Grand Haven: Church of the Dunes UMC recently unveiled the completed Soul Box project, an art collaboration that displays 1,406 origami boxes representing lives lost in Michigan to gun violence in an average year.
MADELYN STEINBECK
Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Grand Haven: Church of the Dunes UMC
On Sunday, February 22, 2026, at Grand Haven: Church of the Dunes United Methodist Church, the sanctuary was wrapped with a display featuring 1,406 origami Soul Boxes.
While the display remains available for viewing at the church, it also played an active role in that Sunday’s worship service. The service focused on our own privileges and how our personal perspective on privilege protects us from gun violence, while also providing an opportunity to address it. You can listen to the sermon through the recorded Sunday worship livestream.
Each Soul Box represents a victim of gun violence — including accidents, gun violence, and suicide — in Michigan in an average year. The boxes were made individually and decorated by volunteers. Some feature the faces and names of those individuals lost due to gun violence. These boxes were then woven together to create a thirty-two-foot-long art display honoring the lives lost.
Valerie Martin, organizer of the Church of the Dunes’ Gun Safety/Violence Prevention Task Force, says the project is “a very impactful sight when you see it all together. Just the large number of victims the state of Michigan loses each year. It really puts a personal lens on what the impact is for all of us.”
The project is a multi-year collaboration between Church of the Dunes and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven. The completed Soul Box display was officially unveiled at St. John’s on Saturday, January 31, 2026, during an installation presentation attended by community leaders, including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. This display is available for circulation at other venues. Call the church at 616-842-7980 for more information.
Learn more on the national Soul Box Project website.
The publication of this article was made possible thanks to generous financial gifts from local United Methodist churches in Michigan through Ministry Shares. Thank you! Learn about the impact of Ministry Shares on mission and ministry in Michigan and around the world.
Last Updated on March 25, 2026