Age of Reason: Former name of the Rainbow Discovery program.
ARE: Adult Religious Education, as contrasted with RE – i.e., children’s Religious Exploration. ARE programs are classes, discussion groups, and other forms of religious and spiritual exploration for adults.
Assistant Minister for Religious Exploration: The clergyperson who is in charge of the children’s religious exploration program at Heritage Church.
Candles of Community: A time in the worship service when congregants share sorrows and joys in their lives.
COA: Coming of Age program, a special religious exploration program for youth.
Congregational Polity: Under congregational polity each congregation is self-governing, choosing its own leadership, handling its own finances, and so on. Heritage Church and all Unitarian Universalist churches operate under congregational polity.
Contributing Friend: Someone who makes an annual financial commitment (“pledge”) to Heritage Church and otherwise supports the church with their time and talents, but who has not become a member of the church.
District: A geographical, administrative area of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Heritage Church was formerly located in the Heartland District of the UUA, but the Heartland District and two others have legally merged to become the MidAmerica Region of the UUA. (However, elsewhere in the United States districts have not legally merged into regions, but have retained their separate identities.)
DRE: Director of Religious Education. At one time a layperson was in charge of the children’s religious education program at Heritage Church, and this person had the title of Director of Religious Education.
Friend: Someone who frequently attends functions and perhaps supports the church, but has not become a member and does not make an annual financial commitment (“pledge”).
GA: General Assembly. The annual gathering of delegates and others from UU churches in order to hold a business meeting and attend workshops, services and lectures. The General Assembly is held in a different city each year.
Heirloom: The name of the church newsletter, distributed by email.
HUUC: Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church. Note that, unlike the national Unitarian Universalist body, we list the “Universalist” first, reflecting our history as a Universalist congregation originally founded in 1827.
HUUCannc: Our email distribution list for church announcements.
IPM: Inter Parish Ministry. An organization based in Newtown that has a food pantry which Heritage Church supports. Website: www.interparish.org.
Member: Someone who has officially joined Heritage Church. Only church members may vote on matters of church business at congregational meetings.
MidAmerica: The MidAmerica Region of the UUA. This is the region to which Heritage belongs. Website: www.midamericauua.org.
MUUSA: Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Assembly. A week-long gathering of UUs each summer for classes, workshops and worship. Website: www.muusa.org.
OOS: Order of Service. This is the leaflet handed out as people enter church, listing things such as hymn numbers and names of speakers.
Outreach Offering: An offering collection taken to help an organization outside of Heritage Church.
OWL: Our Whole Lives, a human sexuality education program developed jointly by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. The OWL program has different classes for different age groups.
Parish Minister: The ordained clergyperson who is called by the congregation to serve the church.
Rainbow Discovery: A special religious exploration program that acts as a rite of passage for for children in the primary grades.
RE: Religious Exploration. This usually refers to Children’s Religious Exploration, the programming provided for children up through high school.
Region: A geographical, administrative area of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Heritage Church is a part of the MidAmerica Region.
Salem Acres Community Church: The name of the Heritage Church congregation before moving to its current location on Newtown Road.
SUUSI: Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute. A gathering of UUs for one week each summer for classes, workshops and worship. Website: www.suusi.org.
TAA: Time for All Ages. A time in the service when the children (usually) come to the front of the Sanctuary and listen to a speaker.
Unitarian: Historically, Unitarians were Christians who believed in the Unity of God, not the Trinity. For Unitarians, Jesus was a person but not divine.
Universalist: historically, Universalists were Christians who believed in universal salvation, that is, that all persons would be redeemed and go to Heaven, not to Hell.
Unitarian Universalism: A liberal religious faith that has historical roots in Unitarianism and in Universalism, but today is a broadened faith separate from its Judeo-Christian roots. Unitarian Universalism does not have a set of beliefs, but is unified in other ways, including by its principles.
UU: Unitarian Universalist. If used as a noun: A member of a Unitarian Universalist church.
UUA: Unitarian Universalist Association. The central organization for Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States. Unitarian Universalism is not a denomination, though that term is sometimes used for convenience. The Association has offices and staff in Boston. The UUA provides services to UU congregations. Congregations support the UUA by paying dues, but the UUA does not have authority over congregations. The UUA was form in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America. Website: www.uua.org.
UU Council: The Unitarian Universalist Council of Greater Cincinnati. A local organization of six area UU churches: Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church, St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church, Northern Hills fellowship, First Unitarian Church, and Harmony Unitarian Universalist Community (all of which are in Cincinnati), and Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community (which is in Oxford, Ohio). Website: www.cinciuu.org.
UUJO: Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio network. An organization of UU churches and other UU organizations in Ohio. UUJO works to promote social justice. Website: www.uujo.org.
WA: Worship Associate. A person from the Worship Committee who helps coordinate a particular worship service. Typically the worship associate open the service and assists with other elements in the service. They usually do not deliver the reflection / sermon.
Welcoming Congregation: A program of the UUA that leads congregations to become more welcoming and supportive of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender. Heritage Church has been recognized as a Welcoming Congregation.
Youth Group: Social and spiritual programming specifically for children in grades 8-12.
YRUU: Young Religious Unitarian Universalists. This was a continental, denominational youth organization. Though no longer officially in existence, the term is still sometimes used.
