As many of you know, the Johnson Service Corps is named after Margaret “Callie” Johnson, a long time parishioner of The Chapel of the Cross and a retired librarian in the UNC School of Nursing. In the fall of 1998 Margaret passed away leaving her estate to the parish and the following spring the vestry formed an Intern Exploration Committee charged with developing a program, which was to be named after Margaret Johnson. The Johnson Intern Program, as it was then called, welcomed its first cohort, a group of three young adults, to Carrboro in 2000. The rest, as they say, is history.
On May 20 we were delighted to host so many of you for our 20th anniversary celebration. In attendance were members of that very first cohort (and their mentors) all the way through to some from our incoming 21st cohort who will join us this August. We were also joined by former staff, board members, partner organization supervisors, and long time supporters of the program. It was wonderful to celebrate the previous two decades of ministry as we prepare for the next two, and beyond!
For the full anniversary celebration recording, please click here.
However, we’re also pleased to send you some highlights below.
- Early Years: The Rev. Elizabeth Shows Caffey, Executive Director from 2000-2002, was joined in conversation by Aleta Payne, Executive Director from 2017-2019, to share about the program’s founding and very early years. Click here.
- Anniversary Video: Debbie Vu, founder of IronWorx Media and a 2016-17 alum, produced a video for us documenting some of the history of our program and capturing some of the aspects that make our community so special.
- Mentor Moment: Chuck Hennessee, a mentor in 2018-19 and 2019-20, shared a reflection on what the experience has meant to him.
- Celebration Video and Slideshow: Many people in our community submitted brief video clips and messages that we compiled into a single video along with a few pictures. The video includes special messages from:
Please enjoy and feel free to share these videos with your friends and colleagues!