This story is part of In Keeping the Faith, a series exploring modern faith.
Every service at the First Church of Cannabis begins with the same ritual:
“I love you,” said Bill Levin, Grand Poobah, standing in front of a lectern on stage at a service in February.
The two congregants in the pews — one of which was Levin’s wife, Roo – echoed his words: “I love you.”
Levin: “I love you.”
Congregants: “I love you.”
They did this exchange five times. Every time “I love you” was said, attendees turned in a different direction. North, south, east, west — then once up into the air to spread the love out into the universe.
Levin, 71, founded the church in 2015, but he’s used the phrase as a personal greeting for roughly 30 years. “It’s just always been there in my adult life. ‘Hi, I love you’ is how to greet people properly.”
Before the sermon began that night, Levin waited outside the sanctuary doors, smoking a cigar in the cold evening air.
Then he made his entrance. A walk-on rock ‘n’ roll song played as he strolled down the aisle between the pews. Roo cheered: “Wooooo!” A neighbor sat on the other side with his service dog, clapping.
Levin stopped to hug both people before getting up on stage, framed by an image of a cannabis leaf. “Stand up! We’re going to do something fun,” he said.
That’s when the “I love you’s” started. Throughout Levin’s sermon, sound effects played – kind of like the rim shots on late-night comedy talk shows or the “Charge” bugle call at basketball arenas. Roo walked up to light seven candles near the stage.
The sermon, which mocked the somber tone of some church services, was short and energetic.
“Some of the best rest you will ever get is at a sermon. I am not going to be that long-winded buffoon in a dress screaming at you for four hours while you nap,” Levin said.
“Churches bring you down. We want to bring you up.”
Listen to Bill and Roo Levin talk about the importance of spreading love.
This was the first service of the 2026 “season” at the First Church of Cannabis, which Levin created with a rebellious spirit.
Levin, a cannabis advocate, had been thinking about forming his own church when the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) started working its way through the Indiana state legislature.
The original bill would have allowed individuals or companies to deny service to customers whose lifestyles or sexual orientation conflicted with their religious beliefs. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who later became Trump’s vice president, signed the bill into law – making national headlines and drawing protests. (The bill was later amended.)
The bill, Levin said, “was the slingshot. He wanted to build a church where compassion and love for all was built into its roots. Cannabis serves as the sacrament.
Photos show a large attendance at the opening day on July 1, 2015.
“We had a great service,” Levin said. “We didn’t light a joint. People were disappointed. But (expletive) ’em. It was about the religion. It’s not about the joint.”
Much like the Christian church has the Ten Commandments that serve as guidelines for how to live, the First Church of Cannabis has the Deity Dozen.
“We are a religion that has cannabis as a sacrament, but our whole religious practice, you know, that’s only one out of 12 things. Our religion teaches you how to be a better person.”
The Deity Dozen
- Treat everyone with love as an equal.
- The day starts with your smile every morning. When you get up, wear it first.
- Help others when you can. Not for money, but because it’s needed.
- Treat your body as a temple. Do not poison it with poor quality foods and sodas.
- Do not take advantage of people. Do not intentionally hurt anything.
- Never start a fight… only finish them.
- Grow food, raise animals, get nature into your daily routine.
- Do not be a “troll” on the internet, respect others without name calling and being vulgarly aggressive.
- Spend at least 10 mins a day just contemplating life in a quiet space.
- Protect those who can not protect themselves.
- Laugh often, share humor. Have fun in life, be positive.
- Cannabis, “the Healing Plant” is our sacrament. It brings us closer to ourselves and others. It is our fountain of health, our love, curing us from illness and depression. We embrace it with our whole heart and spirit, individually and as a group.
Practicing what they preach
For almost 10 years, the Levins and members of their congregation have been cooking and serving warm meals to folks experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis.
Bill Levin started this work after spending an evening with Hearts In Hand Homeless Outreach, where he entered a homeless camp for the first time. It was dark, cold and rainy. He saw an Army veteran living in a refrigerator box.
Now, every Tuesday, he and Roo bring “something mom would cook” to roughly 100 folks living on the streets.
“People do not make good decisions on bad diets. If I can get one good decision from one person after a good hot meal, I’ve done my job,” Levin said.
At the end of the day, Levin wants people to know and understand the First Church of Cannabis is a religion — “not just a pot fan club.”
“Getting cannabis legal in Indiana is something we all want. But it is not a priority of the church because the church knows the truth,” he said.
“We’re all smoking, anyway. Taking care of our friends on the street is the most important.”
The First Church of Cannabis meets at 7:30 pm on Wednesdays at 3400 S. Rural St. You can also watch a livestream from their Facebook page.
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Brett Phelps is a community photojournalist for Mirror Indy in partnership with Report for America and Catchlight Local. Contact Brett by email brett.phelps@mirrorindy.org.
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