Your monthly news & updates |
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The NUUC Choir will hold regular rehearsals every Sunday morning from April 3 through May 22. Choir practice will be held in the Sanctuary beginning at 9:00am and ending shortly before the 10:30 AM worship service.
New music and folders will be passed out at the rehearsal on Sunday, April 3 at 9:00am. All current and prospective members should plan on attending this first rehearsal to sing through the music and discuss the repertoire schedule. The choir will perform at Sunday morning worship services beginning April 10.
I will continue to monitor the CDC, UUA, and Music Education Association recommendations for choir rehearsals during this time. At present, it is NUUC’s expectation that all choir members be vaccinated (unless you have a medical reason not to be vaccinated) and only attend rehearsal when healthy.
If you are not already receiving choir emails, please ask to be added to the list by emailing the address below. New members are always welcome to join this energetic, music-loving group.
Stay tuned to hear favorite anthems from your NUUC Choir. We’re back and stronger than ever.
Musically Yours,
Marlene Hartzler, Music Director
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Congregational Meeting Called
for Sunday, April 10, at 11:30 AM
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Your Board of Trustees has called a congregational meeting for 11:30 AM, Sunday April 10, 2022. This meeting will be for the purpose of approving our building expansion design, and it will also mark the beginning of the kick off for the final phase of our capital campaign. Complete details will be emailed to this list during the week ahead of the meeting. You can fully participate either in person or on Zoom.
New Board Officers
Congratulations and immense gratitude to Donna Rhodeback, elected President of the NUUC Board at March's meeting, and Glenn Warring, elected Vice President.
You can reach out to the board directly anytime at board@nuuc.org
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Good News! Coffee in Fellowship Hall after the worship resumes on Easter Sunday, April 17! |
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New Covid-19 Safety Protocols |
Starting immediately, we are going from requiring Covid-19 vaccines to requiring vaccines with the exception of those with medical reasons for not receiving vaccination (you may attend at your own risk).
We are also moving from requiring masks to making masks optional in Fellowship Hall only when eating or drinking. Masks are still required in the sanctuary except for service participants.
Your staff and board will continue to monitor pandemic related statistics and developments, and will make adjustments in the future as necessary.
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Volunteers Needed!
Both our online and in-person Sunday mornings are busy! We'd love your help making Sunday morning a good experience for everyone. We looking for volunteers to help with in person greeting, coffee hour hosting, and online Zoom hosting (no experience necessary, training provided!). Sign up by clicking here!
Also, we are looking for a new Treasurer to oversee our financial operations. The board is currently looking to hire a book keeping service to handle routine accounting, but we need someone to supervise the book keeper and keep an overall eye on our finances and budget (both regular and operating budget and capital campaign). Experience in finance and knowledge of Quick Books or equivalent programs needed. Let minister@nuuc.org know if you are interested.
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Jacquie Zarley joins NUUC as Intern Minister and Interim Director of Religious Education |
Effective immediately, Jacquie Zarley will be serving our congregation as both Intern Minister and Interim Director of Religious Education for a nine month period. Jacquie is a recent graduate of the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, an aspirant for Unitarian Universalist ministry, and she has extensive experience in early childhood education. Her welcome letter is below. Please help us greet Jacquie in her new role, and thank Jen Aultman, who has served us so well in the role of Director of Religious Education, and who has generously agreed to mentor Jacquie and continue to serve as a volunteer in the program.
Greetings beloved NUUC Congregation,
I am so excited to begin a 9-month internship with you. It is a dream come true for me to have the opportunity to fulfill this next step in my ministerial formation with the brilliant and highly respected Rev. Dr. Susan Ritchie. I am also blessed to begin this adventure in a strong, healthy, loving congregation that will grow and nurture me in amazing and wonderful ways. Honestly, there’s something truly miraculous about all of this for me. I don’t mean supernatural, manna falling from heaven or water turning to wine kind of miraculous but rather a flower growing through a concrete sidewalk, or a tree growing from a fallen branch kind of miraculous. Life just has a way of twisting and turning itself in order to find a way.
