Visit to Chicago MVS House

Dates October 20-21

On my way back from a “Safe Zone” training at Bluffton University, I made a short visit at the Chicago MVS House.  Like my visit to Madison, I was welcomed with great hospitality! I was met at the bus stop by Katie Vanderheide, a current member of the Chicago MVS unit, who escorted me to the volunteer house. Upon entering the house, among the typical assortment of random objects and posters in volunteer houses, I found rainbow decorations. Katie told me they were put up during the lgbtq Pride in Chicago. By how openly the volunteers spoke about lgbtq inclusion and the rainbows in the house, I knew this was a welcoming place!

I had the privilege of chatting with each of the five members of the unit. I learned that four of the current residents of the unit were in their second year in the community. Two of them were “associate members” volunteering at their placements through a Nazarene program. It was clear by their engagement and treatment by the MVSers in the community that they were full participants in the unit. The MVSers were all active in their host congregation, Chicago Community Mennonite Church (CCMC), which is also a member of the Supportive Communities Network (SCN). I’m thankful that they brought me along to attend Sunday worship at CCMC. An invitation of welcome was given freely during the service and extended to everyone to participate in the church community. Welcoming lgbtq people was named specifically in the sermon given by Ron Adams, the guest preacher. Ron is the pastor of Madison Mennonite Church, which is also a member of SCN and host congregation for the Madison MVS House.

Reuben with members of the Chicago MVS lgbtq
inclusion task force (Center:Hannah, Right:Katie)

During my visit, I went to a coffee shop to chat with Katie Vanderheide and Hannah Klaassen, the local program coordinator for MVS Chicago. CCMC has put together a lgbtq inclusion task force for the MVS unit, which includes Katie, Hannah, Megan Ramer (pastor at CCMC), and two others from the CCMC community. The task force hadn’t met as a group yet, so our conversation was focused on brainstorming various ways CCMC could work to make MVS more lgbtq welcoming. There was concern for a good and sustainable process when working with MVS. Within the MVS program, host congregations play a significant role in the life of their MVS units. The local leadership, made up of participants of the host congregation, is responsible for the long term vision of the unit. Also, local leadership helps in facilitating the organization of the unit and works to make it a healthy and safe environment. Both Katie and Hannah spoke about the importance of making CCMC’s welcome of lgbtq visible to any perspective volunteer applicants to the Chicago unit. They wanted regular discussion about lgbtq inclusion and annual “safe zone” training.

After dinner, I left Chicago to return to Minneapolis with renewed energy and hope! It’s really exciting to see and hear about the work being done by current MVSers, alumni, and their supportive congregations to make MVS a welcoming place for lgbtq people!

Visit to Madison MVS House

Dates June 9-11

I began my journey by traveling to the state known for its cheese. I was met by Joe at the Megabus stop on the University of Wisconsin campus. We went to the Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS) house, where Clayton was waiting to greet me. Both are members of the Madison MVS unit and friends from my years at Goshen College.

L to R: Clayton, Reuben, and Joe

I was impressed during my stay with the hospitality of the Madison MVS house. They planned a balance of fun activities and time to relax. On Saturday, we chatted about our experiences with volunteering, while we toured Madison and enjoyed several outdoor events. Sunday, we spent the morning playing disc golf. Disc sports are important to the Madison community, which has multiple ultimate leagues and disc golf courts.

Early Sunday afternoon brunch, the unit invited members of the Local Leadership Committee and other members of the church to have a conversation about lgbt inclusion in MVS. I brought them up to speed about the events that had taken place with MVS, and was impressed by their understanding of the situation and valued their suggestions and comments. Recently, they had updated their description on the Madison MVS webpage by linking the words “open and affirming” to their homepage to explain what these words meant to their congregation. “Open and affirming” is a phrase used to describe a congregation’s public invitation of welcome to lgbt people. They wanted me to return in the fall to lead“safe zone” training for their congregation, MVS unit, and members of the community. “Safe Zone” training is a service Brethren Mennonite Council provides, which includes education on how to make a welcoming place for lgbt people. They told me about other efforts they were doing to reach out to welcome lgbt people, including having more conversation with the other units. I encouraged them to continue to have these conversations.

It was great first visit to a MVS unit, and I gained more respect and understanding for the program. While there is still need to change some of the policies and structure of the MVS program, it gave me hope to see that MVS Units like Madison are actively working to be more welcoming.

Contact Reuben at kaleidoscope@bmclgbt.org to learn more about this project and arrange a visit to your unit!