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The Evangelical Congregation in

The Order of St Benedict

An Ecumenical and Missional family with roots in the Reformation

who are devoted to following the Gospel of Jesus Christ

as taught by St Benedict  of Nursia

and reformational inspiration of

St Bernard of Clairvaux, OSB/O.Cist.

 

Our Vision

To be a School of Love

Where Christ is our teacher,

Holy Scripture is our text book,

And the World is our classroom.

 

 

 The Congregation’s Guiding Values

 W      Our Baptismal Vows:

o       Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, we turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world;

o       turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as our Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love;

o       being Christ's faithful disciples, obeying his Word and showing his love;

o       and devoting ourselves to the teachings of the Apostles, the Christian fellowship, to the sacred breaking of bread and the prayers of the faithful.

W      Humility:

o       Knowing ourselves at the deepest level, seeing ourselves as God sees us, and willing to forgive as we are forgiven.

W      Hospitality:

o       All whom we meet we greet and serve as Christ out of joyful love.

W      Fidelity of Heart:

o       We are rooted in the covenant of God’s unconditional love and compassion as a community of Christ.  When there is discord, we seek solace and reconciliation with each other first in the faith, hope, and love of God.

W      Conversion of Life

o       As a community of disciples, we seek authentic sharing and receiving of God’s gifts which aid in our on going life of transformation into the likeness of Christ.

W      Reverence to the Will of God:

o       To listen deeply to God in an abiding awe and radically respond with a willing heart in the service of God and neighbor.

 

Our Prayer & Work

Our life of prayer is guided by the greater Christian tradition, rooted in the Holy Scriptures and the prayer practices of the Church catholic, east and west. Nurtured by prayer and empowered by Christ for service, through each house of the congregation, we endeavor to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind; shelter and nurture the spiritual fellowship of the children of God; uphold divine worship; preserve the truth; promote social righteousness; and exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

The Rule of the Congregation, Membership & Governance

 The Holy Rule

Holy Scripture is our foundational rule of faith and life.  As Benedictines, we build upon this sure foundation which has Christ as the cornerstone, and are governed as a missional community of the One Church of Jesus Christ by the spiritual Rule of St Benedict of Nursia. 

 The call we hear from Scripture and the Rule is to embrace gospel poverty and simplicity in contrast to rampant materialism and consumerism. We are called to embrace gospel chastity in contrast to rampant sexual promiscuity. We are called to embrace gospel obedience with the Church catholic and this missional community of the Church in contrast to rampant individualism.

 We do this according to our state of life as monastic or domestic members. We also hold dear substantial silence so that others might come to know the presence of the Lord, substantial solitude so others might come to know the presence of the Constant Companion, prayer so others might experience the driving action of Jesus' love in their life, and penance so others might turn daily to the comfort of the Spirit of Christ in their life.

 Love is the primary charism of the community. Truth is our surest guide. Integration is the expression of this love guided by truth. We are, as an integrated monastic community: religious from a Christian base, Christian from a Reformed and catholic base, and monastic from a Benedictine base. As such, we consider the Benedictine school to be our mother but we are a child that is unique and new. We integrate the charismatic and contemplative, solitude and community, contemplative prayer and apostolic activity.

 We live in an hour of history when God calls us to respond radically to His gospel call to evangelical life as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need radical disciples. We need modern monks (people devoted to living in the presence of God alone) like the first monks of the desert, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once spoke about.

 Our question to those who seek to follow the Way of Jesus more intimately: “Are you one who will take up the call? Will you give your whole self away to Jesus?”

Membership

All professed Christians and non-Christians who seek a spiritual life and desire to learn more about the unique Way of Christ are invited to participate in the life of this congregation of the Order of St Benedict (OSB).  Covenant membership in the Order of St Benedict is open to all who desire to walk closer and more intimately with the Benedictine members and learn more about God and living for God alone (which is the goal of the monastic tradition).  Membership is open to laity and clergy, to Presbyterian-Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and ecumenical participants from other Christian faiths who can at least profess the content and context of the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds. It represents the average catholic (universal) oriented Christian who wants to go the extra mile in following the Way of Jesus.

