Vern Visick came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus to serve an ecumenical Campus Ministry, centered at Pres House, with a Danforth Study special assignment to study religion and politics, and student development around spiritual and ethical issues. He worked there from 1975-1998, and earned the Francis Asbury award for “creativity in campus ministry programming” in 1996.
While in Madison he helped organize and then led for fifteen years the Agenda for a Prophetic Faith in Madison, the largest and longest running series of lectures on religion and politics in the country. And he did a lot more.
Vernon Mansell Visick was called home Sunday evening June 18, 2017, after a life of self-giving service, dying peacefully in his sleep after a brief kidney infection at the age of 78.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Friday, September 22nd, at 5:00 P.M. at the First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI 53703. A reception will follow.
I remember many conversations with Vern as he encouraged news coverage of various events in the Madison community over many years, which often started when I picked up the phone and heard his distinctive deep voice on the other end. He invested himself deeply in what he believed and worked hard to bring believers together.
More of his life’s story (from which the above lines were taken) can be read at The Agenda for a Prophetic Faith website.