A Welcoming Congregation on Bennett Road
The Presbyterian Church of Okemos sits on the northwest corner of Okemos Road and Bennett Road in Meridian Charter Township, just north of Lansing. A large parking area opens onto North Bennett Road, and a circular drive lets visitors be dropped off close to the main entrance beneath a small canopy. Inside, the congregation describes itself as one where "all are invited to gather together and engage God through worship, study, fellowship, and service." That invitation has shaped the life of the church for more than six decades: in May 2024 the congregation marked its sixtieth anniversary with a service recognizing decades of walking alongside its Lansing-area neighbors and mission partners around the world.
The congregation belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA), sits within the Presbytery of Lake Michigan, and is one of the regional churches that make up the Synod of the Covenant. It has been certified by the PC(USA) as an Earth Care Congregation, and in 2023 it installed a roof full of solar panels that now fully offset the building's electrical use. Beyond that, the church is recognized in Greater Lansing for its long-running commitment to mission - a local Crop Hunger Walk tradition, a Souper Bowl of Caring fundraiser for area shelters, an annual Lessons and Carols service, and an Intergenerational Mission Week that draws members of every age into service projects across the region.
Sunday Worship at Ten
One worship service gathers the congregation each Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary, year-round. The service typically runs about an hour and follows the "traditional" style of Presbyterian and Reformed worship. Visitors will find scripture readings, a sermon, prayers, congregational hymns, and an anthem by the chancel choir. Liturgical language connects the present congregation to Christian worship across the centuries, while the sermon and music speak in the language of today. The weekly bulletin is posted online, and recordings of recent services remain available on the church's YouTube channel for anyone who wants to revisit a sermon or share it with others.
The sanctuary is fitted with a hearing loop that sends a magnetic signal to the telecoil (T-coil) receiver built into most modern hearing aids. Visitors with T-coil-equipped hearing aids can switch to the "T" setting and pick up the service directly from the microphones. Those without a T-coil can borrow one of the hand-held receivers stored under the name tag rack in Fellowship Hall, which come with a headset. All of the building's entrances are handicap-accessible, and a large parking lot is reached from Bennett Road. Dress ranges widely: business casual is typical, with some worshipers in jeans and others in more formal attire.
Children in Worship and the Christian Education Hour
Worship at the Presbyterian Church of Okemos is intentionally child-friendly. Most children come into the sanctuary for the opening of the service and stay through a children's lesson. Some of the youngest, under six, are then invited to leave for the nursery, where there is a toddler play area and a changing area. Children's activity packets can be picked up near the sanctuary entrance for any child who prefers to stay in the pew. An unattended nursery is available from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for families who need a place to spread out, play, or feed a baby.
After worship, the congregation gathers in Fellowship Hall for conversation and refreshments. Visitors can find a greeter and a name tag, and many stay on for the Christian Education Hour. Children and youth meet from 11:15 to 12:15 each Sunday during the academic year for classes that move from simple Bible stories for preschoolers to faith and contemporary-life discussion for high schoolers. Adults gather from 11:30 to 12:15 for one or two classes each week - Bible studies, discussions of current issues, theology and church history, parenting classes, and book conversations. Classes are offered occasionally in the summer.
Music as a Long Tradition
Music has been central to the congregation's life for generations. The chancel choir sings at worship under the direction of Chancel Choir Director Shelby Laird, and Dr. Marlene Brewbaker serves as Director of Music and Organist. A handbell choir, led by Irene Shutt, performs at services and other occasions throughout the year. In 2022 the church dedicated a fifth octave of handbells, expanding the range and repertoire of the bell choir and marking a new chapter in the music program.
Twice a year, music takes the sanctuary in a different direction. The Annual Evening of Lessons and Carols is one of the most anticipated services on the calendar, with readings, choral offerings, and congregational carols filling the sanctuary in the weeks before Christmas. Recent sermon series and choir anthems are also made available online as recordings, and an active Livestream Ministry carries each Sunday's service to those worshiping at home through the church's website and YouTube channel.
A Network of Study and Fellowship Groups
More than a dozen study and fellowship groups meet through the week, offering members a way to deepen their discipleship and build relationships beyond Sunday morning. The weekly Adult Bible Study, led by Ewen Todd, examines books of the Old and New Testaments through written and video courses. On Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., a Conversation and Contemplation class meets on Zoom, sharing the ancient practices of centering prayer, lectio divina, silence, journaling, and shared conversation. The class is open to all.
Other groups meet monthly or on set rhythms. The Men's Group gathers Tuesday mornings from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. with a light breakfast for conversation about faith, personal experience, and current events. The Women's Connection meets at 12:30 on the fourth Sunday of each month from September to May (excluding December) for a meal, a devotional, and a member's faith story. Women's Dinner Out gathers at 5:30 on the second Monday of each month, except December, at restaurants around the area. The Retirees Group meets at noon on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, either at the church or on Zoom. The Prayer Shawl and Crafts Ministry meets on the first Tuesday of each month during the school year to knit and crochet shawls for members and for refugee families, and Writing Life's Stories gathers on Zoom at 2:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month.
The Artist's Circle meets via Zoom on Tuesday afternoons and is open to anyone interested in faith-driven creativity. Members share techniques, learn together, and create liturgical art for the sanctuary, including an intergenerational Advent banner that engaged many hands across the congregation. The GreenTeam, led by Jeff Arbour, coordinates recycling, composting, native plantings, and the church's solar array, and is the group that shepherds the congregation's PC(USA) Earth Care Congregation certification.
