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