A new church has opened in the Eastside Lansing space that formerly hosted Michigan Homegrown Music.
Barefoot Christian Church moved into the 3,000 square foot space at 2312 E. Michigan Avenue at the beginning of June. Lansing Eastsider, Pastor Noah Filipiak, started his church about a year and a half ago, and has been gradually expanding. Initially, the congregation met at other churches and community spaces, but steady growth forced them to look for a more permanent location.
“We just really wanted to stay on the Eastside,” Filipiak says. “We really wanted to be approachable, in a place that’s authentic. The thing I like about the Eastside is that there’s a lot of diversity and a lot of personality. There’s a lot of distinct voices that are really fun to be around.”
Michigan Homegrown Music will continue hosting its open mike nights at 8:30 p.m. every Thursday.
“We just thought it was a really neat thing they were doing in the community,” Filipiak says.
Filipiak says Barefoot Christian Church is doing what it can to improve the Eastside neighborhood. Right now the non-denominational church has roughly 60 adult members and will likely expand.
“We’re not blowing down any walls or anything, but we’re growing slowly and surely,” he says. “We’re very relationship-based. We try to define church as not just a place you go on Sunday.”
Source: Noah Filipiak, Barefoot Christian Church
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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