Northern Hills Fellowship was formally organized on July 11, 1961. A group of members and friends of First Unitarian Church expressed interest in forming a Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. A steering committee appointed by the Board of Trustees of First Church located a suitable meeting place in the Wyoming Masonic Temple. A program was planned, a curriculum of religious education and a teaching staff were organized, and pledges of financial support were obtained.

Our Early Years

The new Fellowship held its first meeting on Sunday morning, September 10, 1961. Thirty-four adults signed the membership book that day and more than 40 children were registered in the church school. At its first congregational meeting, by-laws were adopted and the first Board of Trustees was elected with Neil Artman as president.

By the beginning of its second year, membership had grown, the Fellowship had developed a strong group identity and its traditions were becoming established. Sunday morning programs were varied and often experimental. With no professional leadership, guest speakers were welcomed for their new ideas. The most popular speakers were those from within the Fellowship who sought to share with others their personal views of liberal religion. An open discussion following the talk was an essential element of our worship service.

In 1963, a building committee was formed with the objective of finding a site for a permanent fellowship building. These efforts came to fruition in March, 1966, when the membership committed itself to the erection of a new building and purchased the present five-acre site on Fleming Road. Ground was broken on April 1, 1967, and construction went ahead rapidly. Work had progressed to the point that a memorable service was held by candlelight on Christmas Eve, 1967, the first of our now traditional Christmas Eve candlelight family services. The first regular Sunday morning service was held on February 25, 1968, and a dedication ceremony was held a month later. The sanctuary, named for Oscar and Rita Quimby, whose moral and financial support made the building possible, now had in place two of our treasured member-created hallmarks: the hangings representing the four ancient elements, fire, air, water, and earth, hand-woven by Mary Ann Manogue, and the lectern designed and built by Neil Artman.

Much remained to be done, both inside and outside. Outfitting, equipping, carpeting, landscaping, and otherwise completing of the building and grounds continued for several years. By the fall of 1978 interest in professional ministerial services had become apparent. Arrangements were made to enter the UUA's Minister-on-Loan Program. Rev. Kenneth Sawyer, minister to the First Parish in Wayland, MA, served for six weeks at Northern Hills Fellowship, providing us with our first extended experience with a warm, caring minister and his family. He left us in February, 1979, with many fond memories of a brief, but satisfying period in the growth of our Fellowship.

Calling Our First Minister

At the annual congregational meeting in April, 1979, the congregation voted to form a Search Committee and to seek a full-time minister. A year later, Shirley Ann Ranck, a recent graduate of Starr King, was selected as our first full-time minister. A congregation experiencing for the first time a minister encountered a minister serving for the first time a congregation. During the two years of Shirley's ministry both congregation and minister grew. The congregation came to accept and value the qualities of professional leadership brought by a trained minister; the minister came to value the energy and dedication of congregational members. In 1983 Shirley resigned to take up a career in counseling. About this same time, one of our own members, Joan Kahn-Schneider, was undergoing ministerial training at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH. A committee of Fellowship members worked with Joan and her faculty committee at Dayton during a year of ministerial internship at Northern Hills during 1979-1980. Our Fellowship had the privilege and pleasure of ordaining Joan Kahn-Schneider to the Unitarian-Universalist ministry on June 7, 1981.

The Fellowship then returned to its pattern of Sunday services arranged by its Program Committee, an arrangement that had served it well for most of its history. During the period from completion of its building to 1983, adult membership remained stable, with considerable inflow and outflow of members. Finances remained stable and no crises occurred. The numbers of children, which early in its history exceeded adult members, declined with the increasing age of membership.

In September, 1986, Northern Hills Fellowship celebrated its Silver Anniversary. During this quarter century it had accomplished much. It had built a beautiful and functional physical plant requiring modest financial commitment. It had endured as a stable, concerned religious community, whose numbers remained essentially unchanged over the years but whose members had shown many changes. A celebration of these years was held September 26-28, 1986, with our Rev. Joan Kahn-Schneider leading the service of celebration on the 28th. It was a warm and memorable weekend!

Growth seemed to represent the best channel to engage the enthusiasm and commitment of our members. Each annual congregational meeting following Shirley Ranck's departure dealt increasingly with the re-engagement of ministerial services. In April, 1986, the congregation voted to form a Search Committee and to seek a full-time minister. A Search Committee obtained inclusion in the Extension Ministry Program for 1987, and Gary James became Extension Minister to the Fellowship. He and his wife, Julie Martin, began an energetic program aimed at growth that soon touched virtually every aspect of the Fellowship's life. At the inception of his ministry the Fellowship had a membership of about 65 and a church school enrollment of about 25. Julie accepted responsibility for the religious education program. Gary began the developing of new channels of interest for the congregation. A small, but excellent, choir was formed and the diversity and quality of music was greatly enhanced. Walls of the Quimby Room became an art gallery for the exhibition of art works. The worship service began to a have a consistency and dependable quality of content difficult to attain in a fellowship format. Membership and church school enrollment began to grow. In February 1992 Gary accepted the ministry of a large UU church in the Chicago area. NHF had benefited greatly from his ministry and from the excellence of Julie Martin's creative service in the religious education program.

