Don't be afraid to ask "dangerous" questions-that's an intern's job. Rock the boat! Do what you can to make the community thing work, and take care of yourself. Both are crucial. Be careful if you play Sojourners volleyball-they're out for blood!
-Julie Wakelee-Lynch (1987)
In 1985, on that fearful precipice of college graduation, a friend from the Catholic Newman Center handed me a copy of Sojourners.
The inside back cover featured a bold advertisement: Consider spending 1986 with Sojourners Community and ministries in inner-city Washington, D.C. In a moment of "road to Damascus"-like clarity, I knew that Sojourners was the place for me to be. Life hasn't been the same since!
Since 1985, when the first interns came from Rhode Island, Ohio, Washington, Kansas, and Tennessee to experiment with radical Christian discipleship, serve in ministry, and live in community, we have been blessed with a diverse stream of saints who have been both converted and instruments of our conversion to the gospel. They ranged in age from 21 to 60; there have been 22 men and 55 women. They were Catholic, Evangelical, Baptist, Lutheran, United Methodist, Mennonite, Christian Reformed, Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, and Quaker. They came from as far away as Germany, England, Scotland, Canada, and New Zealand, as well as California, Mississippi, North Dakota, Iowa, and New York.
In the unfolding story of Sojourners Community, our interns are the Greek chorus, always asking us the hard questions, reflecting our life back to us in contemporary ways, keeping us faithful. They bring joy, laughter, dedication, new music, dance, poetry, sweat, tears, courage, and wisdom into our life (as well as miraculous recipes involving second-hand vegetables, government cheese, and grits in bulk).
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