Category: Announcements & Articles

New Opportunities to Participate in the Contract to Call Process: Paper-Pencil Questionnaires

Posted on by MaryBeth Hannan

Your participation in the Contract to Call process is vital to helping the Task Force discern the community’s perspectives on our future with Rev. Kristina. Degree of participation and results will inform the Board of Trustees as it makes decisions regarding our future ministry and will communicate to Rev. Kristina the degree of commitment the UUCK community has to her and our community’s Hopes and Dreams moving forward. The Contract to Call Task Force wants to hear from Members, Friends, and Anyone who is touched by Rev. Kristina’s Ministry.

New This Sunday! The Task Force Has Created Multiple Ways You Can Participate in the Contract-to-Call Process:

  1. You can participate by completing a short paper/pencil questionnaire.
    • Questionnaires will be available for pick up following both services beginning this
      Sunday.
    • You may complete the questionnaire immediately and put it the Questionnaire Drop Box
      at our Task Force table in Hobbs Hall or take it home and return it to our Drop Box no
      later than November 9th.
    • Anyone who needs a copy of the questionnaire sent to them via e-mail can make a
      request at the Task Force’s e-mail address: [email protected]
  2. Sign Up Sunday continues. You can still sign up to participate via a small in-person
    group discussion following second service. Sign up at the Task Force table.
    Available Times and Dates: [next 2 Sundays]
    • Sunday, November 2nd, 12:30-1:15 pm.
    • Sunday, November 9th, 12:30-1:15 pm.
  3. You can participate in a virtual discussion group via Zoom.
    Sign up at the Task Force table. You will be contacted about your availability. Dates and
    times to be determined based on participants’ availability.
  4. Choir members can participate in a small group discussion following Choir practice on
    October 29th.

In addition, the Task Force is holding separate sessions with staff, members of the board, community ministers, the Laurel Lake covenant group, youth, and middle schoolers.

All Participants Will Be Asked:

  1. For you personally, what does the Ministry of your hopes and dreams look like?
  2. How does our current Ministry compare to the Ministry of your hopes and dreams?
    (You might want to consider both similarities and differences.)
  3. As you think about our collective hopes and dreams, do you believe our current
    minister is a good fit for our community going forward? [This question will be
    answered privately on paper in the in-person discussion groups.]

Questionnaire Pick Up Begins – and Sign Up Sunday Continues – On October 26th!

Please let us know if you need any accommodations in order to participate in a group discussion.

The Task Force can be reached at: [email protected]

Task Force Members:

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Thanks4giving Online Auction Volunteers Needed

Posted on by MaryBeth Hannan

The auction team needs the support of a few volunteers to help with the upcoming auction.  

Sat 11/8 1-3pmreceive donations and set up display
Sun 11/912:45 – 2pmtear down display and pack away physical auction items
Sun 11/169-10amsort out purchases and set up checkout area 
10:45 – 11amhand out purchases
12-12:30pmhand out purchases
2:30-1:45pmteardown checkout and reset room

    Visit the volunteer website at http://bit.ly/3JRxXCB to let us know if you can help. If you have any questions, email [email protected] or visit the auction table this Sunday.

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    Contract to Call: Discerning our Future Ministry

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    The Contract to Call Task Force has been charged with discerning the community’s perspectives on our future with Rev. Kristina.

    The Task Force is meeting regularly to plan opportunities for you to provide feedback and discernment regarding the following question: “Do we move forward and ‘call’ her to be our settled minister or do we explore other options?”

    The Task Force is planning numerous opportunities for the UUCK community to provide input and to address that question. 

    Your Opportunity

    As the UUCK moves toward making this important decision, we on the Task Force encourage you to sign up to participate in guided small group discussions that will occur in the next few weeks. Your input is vital! It’s all about you!

    When you participate in one of our small group discussions, here is what you can expect:

    • A Task Force member will facilitate a 45 minute discussion among 6-8 folks, asking questions and listening.
    • A second Task Force member will take notes.
    • Although the Task Force will record the names of participants, your privacy and the confidentiality of your remarks will be respected and protected.