In 1991 the Fellowship began an intensive program of long-range planning. Results of this effort helped greatly in focusing on the Fellowship's needs and in setting priorities. Membership had increased by about 60% and church school enrollment had essentially tripled. Financial support greatly increased and plans for enlargement of the building were underway. The fellowship had also begun to pay modestly for part-time positions in religious education and office administration.

In August, 1992, the Rev. Betty Pingel became for a year interim minister to the fellowship. She provided a creative and thoughtful ministry that stimulated continued growth in numbers and encouraged the continuance of building enlargement plans. In April, 1993, on the recommendation of a Search Committee, the congregation called the Rev. Leslie H. Heyboer from Santa Cruz, CA, to its ministry.

Growth and a New Sanctuary

Building plans took form and ground was broken in April, 1994, for construction of an extensive addition to the original building, including an enlarged sanctuary, a large nursery, church office, minister's office, a large foyer, additional rest rooms and storage space. The new building was dedicated on February 2, 1995, an exciting event with Dr. John Buehrens, UUA President, providing the dedicatory address. Many old friends and former members were present.

An extensive and beautiful landscaping program greatly enhanced the building's setting. To the wealth of musical talent in the congregation soon was added an Allen organ and a Steinway grand piano, the latter acquired in memory of Walter Zimmer, a greatly loved member.

Late in 1995 Leslie announced her intention to return to California in August, 1996. The fellowship had grown to 150 members, and more than 100 children were enrolled in the RE program. The congregation welcomed Rev. Donald Bissett as its interim minister in August 1996. Don's ministry, greatly enhanced by his wife, Becky, sustained our growth and enthusiasm. He accepted a settled ministry to a congregation in the Houston area at the end of his year with us. The search process in 1996-1997 failed to yield a candidate for the settled ministry. The Search Committee agreed to continue the search and persuaded the congregation to increase substantially the financial commitment to the ministry.

The Reverend Sharon Dittmar accepted the interim ministry for 1997-1998. A recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Sharon brought great warmth and enthusiasm to the pulpit. Under her leadership, adult religious education expanded, and the membership became more introspective in developing an understanding of ourselves as a congregation. Sharon accepted the settled ministry at First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati.

In 1998, Northern Hills Fellowship welcomed the Rev. Dr. Morris Hudgins as our minister. Morris set a standard of thoughtful and erudite sermons, while encouraging lay involvement in programming. His strong organizational skills, and interests in denominational and social justice issues, increased our presence on UU district and national levels, as well as in the community. Rev. Hudgins left Northern Hills in 2005 to pursue other opportunities for ministry within the UU denomination.

In December of 2001, Northern Hills Fellowship celebrated its 40th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the sanctuary was rededicated in memory of Jim Berry and Helen Berry, to of the founding members of the congregation.

The Rev. Annie Foerster served as our interim minister from 2005 to 2007. Rev. Foerster was the minister of our neighbor UU congregation, St. John’s, for five years before retiring in 2001. She came out of retirement to serve Northern Hills during our two year transition and ministerial search process.

Today

In August 2007, Northern Hills was pleased to welcome the Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne as our new settled minister. Rev. Russell-Jayne served as interim minister of a UU church in Ogden, Utah for two years before coming to Cincinnati. He brings with him plans for growth and enhanced spiritual development for the congregation.

The Northern Hills congregation continues to develop its sense of identity and mission. A strong commitment to this process is evident in the spirit of dedicated volunteerism, and in the expansion of church staff. At the same time, the strengthening of lay ministry has manifested itself, both in a relational pulpit, and in our continued outreach to local charitable organizations. As we care for one another, we are also looking outward. Our presence in the larger community is greatly enhanced by an entirely redesigned and expanded website. Our connection to one another, and our invitation to others, now exists in the electronic as well as the physical realm.

More than building a building or establishing a presence on the Web, Northern Hills Fellowship has built a solid foundation for growth into a religious community that will continue to serve our needs as a people caring about our society and our world. We enter the new millennium with strong values that have served us well these many years, and with excitement for the possibilities which lie ahead.