Friend: A companion who seeks to learn more and journeys with a particular house of this Benedictine congregation.

Novice: One who undergoes the first steps of learning and becoming more intimate with the Benedictine tradition and with the congregation and one of its chapters.

Oblate: One who after at least a year of study makes a promise (oblation) to journey with the congregation, takes a share in the work and prayers, and is invested with the Holy Cross of our spiritual father, St Benedict.

Professed Member: One who after at least a year of continual study and sharing in the common life of the congregation and its particular expression, makes a profession of faith and ministry with the congregation and is commissioned to exercise their baptismal ministry within the congregation and the world.  Only professed members may be elected to be an abbot or abbes of a residential house, a prior or prioress of a convocation, or a dean of a domestic, as well as serve on an elder council of any of the three. As is the practice in the traditional Benedictine houses, members will annually renew their promises of stability, fidelity, and obedience in relation to their baptismal vows.

  

Organization & Governance

 Our congregation is a koinonia with those who live in their own homes (domestic), or together in residential houses (monastic), in the world, but not of the world.  Leadership, and the community it serves, is modeled after the Holy Trinity (perichoresis) and The Servant Leader, who is Christ Jesus. 
 

The basic unit of the congregation’s community is the house group (domestic). It is a gathering of a few, at least three to twelve or so. The purpose of the house group is for worship, teaching, intercessions, and community building relationships and activities (these may range from actual meetings, to particular ministries, to recreational activities). The house group meets regularly in the home or dwelling of one of its members. It is strongly encourage that each house be in a covenantal relationship with a residential house if possible. 

Residential houses (monastic) are formed by those who wish to live more of the monastic schedule than is normative for the average domestic and live a common life together under the Rule of St Benedict. The Liturgy of the Hours and daily or weekly times of silence play an important part in this expression.

 Though we believe that the full manifestation of our charisms (spiritual gifts) is in the monastic expression, we recognize that the domestic expressions hold the greatest potential for the average Christian who wants to get more serious about their faith in Christ and the radical gospel life. The middle way between the domestic and the monastic is another type of domestic expression, which is the convocation. This is a house group that chooses to live close to one another in a city for the purpose of more frequent prayer and shared life. They may number over twelve in membership.  A Daily common prayer and mutual family support is indicative of this expression.

As guided by the Rule of St Benedict, each house elects a pastoral leader, who is termed abbot or abbes if a residential house, a prior or prioress if a domestic convocation, or a dean if a domestic, as well as elect a council of elder members (at least three).

As is the Benedictine tradition, each house is independent yet in covenantal relationship with all the other houses, which form a federation, or the Congregation.  We come together as a greater community in Regional Gatherings at least bi-annually, as well as the National Assembly every four years.  The purpose of the gatherings is to share in Christian fellowship, instruction, prayer, and mutual affirmation and admonition. Each gathering should include Holy Communion, or at least an Agape Feast.  Each region shall elect a general pastoral leader to be president of the meetings, spiritual guide, and co-coordinator with a council of at least three elder members representing the various houses.  The national Assembly shall elect a general pastoral leader to be president of the meetings, spiritual guide, and co-coordinator with a council of one elder member from each of the regions.

 We are excited about this movement of domestic house groups, convocations, and residential houses committed to living the gospel of Jesus in a more radical, but not fanatical way. So come on in, the water's fine! Join us in the gentle revolution for Jesus.

