Love Our Neighbor │ Justice, Advocacy, Campus Ministry

Social Justice is how we proclaim the good news of Christ for all of creation. At UniLu, it includes volunteering, stewardship, in-gathering, knitting, cooking, serving, prayer, and service on boards of directors - ways we encounter God in the world around us as we seek to bring about the promised Reign of God.

Social Justice themes

Our Social Justice themes change as the congregation and the needs around us change -- here are a few of the missions we are supporting and mission partners we are engaged with currently:

  • Crop Hunger Walk -- challenge your neighbors and friends, walk in solidarity with others, and raise money to help those who hunger become self-sustaining.
  • Heart and Home Collaborative -- by serving as a host for a rotating women's shelter in 2014, University Lutheran committed our volunteer efforts and our space to some of those in our county who have no shelter.  
  • ELCA Malaria Campaign -- Our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, conducted a multi-year campaign which wrapped up in January 2016 to raise money and awareness around the prevention of malaria.  Working with the United Nations and thirteen partner countries in Africa The ELCA Malaria Campaign funds programs of companion churches and Lutheran partners in education, prevention and treatment of malaria.
  • Other topics of interest to our congregation include: human rights in Palestine, racial justice in America, foster parent support, the South Bay Sanctuary Convenant group, the (now lifted) ban on vehicle habitation in Palo Alto, alternative gift-giving through Lutheran World Relief, environmental stewardship and sustainable / ethical production of food.
  • Housing is important to us at UniLu, and one year we made birdhouses in support of Habitat for Humanity.

God's Work, Our Hands day of service

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In 2015, University Lutheran Church coordinated with Bethel Lutheran Church in Cupertino on a wide range of service projects in the community for our denomination-wide day of service, both in the community and on our church campuses.  

Service projects for 2015 were
  • Ecumenical Hunger Project (10-15 volunteers)
  • Stocking shelves and assembling food boxes in East Palo Alto
 
  • Acterra Land Stewardship Program (15-20 volunteers)
  • Removing invasive plants at the new O’Keefe preserve in Los Altos
 
  • Gleaning @ Cupertino Farmers’ Market (3 volunteers)
  • Collecting and organizing produce for donation to a local food pantry
 
  • Habitat for Humanity ReStore (6 volunteers)
  • Sorting and marking donations, or working the floor at ReStore Santa Clara
 
At UniLu:
  • Car Kits for the Homeless--Need a coordinator at UniLu!
  • Assemble kits of toiletries, food, and other necessities to keep in your car to give to those in need
 
  • Diaper Drive for Baby Basics
  • Bring packs of disposable diapers for distribution by a local charity
 
  • University Lutheran Signage Project
  • Help restore signs around UniLu’s campus
 
  • Habitat for Humanity Bird House Raffle
  • Support Habitat and get a chance to win a bird house hand-decorated by UniLu kids!
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Temporary Women's Shelter

Since 2014, University Lutheran Church has hosted Heart and Home Collaborative's temporary cold weather shelter for women for six weeks each winter.  The shelter will be housed at Uni Lu from January 13 - February 23 and will move to another church from February 24 - April 8. UniLu would like to invite all local students, congregants, College Terrace neighbors, and community members to engage with the shelter through volunteer opportunities to  provide a meal, volunteered your time and resources, support shelter staff, and help our guests feel at home! Read more here.

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1611  Stanford Avenue,  Palo Alto,  California   94306  |   650.857.9660

Our church sits in an ancestral homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Christian colonizers forced their ancestors into missions and seized their land. We grieve the loss of indigenous lives, the destruction of indigenous culture, and the commodification of indigenous land. God calls us to a right relationship with this land and its past, present, and future caretakers. Muwekma neighbors are a sovereign people. May we live in solidarity with them and repair Creation with all.
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