25 Years Ago – A New Millennium at UU Lansing
By Ed Busch
This week, let’s take a stroll back 25 years to explore life at UU Lansing as we welcomed the year 2000. But first, a quick look even further back to the start of the previous century when UU Lansing was known as the Church of Our Father. In 1900, as automobiles and airplanes emerged as new marvels and the Progressive Era ushered in social reforms with women’s suffrage and anti-trust laws, our congregation was led by Rev. Dr. Howard Bard, with Judge Q. A. Smith serving as church president.
Rev. Dr. Bard's vision for our community, expressed at his first service in 1898, still resonates today:
"I have not come here to make Universalists, but to make men and women good and noble... to help purify the city, lift up those around us, and strengthen those with whom we come in contact. Ours is an expansive church, and it is necessary to expand to keep up with the changed principles of life."
Fast forward to New Year's 2000: the Lansing State Journal’s January 1 headline read, “Welcome 2000. World celebrates, breathes sigh of relief over Y2K.” UU Lansing entered the new millennium thoughtfully and quietly under the leadership of interim minister Rev. Dr. Barbara Edgecombe and church president Bob Lovell. Our Liberal Express’s final 1999 issue wished everyone a Happy New Year with no apparent concerns for what 2000 was going to bring.
The first week of January 2000 was filled with vibrant community activities:
Tomesters meeting - book reading group gathered at Bill and Margaret Kingsbury's home to plan their reading list
Friday Night Potluck and Discussion – Marcus Cheatham lead an introduction to the new UUA comprehensive life span sexuality curriculum, OWL (Our Whole Lives).
Circle Suppers - brought members together for fellowship and food
Membership Book Signing – followed the January 2 service
Adult RE – explored Bill Moyer's "World of Ideas" series at Bob and Kathy Lovell’s home.
The Ten Pound Fiddle - continued its coffeehouse tradition at our Grove Street location
Our first service of 2000, held on January 2, was lay-led by Kathy Lovell with a theme of "Pondering New Beginnings." The UU Jazz Combo (Sue Thomas, Pam Sisson, Chris Clampitt, and Kathy Lovell ) provided music, featuring songs:
The Things We Did Last Summer, by Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne
That's Life, by Dean Kay & Kelly Gordon
Pick Yourself Up, by Dorothy Fields & Jerome Kern
Blue Skies, by Irving Berlin
Kathy Lovell provided remarks for the service, entitled “Pondering New Beginnings.” She shared with me via an email that her remarks began: "The idea for this service originated over a year ago, when Hari Kern and I, and the jazz combo, were going to do the service for Jan 3, 1999, but there was a huge snowstorm, and everything was canceled. Hari could not be here this year, but I will be including some of her thoughts from a year ago." (My blog post a couple of weeks ago referenced this January 1999 winter storm.)
The UU Jazz Combo concluded the service with “Jingle Bell Rock” with the congregation joining in the second time through.
On a related note, the UU Jazz Combo, which played that first service of the millennium and again this past Sunday, has been part of our community for over 40 years. Their evolving lineup continues to bring joy to our congregation. Here are some photos from a few iterations.
Jazz Combo 1984 edition with Roy Erickson, Kathy Lovell, Randy Scott, Stuart Pankratz, and ? at piano. (2008.0127)
Jazz Combo 2013 edition with ?, Randy Scott, Mary Elaine Kiener, Chris Christoff, Kathy Lovell, and ?.
Jazz Combo 2018 edition with ?, Randy Scott, ?, ?, Chris Christoff, Kathy Lovell. Photograph by Evelyn Jackson. (20180121__11393)
Were you part of the UU Lansing community in January 2000? Do you have memories or stories to share? I’d love to hear them! Please email me at uucgl.archives@gmail.com. If you have photos or memorabilia, let me know—we’d love to preserve these pieces of our history.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into UU Lansing’s past. I’ll be out of town most of February, so this may be my last blog post for a little while. Stay tuned for more stories from our archives later this year!
Sources:
Lansing State Journal, December 5, 1898, page 5.
Busch, Ed, Shirley Beckman, Harry Schwarzweller, “Dedicated Lives”, 2011.
Lansing State Journal, January 1, 2000, page 1.
UU Lansing Archives
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About the Author
Hi, I’m Ed Busch, the writer behind these blog posts exploring the history of UU Lansing. After retiring in 2023 from a 15-year career as an Electronic Records Archivist at Michigan State University’s Archives & Historical Collections, I’m thrilled to dedicate my time to sharing our church’s rich history.
I hold a Master’s in Library and Information Science, specializing in archival administration, and my academic background also includes a degree in Fisheries and coursework in Computer Science. Before shifting to a career in archives, I worked across diverse fields, including fisheries, aerospace, and IT.
My wife, Leigh White, and I have been part of the UU Lansing community since the early 2000s and became members in 2006. I’ve been actively involved with the church archives since 2007, and both of our daughters enjoyed growing up in UU Lansing’s Religious Education (RE) program.
I look forward to connecting with you through these blog posts as we delve into the stories that have shaped UU Lansing over the years.