NUUC August 2025 Newsletter

August 2025

Come and Join the Choir Family!

Mark your calendar! Choir meets again at 9:00 a.m. on September 7th and will sing that morning. All past and new choir members are welcome! This is a great time to join the choir family! We rehearse from 9:00-10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings (no mid-week commitment). Questions? Please email Molly Watson at mollystarfish@gmail.com

Next Summer Picnic Planned for August 10!

Meet at Shale Hollow Park (Lewis Center) for a potluck picnic directly after service. The Picnic Committee will provide a vegetarian and meat option, you fill in around that. Bring a friend, there is plenty of room.

Beyond Words Covenant Group: Into the Woods!

Greetings and I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I have a “friend of a good friend” who is in training to be a “Forest Therapist” through the ANFT (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy) and she is in need of a small group of people (4-10) who are willing to participate in a practice session this month. Possible locations are Highbanks or another location, depending on the participants. We are looking at Tuesday, August 19th, 9:00 - 11:00 to avoid the heat of the day. The event is expected to be at a leisurely, not strenuous, pace.

“The forest is the therapist, the guide opens the doors.”

From their website: “We believe that the forest and nature in general carries the wisdom and offers the healing that each person needs. Our guides work in partnership with the forest to support others as they awaken their senses and slow down to become fully present in and with the forest."

“Guides are not therapists. Support for wellness, personal development, and healing comes to participants from their interaction with natural environments. The sole aim of guided activities is to create and sustain safe, meaningful, and relational contact between participants and nature” (see anft.earth for more information).

Contact me if interested: Pam Spence, phone or message 740 816 1905; email pammy.spence@gmail.com

Sewing Circle starting in September

Teri Cornell is starting a sewing circle for those who crochet, knit, embroider, quilt, needlework etc. It will be held at the church at a time agreed upon by all. This is a good opportunity to get to know others in our congregation as well as a time to work on those projects. Contact Teri Cornell if interested at imuuteri@yahoo.com or call or text at 614-843-8300.

Animal Blessing August 31

This summer we revive an old NUUC tradition–the blessing of the animals. Bring your beloved creatures to church at the usual time of 10:30 AM on Sunday, August 31 for a blessing and for a brief worship (geared to animal attention spans) on the theme of how animals reflect the holy. We’ll be welcoming the beasts inside unless you are bringing a really, really big animal…. in which case let us know….

Religious Exploration at NUUC

First Friday for Families and D&D Group - See you in the fall

We're taking July and August off, but will be back in September. Thanks to everyone who joined us over the past year!

Ongoing Ways to Connect

Mindful Writing meets monthly, with members sharing a variety of written pieces and thoughts. All are welcome! Please contact Marty Keith if you're interested in joining the group so she can send you time and the Zoom link. martykeith@zoho.com

Brown Bag Books Discussion Group meets monthly at noon on the Third Tuesday of each month, in Room 3 at church.

Beyond Words Covenant Group Pam Spence is coordinating a covenant group, "Beyond Words." The group will explore a variety of paths that help deepen spiritual connection focused on "whole body" experience by participating in local initiatives. Experiences we will pursue might include, singing bowls/sound baths, drum circles, chanting, labyrinth walking, heart-centered meditation, Dances of Universal Peace, animal assisted prayer and meditation - depending on the interest of the group. We will each be responsible for any fee involved and, of course, you are not obligated to participate in any of the events. Contact: pammy.spence@gmail.com or text at 740-816-1905 for further information. Pam holds a MA in Transformational Theater/ Sacred Drama from Antioch University and is a commissioned community minister through the Federation of Christian Ministries, licensed through the state of Ohio.

Life has a way of rushing by. Sometimes we feel the need to pause or to reflect more deeply. Join me for a virtual half hour of mindful contemplation that is inclusive, non-judgmental and expectation free. I’ll bring a mix of poetry, music, breathwork, silence, or meditation to create a space for you to relax. Participants are muted. Feel free to turn your video off. Please engage in whatever way feels most meaningful to you. A Space for Reflection is freely offered the third Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm on Zoom. Registration is required (link here).

As for me, Karen McGuire, the facilitator, I’m a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, a retired educator, and a trained Interspiritual Companion who finds it necessary to stop every once in a while, and pay attention.

New Feature: Members' Bulletin Board

Peaceful Resistance: "Hands Along High Street" - Aug. 9

Common Cause Ohio invites you to join in forming a human chain of resistance 8 miles long and STAND UNITED in defense of fundamental American values (outlined in link shown below).

Where: Along High Street, Worthington to the Short North

When: Saturday, August 9, 2-3:30 pm

More information is available at https://mobilize.us/s/xuH4KB

Are you involved in something you'd like to share with the congregation? Now there's a way to include that in the newsletter. Just email Barb Lubberger for inclusion in the monthly email newsletter at: blubberg@gmail.com. Since the newsletter comes out at the beginning of each month, you will need to send your event to Barb in the month preceding your event. For example, for an event that will be held in October, you'd send the notice in September.