intro to Katie
First seen at YAR in September 2006
Hey Folks, I’m Katie Hochstedler, aka KatieHo. I’m young and Anabaptist and I’d like to think I’m radical. Who know’s who’s really radical and who’s not?
I spend my time living in Minneapolis and working for Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Interests as a full-time volunteer. Right now, it is the best way I know that I can be Anabaptist. I’ve been here for almost two years and I’ll be done in August. Then I’m going to move all the way St. Paul and got to culinary school. Before that I was studying at Goshen College and before that I was growing up near Kalona, Iowa.
Something I find amusing about volunteering for BMC is that while I am working with an organization that is involved in both the Mennonite Church and the Church of the Brethren, I have been volunteering through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps and now the United Church of Christ Volunteer Ministries. Neither Mennonite Voluntary Service nor Brethren Voluntary Service will have BMC as a placement so other churches are supporting me.
Something I did recently was give a speech at a conference hosted by BMC and two other faith based lgbt organizations. I was supposed to be provocative as I was speaking to a group of lgbt and allied church people who were mostly older than me. I thought it was a pretty good speech so I’m going to put a link here so you can read it too. It might give you a better picture of me and what I do at work.
June 4th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
What a great idea Katie. With blogs and various forms of online communities becoming more common, I think BMC is a natural fit for using this kind of tool.
I remember when I was taking my first steps towards coming out, the BMC website was a wonderful resource. It took me a few months to get brave enough to send an email to my local BMC group. (Of course they’re the unscariest bunch of people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing!)
This blog could be one more way to reach queer people looking for a safe faith space. It could also be a great way for far-flung BMCers to feel connected.
To echo Katie’s post, I’m also a young Anabaptist who likes to think I’m radical. At the moment I’m a social worker in South-western Ontario. In the fall I’ll be moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, for a term of Mennonite Voluntary Service.
One thing I find interesting, is how as "the church" slowly moves towards accepting lgbtq individuals in their midst, often the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The church’s exclusionary policies and practices are breaking down, but have not yet been replaced with welcoming ones. This seems to mean that decision-making responsibilities get down-loaded to indiviudals. Individuals who will make decions about welcoming or excluding queer people based on their personal opinions, beliefs and biases. We all understand the discrimination that can occur in this kind of set-up, without a larger body (congregation, denomination) to hold accountable. On the other hand, when a queer-friendly individual happens to be in one of these decision-making positions, wonderful things can happen despite the church’s official stance.
So I am left confused, wondering if I should be happy or angry with my conference’s and congregation’s lack of a strong stance. Most of the time I try to be hopeful that Christians everywhere will remember what Jesus said about neighbours.
Hey, having a soap-box is kinda fun - someone else should try it.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Welcome Kirsten, I’m glad you are enjoying the soap-box, that’s what we’re here for.
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the exclusionary policies breaking down but not yet being replaced with welcoming. Does it seem to you this is happening in your congregation? conference? Mennonite Church Canada? Does it seem to be coming from internal change (from inside the church) or external change (from society around the church)?
I must say, it’s been hard for me lately to see the slow movement forward in Mennonite Church USA. I am also trying to stay hopeful and stay involved. As the saying goes, “history is made by those who show up.” I plan to show up, radically. I’ll be posting more on this later.
I also encourage others to try out the soap-box as well.