Based in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC, the Johnson Intern Program (JIP) recruits eight (8) young-adult men and women (college graduates ages 21-30) for ten-month hands-on service placements, leadership training (in the servant leader model), and spiritual formation. Our program is organized around the five values of Communion, Compassion, Co-creation, Collaboration, and Character.
AmeriCorps positions are available (with educational grants and loan deferment) through our affiliation with Catholic Network of Volunteer Services (CNVS). A new component places some interns in businesses with a social justice mission. Our program starts in early September and runs through June.
Our interns receive housing, utilities, a community food allowance, health insurance, plus a modest stipend. A goal of the intern year is to learn to live simply, in alliance with the poor.
The intern residence is a large house within walking distance of many of our intern placements and is convenient to the bus service (which is free). The JIP house is situated in the heart of the lively community of Carrboro, NC, near the community center called Weaver Street Market, and across from the famous Carrboro Farmer’s Market.
The program is organized around four components of social justice, intentional community living, leadership training, and spiritual formation. Interns work a four-day week in Partner Organizations. Our Fridays are reserved for a unique program of spiritual formation and leadership development in the Servant-Leader model. The Johnson Intern Program began in 2000 at The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, and to date has hosted 35 interns.
JIP Interns come from a wide variety of geographic, ethnic, and spiritual backgrounds (see Alumni). They live in intentional community in the JIP house, create a covenant to guide their experience of living together, and share opportunities for common meals, discussion, and devotion. Interns are expected to volunteer within a local spiritual community of their choosing. They are assigned experienced mentors who serve as a friend and guide for their intern year. Each group of interns designs and completes a service project (called Praxis) for the year.
History
In 1998 Margaret (Callie) Johnson bequeathed her estate to The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill, NC. To meet the need for more young adult ministries, the Johnson Intern Program was established and began operation in 2000. In 2005 The Johnson Intern Program became a non-profit corporation and established a Servant Leadership school for the interns and other community members. In 2007 our class increased to 8 interns
Our classes of interns have represented Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Missionary Baptist, Evangelical, Quaker, Mennonite, and United Methodist denominations.
Leadership Training
Leadership development takes place on most Fridays during the ten-month intern year. Leadership training encompasses the participative leadership of the Servant-Leader model, explores issues of social justice and inequality, and incorporates skill-based practices that employ leadership principles in real-life settings. Leadership is examined through the experience of community living, on the job in the placement sites, and through the development and implementation of the Praxis project. You may click here to see our most current training schedule.
Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership was initially conceived by Robert K. Greenleaf, whose Greenleaf Center is still guiding organizations to view leadership as a power-with as opposed to a power-over model.
The concepts of Servant Leadership were brought into a context of faith by Bennet Sims in Atlanta, Gordon Cosby in Washington, DC, and Tim Patterson in Greensboro, NC. Servant Leadership is a style that empowers others. It is organized around three instinctive centers that reside in each of us; the centers that seek security, esteem, and control.
Servant Leadership is about discovering our true selves, understanding and owning our shadow-sides, and moving towards an authentic self that is in communion with creation, is compassionate with ourselves and others, and is in alignment with divine power and purpose. We explore the tenets of Servant Leadership through the sacred texts that have shaped our society. The initial course in Servant Leadership is taught each fall to a class composed of Johnson Interns and other members of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community.
Spiritual Formation
Our focus on spiritual formation has been enhanced by a generous grant from the Trinity Wall Street Grants Program. The three-year grant is allowing us to develop a program for young adults that is based on Servant Leadership and which emphasizes the inward journey through regular spiritual practice.
Five Values
Communion. I am committed to a regular, transformative, centering practice of spirituality and I intend to live the moments of my life increasingly present to life and awake to who I am called to be.
Compassion. I confess my own humanity and acknowledge the heart connection I have with all who share the human condition. I see the light of creation in every person. I embrace people who are different than me, because I understand that we are all one.
Co-Creation. I hear a voice of truth above the clamor of the dominant culture, a voice that asks me to question my culture's assumptions and beliefs. As a servant leader I align my life with this truth and engage with others to be co-creative instruments of justice and peace.
Collaboration. I trust in the abundance of creation to provide all that is needed, so that individuals and groups can collaborate instead of compete. I strive to engage others in full participation and lead in such a way that builds leadership in others.
Character. I am truly accountable to those served and approach opportunities for change with awareness of community assets. I meet commitments on time and act responsibly with public and personal trust. I am accountable for my words and actions.
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