About us

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The Spirit of Peace congregation is similar to an extended family.
Within our community, senior members are cherished,
children are nurtured, youth are involved,
parents are supported, and adults are nourished.

Our worship at 10 AM on Sundays is
informal, participatory, and varied.

We are known in the community for
our commitments to peace and justice.

Here’s a brief timeline of our social justice activism in the last 50 years:

  • 1970s: We settled refugees from Southeast Asia and were active in the movement for nuclear disarmament.

  • 1980s: We provided sanctuary for a large family from El Salvador.

  • 1990s:  Our co-pastor, Rich Buckwalter, was diagnosed with ALS, so we changed parsonages and put an elevator in the church building to make it accessible for wheel-chair users and others. During that decade we also joined the Supportive Communities Network as publicly accepting and affirming of LBGTQ persons in all aspects of our congregational life.

  • 2000s: We worked with a local shelter for the homeless. Many members also got involved with Disaster Childcare both locally and nationally. Following the September 11th attack, one member went to New York City to provide voluntary childcare for three weeks. We frequently sponsored disadvantaged children for a week at Camp Brethren Heights.

  • Over our history several of our families have participated in international and interracial adoption and foster care.

The Lansing First Church of the Brethren first met
as an independent entity on October 7, 1928,
following several years as a part of the Sunfield congregation.

The congregation’s first church building was located
at 1229 E. Prospect St.
and was purchased from the German Baptists.
The building on the corner of S. Washington and Loa Streets
was constructed in 1952, and sold in 2019.

Since September 1, 2019, the congregation has been meeting
in the Chapel of the Apostles
at the University United Methodist Church in East Lansing.

We changed our name and became
Spirit of Peace Church of the Brethren
following the move in 2019.