University Lutheran Church

Address: 66 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Years Active: 1925–Present

Tradition: Lutheran

The University Lutheran Church (“UniLu” for short) serves both students at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as populations in the broader area. It was, according to its website, founded in 1925 but relocated to its current Harvard Square location in 1928. In 1989, UniLu agreed to participate in the Lutheran “Reconciling in Christ Program,” which is an opportunity for Lutheran congregations to name and make public their acceptance of worshippers across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Today, UniLu notes that it has “LGBTQIA+ individuals as active members and leaders.” UniLu is also the host of the student-run Harvard Square Homeless Shelter—founded in 1983 by a Harvard Divinity School student—as well as the Harvard Square Summer Shelter, also student-run and founded in 2010. The congregation adds on their website that the Shelter(s) is a “key component of our ministry and witness.”

Sources and Further Information:

https://www.unilu.org/about/history/

https://www.unilu.org/ministries/ministries-and-groups/lgbtq/