Youth Ministry and Family Life
Youth ministry is shared between two co-leaders, Roy Meland and John Juarez, and is shaped by both youth and adults through a Youth Council that guides programming. The Youth Group gathers after church on Sunday for shared meals and games. Middle schoolers meet from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., and high schoolers meet from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Each year the youth plan mission projects, including preparing and serving meals at Advent House, going to a corn maze together, and running the Souper Bowl of Caring fundraiser, which directs funds to local shelters. The youth also participate in Montreat youth conferences and the Presbyterian Youth Triennium.
Family ministry at the church is intentionally intergenerational. The Intergenerational Mission Week, held most summers, gathers members and friends of all ages to serve together. In a recent year the group supported graduates of the Global Institute of Lansing, celebrated at the Meridian Township Pride Festival, made one hundred bagged lunches for Advent House, packed more than one hundred boxes of food for the Greater Lansing Food Bank's Mobile Pantries, and assembled creativity bags for Church World Service programs that support children and youth experiencing trauma from dislocation and disaster.
Mission Across Greater Lansing and the World
Mission is one of the defining rhythms of the congregation. The Mission Committee, chaired by Kent Workman, leads the church in awareness of its responsibilities to neighbors near and far and in action that addresses hunger, homelessness, education, and justice. The congregation partners with a remarkable range of organizations, locally and globally.
At home, the church supports the Greater Lansing Food Bank (with Souper Bowl funds directed to local food pantries including those at Okemos Community Church, Haslett Community Church, and First Presbyterian Church of Lansing), Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, the Loaves and Fishes Ministries, Advent House, Cass Community, Communities in Schools of Michigan, and Catholic Charities of the Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties. PCO provides volunteers and financial support to the Global Institute of Lansing, which helps adult refugees earn their high school diploma, and to the All-Faith Alliance for Refugees (AFAR), which welcomes refugees to the Greater Lansing area. The congregation also supports Peace Quest Greater Lansing, an interfaith group working for peace and justice, and partners with the Interfaith Clergy Association of Greater Lansing.
Around the world, PCO supports nursing education in Haiti through the Haiti Nursing Foundation and global health ministries through the Medical Benevolence Foundation, which works with more than one hundred hospitals and clinics. The church supports the Edgewood Village Scholar's Program for college preparation, the Mikey 23 Foundation, which stands against gun violence by training young people in the building trades, and the Simbolei Academy for Girls in Kenya. Members also participate in the annual Greater Lansing CROP Hunger Walk, with PCO recognized as a leading church for the number of walkers and funds raised.
The Prison Ministry is one of the church's named ministries, carrying the congregation's care beyond the doors of the building and into correctional settings. In November, the congregation gathers for an Alternative Christmas Market that raises funds for mission partners, and book donations collected in the coat room support MSU Ukirk's book distribution program for community children and youth.
An Earth Care Congregation with Solar Power
The Presbyterian Church of Okemos takes its nickname "Earth Care Congregation" to heart. The church is certified by the PC(USA) as an Earth Care Congregation, a designation it has held for several consecutive years, and is a member of One Home, One Future. In March 2023, the church installed a solar array on its roof, and the panels currently offset the congregation's electrical use. Members and visitors can follow generation in real time through an online Solar Panel Monitor, and a Solar Panels Fund within the church's giving options lets people direct contributions to retiring the cost of the installation.
Beyond solar, the GreenTeam runs an in-house recycling program for daily items, a long-running battery recycling effort (more than 185 pounds of batteries recycled to date), and a pill-bottle re-use program that packages used prescription bottles for Matthew 25: Ministries in Cincinnati, which redistributes them around the world (more than 1,680 returned to date). The grounds are being transitioned with the removal of invasive species and the planting of native flora, and the church has set up composting with the goal of modeling how a congregation can minimize what it sends to landfill. Food Rescue USA also partners with the church in the Greater Lansing area, connecting volunteers to transfer fresh food surpluses from local businesses to social service agencies.
Every Member in Ministry
The church lives out the Presbyterian conviction that ministry belongs to the whole people of God. A "How Can I Serve?" page invites every member to sign up for one of several hands-on ministries: the Food Preparation Ministry (which prepares meals for Advent House and Loaves & Fishes and provides a meal at youth group meetings), the Flowers Ministry (which beautifies worship services and delivers arrangements to shut-ins), the Liturgist Ministry (which helps lead worship), the Livestream Ministry (which reaches the online community), the Fellowship Event/Refreshment Ministry (which nourishes the church with hospitality after worship), and the Offering Counting ministry. Volunteer Coordinators help newcomers find their footing, and a Jobs PDF lists additional roles for those who want to explore further.
Governance and the Journey to 2030
Presbyterian polity shapes how the congregation organizes itself. The Session, the governing body, is made up of twelve ordained Ruling Elders plus the ministers of the church: Jennifer Gordon, Jack Harkema, Kelly Locke, Gail Lytle Lira, Vickie Marcus, Roy Meland, Siri Rainone, Elliot Ryser, Tanya Stokes, Patty Wilson, and Kent Workman, along with the pastors. Ruling Elders are elected to three-year terms and serve on standing committees that include Administration, Christian Education for children and youth, Christian Education for adults, Communication and Engagement, Mission, Parish Life, Personnel, Stewardship, and Worship and Music. The Board of Deacons, led by a moderator and made up of members serving three-year terms, assists the pastors in congregational care through visitations, meals, sanctuary flower delivery, cards and greetings, and funeral and memorial receptions.
The congregation has set out a vision for the years ahead. The "Journey to 2030" document describes a church that opens its doors wide in welcome, embarks together on a lifelong journey of faith formation, and partners with other faith groups and local organizations in service of God's love and justice. Its mission statement is rooted in the conviction that "in life, in death, and life beyond death, we belong to God," and that the church exists to share that belonging through worship, study, and service. Members describe themselves as a network of caring relationships between families, friends, and strangers, offering welcome, healing, justice, and peace in the name of Jesus Christ.