News Articles

Our Music Director and Accompanist, Sherry McCamley, wrote and lead the HUUC choir in a musical parody to Rev. Bill Gupton at the recent Open House to celebrate his upcoming retirement. Due to many requests for the lyrics, Sherry has supplied them below.  

Bye Bye Rev. Bill
(sung to the tune of American Pie)
By Sherry McCamley

A long, long time ago, HUUC hired a new minister named Bill
And he knew if he had his chance, he could help us sing and dance
And he knew we’d be happy for awhile
In joy and love, we did shiver with every sermon he’d deliver
Good news on our doorstep, he helped us take one more step
Toward social justice for everyone
And we’d make a difference when day was done
Bill has touched us, everyone, and now we say goodbye

Chorus:
So bye, bye, Reverend Bill’s a great guy
Won’t be pastor but he’s lasted a long time so don’t cry
He won’t be far, a few miles as the crow flies
Digging holes & planting trees that won’t die
Digging holes & planting trees that won’t die

Bill believes in the power of love & he gave us faith in the universe above
He’s led the people with that love
And he believes in rock ‘n’ roll, the Beatles are part of his mortal soul
And we sing “Imagine” real slow
We pass the plate but we give it away, to some others who really need it today Our abundance we can share, Bill’s made it very fair
With Candles of Community, our connection’s strong as you can see
Our Bill has left a legacy, so we say thanks and goodbye

Chorus:

For 23 years through good times and strife
Thru weddings, births and celebrations of life
Bill’s been there to lend a hand
He’s headed to Heritage Acres now, where he shows folks the best way how
To preserve and protect our land

So now we honor Bill for real with stories, songs and vegan meals
No gluten for him please – just rice and frozen peas
And while he munches on serviceberries in the park
The choir sings folk songs in the dark
We sure will miss your intense spark
As we must say goodbye

So bye, bye, Reverend Bill’s a great guy
Won’t be pastor but he’s lasted a long time so don’t cry
He won’t be far, a few miles as the crow flies
So we won’t be really saying goodbye, we won’t be really saying goodbye

Image source: https://tinyurl.com/m942kb2m

Over 2,300 folks participated in in this year’s Forest Hills 5K Run/Walk and After Party on May 10, 2025 — including about a dozen from Heritage. Some ran, walked, or “strollered.” Laci and a couple of volunteers met/interacted with families at the Heritage booth promoting this summer’s Peace and Pride Camps. Parents and teens expressed appreciation for the welcome and encouragement they received and for the ways Heritage has shown up to support our LGBTQ kids and others in the community.

Images source: courtesy of Bill Lyon

Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community (UUJEC) showed appreciation to HUUC with a hand-written thank you note regarding our recent donation as part of our annual gift from the Social Justice Collaborative. The letter read as follows:

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for your recent contribution of $150 to UUJEC. Your support means a lot to us.

With your help we’ve been able to continue developing and distributing resources for use in social justice work by UU congregations across the country.
We hope your members will visit our website at UUJEC.org and review some of our past webinars and book reviews. We also hope you stop by our booth at the Baltimore GA this summer. Our board members would enjoy meeting and speaking with your members about your social justice work.

Keep up the good work,

Jane Bannon, Treasurer, UUJEC
Jane Bannor
2701 W. Fitch Ave.
Chicago, IL 60645

For more information on UUJEC, check out their website at https://uujec.org/

Image source: https://tinyurl.com/2b8nd923

Rae Jane and Russ Araujo recently invited HUUC members and friends to sign postcards to elected officials. The postcards were pre-printed with a message and the addressees’ names and addresses, and the postage stamps were provided. This pre-printing helped. This effort was done as part of an informal group called “UU Our Senators,” made up of people from Ohio UU churches.

Image source: https://tinyurl.com/42e6jn6s

An overflowing crowd of well-wishers, a choir of over 20 voices, a team of ten religious professionals, Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church (HUUC), Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington (UUCL), and dozens of online viewers participated in the ordination of Bill Lyon on Sunday, April 13, 2025 at HUUC, followed by a lavish reception in the Great Hall.

For those who missed it or who want to revisit the ceremony, here are links you may find interesting:

• Order of Service –
  https://tinyurl.com/LyonOrdinationProgram
• Video of the ceremony – (1.5 hours) –
  https://tinyurl.com/LyonOrdinationVideo
• Photo slideshow of the ceremony – (8 min) –
  https://tinyurl.com/LyonOrdinationSlideshow

The following group, composed of now colleagues from Bill’s road to the ministry, each conducted a different aspect of the ceremony.

• Rev. Bill Gupton – Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church Senior Minister- Welcome / Laying on of Hands
• Rev. Bruce Beisner – All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation Senior Minister – Call to Worship
• Rev. Sharon Dittmar – UUA Congregational Life Consultant – Greetings from the UUA
• Laci Lee Adams – Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church Director of Lifespan Faith Development – Greetings from our Youth
• Rabbi Julie Schwartz – Clinical Pastorial Education Center Director at Jewish Hospital – Interfaith Prayer
• Rev. Angeline Jackson – UU Church of Davis, California – Call to Offering
• Rev. Dr. Lee Barker – President Emeritus of Meadville Lombard Theological School – Sermon
• Rev. Dr. Doak Mansfield – HUUC Minister Emeritus – Collegial Welcome
• Rev. Dr. Brian Chenowith – UUCL Senior Minister – Charge to Minister
• Rev. Mitra Jafarazadeh – St. John’s retired minister and consultant – Prayer & Silence

Thanks to all who made this a special occasion for Bill, his family and friends, and the two UU congregations.

Images source: Lisa Sullivan