UU Lansing will be 175 years old in 2024! The First Universalist Church of Lansing formed on March 16, 1849 and initially met in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol (not the current capitol).

Founder John H. Sanford, Universalist minister and newspaper publisher, came to Lansing in 1847 from Ann Arbor. He also published Lansing’s first newspaper, The Primitive Expounder.

In 1864, Rev. Augusta Jane Chapin was ordained. She was the second woman ordained in the Universalist Church and the first woman in the country to be awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree. Rev. Chapin was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2010. She is the namesake of our Chapin meeting room.

During the 1940s, several Unitarian families moved to the Lansing area from Ann Arbor and founded the Unitarian Fellowship of East Lansing and Mason.

In 1957, Lansing-area Universalists and Unitarians merged, four years before the national merger took place, becoming the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing (UU Lansing).

We will hold a celebration on our church’s 175th Anniversary with live music, food, worship, historical education, and more.

You can reach UU Lansing’s 175th Anniversary planning team (Deb Feltz, Ed Busch, Deb Mosher, Marcus Cheatham, and Dan Dettweiler) at uulansing175@googlegroups.com.

All are invited to join us on Christmas Eve for a service of festive stories and songs, ending with our traditional singing of “Silent Night” by candlelight.

All are invited to share our annual ritual of Thanksgiving for Michigan’s sweet treats of apple cider and donuts! We will gather at 10:30 a.m. for a worship service on the theme of generosity, led by Rev. Neal Anderson with music provided by the Chalice Choir. Rev. Neal will bless an abundance of cider and donuts, which will be available to enjoy at coffee hour after the service.

Before or after worship, all are invited to stop by our Giving Tree in the Atrium. You can choose an ornament if you would like to “adopt” a local family in need for this year’s winter holidays.

The Interfaith Clergy Association of Greater Lansing invites all neighbors and friends to its annual interfaith worship service in November. This year’s service will take place at Eastminster Presbyterian in East Lansing. Offerings will be taken of supportive letters to our Jewish and Muslim neighbors as well as financial gifts to help with increased security costs of Jewish and Muslim houses of worship in our community.

All are invited to bring a photo or memento of a loved one who has died and to place it on a communal altar in the Sanctuary before worship. This is an annual tradition to honor our grief and our ancestors by remembering them with love.

Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a comprehensive sexuality program that is offered by three trained facilitators for 7th-9th graders this year. The curriculum speaks to participants’ needs today and helps prepare them for a healthy and meaningful tomorrow in an environment that is open, honest, and safe. UU Lansing is proud of our long tradition of offering OWL about every other year, and the youth who have attended find it a powerful and informative program as they prepare for adulthood.

There are two requirements for families to enroll their youth this year:

Please register your family for OWL (and any other programs for children and youth) using this link:  https://uulansing.breezechms.com/form/LFD2324

…and then plan on joining us at the mandatory OWL Parent/Guardian Orientation. It is essential that you understand and support your youths’ participation. Because of the sensitive nature of the material to be presented, and the fact that we want you to be fully informed, all custodial parents or guardians are required to attend the orientation. Parent/guardian attendance at the orientation session and signed permission are prerequisites for any youth participating in this program.

We ask you to not attend with your youth, as there will be "spoilers." Youth may wait in the Social Hall and Atrium until class begins at 10:30 in the same room as the orientation.

A strong commitment to the program is required of each family—both the youth and their supportive adults. Regular attendance is essential for building and maintaining the trust, safety, and openness within the group and for the experience of the participants. In addition, each element of the program is important to the comprehensive approach.

The first official session of OWL will begin immediately following this orientation. The class begins promptly at 10:30 a.m. and ends at 12:00 noon. We need to have orientation completed and permission slips signed before a youth can join the session. 

We are excited for the new year, and we look forward to working with your youth. Participating in OWL is a big commitment and step for your family, and it will make a significant impact on your youth’s health, safety, and life.

Our theme for the year is “Sharing Our Gifts,” and our theme for September is WELCOME! Please introduce your family here if you would like to participate in our 2023-24 cooperative family ministries. On Sunday mornings when worship isn’t a special occasion for all ages, we offer child- and teen-centered experiences for young people to enjoy while their parents or guardians stay in worship.

