Program: Julian Year
Location: Chicago, IL
Director: Lora Walsh
|
|
|
We invite participant to explore the Julian Year, a yearlong program for young adults in Chicago, Illinois seeking to “live the questions now” – working to better understand themselves in relation to the world and in relation to God.
Inspired by the 14th century English mystic Julian of Norwich who lived in a small dwelling attached to her parish church as she engaged in contemplative prayer. The Julian Year is a small, intentional community of young adults working at: simple living at home, meaningful work at an internship site with or on behalf of those in need, spiritual development both in community as well as individually, and public life leadership development. This yearlong experience will promote inward and outward growth of its participants and develop leaders for the world and for the church.
The Julian Year is affiliated with Episcopal Charities and Community Services in the Diocese of Chicago. It is an eleven month program with 6-8 participants. While the program is distinctly Episcopalian, we are open to considering participants of other faith traditions. Along with a full-time staff, local Episcopal parishes will partner with the Julian Year to participate in community and spiritual development.
A Julian Year participant will:
- Live in community, simply. Julian participants need to be open to living fully in community. This may be a group unlike those that you have been a part of before. There will be many opportunities for the group to bond, but each individual must be ready to embrace this lifestyle. This experience will be difficult for those who treasure their privacy, or who will not be able to commit themselves to fully invest in the program and the larger community. There will also be a larger community of faith that will be open to the Julian through parish partners.
Simple living is a key component of the Julian experience. Each individual will need to be ready to live in community, sharing responsibilities for cleaning and leadership. There will be a stipend paid for the individual’s costs, but this is not a large sum of money, and program members should be prepared to live a lifestyle free of luxury, conducive to contemplation and uplifting others.
- Lead. Learn and develop practical skills of public life leadership. PACT, a local city-wide social justice organization will conduct trainings on tools and habits of public life leaders. Leaders will have a chance to put these tools to use alongside PACT leaders who affect change on larger social injustices affecting young adults in Chicago.
- Work. Julian’s will be working approximately 4 days a week in a variety of public ministries and/or congregations around Chicago. For some, this will represent the first taste of a ‘full-time’ job. For others, they may have experience with similar work. While you will have some input and role in determining what your placement will be, it will be important for each individual to have the flexibility and courage to take on new challenges, and to use the skills and experience you bring with you to purposes you may not have considered before. You may be working in an unfamiliar setting, but you will have the support and solidarity of the community of the program. Supervision will be provided.
- Grow spiritually. The Julian Year will be rooted in the spiritual growth and development of the individuals who come together to form the program. This is an excellent opportunity to take your faith life to another level, and to refresh your thirst for God. Regardless of what your previous faith life was like, you have the chance to learn from and teach other young people about what it means to be a Christian. While it is not a requirement for Julian’s to be Episcopalian, the program will be rooted in the Anglican tradition, and so non-Anglicans will need to have a high level of curiosity and a commitment to learning about the Episcopal Church.
A Julian Year participant is:
- Eager to develop your inner spiritual life, rooted in the teaching of the Episcopal tradition.
- Eager to live with 6-8 other young adults and contribute to creating a home-life together that is supportive.
- Eager to spend time reflecting on their own life experiences and listen to those of others.
- Willing to take some risks: relating outside of your ethnic, racial or spiritual background; challenging and strengthening your inner spiritual life; practicing discipline of living simply and in community; learning about and practicing public life leadership
- Shaping and creating the inaugural year of the Julian Year; We are looking for participants who will make the program a success and will make it better for future generations of young adults
- A young adult who is a recent college graduate or has comparable work or college experience.
This program is not for you if:
- you are only looking to gain work experience in the service sector this program is not for you.
- you are rigid in your beliefs or ideas or uninterested in your own inner-growth.
We invite you to apply for this program if what we have stated above appeals to you. In its inaugural year, we hope that the Julian Year creates a strong foundation in the participant’s lives and participants can also create a strong foundation for the program. We look forward to hearing from you!
|
|