    Separately, the Task Force is meeting with Rev. Kristina to discern her perspectives on the community and its ministry in order to enable the task force to address the question of “goodness of fit” between Rev. Kristina and the UUCK community.  In addition, the Task Force is conducting private interviews with staff members.

    Following the completion of all discussions and interviews, the task force will summarize and synthesize results across all sessions and make a formal recommendation to the Board of Trustees about next steps.

    On this Sunday, October 12th, our second service (11 a.m.) will be focused on the partnership between the minister and the church community. Following BOTH the first and second services, in Hobbs Hall you can sign up to participate in a group discussion at a specified time and date. Members of the Task Force will be available to answer your questions.

    October 12th is Sign Up Sunday!

    Task Force Members: Becky Cline, Ellen Doucette, Saul Flanner, Ellen McWilliams-Woods, Saunis Parsons, Diana Watt, and John Wickersham.

    The Task Force can be reached at: [email protected]

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    What’s Happening in the Fessenden Hall Kitchen?

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    You might have noticed that there is a bit of a mess over in the basement of the historical church building, called Fessenden Hall! It is a space that served our church for generations, but that we had outgrown for church-wide events, which was one of the main reasons that we built Hobbs Hall.

    But we discovered that we still have a lot of church programming and community events that need a smaller and homier space than Hobbs Hall, and have been trying to host them in Fessenden, including the Soulful Home dinner, the parents group, new member potlucks and other gatherings. Last year, we curated the dishes and pots and pans for smaller events (<24 people) but discovered that there were some sorely needed updates to really make the kitchen usable:

    • The hot water tank was not working at all
    • The stoves no longer worked properly
    • Our dishwashing system was not in compliance with health codes
    • The wallpaper and paint was decades old and peeling
    • Some of the old plumbing was leaking

    This year, we have had a small group of volunteers who saw the value of Fessenden Hall on our campus and who imagined a “minor” refresh to brighten up the space as we made some of the updates needed to return Fessenden to a condition that serves the KentUU and wider community. We have already gotten a new hot water heater, stove and dishwasher, and updated faucets

    These volunteers have been volunteering their time to help transform our space for our current needs:

    • Jennifer Gregg: Building and Ground Coordinator
    • Randy Ruchotzke: Moderator
    • Randy McCrystal: Volunteer
    • Don Gregg: Former Moderator
    • Rev. Renee Ruchotzke, Connections Coordinator

    How You Can Help!

    We have plenty of volunteer energy and and a few members who have made financial donations for the refresh, but even minor updates are costly in a building that is over 150 years old. We are needing about $5000-7000 in additional funds to help pay for the structural improvements (plumbing and wiring updates) so that we don’t draw down our building & grounds fund. Due to the age of our historic church building, it’s important that we maintain resources for upcoming unexpected building repairs.

    If you would like to help support this small renovation, please consider making a one-time special donation to the “Fessenden Kitchen” project. (Please be sure mark the donation with “kitchen renovation” in the memo line.)

    Donate Now

    More of the Story…

    Our congregation’s history includes the stories of our male (and a couple of female) ministers, and male leaders who were the “face” of the congregation, but there are dozens of untold stories of the women whose unrecognized efforts created the life of the congregation. We don’t know the specifics of all of the old stories, but we do know from existing plaques that Marge Fessenden and Kathryn Boehm were instrumental in a 1959 renovation, and that Sister Jordan Haddad–in the 1990’s helping us to host the Family and Community Services Hot Lunch Program–all provided resources to help Fessenden Hall serve the KentUU community and beyond.

    Women have long played a very active role in church affairs. A number of women’s groups have come and gone over the years that played a variety of roles in church life: The Clara Barton Guild, The Association of Universalist Women, the Women’s Universalist Missionary Association, the Helen Gilson Society, and the Abigail Danforth Society (named for our first female minister). The wives of ministers (starting with the wife of our first minister who we only know as “Mrs. Willson”) also provided much of the unrecognized fundraising and labor that made our church run.

