WHERE

The home base for Project 12 is the Jesus People USA (JPUSA) community in the inner city of Chicago. JPUSA, which began in 1972, is one of the largest and longest-lasting urban intentional communities in America, with a rich history rooted in the 1960s Jesus movement.

Jesus People USA has long been involved with inner-city families struggling with poverty, hunger, and homelessness. (See ccolife.org for more on some of our outreaches to our poorer neighbors.) Matthew 25:40 expresses one of the core callings of our life together: "And the king [Christ] will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me'" [NRSV]. The implications of God's concern for the poor and oppressed has had huge implications in our understanding and our actions, not only locally but also nationally and even internationally.

Though with distinctives of our own, we interact with and profit from New Monastic communities, along with Christians in various other historic streams. We hold to Evangelical distinctives such as the primary authority of Scripture, and have always been open to and learned from other expressions within the Body of Christ worldwide. We do not believe any one church or denomination holds "the whole truth"; instead, we believe that we all need one another's input to move toward wholeness. JPUSA has always been a ministry as much or more than a community, and as such we seek a balance avoiding either shallow trendiness or self-satisfied "orthodoxy."

JPUSA since 1989 has been a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church, a forward-looking egalitarian group with its international headquarters and renowned North Park Seminary within a few miles of JPUSA's 920 Wilson address.

We sponsor the well-known annual Cornerstone Festival, a celebration of arts, learning, and music, each summer. Again, this emphasis on the freedom of the artist to express herself is rooted in our history. REZ (Resurrection) Band, Cornerstone magazine, and Cornerstone Press (book publisher), all offer artistic evidence. The festival speakers each year offer an example of some of the themes Project 12 students may encounter.

JPUSA's statement of faith outlines our basic understanding of the gospels and God's calling on our lives. We continue to grow in understanding both intellectually and via hands-on experience. Project 12 students will experience this shared life as part of their ten month journey.