Our Whole Lives (OWL) for 7th - 9th Grade Youth provides honest, accurate information about sexuality that dismantles stereotypes and assumptions, builds self-acceptance and self-esteem, fosters healthy relationships, improves decision-making, and has the potential to save lives. For these reasons and more, we provide Our Whole Lives (OWL) courses about every other year. OWL participation requires a deep commitment to consistent Sunday morning attendance and follows an intensive curriculum, so OWL students will begin in their classroom at 10:30 a.m. Parents/guardians of each OWL student must attend a mandatory orientation after worship on Sunday, September 17. (OWL classes will begin the following Sunday, September 24.)

Children in preschool and up begin by joining the worship service with their families at 10:30 a.m. After a brief Story time, they are invited to exit the Sanctuary to the Social Hall with their mentors to share snacks, help tidy up, and set out more snacks for coffee hour. Then they’ll follow their mentors through the Atrium and into the classroom wing to gather with their class.

Sharing Our Gifts I (preschool through 1st grade) and Sharing Our Gifts II (2nd through 6th grade) classmates will introduce themselves at circle time, open a surprise gift box, and choose between a fun structured activity, free play (sometimes outside!) with friends, or both. Classes on September 17 will be all about introducing ourselves and welcoming one another. Classes on September 24 will celebrate the Autumnal Equinox and the seasonal changes it brings. At 11:30 a.m., the younger class will wait in the classroom for their grownups to pick them up, and the 2nd-6th grade class will be released to join their families in the Atrium and Social Hall for coffee hour.

Youth Group (7th - 12th grade) is for teens in middle and high school who are not taking OWL this year. Youth Group activities are self-directed by the youth with the supervision and support of adult mentors. In the past, our youth group has planned and presented worship services, thrown holiday parties for the whole community, raised money for outside charities and their own projects, gone on field trips, played games, organized sleepovers, and had laid-back social time. Each year, the teens are given the freedom to revive past traditions, come up with brand new ideas, or try out a little of both. Teenagers may gather in the Social Hall before worship, get some refreshments, and then go down the hall to their own meeting room.

Water Communion is our annual ingathering ritual marking the beginning of a new liturgical church year in September.

All are invited to bring a small sample of water representing a place or activity that is sacred to you. During the appointed time in the service, congregants come forward to pour their water into a shared vessel. The intermingled water is symbolic of our shared faith coming from many different sources.

All are invited to a service led by Rev. Neal Anderson and Volunteer Engagement Coordinator Laura Ray on “Connecting in Authentic, Loving Relationships.” Afterward, coffee hour will feature a Hospitality Fair!

Volunteering on a warm, friendly team of morning people is one of the best ways to enhance your own health and happiness while serving a vital role in our community. Try spending some time on our Hospitality team to help create an inviting and welcoming Sunday morning experience for everyone who joins us, while making friends in the process. Stay after worship to learn more, or contact Ms. Laura at volunteer@uulansing.org to get started right away.

This year’s Music Sunday will be a “Celebration!” The musicians of the church will lead us in celebration of life’s joys.

The Flower Celebration is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community.

Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Rev. Norbert Fabian Čapek (pronounced "CHOP-eck”) of Prague, the ceremony was introduced to the United States by Rev. Mája Čapek, Norbert's widow. That ritual has endured and is treasured by Unitarian Universalists around the world who are now eager to celebrate its centennial.

In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower and places it in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and they're redistributed so that each person brings home a different flower than the one they brought. All are invited to participate; we will have a few extra flowers for anyone who arrives without one.

excerpted from “The Story of Norbert Čapek's Flower Ceremony” by Teresa and David Schwartz:

His mother was a devout Catholic, his father agnostic. He became an acolyte at age 10, in 1890 at St. Martin’s Catholic Church. In the years that followed, he became disillusioned: his priest was a cynic.

Slowly, his faith became more and more liberal.

He left Bohemia under government threat and … joined a Unitarian church in New Jersey in 1921—for the same reason a whole lot of you did: their children liked the religious education program. That’s the power of our Sunday School teachers. Kids, that’s your power, too!

World War I ended. His home country now independent, he and [his family] returned home to Czechoslovakia.

His Unitarian church was the Prague Liberal Religious Fellowship. In just 20 years, his church had 3,200 members.

The traditional Christian communion service of bread and wine wouldn’t meet the needs of his congregation, because his church—like ours—had people who believed different things.

Čapek turned to the beauty of the countryside; to the beauty of flowers. In 1923, he developed the flower ceremony. He asked his congregants to bring a flower to church—from their gardens, the field, or the roadside. He invited each person to place their flower in a vase. Following the service, each person could take a flower from the vase—a different one than they had brought.

