Living

Our

Faith

A wide horizontal banner featuring a sequence of vertical stripes in various colors including blue, yellow, green, red, and pink. The pattern is uniform and creates a bold, vibrant visual effect

We share our abundant indoor and outdoor spaces with partner organizations that specialize in tending to specific local needs.

Local Action, Awareness, and Advocacy

Large group of cheerful volunteers of various ages and backgrounds posing in a community garden. Some hold gardening tools and green signs, indicating a successful day of teamwork and outdoor activity.

Friends from Michigan State University and the Refugee Development Center are helping church volunteers to complete our Natural Play Space for the whole community to enjoy.

Our parking lot hosts the work of Share-A-Bike, a volunteer-run organization that refurbishes and gives away bicycles to neighbors in need.

We partner with the Southside Community Kitchen to host their work of cooking and serving nutritious lunches to anyone who arrives at the door, without prerequisites. Blessed by the expertise of lead cook and UU Lansing member Corey Marie and an excellent team of volunteers, this is a fine dining experience crafted from whole, fresh, nutritious ingredients and cooked with love. On most Mondays and Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m., diners are invited to choose a seat in our beautiful Social Hall, where they are served fine dining-style. Guests and volunteers all share a meal that nourishes souls as well as bodies.

Busy community kitchen scene with volunteers wearing masks and aprons preparing food. Tables are laden with fresh vegetables, fruits, and cooking utensils, showcasing a collaborative meal prep effort.

Our Community Gardens use compost from SCK lunches to provide fresh food for congregants and neighbors; our native plant gardens developed with the help of the Michigan Audubon Society and Wild Ones, Red Cedar Chapter provide habitat and nourishment for wildlife; and our recreational areas offer space for people of all ages and abilities to gather and play outside.

We partner with the Refugee Development Center to support free English as a Second Language classes and a variety of other services for local immigrants.

At most coffee hours after Sunday morning worship, volunteers sell Fair Trade, eco-friendly goods including coffee and chocolate.

Our Blessing Boxes are used to distribute items that anyone is free to take anytime. The large box along the driveway is frequently stocked with pantry foods, clothing, and personal care items. Congregants, partner organizations such as the SCK, and neighbors all place items in the box and clean out unusable items as needed.

We partner with Punks with Lunch to keep the smaller box along the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue stocked with opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (Narcan).

We partner with Lansing Central AA and Refuge Recovery to provide warm, safe, and welcoming space for three addiction recovery support groups:

  • Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Mondays through Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. in the Chapin Room

  • Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapin Room

  • Refuge Recovery, Fridays at 6:00 p.m. in the Parlor

Anyone in need of these groups is welcome to attend.

We welcome an eclectic range of community-building groups such as community choirs, a marionette puppet studio, the Lansing Table Tennis Club on most Tuesday evenings and the occasional Friendship Force meeting or Girl Scouts troop for gatherings, games, or service activities.

A choir of people in matching blue attire posing on a stage, conveying a sense of community and harmony

LanSINGout, one of the choirs that fills our Sanctuary with welcoming and healing music

Our extended network of Unitarian Universalist social justice movements studies, advocates for, and raises funds for causes ranging from the local to the global. All are invited to get involved on issues that call to you.

Our Widening the Circle of Concern implementation team is studying the report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change. With the intention of reducing barriers and providing support of marginalized groups as we continue to work on long-term cultural change, we offer these resources:

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU) is committed to expanding the power and capacity of Black UUs within Unitarian Universalism; providing support, information, and resources for Black Unitarian Universalists; and justice-making and liberation for Black people through our faith.

Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM) is a Unitarian Universalist People of Color Ministry and anti-racist collective bringing lay and religious professionals together to overcome racism through resistance and transform Unitarian Universalism through our multicultural experiences.

Transgender Religious professional Unitarian Universalists Together (TRUUST) supports Unitarian Universalist trans+ religious professionals in advocating for each other and our ministries and transforming Unitarian Universalism and our world.

EqUUal Access is a network of Unitarian Universalists living with disabilities, our families, friends, and allies coming together for a common purpose: to enable the full engagement of people with disabilities in Unitarian Universalist communities and the broader society.

We take up a monthly Special Plate Collection to benefit a local cause outside of our church, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars, as well as greater local awareness, raised each year for Lansing-area nonprofits. Recipients are announced by email (subscribe at the bottom of this page), in our weekly worship services, and on our Facebook page.

Our church hosts, organizes, and promotes programs to educate, activate, and support activists and allies involved in important social issues, and we support groups of congregants who engage in self-guided study and action, including:

We also have longstanding collaborative relationships with various local political advocacy organizations such as Citizens for Prison Reform.

Advertisement for a free, nutritious lunch program at Southside Community Kitchen, highlighting inclusivity and community support