December 2023

From Your Board of Trustees: Report on November meeting

Rev. Ritchie reported the contractor committed to giving the Building Committee a guaranteed maximum price for the building expansion by Dec. 2

The proposal for the kitchen update came back over budget. The Building Committee is considering options to bring the price down.

Rev. Ritchie will be sending out an e-mail with a job description for the Administrative Assistant. We will welcome resumes from interested parties within the congregation and referrals from the congregation.

We believe all staff are important and appreciated. The board will perform an independent review of staff salaries looking at historical pay increases and the UUA fair compensation guidelines.

About the masking. The board has had many discussions about what other institutions are doing, the survey results, and the transmission level of COVID locally and the rise of flu and RSV. This was a very difficult decision. We know and you know that when a committee makes decisions for a larger group, not everyone will be happy. The board was not unanimous in this decision. Starting Dec. 4, masks will be optional during service. We are a mask friendly congregation. If you want to wear a mask, please do. The board will continue to monitor the situation and may adjust the policy as necessary.

Donna Rhodeback, NUUC President

Please feel free to contact any board member directly or by e-mail to board@nuuc.org with any questions. The board members are: me, Leah McCoy, Lyn Savidge, Ted Hicks, Teri Cornell, and Glen Waring. Board meetings are held the third Sunday at noon and are open to the public, attendance in person at church or on Zoom.

NUUC Holiday Worship Services

Christmas Eve in Story, Lesson, Candle and Song

December 24, 2022 at 7:00 pm

Join us in person or online for our Annual Christmas Eve service. Folks attending from home–if you can, please have a candle on hand that you can light. Christmas cookie reception to follow after worship.

Christmas Day Worship: Online Only

Join Intern Minister Jacquie Zarley for a casual worship of story, music, and reflection.

Attend ONLINE ONLY, 10:30 AM, Dec. 25, 2022

New Years Day Worship

Commissioned Lay Minister Teri Cornell, with assistance from Rev. Ritchie, offers a participatory worship on the theme of discernment: what should we leave in the past year? What should we carry forward?

Join us in person or online, 10:30 AM, January 1, 2023

Exploring Unitarian Universalism Through Short Literature

Starting Oct. 9, Rev. Ritchie will be offering a monthly series exploring important themes in Unitarian Universalist history, theology, ethics, and spiritual practice through the discussion of short pieces of literature. This series will take place at 12:00-1:30PM the second Sunday of the month, running October-February. You can attend either in person at church, or online on Zoom. You can sign up either for the whole series, or for individual sessions. Participants will be expected to complete the short readings (no more than 1-2 hours of dedicated reading time) before the workshops. No need to procure the material—Rev. Ritchie will send that out to those who register ahead of time. The individual classes are as follows:

December 11

This month we look at the Unitarian Universalist relationship to Christianity, Jesus, and social change, through an examination of two Christmas Stories, Lydia Maria Child’s “The Christ Child and the Poor Children” and Rev. Samuel Crother’s “A Christmas Parable.”

January 8

Today we look at Unitarian Universalist spiritual practice, especially those connected to the Transcendentalists. The reading is “The Pond in Winter” by Thoreau (an excerpt from “Walden”) and an excerpt from Louisa May Alcott’s “Transcendentalist Wild Oats.”

February 12

This month we read works by Francis Ellen Watkins Harper and Sylvia Plath to discuss Unitarian Universalist approaches to issues of race and gender.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UUShortStory

Holiday Invitation to Help Our Neighbors from the NUUC Social Justice Team

NUUC members are invited to help support the food pantry at St James the Less Church on the east side of Columbus.

The St James pantry serves nearly 400 families in the Oakland Park-Cleveland Ave neighborhood during the holidays. The pantry works with donors like us and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to provide boxes of vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs, meat, canned goods, and other necessities like diapers (when available). The pantry serves families in need of food during the rest of the year as well and has been in business for 20 years.

Our financial help is needed to fill at least 400 holiday boxes and make sure they include a Christmas turkey, chicken, or ham and food for a week for the families.

Our NUUC Social Justice Team asks that checks to support the St James Pantry be make out to NUUC with “St James” in the memo line. Please bring your donations to a service on Sunday in December or mail them to NUUC at: PO Box 541 Lewis Center, OH 43035

Please support our neighbors and make the holidays a bit brighter for some Columbus families this December and beyond.

With Hope For the Future

Rev Joan Van Becelaere

Volunteers Wanted to Host Coffee!

Coffee hour hosts arrive at 10:15 AM to begin the preliminary coffee set up and leave at some point after noon when folks have drifted away. Specific details for how to prepare, set up, and clean up from coffee are posted on the cabinets in the kitchen. All coffee and coffee related supplies are stocked an on hand in the kitchen. The coffee host has the option of supplementing the coffee service with snacks as desired. Click here to sign up.

Ways to Connect

Brown Bag Books Brown Bag Books meets the Third Tuesday of the month noon, at the church. Upcoming books to read are as follows: December Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer; January Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Mindful Writing: Mindful Writing, meeting on the fourth Monday evening at 7:00, via Zoom. If you want to share your written thoughts, please contact Marty Keith and she will send you the Zoom link. 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 revritchie@aol.com 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 revritchie@aol.com

NUUC to Hire Administrative Assistant, Part Time

NUUC is welcoming applications for the part time position of Administrative Assistant. The job posting is available by clicking here. Interested persons are invited to submit a cover letter and resume by December 15, 2022, to Rev. Susan Ritchie at revritchie@aol.com. Members and friends of NUUC are welcome to apply, as are those not currently affiliated with our congregations. Members and friends are encourage to forward this request for applications to any appropriate parties. The job will begin at the soonest possible time to be negotiated with the successful candidate.

Hi NUUC Friends and Members! Some of you have been kind enough to ask for more information about my new book. You can learn more about it by clicking the image below.

--Rev. Susan