Board of Trustees

The 2025 Board of Trustees meet the 4th Sunday of each month.

2026 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

President Chrissie Shearer, Vice President Jeff Benoit, Secretary Jill Dening, Treasurer Jane Cloos At Large: Tom Cody, Janet Cortright, Donnette Pinkerton

Board of Trustees Pledge: Recognizing God as our Infinite Source and Power, we, the servant leaders of Unity Spiritual Center of Lansing, are anchored in the spiritual practices of meditation, tithing and visioning. Thank you, God, for the opportunity to love and to serve!

 Chrissie Shearer  President.Email Chrissie Shearer

Chrissie is in her the 3rd year of her second term on the board and brings a wealth of experience from her professional life.  She is a master of meeting efficiencies and efficacies and brings great joy and enthusiasm.

Email Tom Cody

Tom, an active member of our facilities team, was elected to the board  in 2025.  A long-time member of Unity, Tom brings a wealth of ideas and skills.  He was a valuable team member in the rebuilding of our deck, the refiurbishing of our pump house and the refreshing of our activity room rest rooms.

Jill Dening 

Email Jill Dening

has been an active member of Unity since we were located on Marshall Street.  She has been active on a number of our ministry teams - Earthcare, Hospitality, Tech Team and more.  She brings wonderful skills with details and organization. Jill was elected in 2023

Jane Email Jane Cloos

has served as treasurer several times over her 30 year tenure with Unity.  She is well-versed in financials and delves deeply into the reports to insure that Unity is expertly accounted!  Jane was re-elected for her second term in 2024

Members at Large

Email Donnette Pinkerton       

Donnette Pinkerton brings wonderful organizational skills and is currently a member of our Inclusion Team and Hospitality Team.  She also lead a safety plan team to use in the event of any emergencies.

Email: Jeff Benoit 

Jeff Benoit   Jeff heads up our Administrative Team as well as our Event Rental Team. Under his leadership, our building has helped us become a great partner with other community organizations as well as increasing our rental income stream.  Entering the 1st year of his second term, Jeff has also served as BOT Vice President in 2024 and 2025.

FULL DISCLOSURE:  The bylaws of USCL permits Board Members to hold paid positions at Unity Spiritual Center of Lansing, but they cannot vote on anything which has an impact on their compensation.  As of June 2025, we have a Financial Peer Review Team to insure assets of USCL are properly controlled, allocated and recorded.  The Financial Peer Review Team is comprised of Nic Nicodemus, Peggy Higginbotham and Karla Janing.  They review financials bi-annually.  The results are shared with the membership.

In 2026, Jane Cloos is employed as the Office Manager and Donnette Pinkerton as the Sunday Assistant.