 

Appendix

Monastics in the Reformed Tradition

By the Rev. Don Wehmeyer (Presbyterian missionary pastor & seminary instructor in Mexico)

 

            Monks and nuns in the Presbyterian-Reformed Tradition?  Is this possible?  As strange as it may sound to our American ears the fact is that the Reformed Church has always had room for specialized ministries.  It is true that until recently the room available for monasticism had become very small indeed, but that is now changing.  True to our tradition we are again reforming ourselves, going back to our roots to recover that which for a season had been thought not to be needed.^[i] 

            It was ever the purpose of the sixteenth century Reformers to return to the early Church as found in the Scriptures and the Patristic period.  In this regard the Reformed Tradition is beginning to reclaim some of it’s neglected history and putting it to work in this confusing post-modern world.  To give just a glimpse of the history to which we are referring let me describe two thousand years of history in a few lines.  Biblical precedent for monastic life is found, among other places, in Mt. 6:34;19:21 and Acts 4:32.  During the persecution of the Church there was little that could be done to continue this life together, but once the Church was legalized, believers began to build churches and monasteries.  An important impetus for the latter was a biography called, “The Life of St. Anthony” written about 360 by St. Athanasuis (the same apologist that defended the Trinity against Arius).  Two men, Pachomius and St. Basil, living in the eastern part of the Roman Empire each wrote rules to organize the life and work of many of St. Anthony’s followers.  The Pachomis rule written, in 315, called the newly formed communities “koinonia”.^[ii]  Shortly later those who shared their life together became known as cenobites (vs. hermits who lived alone) and monastery described the buildings or place where the community lived, whether it was inhabited by men or women or divided between both.  St. Basil’s rule, written between 360 and 379, is still used extensively by the Christians in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.  A generation later St. Augustine, living in North Africa, wrote a rule in 397 that is still being followed by Augustinians today.  Incidentally, both Calvin and Luther looked to Augustine as a spiritual mentor and praised Augustine's monastic legacy.  Next came St. Benedict who organized monasticism in Western Europe with his rule in 528.  All of these historic figures are part of our Reformed heritage because they lived and wrote before the divisions of Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestants came into existence.  The Reformed faith did not begin in the sixteenth century but in the first.  We can go further.  Luther and Calvin both recognized the decisive role of two earlier monks on their faith development.  Luther wrote that the book “The Imitation of Christ” taught him much about reliance on faith alone.^[iii]  And Calvin adopted the liturgical reforms of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).  Thus it is not too much to say the Reformers were restoring Christian spiritual practices that had been preserved in the monastery to the Church as a whole.

             At this point some readers may be wondering, although monasticism was an important part of the Church for fifteen hundred years, was not its usefulness at an end by the time of Luther and Calvin?  After all, both of these Reformers spoke harshly against monasteries of their day.  This is an important point and needs to be answered carefully.  The fact is that it was not the monastery as such that was a problem for the Reformers.  The Reformers did not object to men and women choosing to live a common life together.  Even less were they opposed to any Christian dedicating their lives to full time service of God.  What they objected to was an incorrect teaching that had crept into the popular thinking of their day.^[iv] The popular notion, sanctioned by Rome^[v], was that the monastic life was special means of salvation.  Luther and Calvin said this was nonsense and argued that the life of a busy tradesperson or mother caring for her children was just as holy before God as that of an individual living in a monastery.  For the Reformers love does not follow from what one does (that would be salvation by works) rather what one does follows from what he or she loves.  Once this was understood, great numbers of people chose to leave the monasteries because they had entered with the wrong idea.  So the Reformers objection was not with regard to the choosing of a particular way of life to serve a special ministry within the Church, only the pejorative attitude that claimed the monastic life was better than life in the midst of world.  Ironically, today we have just the reverse of the problem the Reformers faced.  Today the pejorative attitude is that there is something superior about living out one’s Christian life in a city, in suburbia, or on a family farm, anywhere except in a monastery!  Neither Luther or Calvin supported such a view.  In fact a significant number of monasteries converted to the Reformed faith and continued on for several generations after Luther.^[vi] 

