By Carol Rudd, JONAH Board Representative
University Lutheran Church is located adjacent to the UW-EC campus and as a member of the Ecumenical Religious Center shares space with Newman Catholic Parish. While ULC was established in 1974, the Lutheran Student Association has been ongoing at UW-EC since 1934, ministering to Lutheran students for more than 90 years! Campus Lutheran Congregation (the predecessor to ULC), housed at 402 Park Ave, was formed on February 2, 1964, and Newman students began sharing the space in 1965. In October 1973, the congregation of the Campus Lutheran Church, after applying for membership in both the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church of America, approved a proposal to become University Lutheran Church. ULC became an established Lutheran congregation with synod representation and the opportunity to offer students, faculty, staff members, and the community a parish on campus. The Ecumenical Religious Center (ERC) opened its doors to people of all faiths in 1975. Designed to be more than a worship center, this campus ministry congregation was the first of its kind in Wisconsin, offering worship, study space, lectures, and meals in an ecumenical setting.
Now that you have a glimpse of our history, here’s what ULC has been up to in this century. Over the years, our focus has always been on our students. We provide worship, study space, regular meals, and a church “home away from home” for students of all faith backgrounds (or none). The relationships built between students and members, and us and Newman Parish, are valuable and transformative. Our mission statement that we profess every week is “we thankfully worship God, gracefully welcome all, and joyfully serve campus and community.” To that end, in 1989, ULC became the 2nd congregation in Wisconsin to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation, committing publicly to welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. In collaboration with Newman Parish and Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley, ULC has collected and helped distribute toys for the Festival of Toys since 2011. Finals Week Hospitality has been a joint project with Newman since 2016, serving lunch to hundreds of students from across campus!
We joined JONAH in 2023 out of a desire to be more active in justice issues in our community and the world. Supported by our work and learning around anti-racism, our members became involved in a variety of projects. Several were already involved in JONAH’s Immigration Task Force and work closely with immigrants, planning strategies to keep them and their families safe during the current ICE terrorism. Encouraged by our pastor, Lori Ruge-Jones, we are always seeking ways to engage our students and congregation. We’ve invited speakers on Immigration, LGBTQIA+, and raised money for a variety of charities over the years, on and off campus, in the US and abroad, including supporting students, responding to natural disasters, and assembling 40 solar powered light and recharging kits for the people of Ukraine. We are grateful for opportunities to live our mission everyday, working with students, campus, and community toward a more just world.
