News

At the congregational meeting held on Sunday, May 22, 2022, the congregation extended a call to The Rev. Carrie N. Ballenger to be Pastor at University Lutheran Church. A separate vote approved a pay package (based on what was approved at the annual meeting in February). Pastor Ballenger accepted the call upon hearing the news. We look forward to seeing Pastor Ballenger…

Good news! As the COVID-19 situation improves and local governments revise their requirements, masks will be optional at UniLu worship services beginning Sunday, March 20, 2022. Anyone who wishes to wear a mask is welcome to do so, and UniLu will still have KN95 masks for worshipers who want to wear them and don’t have their own. But mask-wearing will no longer be…

At a congregational meeting on Sunday, April 25, 2021, the University Lutheran Church congregation voted to move forward with renovating the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system for the lower level of 66 Winthrop Street, which is necessary to allow the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter to reopen safely. The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter Corporation…

A new video about University Lutheran Church is included in “Sacred Spaces and Good Works,” a video series from the Harvard Square Business Association. The series celebrates Harvard Square’s faith-based communities and the historically significant buildings that house them. See…

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, Pastor Kathleen O’Keefe Reed provided the following update on UniLu’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Many lives are being upended by the spread of the virus known as COVID-19. I would like to share with you how the UniLu leadership is currently planning for the days and weeks ahead. The Council has formed a…

Jayms Battaglia, campus and community coordinator at University Lutheran Church, is the 2017 recipient of the Ed O’Neil Award from the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. Jayms will receive the award at the organization’s annual meeting on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 (meeting…

At its annual meeting on Sunday, January 29, 2017, University Lutheran Church took a significant step toward becoming a Sanctuary congregation.

On Sunday, November 13, 2016, UniLu members joined Harvard students of different faiths—Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, and Zoroastrian—for the Harvard Chaplains‘ annual Interfaith Meal Packing Event. The group packed 25,000 meals for food-insecure residents of local communities, which were then distributed to local charities through The Outreach Program.…

UniLu’s campus and community coordinator Jayms Battaglia, 2014-16 Harvard Divinity School intern Caston Boyd, and Pastor Kari Jo Verhulst are featured in a short film about Lutheran campus ministry released by LuMin, the Lutheran Campus Ministry Network · ELCA. The nine-minute film, which includes appearances by students and Lutheran campus ministers across the…