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Advancing Help and Hope: The 40-year tradition of the Johnson Institute
Vernon Johnson, an Episcopal priest in recovery from alcoholism, founded the
Johnson Institute in the 1960s to demonstrate that early intervention in the
disease of addiction is successful. Dr. Johnson and his colleagues created and
taught intervention technology to thousands of addiction counselors and related
professionals throughout America and the world.
Johnson Institute (JI), a national organization for advancement of addiction
recovery solutions, incorporated the Rush Recovery Institute (RRI) and Faith
Partners into its service structure in 2004, launching a fresh, nationwide
campaign to equip people in congregations to respond to problems of alcohol and
other drugs.
The Johnson Institute supported the work of Faith Partners for seven years
in the development and piloting of a “congregational team ministry.” Over that
same period, the Rush Recovery Institute focused on survey research and
education technologies to inform clergy and congregations about addiction
illness. RRI was founded by Stockton Rush, a descendent of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first physician to recognize
alcoholism as a disease in his famous research paper of 1785.
Trish Merrill, a founder of Faith Partners, and Director of the Rush Center of
the Johnson Institute pledges, “Together, we will mobilize clergy and people of
faith to develop caring communities that understand, honor and support
addiction recovery. Together, we will promote prevention and early intervention
of alcohol and other drug problems. And together, we will strive to make a real
difference in people’s lives, working for the benefit of generations to come.”
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