Čapek was a visionary minister with a church ahead of its time, a BOLD church, a church thinking beyond its doors, beyond what it thought possible.

It was a church that was willing to take risks; to make tough decisions; to bear disappointment; and to build a new way…first by building a church, and that church could build up the world.

That is our church. That was Čapek’s church.

For this, the Gestapo arrested him in 1942.

The Nazis killed Norbert Čapek. But his spirit, courage, and commitment live on, today. Those qualities have passed, now, to us, to make them real.

His wife Mája brought the flower ceremony to the Unitarian Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1940.

What we are about to do is not a historical reenactment of something over and done, but an affirmation of our continuity with the generations of struggle for ever-widening liberty.

This flower ceremony, lovely though it is, isn’t a diversion from ugly reality, but a gentle fierceness which proclaims that in the midst of sinister days there is always the light of beauty.

We are here not to recall something that happened, but to remember something that is happening: to re-member—to put it back together again—and in that remembering, may we put ourselves back together again, each as a part of the body of this community: out of many, one.

Today, we celebrate this ritual of solemnity and joy.

As Čapek asked his people to bring a flower and celebrate beauty, so shall we.

On the Sunday before Memorial Day, former UU Lansing minister of 15 years Rev. Kathryn Bert will lead worship, and her husband Stuart Campbell will provide music along with Austin Kaufmann, frequent UU Lansing guest musician and leader of local band The Dangling Participles.

The Rev. Kathryn Bert is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist. She currently serves the UU Church of Vancouver since 2017.

Stuart is a singer/songwriter who helped to provide music at UU Lansing during their time here and has enjoyed sharing his music with the UUCV community also.

All are invited to join us for a worship service on “Creativity and Change.”

Change happens: change that we choose and change which is thrust upon us unwittingly. How does creativity help us with the inevitable? Join Rev. Kathryn Bert and her singer/songwriter husband, Stuart Campbell, for this worship over Memorial Day weekend. They have returned to Michigan for the wedding of their son, Theo, who was raised in this congregation (but won't be with them). Come hear about the changes they’ve experienced since moving to Washington state in 2017 along with a few of the songs Stuart has written since then. We’ll explore the link between creativity and resilience in the face of change.

Our annual Easter Sunday worship service is a celebration for all ages to enjoy together.

For Unitarian Universalists, the resurrection narrative serves as a metaphor. We honor ancient, even prehistorical, traditions of celebrating the springtime rebirth of nature; we focus on resurrecting dreams and hopes; and sometimes we reflect upon resurrecting dead relationships. In a general sense, we come together on Easter Sunday to rejoice in the ultimate triumph of life over death. Hallelujah!

This year’s Easter Sunday service with Rev. Neal Anderson is entitled “Pysanky and the Art of Resistance.” All are welcome to join us for an inspirational morning!

Afterward, our Youth Group invites families with children to participate in a small Easter egg hunt.

Families may gather in the Kiva (last room on left in the classroom wing). Children may bring their own Easter basket or bag, and we will have some bags available to give out. 

Eggs will be hidden in the classroom wing and/or outside in the playscape area (south side of building, weather permitting). Youth will be stationed in the appropriate areas to monitor and assist. Parents or guardians of preschool children or others needing special assistance are asked to accompany the children as well.

We gather on third Wednesdays for “Weaving Our Web,” a program for individuals and families that starts with a simple buffet-style supper followed by an interactive circle worship on our monthly liturgical theme and a fun activity.

March’s theme is vulnerability, and we will practice it by sharing a show-and-tell after we eat! All are invited to bring a beloved object with you that has a story behind it.

Everyone is welcome to join us, and the kindness of those who can also help with setup or cleanup or donating toward costs is always appreciated. RSVP here by the previous Monday morning to let us know how many to expect, whether you have dietary restrictions, and whether we can count on you to help provide a warm welcome to all families and individuals who join us.

Remember to “spring forward” one hour for Daylight Saving Time so you don’t miss worship at 10:30 a.m. DST! Join us for a worship service that will provide an overview of all the rich ministries of this church and how you can participate in any that call to you. Coffee hour will feature a volunteer fair with food, fellowship, and opportunities to talk with representatives of church teams that are making our lives and communities better in a personal way.

