The Johnson Intern Program at the Chapel of the Cross is one of six similar programs in the Episcopal Church in the U.S. These programs have evolved to provide young adults a post-baccalaureate opportunity for vocational discernment and spiritual formation. The program also provides an additional opportunity for social outreach for our parish. The program was established in 1999, at which time, the vestry approved three years of financial support from a portion of the bequest of the late Margaret Johnson for whom the program is named.

Thirteen young adults have participated in the year-long program that combines spiritual study, social ministry, and living in Christian community. Spiritual study involves courses in the religion departments at the University of North Carolina and Duke University and participation in several structured retreats throughout the year. Social ministry is achieved in each intern’s employment by one of several community-based social service agencies. Finally, the interns live together for the year in a residential home in the community. Also they are involved in the life of the parish in several ways: teaching in the church school, serving in the choir and as lay readers, assisting in a number of ad hoc parish projects, and speaking to various groups in the parish about their social ministry. Furthermore, a number of parishioners have served as the individual mentors assigned to each of the interns.

Among the first eight interns that completed the program, two have followed a personal call to religious vocation, four are working in social service agencies or in graduate programs for social service, one is in medical school, and one is involved in education administration. There are currently five interns in the program. Each intern that completes the program receives an AmeriCorps educational grant.

The Johnson Intern Program is guided by a board of directors composed of several parishioners, a member of the clergy, a former intern, two of the current interns, and the program director. The program director, Mary Agnes Rawlings, supervises the program on a day-to-day basis and explores opportunities for improving and broadening the program for the future. The program is supported by funds from several sources: payments from the social service agencies that employ the interns, foundation grants, individual contributions, and, for the first three years of the program, a portion of the bequest from the estate of the late Margaret Johnson.

The annual cost of the Johnson Intern Program is approximately $125,000. Because the support from the Johnson estate bequest was limited to three years, other sources of funding will be necessary to continue the program. Coalitions and partnerships with other institutions, social service agencies and churches are being explored with several goals in mind: to broaden the impact and relevance of the program beyond a single Episcopal parish, to add to the opportunities for service for future interns, and to effectively appeal to foundations or other funding organizations for long-term financial support.

In its first three years, the Johnson Intern Program has afforded valuable opportunities for young adults to explore their vocational options in a yearlong experience in practical social ministry in a context of personal Christian spiritual formation. The program has also effectively expanded the commitment of the Chapel of the Cross to Christian social ministry in our community through its support of the work of the young adults in the program. Whether these two worthy achievements can be continued and possibly expanded will depend on the success of acquiring critical financial support.