Church Celebrates 175 Years of Liberal Religion

[LANSING, MI.] One of Lansing’s longest continually operating churches, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, celebrates its 175th anniversary this year.
Formed in 1849, ten years before the incorporation of the city itself, it was originally known as The First Universalist Church of Lansing and met in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol (not the current building). Today, the church is located at 5509 S. Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing.
On March 17, a special service led by Rev. Neal Anderson, Senior Minister, will commemorate UU Lansing’s 175th anniversary. Included will be a performance of the hymn, titled “Hope and Blessings,” specially commissioned by and dedicated to the church and Director of Music and Worship Arts L. Harrison Brown for the celebration. The piece was composed by Stacey V. Gibbs, whose arrangements have risen to number five on the Billboard Classical chart and number one on the Amazon Classical chart. His music was featured at the Inaugural Service for President Barack Obama.
The piece is written for full chorus and instrumental ensemble, and the congregation will be invited to sing part of it as well. The text, also written by Gibbs, was inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan and focuses on spiritual life in the greater community.
During the commemoration, a historical re-enactor portraying Rev. Augusta Jane Chapin (1836-1905) will also make an appearance. Rev. Chapin was ordained in Lansing in 1864, becoming the second woman to be ordained in the Universalist Church and the first woman in the country to be awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree. Throughout her ministerial career, she served congregations across Michigan, including Lansing, and the Midwest.
Rev. Chapin was one of a few women to speak at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893. In 2010, she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
The church was founded by Universalist minister and newspaper publisher John H. Sanford. He came to Lansing from Ann Arbor in 1847 and published Lansing’s first newspaper, The Primitive Expounder. The First Universalist Church of Lansing was incorporated in 1849.
In 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, becoming the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, four years before the national merger took place.
Since its founding, UU Lansing has served as a liberal religious community and contributed to the Lansing area’s progressive thinking and its emphasis on social justice.
“I’m really proud of the resiliency and love that I experienced at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing,” said Rev. Anderson. “From the time that I have been here and through the pandemic and beyond, this religious community has worked together to not only share its values with one another but also beyond these walls. The partnerships that we have developed with community organizations to serve greater Lansing are a testament to the commitment that people in the congregation have made to our values.
“I think this is also indicative of living into the 175-year legacy of liberal or progressive religion in the Greater Lansing area, starting with the Universalists to the Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists,” he concluded.
Tom Nicholas, Congregational President, said: "It has been exciting to watch our congregation come together to plan this anniversary and rediscover the rich history of our contributions to the religious diversity of Lansing.”
The special celebration of this 175th anniversary will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 17 at the church, 5509 S. Pennsylvania Avenue.