Kaydee Kirk (’98-’99) and Peter Spuit (’99-’00) are two Lutheran Volunteer Corps alumni who live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kaydee is a graduate of Augsburg College and lived in Dag Hammarskjold House during her LVC year in Washington, D.C., and Peter is a graduate of Luther College and lived in Imani House during his LVC year in Minneapolis. We caught up with the two of them recently to hear what they’ve been up to and how LVC has continued to impact their lives. Both consider their service year with LVC to be transformational and greatly appreciate the many ways that LVC shaped them. Can you speakRead More →

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Current Milwaukee LVCer Maria Cruse is serving in Milwaukee as a math co-teacher at Shalom High School. Maria lives in the Dorothy Day House. This is a photo of Maria from the Winter’s Farmers Market. Speaking of food, Maria says the following about the power of food to bring together a community, something she’s learned through LVC, “Having community meals has prompted my housemates and me to be more sustainable with our community meal costs and has been an opportunity to cook and eat intentionally. It’s also a time where I can share one of my passions with others – food! I get to learnRead More →

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“You can do it! You can do it!” The encouragement pulsed through the crowd as a young woman pulled herself up onto a signpost above the heaving throngs. Successful, she reached into her knapsack and removed a black camera from within. Flushed with her acrobatic effort she carefully wedged herself up against the pole and pointed her camera at the exuberant crowd and snapped picture after picture. Later when she reviewed the pictures she no doubt saw a multicolored crowd made up of hundreds of thousands of smiling, cheering, diverse marchers – all making up the mosaic of the Women’s March in Washington DC. TheRead More →

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From Rev. Elizabeth Flomo, LVC Recruitment Desk A few days ago, I attended an ISAIAH clergy event in Minnesota (my first time at such an event for primarily clergy & spiritual leaders connected with ISAIAH). There were over 120 clergy and faith leaders gathered, from across MN. The theme was Healing the Breach: Better Together. I was particularly struck by the words of Doran Schrantz, ISAIAH’s Executive Director, calling us to place God and love back and the center of our common life. Doran noted that ISAIAH’s work as a non-partisan organization does not mean staying silent in the face of heresies currently being spokenRead More →

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Lutheran Volunteer Corps Alumni Aaron Schmalzle and Pastor Jared Witt will soon be opening Castle Church Brewing Company in Orlando, FL. Their tag line “brewing community, fermenting love” is one in the same with their mission: to connect people in intentional relationships and partner with others to do the work of Jesus in their community. In a press release that was shared with LVC, they explain their mission statement like this: “Ferment v. to incite or stir up (trouble or disorder). If you are looking for a God who troubles our complacency and stirs up a movement of love in the world, then Castle Church isRead More →

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