             Since monasticism developed in the early Church and therefore is part of the common heritage of all Christians, what does this mean for those of the Reformed Tradition?  Here many things might be said.  Perhaps the best short answer is that it means restoring balance to our ministry.  As a result of the impetus of the Holy Spirit, Christians of the Reformed faith have been courageous in battling against all forms of social injustice that prevent any individual from reaching their full human potential for development.  These wonderful ministries are cause of celebration.  But are the external circumstances in which we live the only restraints to an individual’s progress?  Is it not true that in many instances the inner life is an even more important factor than the exterior conditions? Monasticism takes the internal impediments to Christian growth very seriously.  But again, the goal is not to argue one focus is better than the other.  Both are Biblical and Christ- centered.  Yet to be candid with ourselves, if we were to make two lists of Presbyterian ministries, those that focus on the exterior world and those where the inner life is the focus, the first would include thousands of ministries in countries around the globe but the latter has been mostly abandoned to psychologists.  This is where monastic life and the piety it accents can help restore balance to the Reformed Church.  The focus on the interior life of the believer is the strength of monastic living and, at the same time, the source of much misunderstanding.

             Before listing a few of the benefits of monasticism for the Reformed Church, it is useful to repeat what was said above.  Monasticism in the Reformed Tradition makes no pretense that one way of life is better than another.  Such a desire would be as misguided as trying to establish a shoemaker’s vocation is better than a haberdasher.  Monks of the Reformed Church are the first to recognize their calling is not for everyone.  Yet, just as the Reformed Tradition has always championed the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, so too has monasticism been very much a lay movement and open to all believers.  Monasticism gives prominence to the place of the laity in the service of God.

             How then does the monastery contribute to reforming the inner life of people?  As a matter of fact in many of the same ways as the local church.  Monastic life is built around worship and sacrament, prayer and Scripture study.  Certainly there are other spiritual practices such as silence, meditation and confession but these play only a supportive role to the core practices just mentioned.  The many similarities between monastery and the local church is not accidental.  If we remember the rather impossible situation of the local pastor we can better see the genius of the monastery.  The local church pastor has to provide a lot of milk to nurse new believers in the faith.  At the same time they have to provide meals full of solid meat to sustain those whose appetite hunger for God is growing voraciously.  The monastery provides a place for the additional feeding so often necessary and thus serves as an auxiliary to the local church.  Look also at the medical doctor.  He or she does not actually heal the patient’s wound but rather creates the conditions in which the healing can take place.  The local church serves the majority of people through outpatient care and the monastery provides the intensive care unit.  Would that the Reformed church have more such units!  Thus we see why there is such continuity between the local church and the cloister.  The task of each is to provide an environment where believers are able to remain in close contact with God’s means of grace.  In addition to the strong focus on the traditional means of grace there are several other strengths to be found in the monastery.

             The ministry of hospitality.  The monastic community provides a place of renewal, reflection and respite from the pressures of the world.  The Reformed Church has much to learn from the fact that our Lord took regular and at times lengthy retreats from his public ministry.  Too few of our membership have had any guidance in this part of the Christian life.  

             The ministry of love.  With the greatest apologies for what may sound imprudent, the monastery might be described as a school of unconditional love.  The deep inner work being done by the residents is the continual effort to root out everything in one’s heart that inhibits the unconditional sharing God’s grace with others.

             The ministry of spiritual direction.  Monasteries are primarily places of prayer, which may, at least in part, be described as faithfully waiting for God’s leading.  As a result many residents develop into good listeners and can be generally trusted as sounding boards for visitors who are questioning or searching for the Lord’s direction in their lives.

              Cannot all of these things be done in the setting of the local church?  Absolutely, and hopefully they are done.  However, the monastery offers a special place apart so that one can practice these spiritual disciplines with a minimum of distraction.  For example, if someone wishes to maintain silence for 24 hours in their home, do you hang a sign on your neck that says, “don’t talk to me”?  In the same way praying for even a few hours without interruption is often impossible.  It is useful to remember that at the time of the Reformation family devotions were conducted twice a day, prayer five times, the Bible was virtually the only book owned or read,  the whole of Sunday was a day of rest and worship, men and women kept devotional journals, and self sacrificing services to neighbors were expected of everyone.  As such family life became something of a miniature monastery and the need for the more formal institution waned.  Obviously Reformed families today no longer live that way.  Contemporary life is so very busy that even the most disciplined person is constantly being pulled in every direction except towards God. The Reformed faith recognizes everyone from time to time forgets the Lord and becomes distracted from their God-given purpose.  The monastic setting is an alternative for those who sometimes find the great freedom of the local Church to be an obstacle to their growth.  The voluntary discipline to practice a daily office provides a structure in our unstructured lives.  The rhythm created by following a common rule is comforting for those who learn not to chaff against the railings.  To live in a monastery for a few days or a lifetime is to confess the need of a close community of friends to help hold oneself accountable.  The community cannot do our work for us, but the monastic community is intentional about constantly reminding the members to stick to the basics.  A cake can be baked in a black smith shop but it is easier to do so in the kitchen. 

