Below is information about the Episcopal Service Corps captured from their website. Visit their website here for more information.
History In the 1980's, a handful of Episcopal year-long young adult service projects started in cities across the country. While not all continued, over a 20 year period programs developed in many major cities. Although programs grew separately, these grassroots programs shared a vision of young adults living in intentional community, serving their neighborhoods, sharing in faith formation, and discerning vocational direction.
In the early 2000's, six programs came together to consider an on-going relationship primarily to meet their needs. They developed relationships with the Forum of Theological Exploration and Trinity Wall Street, they developed a common application, hired a part-time admin, and held an annual retreat for program participants. By 2008, they called this loose collaboration the Federation of Episcopal Domestic Internship Programs.
The Federation proving unwieldy and program directors started to ask: what can we do better together than we can do on our own? In conversations with founding partners, the program directors were encouraged to develop a network and the Episcopal Service Corps were born. Initially ESC existed to strengthen existing program, recruit participants, and plant new programs. In 2009, it formed a Board of Director and hired an Executive Director to broaden its vision and enhance the leadership.
ESC identity was changing from a group of inward-lloking programs to a network, a community of communities, and a part of a transformational movement. Trinity Wall Street provided start-up funds for 12 new programs in 2 years and helped fun an Executive Director to facilitate growth. in 2009, ESC received a gran from the Episcopal Church that helps ESC continue to grow and flourish.
After a period of rapid growth of both programs, 6-30, and participants, 46-200, ESC is being more intentional about measured and qualitative growth. It has become a network of programs, a self-sustaining community of communities, and a part of a movement of spiritual and social transformation. ESC nurtures programs in their particular gifts and callings while it promotes the sharing of best practices, nurture new leaders, practices mutual accountability, and sparks a new vision for young adults in the Episcopal Church.
Vision Following Jesus as intentional communities of service, justice, and prayer.
Mission The mission of Episcopal Service Corps is to develop and support a national network of intentional communities in the Episcopal Church. Our communities are marked by young adults:
Serving others in solidarity, promoting justice in community
Deepening spiritual awareness and vocational discernment
Living simply in intentional Christian community
Applications Applications will be accepted for those 21-29 years of age. You can also visit their timeline page for more information about the processes. Apply today!