Mennonite Weekly Review

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After 35 years without a Mennonite Voluntary Service connection, Rochester Area Mennonite Fellowship is waiting to welcome a new crop of young adult volunteers.

Andrew Langdon, Nathan Klassen, Ben Price and Sylvia Klassen, members of Rochester Area Mennonite Fellowship, stand by their church sign. — Photo provided by MMN

In August, Rochester will join 21 other locations in the United States as a voluntary service site, for a second time.

Thirty-five years ago, Rochester was a site for a service unit administered by Eastern Mennonite Missions.

People in Rochester remember this unit fondly. These memories, and a new desire to connect with the community, led the congregation to put together a proposal to bring MVS back to the area.

“As we were thinking about what should come next for our congregation, we kept coming back to MVS. Many of us work full-time and aren’t able to offer all the services we would like to, but we see the MVS unit as an extension of ourselves to the community and a blessing to them,” said Roger Kurtz, a member of the congregation’s MVS planning committee.

The Rochester area has a population of more than 1 million, and has a long history of social activism. It was home to suffragette Susan B. Anthony and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The area is home to many educational institutions, and boasts a booming music and arts scene.

Participants in Rochester will have opportunities to serve alongside a broad range of organizations focusing on restorative justice, advocacy for migrant farm workers, hospitality for the homeless and health care for underrepresented populations, among others.

“This is a congregation that was already involved in a lot of ministries in the community and had a holistic approach to ministry,” said Hugo Saucedo, MVS director. “MVSers need support as they discern their own call, and Rochester will be a very nurturing environment for them.”

MVS is a service program of Mennonite Mission Network.

In recent years, MVS has seen a boost in participant numbers. This year the program is hosting 100 participants, and applications for next year point to more growth.