Ruined for Life! – by SARAH ROGERS

This is the motto of JVC in the USA, and I have to say I rather like it!

The motto comes from the “brilliant ideas man” Jack Morris SJ, who set up JVC out of Portland Oregon in the 1950s. Back in November 2005, I had the chance to talk to Dave Hinchen, who was involved with introducing JVC to the East Coast in the mid-70s. Dave explained to me that all the branches of JVC in the US were set up directly by Jesuits, and that the four values started as three values which sprang directly from the Early Church in the book of Acts, as well as from Jesuit ideals. The three values were Christian community, simple lifestyle and social justice: the first was later split into community and spirituality as social changes loaded the words “Christian community” with too specific a meaning.

In 1980, for the first time, a branch of JVC was managed by a non-Jesuit. (This worked so well that when the British Jesuits decided to set up JVC here, they were determined that it would be run by non-Jesuits.) Intriguingly, almost all staff in the different JVCs that I spoke to are former volunteers.

At its biggest, JVC throughout the States had 500 volunteers per year! But JVC East decided quite deliberately to rein in their growth. There was a good community spirit within the whole group, and they didn’t want to sacrifice this to “success” as defined by maximum numbers. Now JVC has about 350 volunteers per year spread across the USA. JVC USA has 12,000 former volunteers! I met several of them as I visited other Jesuit works in the States, and all said that they have an immediate affinity with former JVCs, no matter what work they did or what city they were based in. There is an immediate trust and a sense of shared values. I have seen this amongst former volunteers of JVC here in the UK too, at events, pub evenings and parties where complete strangers seemed to get on almost instantly, as if they shared something important.

Dave Hinchen loves the “RUINED FOR LIFE” slogan, he said, “because life is never the same again after an experience of solidarity like this. The real good is in what volunteers do with the rest of their life”. From my own experience as an ex-staff member, I believe he’s right. And when I spoke to the current JVC East Manager, Kate Haser, she said that while many things change, “some important things are the same: our mission, the four values, the community life and how formative and shocking the JVC year is for everyone, and the real first-hand contact with people in poverty”.

Tom Gaunt, a Jesuit sociologist currently based in Washington, recently did some research into the impact Jesuit volunteering had on volunteers. From the results, he found the values of the volunteer’s experience “do not fade away as volunteers grow old, start families, and develop careers. The values of JVC maintain their level of importance in the lives of volunteers year after year.” What Tom picks out most strongly is the relationships that are formed during the year, and the way of thinking that influences people. He quotes one former volunteer as saying “The food for thought in spirituality is still with me. The JVC experience was a strengthening of my ‘other-directedness,’ and a reinforcement to be a courageous Christian.” Tom concludes by saying that it isn’t any one value that matters, but the combination of them all- “The JVC experience is transformative not just because it places individuals in situations and environments that are different from their own, but it does so in the context of community and prayer.”

The UK Jesuit Province is currently developing their volunteering opportunities, both part-time and full-time, nationally and internationally. If you would like to contact Sarah with your thoughts or ideas on the subject, you can e-mail her at: sarahjerogers@lineone.net

Sarah Rogers is currently Director of Jesuit Volunteering throughout Britain, working with Jesuit organizations that have volunteers in the UK and overseas, part-time and full-time. She was Project Coordinator and then Manager of JVC between 2002 and 2005, which is how she got sucked in to the Jesuit world! (She can’t seem to leave, which she blames on the Examen and a truly inspiring spiritual director).