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    Special Collections 2025-2026

    Posted on by MaryBeth Hannan

    The Social Justice Council received a total of 12 nominations for special collections for coming year starting in October. Since we seek to schedule 12, we do not need to take a congregational vote. Each of the nominees will receive a special collection. Here is the list of recipients and their scheduled dates for a special collection:

    October 2025:Equality Ohio 
    November 2025:Re-Member (Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation) 
    December 2025:Ministers Discretionary Fund
    January 2026:Church youth choice of recipient
    February 2026:Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
    March 2026:Doctors for Global Health
    April 2026:Camp Lilac for Trans and non-binary youth
    May 2026:Akron Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs 
    June 2026:Appalachian South Folk Life Center
    July 2026:ACLU Immigrant Rights Project
    August 2026:CANAPI, Community AIDS Network/Akron Pride Initiative, helping LGBTQ+ youth and people with HIV
    September 2026:Kent League of Women Voters 
    October 2026:Portage Animal Protective League
    November 2026:
    		Church of the Larger Fellowship prison ministries

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    Thanks4Giving Auction Accepting Donations   Oct 5, 2025 – Nov 2, 2025

    Posted on by MaryBeth Hannan

    The Thanks4Giving Online Auction website is accepting donation listings from Sunday, October 5th through Sunday, November 2nd. Donations will be auctioned off Nov 9-15, and all funds raised go to the UUCK operating budget. 

    Be Creative! This auction will feature handcrafted items, food, seats at events to be held between Nov ‘25 and May ‘26, baskets, gifts, art, services, gift cards, tickets, and business donations. Here are some examples from prior auctions – canned goods, yard work help, a mushroom hunt, flower arrangement deliveries, so many delicious pies and baked goods, a movie night, and many more.  Catalogs of prior years are available on the auction website as well.  

    Please visit www.togetherauction.com/kentuu for more information and to add your donation to the auction catalog.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email [email protected].

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    October 2025: Equality Ohio

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    Our Monthly Special Offering Recipient

    Equality Ohio is Ohio’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy and legal aid organization. They have 5 departments working to achieve lived and legal equality in Ohio.

    • A free Legal Clinic
    • A Policy Team
    • A Statewide Community Organizing Team
    • A Communications Team
    • A Development Team

    Through their commitment to racial and social justice, they address issues of inequality at the margins. With their commitment to expanding inclusive faith traditions, they’re mobilizing communities of faith across Ohio to help end LGBTQ+ inequality.

    When you support the work of Equality Ohio, you are fueling life-changing connections in homes, institutions, and businesses across the state.

    Each month, our social justice team chooses a recipient for our special offering to a community partner. If you wish to support that partner, you can:

    • Give electronically and choose “special offering” in the drop-down
    • Write a check, and put “special offering in the memo line
    • Put cash into an envelope and mark the “special offering” box
    Donate Now

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    Art Exhibit: Circular Logic

    Posted on by MaryBeth Hannan

    Announcing the Hobbs Hall opening of Circular Logic: Artwork of Mike Hovancsek on Sunday, October 5th.      

    Circles play a role in many religions, including the Buddhist samsara (representing the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth); the Hindu bindu in Sri Yantra (representing the source of creation and the universe); and the Native American medicine wheel (representing the connectedness of life, the balance nature, and the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth). Circles also represent cellular structures, planets,  atomic structures, and countless other forms in nature. They are an ever-present shape through time and around the universe.

    This art attempts to weave together interesting images through repetition of circles. They are made using a variety of media, including drawings, digital illustrations, and digitally modified drawings.

    Mike’s art will be displayed from October through December 2025 and is available for purchase .

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    Connections Fair Raffle Results & Wrap-Up

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    Thank you to everyone who participated in Sunday’s Connections Fair! We had a wonderful time, and had some great conversations!

    Congratulations to our Raffle Winners!

    “Love Chalice” Coffee mugs:

    • Red: Mark Stephens
    • Orange: Claudia Miller
    • Blue: Diana Watt
    • Green: Beth Staley
    • Yellow: Kirt Beiling
    • Black: Mamie

    Clay Chalice “Grand Prize”: Juan Rivera

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    “Contract to Call” Task Force Update

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    During the annual meeting in June, the congregation voted to create a task force to discern our future with Reverend Kristina.  Do we move forward and “call” her to be our settled minister or do we explore other options?

