NEW PHONE NUMBER 517-258-0038 | To care for UCC clergy and churches in Michigan.
NEW PHONE NUMBER 517-258-0038 | To care for UCC clergy and churches in Michigan.
Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ
Equip, empower, connect, and celebrate UCC clergy and churches in Michigan
Welcome to the wonderful world of the Michigan Conference, where, when you’ve seen one church, you’ve seen one church. We have churches by cherry orchards, rust belts, tourist towns of fudge shops and food deserts without grocery stores, vacation mansions alongside a serious shortage of affordable housing, and pure recreational lakes down the road from cities whose drinking water is dirty. From city apartments, farmhouses, lake cottages, vacation mansions we make our spiritual homes together in 135 churches that include all the rich contrasts of our beautiful state.
Since becoming Conference Minister in 2022, you can see from my speaking schedule that I have spent most weekends visiting them. I can testify that no matter the size or setting, you will find a fascinating and faithful spiritual home here, whether you are looking for a place to worship or a place to preach. We can have the oldest congregation in a small town and be the first in that same town to welcome the queer community. We have new church starts without the burden of a building, meeting online or in coffee shops. We have historic churches whose stained glass windows, woodwork and masonry are a blessing of art and transcendence to their communities. We have congregations that are unapologetically black and congregations that have Alpine festivals.
In large cities, rural villages, sprawling suburbs and fertile forests, our churches bear witness to the God who is still speaking, who desires justice and who welcomes all, no matter what, no matter who, no matter where you are on life’s journey. In the Michigan Conference, our Christian tradition may be two thousand years old but our thinking is not. If that sounds like you, come join us.
Peace and Blessings,
The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
Or you just want to hear it again. The 2025 event combined our Annual Meeting for business and community with our past practice of Vitality Day. This year we heard from the Rev. Dr. Anthony Wendell, Rev. Dr. Kenji Marui, and Associate Conference Minister Rev. Dr. Lawrence Richardson.
You can worship with us all over again in our Morning Worship service, recorded October 4, 2025. You can listen to the recorded audio of the State of the Church, led by Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel and Rev. Dr. Kenji Marui on Friday, October 3, 2025. They question panelists about their take on General Synod this year and the unique experiences of Michigan UCC congregations in 2025.
The Business meeting and presentation on Church Vitality by Rev. Dr. Lawrence Richardson completed the afternoon’s events on Saturday, but whether you attended Annual Meeting or stayed close to home this past weekend, the Michigan Conference UCC brings the all the resources from Annual Meeting to you in October’s Monthly Newsletter.
Are you looking for something from Annual Meeting that you don’t see here? Let us know at Communications@michucc.org.
Please utilize our new video learning series for church vitality. Created by Rev. Dr. Lawrence Richardson, Associate Conference Minister for Church Vitality and Transitions, these videos are designed for local church leaders to share.
Short videos are designed for opening board and council meetings, and for discussion with congregations.
View The Video Series
Join us live on Zoom the first Wednesday of each month as we invite experts from across the Michigan Conference, UCC denomination, and beyond to discuss issues that are impacting the church today. Topics and guest speakers are generated directly by requests and conversations with leaders in our local churches.
Registered participants on Zoom receive a monthly email with the recording along with additional resources shared during Leadership Lunch.
Recordings are archived on the Michigan Conference UCC YouTube Channel in the Leadership Lunch Playlist.
WATCH the Leadership Lunch RECORDINGS REGISTER for Leadership Lunch
Dear Churches and Clergy,
As you follow Jesus, hear the scriptures, preach the gospel and bravely worship something other than yourselves, you are increasingly going to feel the Holy Spirit rubbing like sandpaper against the culture around you. There are certain moments in history, time and space where it is especially grating and this is one of those times. Be the church of sandpaper.
Just because his teachings later came to be associated with empires, nation states and governments, they were not born that way and neither was Jesus. It is the responsibility of the church universal to remind the culture in all times and places that Jesus’ life began in a stable, to parents without the protection of citizenship, who fled their home to a foreign land for the first six years of Jesus’ life. You don’t have to use your imagination to see Jesus in the face of an immigrant child. He literally was one. Stand up for Jesus wherever you see him. READ MORE
Where do you see God is still speaking?
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