By By Mary Ellen Mitchell When we were 24 (in 2005), Meridith and I took a trip up the east coast to visit intentional Christian communities and imagine what our futures might be. Our last stop was the Bruderhof, which Meridith described as “kind of Amish, kind of Catholic worker.” We stayed with a family, worked in the laundry, and saw their peace barn. Years passed, Lydia’s House was born, and we looked to lots of places to get help and inspiration for this work. In 2019 Bethany Kurtz came to us, as she was leaving the Bruderhof, having discerned that
Our New Atrium Space
Our new Atrium space is finished and open for children to interact and learn about God! The past month our friends Dan Aerni, Dane Miller, Dennis Bishop and Steve Whitlatch have been hard at work preparing our new classroom space for our Wednesday night Atrium religious education program. We put in a new wall in order to have two separate classrooms to divide up our age groups, repainted, and set up all of the different interactive stations. Putting in the drywall and getting it painted. About two weeks ago, all of the construction was completed and
The Warmth of Other Suns
A book review By Honna Brown One positive fruit of limited life at Lydia’s House (due to the pandemic) is that we have been able to set aside some time for shared reading. Together as a staff we have been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s book “The Warmth of Other Suns.” The book follows three main characters on their journey during a time in American history known as The Great Migration, which is one of the most underreported stories of the 20th century. The book, based on more than a thousand interviews, retells the story of each character and why he or
A Year With Lydia’s House
by Bethany Kurtz The last weeks of November had us all stuck in a Covid quarantine. The days seemed to last for years and the nights even longer. But as I spent that time by myself I was able to reflect on the year at Lydia’s House, just as my time was coming to an end. Coming to Ohio was a huge decision for me. I spent most of life in NY and when I landed in West Norwood, it was a leap of faith. It’s been one incredible year working here at Lydia’s House. When I began working
HOUSE NOTES
By Mary Ellen Mitchell Can it be said enough that it’s been a strange year? At Lydia’s House we have nothing to bench mark this against, but we keep on keeping on. Through later summer and into fall we continued to operate our shelter in socially distanced “suites” with kitchenettes and private bathrooms. Meals were largely discontinued while we considered options and scoured the latest updates on the CDC website for where Covid spread was occurring and how to stop it. There were times we felt really low about the lack of community and engagement, and we kept returning to