I happen to have a very strong Early Childhood Education background and have always loved working with children. My dream for my own future ministry is to create an integrated spiritual space for both children and adults. Low and behold, here I am, just when Jen is needing to step away from the RE position. NUUC finds itself not quite ready to hire another RE Director, but rather needing some time to dream and play and discover what we want for our future children’s exploration space. How is that not a miracle? Is it Divine intervention? Is it written in the stars? No, I don’t think so. I think it’s just the miracle of life twisting and turning to find the sun. Life just happens.
I have many big, audacious ideas. Some will work really well, some will flop spectacularly; either way I expect it will be messy. It will also be fun, creative, imaginative and above all else, a great, grand adventure. Thank you for allowing me this miraculous opportunity to learn and grow with you and come one step closer to the minister I am meant to be. I am eternally grateful to you all.
Respectfully and with warmest regards,
Jacquie Zarley
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Mindful Writing: April 18 (the third Monday), at 7:00 pm via Zoom—Share your written thoughts or simply listen. All are welcome! No critiques, just encouragement. The Zoom link will be emailed well before the meeting. Please contact Marty Keith if interested. martykeith@zoho.com
Wednesday Noon Check In
Join us using the regular NUUC zoom connection at noon everyday Wednesday for informal check- ins and chat with your fellow members. Write minister@nuuc.org for a direct link.
Soul Matters Small Groups
We currently have three different Soul Matters Small Groups virtually meeting, for regular in depth check ins, and for exploring together different spiritual themes. New members are welcome at any time, write to minister@nuuc.org
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Brown Bag Books: April 18, noon at the church. The group will be discussing Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell. Set in Stratford, England, in the late 16th Century, this novel is an imagining of an event's aftermath in the life of a famous (unnamed) playwright.
NUUC's Women's Group: NUUC's Women's Group: April 24, at noon, via Zoom. The group's focus will “Feminism: An Update,” and participants will consider steps to take to elect political candidates sensitive to women's issues. Please contact Marty Keith for the Zoom link. martykeith@zoho.com
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Special NUUC Social Justice Event!
On Sunday, May 1 at noon, please join us at NUUC (in person, or online) from 12:00 to 1:30 pm to view a new video from Brave New Films titled:
SUPPRESSED AND SABOTAGED: THE FIGHT TO VOTE 2022
After the video, we will hold a discussion about the video with Rev Dr Susan Smith, author and founder of Crazy Faith Ministries in Columbus, and Rev Joan VanBecelaere, retired Director of UU Justice Ohio.
The best way we can ensure the freedom to vote is by working together to expand knowledge about voting and facilitate opportunities to register and cast a ballot.
We will have signup sheets from the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition and UUJO to seek volunteers to:
- Ensure that potential voters understand the process, including any new procedures.
- Help register young adults to vote for the 2022 and 2024 elections.
- Sign up to offer rides to the polls for those who need assistance. Especially if mail in ballots are curtailed in Ohio under any new laws.
- Volunteer to email and/or call Ohio voters to remind them about registration deadlines, mail ballot procedures, etc.
- And more!
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Hey NUUC Community!
Pam Patsch and I created a NUUC team for the UN EcoChallenge 2022 and welcome you to join. It promises to be a fun and efficient way to develop good environmental practices in your life, to learn about the Climate Crisis, to be inspired and informed about your own positive contributions to the planet and get to know some of the climate warriors of the North Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Here's how: go to Ecochallenge.org and join the team 'NUUC Interconnected Web of Life' then start exploring. There is a helpful how-to video and many guides to help you decide what challenges you want to choose for yourself. Some are one-time actions and others are daily or weekly actions. Team members earn points by posting and completing their actions. The challenge starts today, April 1, so don't delay!
Team member Melinda Rosenberg has also invited NUUC members to join us on Mondays at Highbanks Metro Park at 9 am throughout the month of April for a one-hour walk and chat about what we are learning and the actions we are taking. We will meet at the Nature Center.
Nancy Gamso
Here's more detailed information about the program:
Earth Month Ecochallenge 2022
April 1–30, 2022
Earth Month Ecochallenge 2022: Sustainable Development Goals is a 30-day behavior change program that helps you take action to create a healthier world and a better shared future. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are a commitment to achieving sustainable development across three dimensions — environmental, social and economic — in an inclusive and integrated way. Our Ecochallenge transforms the 17 SDGs into 5 categories of daily and one-time actions an individual can take. Fun actions encourage new habits. Small steps lead to big change. Together, we build a sustainable world and a healthy planet.
