Just Speak! Can you believe it? August is almost here again, which means a new cohort of Volunteers are coming in just two months!  This year’s Just Speak! portion of our 2018 National Orientation is open for anyone to attend. Just Speak! is a chance for church and community leaders to encourage, inspire and challenge our incoming Volunteers as they start their year seeking peace with justice. This year’s Just Speak! will be held on Saturday, August 11th at 4:30 PM at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, followed by dinner. One of our favorite Just Speak! speakers is coming back this year – JonathanRead More →

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At the beginning of August, 86 volunteers, 10 staff, and 11 board members gathered in Chicago at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for five days of celebration and challenges at our annual Nation Orientation. The theme of National Orientation this year was “Upholding Commitment to Our Internal Work for the Sake of Community.” The five day stay in Chicago was filled with presentations and trainings for the Volunteers – from conflict resolution training and anti-racism training to self-care conversations and preparation for journey conversations – each hour was carefully planned to prepare and challenge Volunteers before their LVC year began.     TheRead More →

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Anna Jeide, 2016-17 Volunteer Dag Hammarskjold House, Washington, DC About seven months ago I was having lunch with my adviser at Luther College. With graduation fast approaching, I told her how excited I was to begin my year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps. For a long time I had felt called to participate in LVC, drawn by the promise of intentional community, a commitment to simple living, and the opportunity to work for justice. I was thrilled to be offered a position working directly with Latin@s as a Case Worker at La Clínica del Pueblo, a chance to put my Spanish major to good use byRead More →

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Frannie Dyer, 2016-17 Volunteer, Imani House This past May I graduated from Wittenberg University, a experience that tested me in all aspects of life – academically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Throughout college, I was able to further discover and grow into myself – a self that identifies as Lutheran, open minded, and hungry to change the world. I heard about LVC during my junior year of college through chapel talks from LVC alumnae. The idea of a year of service began to sound really appealing. LVC sounded fun, exciting and extremely challenging. I knew that I would be tested in ways I had yet toRead More →

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We were excited to hold a Just Speak! event again at this year’s national orientation. This is a chance for church and community leaders to encourage, inspire and challenge our incoming Volunteers as they start their year seeking peace with justice. Each of the speakers also took up our theme of the inner work of social justice work. Our capstone speaker was the fabulous LVC alum Xavier Thomas, who works at All Peoples Church in Milwaukee, WI. We know that Xavier’s pledge to walk alongside the new Volunteers during their year of service is echoed by so many LVC alumni, and we thank you forRead More →

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