JVC is not about four separate areas, which we “do” independently of each other. Living simply is a value choice, and an important aspect of community life. Faith is not an academic or theoretical position: it is the bedrock of our desire for justice. Jesuit vocation is based on a tension - how can we be active and contemplative at the same time? JVC carries this tension too.

Community JVC volunteers commit to living in small intentional communities of 4 - 5 people, placed in Britain’s inner cities. In a society that encourages us to think and behave as self-interested individuals, volunteers chose to live a different way of life, sharing JVC life with a diverse group of people from different cultures, working through the tensions and celebrating the joys. In working out how to share meals, time, money and prayer, each group builds a different community and learns the value of it for themselves.

Spirituality Volunteers come from many different backgrounds and different places on their own faith journey. What they share is an openness to explore spirituality in their own lives. Throughout the year, and during the summer, volunteers discover resources within the Ignatian tradition which can help them make sense of their own spirituality, to integrate their faith with their concern for justice and for one another.

Simple Lifestyle In a society which tries to tell us that we are what we buy, JVC volunteers refuse to measure success by those values. Our volunteers choose to live in economically deprived areas, to give their time and talents to change society. They choose to limit their income to a similar level to those they work among. Simple lifestyle though, is not just about money but a change of focus; learning to live on little, volunteers learn to live generously – to care for the earth and for others.

Social Justice JVC volunteers work with people on the margins of our society. By doing big things like teaching someone to read for themselves, and small things like making a cup of tea, they are alongside those left behind by society. By choosing to spend time on the edge, volunteers learn about the structures that keep people marginalised. Their work challenges these structures as well as assisting those trapped by them, and gives a glimpse of the better world we believe is possible. Our “Visions of the Unseen City” project grew out of the social justice aspects of the volunteers experience.