Mildred Vannorsdall (1918-2000) was from Ohio but lived much of her life in Chicago working for the Chicago Public Library, having earned her PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Michigan in 1974. She lived out her bold faith with her local Methodist church family and served in many roles, such as church historian, Lay Leader, and Council Chair. Mildred also enjoyed serving with Methodist women’s groups in her church and at the conference and denominational levels.
As part of Mildred’s legacy plans, she designated the Foundation as trustee of her charitable trust.
With “Mildred’s Stories” we are inspired afresh by Mildred’s words in a letter she wrote in 1988 after retiring and returning home to Ohio:
“I have to say that I feel a wonderful sense of freedom even though I also feel that I’m in what [Swiss physician and author Paul] Tournier describes as ‘the middle of the way,’ the time between one’s departure from one secure place, and I had found that in Chicago, and one’s arrival at a new secure place.”
Mildred’s Storytellers share their own experiences of being in “the middle of the way,” between secure places, and how “being the church” makes meaning of their faith journeys.
YouTube Links to videos:
Ave and Lennox
Sophia and Diana
Nura and Sacha
Feel free to share “Mildred’s Stories” in your worship, small groups, town halls, any contextually relevant forum!
We share the videos under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
We would love to hear how you creatively shared these stories! Through this storytelling ministry, we invite you to “holy listening.”