We do great things because we do them together! You are valued, you are appreciated, and you are needed. We invite you to share more of who you are so our whole community can benefit from your talents. If you’d like to get involved sooner, consider connecting with a ministry such as:

• Sunday Morning Hospitality (contact volunteer@uulansing.org)

• Tech Team to run A/V equipment for worship services (contact music@uulansing.org)

• Handy People (contact kmcwilliams@uulansing.org)

• Memorial Service Care Team (contact kmcwilliams@uulansing.org)

• Auction Team

• Green Team

We gather on third Wednesdays for “Weaving Our Web,” a program for individuals and families that starts with a simple supper followed by an interactive circle worship and a fun activity. February’s supper will be a feast of comfort food cooked with love, and afterward we’ll hear a wisdom tale and make something beautiful to take home.

Everyone is welcome to join us, regardless of ability to help or donate toward costs. This month, please bring in a clean, empty glass jar or two that you would otherwise recycle, to use for our craft project. Registration for this Wednesday has closed. Please join us next month!

We gather on third Wednesdays for “Weaving Our Web,” a program for individuals and families that starts with a simple supper followed by an interactive circle worship and a fun activity.

January’s menu will include the potato leek soup seen in the movie Ratatouille, roast beef sliders, and a sweet treat. Afterward, we’ll have an informal game night! You are invited to bring a card or board game from home. After supper, we’ll all be free to choose a game to join from the options people bring, or just have a cup of coffee, chat with others, and watch the fun.

Everyone is welcome to join us, regardless of ability to help with setup and cleanup or to donate toward costs. But if you are able and willing to chip in, your kindness is appreciated! RSVP here by the previous Monday to let us know how many to expect, whether you have dietary restrictions, and whether we can count on you to help provide a warm welcome to all families and individuals who join us.

After taking a break from all of our usual Sunday activities on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, we will resume our weekly and monthly Sunday gatherings.

In addition to Sunday morning worship services, Religious Education classes for children and youth, Coffee Hour, special events and classes for adults that sometimes take place after worship, and occasional congregational meetings…

Sharing Sundays resume on January 8, and for the rest of the year they will take place on the first Sunday of each month. This is our chance to share household objects with fellow congregants in the spirit of reusing things for the good of the world.

Out with the old, in with the new-to-you! Clear out your closets and shelves after the holidays and bring unwanted items that could be treasure to another person to church before worship. After worship, browse the goods left by others during Coffee Hour, and take home whatever you like, for free!

That afternoon, volunteers will take leftover items to local charities, including:

• kitchen, living room, and bathroom items to the International Student Lending Center at MSU

• clothes and shoes to The Bread House South Church on Martin Luther King, which distributes them on Fridays, 12:00 - 2: 00 p.m.

• remaining items to Volunteers of America or St. Vincent de Paul

If you want to volunteer once a month or have questions about Sharing Sunday, call Nathan Wood (517-887-9363).

Two small groups meet before worship on most Sunday mornings, using weekly prompts for participants to share what’s on their hearts and minds. All are invited to drop in.

Forum hosts hybrid meetings (in the Chapin Room and on Zoom) at 9:00 a.m. to discuss current events, humanist and ethical topics, and ways that science and reason can inform and be informed by UU principles. For meeting details including Zoom links, upcoming topics, and recommended readings, join the Forum email list.

Let’s Grow gathers in the Parlor at 9:15 to learn about and show respect for diverse beliefs, opinions, and experiences. Monthly worship themes are discussed on second Sundays, and others are chosen by the group. For further details, join the Let’s Grow email list.

Four monthly groups meet on Sundays.

Pretty Good Book Club meets on first Sundays (or occasionally second) in the Chapin Room or over Zoom. For Book Club details, updates, and plans for 2023, join the email list.

Our Young Adult Ministry group goes out to lunch after worship on second Sundays. They’ll meet Sunday, January 8, 12:30 p.m. at Tabooli Mediterranean (698 S. Waverly) for some conversation and food. All YAs are welcome to join in.

Chestnut Grove, Lansing’s CUUPS chapter, is a diverse, compassionate, and inclusive community of UU Pagans, seekers, and friends who celebrate the UUA 7th principle. Regular meetings are held on third Sundays at noon in the Chapin Room.

Accessibility team meets on fourth Sundays at 5:00 p.m. over Zoom.

All are invited to share seasonal reflections and songs ending with our traditional communal singing of “Silent Night.”

You may bring a festive treat to share and arrive early for a holiday cookie reception in the Social Hall that begins at 5:15 p.m.

All are invited to join Chestnut Grove, UU Lansing’s chapter of the Covenant of UU Pagans, for an earth-centered worship service on the darkest time of year and the wisdom it holds.