    The board has completed their role in forming the “Contract to Call” task force.  Members include Becky Cline, Saunis Parsons, Ellen Doucette, Saul Flanner, John Wickersham, Ellen McWilliams-Woods, and Diana Watt.

    They will organize many opportunities for feedback and discernment from congregants as we move toward this important decision.

    The task force will have their initial meeting next week and will have detailed plans as the weeks progress. 

    The task force can be reach via email at: [email protected]

    What Does It Mean to “Call” a Minister?

    In Unitarian Universalism, we as the gathered congregation get to choose our congregation’s minister. Our faith is not hierarchical; we do not get assigned a minister by our national denomination, the UUA, for example. This aligns with other aspects of being a UU in which each congregation is self-governed – a system called “congregational polity.” Our congregational polity gives these important decisions to local congregations: choosing a minister, defining membership, electing leadership, or purchasing property. 

    In the past, our congregation has engaged in a formal ministerial search process. The congregation would elect a search committee, and they would engage in a year-long process. First, they determined the congregation’s needs, then they shared that information about our church in the UUA’s search system. They would get a list of ministers who were interested, and they would sort through the their information, then conduct interviews. They would find a single candidate that they would present to the congregation. The candidate would preach an introductory sermon, spend a week meeting with different groups in the congregation, then preach a second sermon (this is called “candidating week”). Following that second service, the congregation would hold a meeting and vote on whether to “call” the candidate.

    After the unexpected death of Rev. Steven in January of 2024, we had a choice of hiring an interim minister (who would only be with us for a year or two), or a contact minister (also hired by the board) that we would have an option to call. We could only afford a 3/4 time position at the time, which limited our options. We decided on the contract-to-call option and had the good fortune to find a match with Rev. Kristina. We were then able to bring her up to full time in the current fiscal year.

    Moving from a contractual relationship to inviting Rev. Kristina to be our settled minister would be an invitation into a deeper, covenantal relationship where she is “settled” into her role as our called minister and she and the congregation become full partners in ministry. The contract to call task force will help our congregation do the kind of discernment work that would have happened during “candidating week” in a formal settled search process.

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    Tickets Still Available for Upcoming Fundraisers!

    Posted on by Renee Ruchotzke

    Tickets are still available for these exciting events first offered during our May auction. All funds raised from ticket sales go towards the operating budget for our church.

    Email [email protected] if you have any questions or want to reserve tickets

    • Sun 12/14 at 2pm Seasonal Sing-Along $15
      Sing along with the Celtic Clan of Kent as they perform sacred and secular songs of the season in the Sanctuary.
    • Sat 9/20 at 10:30 am Brunch with the Board $25
      Join the UUCK Board of Trustees in Hobbs Hall for an elegant brunch while John Wickersham provides live piano music.
    • Fri 10/3 at 7pm UU Friendly Comedy Night $15
      Enjoy “The Bird Cage” in Hobbs Hall with the UUCK Staff. Movie treats provided. Come dressed up as your most fabulous self.
    • Fri 11/14 at 6pm Dinner and House Concert $110
      Join Katie Grigg-Miller at her Kent home for a delicious peanut soup dinner followed by concert.

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    Choir Starts Wednesday, October 1!

    Posted on by Emily Hall

    Our Peace Chorus season will begin on Wednesday, October 1. The Kent UU Peace Chorus is a part of our music ministry and offers music for two worship services a month. We sing music from a variety of styles including musicals, choral classics, folk songs, hymns, and pieces by UU and local composers. Open to middle/high school students and adults who love to sing. No auditions, only the desire to sing in an ensemble and connect through music and camaraderie. We will meet weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00pm-7:30pm through December 24th (Christmas Eve Service). Contact our music director Emily at [email protected] with any questions!

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    Sing Out Love Hymn Sing!

    Posted on by Emily Hall

    Join Staff Accompanist Vanessa Vesely and Music Director Emily Hall for a fun evening of music and singing! Learn how to use the new hymnal and sing some of our new favorites! Come early and bring your computer/tablet/phone and get your own log in to the virtual hymnal.

    Hobbs Hall at the Kent UU Church
    Tuesday, September 23
    6:00pm Connect with virtual platform – get logged in!
    6:30pm-8:00pm Sing!

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