/.

UU Council of Greater Cincinnati

Our area is fortunate to have six UU congregations. They are all part of the UU Council of Greater Cincinnati. The Council facilitates sharing information among area churches, provides a representative to the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati (MARCC), and has occasionally initiated joint events with multiple churches. This would be a place to go to get links to other area UU churches. Website: cinciuu.org/.

Special Interest Groups

There are a number of UU groups that have a special focus, and here are some of them:

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism: blacklivesuu.com/

Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS): cuups.org/

Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM): druumm.onefireplace.org/

Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship: uubf.org/wp/

Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship: uuchristian.org/

Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association: huumanists.org/

Unitarian Universalists for Jewish Awareness: https://uuja.org/

Unitarian Universalist Mystics in Community: https://uumystics.org/

November, 2017.

(The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) have issued this joint Declaration of Conscience.)

At this extraordinary time in our nation’s history, we are called to affirm our profound commitment to the fundamental principles of justice, equity and compassion, to truth and core values of American society.

In the face of looming threats to immigrants, Muslims, people of color, and the LGBTQ community and the rise of hate speech, harassment and hate crimes, we affirm our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

In opposition to any steps to undermine the right of every citizen to vote or to turn back advances in access to health care and reproductive rights, we affirm our commitment to justice and compassion in human relations.

And against actions to weaken or eliminate initiatives to address the threat of climate change – actions that would threaten not only our country but the entire planet – we affirm our unyielding commitment to protect the interdependent web of all existence.

We will oppose any and all unjust government actions to deport, register, discriminate, or despoil.

As people of conscience, we declare our commitment to translate our values into action as we stand on the side of love with the most vulnerable among us.

We welcome and invite all to join in this commitment for justice.

The time is now.

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(If you would like to add your name to this statement, you can do so at the Declaration of Conscience webpage.)

January 2017.

Here is a video of the Opening Ceremony of General Assembly, starting at the point where the Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church Banner is brought in during the banner parade.

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through the democratic process. The 2016 General Assembly took place in Columbus, Ohio, from June 22 through June 26.

The UUA website has a wonderful collection of videos of key parts of GA: These include the Ware Lecture, the Worship Services, the Business Meetings, and some key Workshops. To view these videos, go to the GA video page.

August, 2016.

The 2016 MidAmerica Regional Assembly was held from April 29 through May 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota. A highlight of this gathering was the two-part presentation by keynote speakers: Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen, Rev. Jeremy Nickel, and Kenny Wiley. Building on the New Era theme, these three UU leaders explored who we Unitarian Universalists need to be in order to be relevant, how we will get there, and who will be joining us on this journey.

You can watch the videos of the two keynote presentations as well as the business meeting by visiting these webpages:

Friday Keynote Address.

Saturday Keynote Address.

Business Meeting.

by Russ Araujo

Each year the Universalist Convocation meets to renew friendships and promote the Universalist message in our denomination and in the world at large. This year’s meeting was on May 19 – 22 in Marietta, Ohio. Rae Jane and I attended, representing our own congregation and its Universalist roots.

The convocation took place at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, which was formed by the merging of the local Universalist and local Unitarian churches in 1869, nearly 100 years before the Universalist and Unitarian denominations consolidated at the national level (in 1961). (By the way, the Marietta church’s minister is Rev. Kat Hawbaker, who used to be the minister of Hopedale UU church in Oxford Ohio.) The Marietta church building has the look and feel of churches built 150 years ago. For parts of the program we sat in pew “boxes.” The convocation included worship services, talks, a local historical tour, and a workshop. The Marietta church also fed us several scrumptious meals which were based upon their decade-long study of ethical eating.

I am pleased to report that, when we talked during social times and mentioned that we were from Heritage Church in Cincinnati, people always remembered that Heritage had hosted the convocation two years ago and commented on what a great job our church did with that gathering.

The convocation wrapped up with the worship service of the Marietta church on Sunday morning. The Rev. Justin Lapoint, a former minister at Marietta, gave the sermon. The day before, he had led a workshop in which he asked participants to write down their answers to several questions. One question was, “Putting aside the historical definition of Universalism, what is your definition of Universalism today?” In the Sunday service Rev. Lapoint gave his own answer to that question, saying that Universalism meant “Everyone included—no one left out or behind.” Thinking of the many conflicts and inequalities in our world today, this seems like an excellent definition – and an ideal to strive for.

2016.

Bill Lyon attended services with the Kensington Unitarians in London on Sunday, October 25, 2015. Shown below are pages from the programme. The minister there asked Bill to share their well-wishes to our congregation.

October 2015.

by Nancy Heege, Congregational Life Consultant.

For those of you who like numbers, here is an introduction to the region. The MidAmerica Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association is made up of 186 UU congregations (affiliated with the UUA) spread across 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. There are several other small congregations not yet affiliated.

Of our 186 affiliated congregations, 89 are served by full time ministers (one or more ministers); 37 by part time ministers; and 60 congregations (about one-third) are lay led. Many of our congregations are also served by full and part time religious educators, administrators, membership professionals, music professionals, social justice coordinators, and others.

When our congregations certified their adult membership last year, the region totaled 29,216 members. This year, the total adult membership is 29,044, a drop of less than 1%. The number of children and youth dropped also from last year, from 10,005 to 9,888, a decline of 1.2%.

Of our 186 affiliated congregations, 4 are over 750 adult members and 6 are between 500 and 749 adult members. More than a quarter of our adult members are members of those ten congregations. Twenty four congregations are between 250 and 499 adult members; and 24 are between 150 and 249 adult members. One hundred twenty eight congregations (nearly 70% of our affiliated congregations) have fewer than 150 adult members.

So there you have it.

For further information, visit the MidAmerica Region website.