Let us give thanks for Michigan’s beautiful harvest season with our annual communion of apple cider and donuts! All are invited to join us for an uplifting worship service at 10:30 a.m., followed by a reception of cider and donuts during Coffee Hour.

We gather on third Wednesdays for “Weaving Our Web,” a program for individuals and families that starts with a simple supper followed by an interactive circle worship and a fun craft activity.

Everyone is welcome to join us, regardless of ability to help with setup and cleanup or to donate toward costs. But if you are able and willing to chip in, your kindness is appreciated! RSVP here to let us know how many to expect, whether you have dietary restrictions, and whether we can count on you to help provide a warm welcome to all families and individuals who join us.

The harvest-themed menu for November’s WOW Wednesday supper is:

Three Sisters Soup (squash, beans, and corn with a hearty tomato-based broth)

Spinach Salad with Citrus & Rosemary Roasted Beets (with available goat cheese, pistachios, balsamic dressing, and grilled chicken)

Pumpkin Mousse (dairy free option upon request)

All are invited to join us for our annual worship service of remembrance for those we have lost. You may bring a photo or memento of a loved one to place on our communal altar; please remember to take it home with you when worship is over.

Beginning this October, we will gather on third Wednesdays for “Weaving Our Web,” a program for individuals and families that starts with a simple supper followed by an interactive circle worship for all ages and an activity that we can all do together.

Registration for our first WOW Wednesday has closed, but we will provide an RSVP link for November’s supper gathering soon.

Donations are welcome to cover the cost of supper, and no one will be turned away. Come break bread together, make meaning together, and have fun.

The menu for our first WOW Wednesday supper is:

butternut squash soup with sage and roasted poblanos (vegan and gluten free)

apple pecan farro salad with maple cider vinaigrette (vegan and gluten free; nut free option)

smoked turkey and gouda grilled cheese with apple chutney (faux turkey option; dairy free option; gluten free option)

All are invited to share our annual Water Celebration worship service with Rev. Neal Anderson, our new Ministerial Intern Martha Bogner, Director of Lifespan Faith Development Sarah Matteo, and Director of Music and Worship Arts L.H. Brown. All are welcome to bring a sample of water that represents an experience of the divine or sacred that you had over the summer.

“The Good Lord willing and the variants don’t rise,” we will celebrate the completion of Brigitte Bechtold’s ministerial internship at UU Lansing with a farewell ritual in our Sunday morning worship service, followed by a reception with treats.

During our regular Sunday morning worship service at 10:30 a.m., we will introduce and celebrate the newest members of our UU Lansing community! All are invited to join us for this welcoming ritual.

Our Flower Communion worship service is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community.

Originally created in 1923 by Unitarian minister Norbert Capek of Prague, Czechoslovakia, the ritual was introduced to the United States by Rev. Maya Capek, Norbert's widow.

In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation brings a flower. Each person places a flower on the altar or in a shared vase. The congregation and minister bless the flowers, and they're redistributed. Each person brings home a different flower than the one they brought.

All are invited to bring a flower and participate in this shared ritual.

Ironically, our planned Music Sunday service, “Things We’ve Learned in the Pandemic (So Far),” has been postponed due to the rapid rise in local Covid rates. We still intend to enjoy some beautiful music by our Jazz Combo this Sunday, while a service featuring our church’s many other musical groups will be held at a later date.

This Sunday, people of all ages are invited to share a jazzy morning worship service together, with in-person and online options as always. Special messages will be delivered by Rev. Neal Anderson, Dir. of Lifespan Faith Development Sarah Matteo, and Ministerial Intern Brigitte Bechtold. Thank you for your understanding and grace as we continue to navigate these uncertain times.

Masks are required inside of the building at all times, and all are invited to socialize after worship outside on the grounds where the flowers are in bloom, masks are optional, and ice cream will be served in front of the barn!

We will hold a Child Dedication Ceremony during our Sunday morning worship service on the Vernal Equinox. As Unitarian Universalists, we believe that each child is born an original blessing. In this ceremony, we will introduce new babies and young children to the congregation so that we can all welcome them into our covenant of care.

The ritual includes giving each child a rose with the thorns removed, as a symbol of the efforts we make to keep our children safe as we honor and celebrate their growth. (Years later, when our youth graduate high school, we present them with roses that have their thorns intact, as a symbol of our faith in their maturity to handle their own life’s challenges.)

Everyone is welcome to attend the worship service and witness to the ritual.

If you are a congregant with a new baby or young child to introduce to the congregation, please contact revneal@uulansing.org to have your child included in the ceremony.