JVC Magic: Community Life
If we are going to use the word [“community”] meaningfully we must restrict it to a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have developed some significant commitment to “rejoice together, mourn together, and to delight in each other, make other’s conditions our own.”
M. Scott Peck, M.D., The Different Drum (1988)
All JVC Magis volunteers live in community with other participants. Community life provides opportunities for professional support, personal growth, and spiritual development.
Communities live in modestly furnished houses located by the JVC Magis volunteers. Volunteers generally live among those similar to those they serve. Out of the small stipend the volunteers receive, JVC Magis volunteers pay for rent, as well as utilities and other basic costs of living.
Community life is best compared to family life. Community members share evening meals, pray together, do the household chores, spend time together, and support each other. Community life thrives when members think of the community first, rather than themselves first. Mature, effective communication is also a key to successful community living.
Community is a great source of professional support because JVC Magis volunteers come home from work to a community of fellow students and service workers. Over dinner or watching TV in the living room, communities can talk about their school day, gather ideas from each other, and encourage each other.