LVC remembers Joel Workin

The Reconciling in Christ designation outlined so clearly in the previous post can be applied not only to congregations but to organizations. The Lutheran Volunteer Corps became RIC in 2000 in large part due to their connection with a volunteer with connections to Lutherans Concerned: Joel Workin.

Joel Workin died of AIDS in 1995, and this year while remembering leaders during a fall meeting, LVC recalled an article written by Michael Wilker in 2007 when a new intentional community was named in Joel's honor. He had a huge impact on the organization's move toward greater inclusivity:

Joel's action and the actions of other LVCers did activate a much needed open reflection within LVC about how open and supportive LVC could be to GLB and Questioning volunteers. That year we changed the prospective volunteer interview script to acknowledge that there may be gay men or lesbians in the LVC household communities. The next program year, 1988-89, 10% of the volunteers told their housemates they were gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Thank you, LVC, for your ongoing work to be supportive of all members of your community no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, and thank you for remembering and honoring Joel. You can read the full article here.