Earth Month Ecochallenge participants can select actions, check off their completed actions, track and share their individual progress, earn points for taking action, and see the real-time impact of their actions in a robust online platform. The combination of collective action, camaraderie, and friendly competition makes change a little easier — and a lot more fun.
Earth Month Ecochallenge provides tools and inspiration to turn intention into action, and gives participants a fun and social way to think about and support climate action and social justice.
What’s more, Earth Month Ecochallenge is free and open to the public! Everyone is welcome to select and take actions that best suit their lifestyle and meet their goals.
Through Earth Month Ecochallenge, we are connecting the dots between systems, solutions, and our capacity to create significant global change. Each time our dots are connected, we take another step forward, toward our better shared future. So here we are. Let’s begin!
How it Works
1. Join a team or create a team.
2. Select your actions
Choose actions that you can commit to throughout the Ecochallenge. There are plenty of actions to choose from, so find the actions that compliment your lifestyle and passions. Explore Actions
We recommend 1-3 daily actions and 4-6 one-time actions for optimum rate of success and long-term habit making.
Have actions that require some prep? Take the time you need to prepare for success with your actions. Committing to vegetarian meals? Look up recipes and ingredients you’ll need! Finding alternate ways for transport? Explore the public transit options and bike pathways in your community!
3. Complete your actions
Fulfill your actions, and check them off to collect your points. Simply log into your Dashboard, find the actions you’ve selected, and click on the button next to ‘Action Completed’. Now you’ve collected your points!
4. Share your story
Inspire your team members and co-Ecochallengers! Share your Ecochallenge journey on our Participant Feed. Observations, inspirations, lessons learned - all are welcome and encourages others to keep on Ecochallenging.
5. See our collective impact add up
Hundreds of thousands of everyday actions add up to significant change! See how thousands of everyday people taking action together can create positive impact within our communities and for the planet.
Together, we build a more sustainable world
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Mowing at NUUC-We Need Some Help! |
For this mowing season, the Building and Grounds Committee (B&G) again plans for NUUC to handle the mowing ourselves using the same approach as last year. Doing the mowing internally will avoid us having to contract out the mowing and save about $4,250 in the budget.
Our plan is for the B&G Committee to handle the mowing on a rotating basis with some help from the congregation. B&G Committee members will mow 3 weeks of each month, and the 4th week plus sometimes the 5th week will be handled by a different volunteer from the congregation. This approach will spread the work so each committee member will mow about once a month, and each congregational volunteer would mow just one time during the season. Our approach will keep everyone's work commitments reasonable.
The areas to be mowed include the church yard (bounded by the driveway and the parking lot plus the yard around Nielsen House. In addition, part of the southern field at the rear of our property and the west side of the parking lot are included.
We got a zero-turn riding mower about 4 years ago, which we use for almost all of the mowing.
The mower’s cost was totally funded by a very generous donation from Gary and Ruth Rusk, plus a generous donation from John and Lynn Foreman. Having the zero-turn mower continues to make a big difference in our mowing efforts. It has cut our mowing time in half and some volunteers even say the mowing is now fun! If you are not familiar with using a zero-turn mower, we will give you some brief training for about 15 minutes that gets you familiar enough with the mower to comfortably mow the main parts of the yard. For a few small, tight areas, which the zero-turn mower cannot handle, you would finish up using a self-propelled push power mower. People who haven’t used a zero-turn or even a riding mower, have done well using the zero-turn mower. We also have had a few people who prefer to use the push mower to mow the entire yard instead of the zero-turn mower, which does provide one with more exercise.
We would like to get 1 or 2 volunteers from the congregation each month to mow one time in the season. The mowing season runs from the end of April through early November. This year volunteers from the congregation only will be needed beginning in the last week of April through October. Three of those months will contain 5 weeks and require 2 volunteers, so we need a total of 10 volunteers.
Please consider volunteering to mow one time this season. If you would like to help the church handle the mowing, you can see the mowing sign-up schedule posted at this weblink: tiny.cc/NUUC-mowing . To get scheduled, contact Bob Keith at bobkeith@zoho.com or 740-369-1919. You also can contact Bob if you have questions or would like more information.
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