             It was said above that the focus on the interior life was the monastery’s strength and, at the same time, the source of misunderstanding.  One such misunderstanding is heard in a frequent comment from Protestants, “life in a monastery is a waste of time because the people there don’t do anything”!  Let us now review this objection.

             Far from wasting time, the monastic life is eminently practical,  although monks would hasten to add that they do not care to justify their lives upon the basis of pragmatics.  The virtues exemplified by monks, such as their love, self sacrifice, patience and continual communion with God, are worthy of the Christian in and of themselves.  Like any good Calvinist, monks in the Reformed Tradition are extremely frugal and esteem a simple life as much as they avoid an ostentatious one.  If a person has been led to dedicate themselves to a few basic tasks, such as prayer, worship and the Lord‘s Supper, and Scripture reading, then what better way to do this than to join with other similarly minded individuals?  By sharing together all the other chores of life, earning a living, preparing food, maintaining a dwelling place, more time is left for their chosen priorities.  Indeed if the institution was not very practical it is extremely doubtful that it would have survived for nearly 2000 years.  In opposition to a culture that is built upon instant gratification, the Reformed monk points steadfastly to the joy promised in the life to come.

             Take another example of a very practical matter. Let us say we want to help reform an alcoholic, would anyone recommend their spending time in their old haunts, the bars and lounges of skid row?  To stay free from slavery to the bottle and the destruction it causes one has to physically remove oneself from that environment at least for a while, and maybe for the rest of one’s life.  In the same way, a whole host of unchristian values are nurtured by the fallen culture that surrounds us.  The local church is an alternative community where different values are taught.  In a sense the local Church is a counter culture movement.  The monastic community is simply an extension of this same effort to present to the fallen world a visible example of an alternative.  Instead of endless competition and quarreling, the monastic community exemplifies what can be accomplished by working together and the sharing of property.  The monastic life is a very practical way of modeling not a few important Christian values. Howard Rice has written, “Without monasticism the Reformed Church has been without a regular reminder of another way of being in the world”.^[vii]     

             Yet another practical value of monasticism can be appreciated by Church school teachers. Compare what can be accomplished in ten 50 minute sessions, spread over ten weeks, to what can happen during a two or three day retreat.  The human dynamics, depth of thought and lasting fellowship are far superior in the retreat format.  This should make sense because in a retreat leaders can control the food, the timing of presentations, the fatigue levels, fun times, etc.  In a 50 minute session the teacher is always faced with either giving information or building relationships, there just is not time for both.  In retreats, information and fellowship can be combined, and the setting is particularly well suited for fellowship.  This reason alone explains why many Christians from the Reformed Tradition are attaching themselves to monasteries even when they must make great adjustments to significant theological differences to do so.  A monastery is a specialized ministry that provides both a place and a community where visitors may find both spiritual renewal and intellectual challenge. 

            In conclusion: the monastic community has throughout the history of the Church provided assistance to the ministry of the Church as a whole and the local church in particular.  Monasticism in the Reformed tradition:

 1. Affirms that grace is the free, unmerited gift of God.  One does not earn grace by living in a monastery or anywhere else.

2. It is practiced in communion with local churches, and not held up as some kind of spiritual elitism.

3. Offers a visible symbol of living distinctly from the fallen world and as such it serves as a proclamation to the world.

4. Provides unique hospitality and guidance for the monks, nuns and visitors.

5. Accepts that the particular combination of life and ministry that monks and nuns adopt will not appeal to the majority of believers.  God calls different people to different tasks.