Martha Schwehn ‘08

by David Hlebain '09

Although it was her connection to the Lutheran Church initially that piqued her interest in St. Olaf, it was the experience of sitting in on a St. Olaf orchestra rehearsal during a visit to campus that made Martha Schwehn know St. Olaf was the place she wanted to attend college.

As a student at St. Olaf, Schwehn was able to nurture her love for music at St. Olaf through a number of musical organizations, among them: the St. Olaf orchestra, Cantorei choir, and oboe lessons.  Despite her love for music, she eventually decided to major in religion while still dabbling in English and environmental studies classes.  In her opinion, that’s the beauty of a liberal arts education: “It isn’t about ‘majoring’ in something; it’s about getting a good hearty taste of many disciplines so that we can enter the world as well-rounded, critical people.”

Considering opportunities for after St. Olaf, Martha was drawn to the Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC), believing that its core tenets of simplicity, social justice, spirituality, and intentional community were values she wanted to actively embrace in her life after St. Olaf.  “In many ways, my St. Olaf education prepared me to embrace those values on a theoretical and spiritual level.  Now it was time, I felt, to learn how to live with them.”

Now a recruiter for LVC, in her previous position Martha was a program staff member at Nativity House, a daytime drop-in center for the homeless in Tacoma, Washington.  In addition to serving two meals and providing a place to stay during the day, the Nativity House also offers other services, such as bus tickets, mail, long and short term storage space, and clothing.  Martha’s work at Nativity House involved juggling many of these responsibilities; she describes everyday as a dance.  Much of Martha’s work involved forming personal, meaningful relationships.  “No matter what tasks I might have had on a particular day, I always had time to mingle with our guests...I might play UNO with Dave the UNO master.  I might sing ‘Amazing Grace’ with Will.  I might sit down with a new stranger… and talk about the weather...Sometimes I got to hear the most incredible stories.  Every day brought new people into our doors, and unforeseeable challenges and opportunities.”

Next year Martha is hoping to go on to seminary and divinity school.  Eventually, she hopes to become a Lutheran pastor and serve in an urban setting where she could continue to carry on with homeless ministry.