Our beloved Virgil Vogt was called home
to Christ on November 2,
2021. After living with Parkinson’s
disease for 14 years, he passed away
peacefully, ready to meet the Lord he so
faithfully served throughout his life.
Virgil Vernard Vogt was born on June 4,
1934 in a little cabin in the Mountains of
Darjeeling, India. His parents, Milton
Christian Vogt (b. 1901; d. 1968) and
Esther Bergey Kulp (b. 1905; d. 1988),
were notable Mennonite missionaries
who served for most of their lives in that
country. At six years old, Virgil was sent
with his older siblings, Merle and
Laverne, on a train to an English boarding school in Darjeeling called Mount Hermon. This was
a formative experience in discipline and self-sufficiency for them as the school year ran from
March to November and they would not see their parents again until Milton and Esther finally
came to visit in June or August. He carried with him all through his life many tales of India from
this time and would enthrall his grandchildren with them: such as when a leopard leapt over their
high garden wall and caught the family dog, only drop him at the very last minute.
The Vogt family returned to the United States on furlough in 1946 and lived in Hesston,
Kansas, near Milton’s family. Virgil attended Hesston College for six years, as at the time it had
both a high school and a junior college. He remained in the states with his Uncle Ralph when his parents returned to India and finished his last two years of undergraduate education at Goshen
College.
Virgil first saw Joan Miller in Hesston College’s cafeteria, where she had a student job.
She, in turn, couldn’t miss him—“he was so handsome and dashing.” It transpired that they
ended up on a double date, but with different people! Once they switched partners, they were
inseparable and started dating at age sixteen, despite the school edict to wait six weeks into the
term. Three years later, on August 14, 1953, they were married at the Mennonite Church in Filer,
Idaho. The honeymoon in Yellowstone was cut short because of grizzly bears, but this was just
the beginning of many adventures in their long life together.
In 1954, the couple moved to Akron, Pennsylvania so Virgil could do service as a
conscientious objector during conscription time at the Mennonite Central Committee. While in
Akron, Virgil attended revival meetings at the Mennonite Church and there, one night, felt a
strong calling to radically serve Christ. As a result, they returned to Goshen for Virgil to attend
seminary and ended up staying in a college dorm where John and Louise Miller also lived. This
was a self-described providential moment in Virgil’s life. The relationship with John served to
foment the radical ideas that they shared and John moved to Evanston to launch the intentional,
communal Christian Community at Reba Place in 1957. Virgil would not be far behind.
During seminary, Virgil and Joan were blessed with the arrival of their first three
children: Dave, Beth, and Barb. After graduating, Virgil collaborated with Reba Place
Fellowship in a summer seminar, “The Church in the City,” but heard that Leo Mennonite
Church near Fort Wayne, Indiana was looking for a pastor. That summer he deliberately
preached his most passionate sermons there every other Sunday to see if their congregation was
ready for the message. They voted unanimously for him to become their pastor, so the family
moved to Indiana. There their daughter Mary was born.
A leader from an indigenous renewal movement in India came to stay with the Vogts for
six weeks and Virgil was deeply moved by his ministry. Following this visit, like his father
before him, Virgil prepared to move to India. He left his post at Leo Mennonite and they all
moved back to the Fellowship at 727 Reba while waiting for a visa in 1962. But, at that time, the
Indian government was not granting visas to missionaries. After nine months of waiting, Virgil
and Joan decided that God wanted them to stay.
During their early years at Reba Place Fellowship, they became a family of seven with
the arrival of Ruth. And when John and Louise Miller were called to serve in Ontario, Virgil
became John’s replacement in the Reba Place Fellowship leadership team in 1969. He was
instrumental in bringing the Charismatic Renewal Movement to Reba and this, in turn, brought
new growth to the community in the 1970s as everyone’s faith deepened. During his tenure,
Reba bought and rehabilitated properties to create affordable housing that still enriches the
Fellowship and surrounding community today. In the 1980s, the Fellowship conducted an
“Overground Railroad” that helped refuges from El Salvador and Guatemala seek asylum in
Canada and the United States. Throughout his life and leadership, Virgil had a strong
commitment to economic and racial justice and continued to consider the challenges of building
a racially integrated church until the end of his life.
In the 60s, Virgil, like others in the Fellowship, lived with his family in a communal
setting with a common treasury—a fundamental part of his vision. While Reba Place eventually
created a congregational option in Reba Place Church, apart from the Fellowship, the Vogts
continued to live in the Fellowship, though the community settings changed as needed. In 1982
he published a book titled “Treasures in Heaven” that describes his philosophy: the Christian
goal of working is to give, not to accumulate for personal desires or security. Devaluation, decay,
theft, or deception are inherent to any investment or venture in this life. To Virgil, one of the true
tests of Christian experience was this economic model wherein the community member gave up
their individual idea of “possession” and worked only with the intent to share and asking when in
need, so that all were provided for and set free. This was true Christian love in a community.
Throughout his life, people across the country and around the world would seek out
Virgil’s support and counsel on intentional community. He became a traveling apostle, visiting
Christian intentional communities in Spain, Korea, Canada, and throughout the United States. He
contributed to the larger Mennonite denomination as managing editor of “Concern: a Pamphlet
Series for Questions of Christian Renewal” from 1961-71, and served with the Illinois
Mennonite Conference as moderator and conference minister to the Chicago Area Mennonite
Churches. Many church leaders sought him out as a mentor. He was an especially intent and
perceptive listener who made his interlocutor feel heard and valued—whatever the subject.
Virgil enjoyed his retreats to the beauty of nature: in the waters of Lake Michigan, where
he windsurfed, and to Door County, Wisconsin, where the Vogt family would often go to camp
in the summer. His gifts extended to woodworking and those who have pieces of furniture or the
other items he created truly cherish their simple but practical design. He lived an orderly life and
once made a desk with dozens of drawers of different but precise sizes—one for each purpose.
On any given day you might find Virgil with Joan singing a hymn at the piano together or
with the addition of some of their many children, grandchildren, or friends. Virgil’s positivity,
passion, and dedication were tireless and inspired us all. In a reflection about his life last year he
wrote: “My cup is full and running over with answered prayer and providential circumstances
every day.”
He meets in heaven his father, Milton, his mother, Esther, and his brothers: Bernard and
Merle Vogt. Living on are his wife, Joan Miller Vogt, and his sisters: Laverne (Dean, dec.)
Nafziger, Elva (Ronnie) Miller, and Myra (Larry) Danielson. His legacy continues on in his
five children, their spouses, and families: Dave and Joan Vogt; Beth and Eric Nordstrom; Barb
and Craig Faris; Mary and Dan Hanchera; and Ruth and Phil Leaman; in his fourteen
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Reba Place Church (https://www.rebaplacechurch.org/support-us) or NorthShore University HealthSystem Foundation (foundation.northshore.org/donate) 

All are welcome to attend a Celebration of Life service December 4, 2021 1:30pm at First Presbyterian Church (1427 Chicago Ave, Evanston, IL 60201) with a reception following at 3:00pm.