A Conversation with Victoria Volker

Welcome to Waco Can’t Wait’s first interview! I am looking forward to releasing more conversations like this that highlight people doing valuable work in Waco and McLennan County.

Last month, I had the chance to speak with Victoria Volker, a queer pastor and Co-Founder of Lady Justice House, an LGBTQ+ centered congregation in Waco. We spoke about her coming into her queer and christian identity, the challenges of starting a new church community, and what role the church can play in supporting LGBTQ+ youth in a state that is increasingly hostile towards their existence.

I hope that y’all enjoy this dialogue, and please let me know if there is anyone else you would like me to interview in the future!

Peter Mungiguerra (P) - Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in Waco?

Victoria Volker (V) - So I grew up south of Austin in Buda, and I kind of always knew that I was queer, but I didn’t really act on it. I went to Wellesley for undergrad, and the goal was to get as far away from my home as I could. I loved my women's college experience. Originally, my degree was in American Studies and Teacher Education.

After I graduated, I was dating someone, and we moved to Nashville because she was going to Vanderbilt for grad school. I taught AP U.S. History there. After we broke up, I moved back to Austin, taught there for two years, teaching middle school and high school history. I loved it, but got really burned out from toxic administrations. 

Then I met my current partner. We've been together for four and a half years now. When my partner finished her Ph.D. to become a pharmacist, she had to expand her job search beyond Austin because of the supersaturated pharmacy market, and we ended up here. We hadn't even seen the house that we rented before we showed up. We moved here in January of 2020 and then COVID hit.

P - That must have been a big transition.

V - It was. We were just starting to get our feel of what Waco was like and then COVID hit. I was also starting graduate school at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. As soon as we knew we were going to move to Waco, I immediately started following every Instagram account of ...