New Monasticism (edited)

ConversesChristianity

Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.

New Monasticism (edited)

Aquest tema està marcat com "inactiu": L'últim missatge és de fa més de 90 dies. Podeu revifar-lo enviant una resposta.

1revadavidparker
abr. 3, 2018, 12:51 am

Having just published my first book about my deep dive into New Monasticism, I wanted to know what everyone thinks about the resurgence of religious orders, both traditional and nontraditional in America today.

2PossMan
abr. 3, 2018, 2:38 pm

And also "temporary" monastics. I'm thinking of the Community of St Anselm in Lambeth Palace UK (set up by the present Archbishop of Canterbury) where young(ish) people commit for a year and there's a similar start-up just beginning further north (in UK)

3revadavidparker
abr. 4, 2018, 3:24 pm

Aquest missatge ha estat marcat com abús per més d'un usuari i ja no es pot veure (mostra)
Great! Monastic vows have long been available on both a lifetime and a temporary basis. I wonder how much the Church would grow if every Christian was willing to take temporary vows for a season of spiritual growth and transformation? Make sure and sign-up for the Member Giveaway!

4John5918
Editat: abr. 23, 2018, 12:35 pm

>1 revadavidparker:

I didn't respond immediately as I wasn't sure what to say, and also you posted duplicate posts in different groups and I wanted to see which one was going to gain traction. I'd probably need to know a bit more about what you mean by New Monasticism and the resurgence of religious orders. How new? Your focus is the USA, and my experience when I lived there 25 years ago is not very new, I'm afraid.

However I have just responded to a different thread of yours on Dominicans in the Monks, Monasteries and Monasticism group, and I mentioned there that I had stayed in a Dominican community, Genesis Farm, a creation spirituality centre in rural New Jersey, USA. I spent six weeks there a quarter of a century ago sleeping in a teepee and getting up at 5 am to harvest the organic vegetables. I believe Genesis Farm is still going strong. While I was doing my MA in Spirituality all those years ago I had the opportunity to visit many such communities. Others which stick in my mind are the Benedictine monks at Big Sur, California, the Benedictine sisters at Osage, Oklahoma (who were heavily influenced by the Christian ashram model of Bede Griffiths) and a place in Kansas City which I can't remember the name now. If these and other communities are anything to go by, I would say that progressive communities are active, healthy but small.

Going beyond USA, one trend is openness to "temporary" monastics, as >2 PossMan: mentions. I have seen this in a number of communities in UK and elsewhere. I stayed at Worth Abbey for a while probably 40-odd years ago. The ecumenical community at Taize in France is another good example. Catholic missionary orders have been welcoming lay missionaries to their ranks for decades - in the USA, Maryknoll would be a good example. There are also dedicated lay communities - the Grail is a well known one. I first came to Africa myself as a lay missionary, through a then UK-based (but now international) group called Volunteer Missionary Movement. Lay missionary groups have sprung up within Africa now, eg Kenya.

In UK I have seen and at times been part of a trend for outreach from religious communities. This may include, for example, opening small houses of prayer where people can meet regularly, or having outreach teams who take the traditional monastic charism of giving individual directed spiritual retreats out to the parishes to reach ordinary working people who could not afford to take a few days off work or away from family duties to spend quiet time in a monastery, but who can commit themselves to early mornings and late evenings for a week. This is different from the even older ministry of preaching retreats in parishes, where religious spend the week preaching every morning and evening in a parish church but don't have the time to direct individual retreats.

In South Sudan, we have seen over the last ten years that, while traditional Catholic missionary orders still work there to assist the growing but still under-developed local church, there has also been a new initiative to bring together priests, sisters, brothers and laypeople from more than 200 Catholic religious orders worldwide to form Solidarity with South Sudan, which assists the local church with pastoral, education, health and agriculture activities. At any one point there are thirty or so personnel from almost as many nations and religious orders, living and working together in mixed-gender and mixed-order communities. I usually stay with them whenever I am in Juba and it is an impressive initiative. Incidentally I have also seen a mixed-gender religious community in South Africa.

In terms of resurgence, I am deeply impressed with US Catholic orders of religious sisters. I work with quite a few of them as missionaries, and they keep me up to date with what is happening back in the USA. The humble and charitable yet firm and authentic way in which they have borne heavy-handedness from the Vatican should be an inspiration to us all.

So all in all I think the future is relatively healthy!

5revadavidparker
abr. 23, 2018, 12:28 pm

Wow, guys, the flagging is getting a bit ridiculous, don't you think?

6John5918
Editat: abr. 23, 2018, 12:40 pm

>5 revadavidparker:

I suspect people believe you are promoting your book inappropriately. I haven't flagged you, I have tried to engage you in conversation. I think if you were to engage more deeply in these conversations which you yourself started, you would soon leave the flags behind, and you would probably even get away with quoting your book if it were genuinely relevant to a ongoing conversation.

7pmackey
abr. 23, 2018, 1:06 pm

I second JTF. I wasn't sure what to make of the OP and I thought you were indirectly promoting your book. I had enough doubt that I didn't flag your post.

I saw on Facebook that postulates to religious orders has increased over the last few years, but frankly I don't know what to make of it.

A question, though. Being Episcopalian, I don't know what New Monasticism is? How is it different from religious orders I'm familiar with (Benedictines, Franciscans, etc.)? I've heard the term, but frankly don't know what makes it different.

8Taphophile13
abr. 23, 2018, 1:45 pm

>6 John5918: Just to let you know that he has already been advised not to push his book:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/289515#6437560
Note the discussion in the following three posts there.
Posts #1 and #3 above are the modified version of the flagged posts. I'm leaving this up to the members of this group.

9John5918
abr. 23, 2018, 1:48 pm

>8 Taphophile13:

Thanks. Much appreciated.

10John5918
Editat: maig 10, 2018, 3:08 am

Richard Rohr's daily meditation for today touches on "intentional communities", which I suspect is also a facet of new approaches to monasticism.

Edited to add: I'm also adding yesterday's offering, "Church Was Supposed to Be an Alternative Society" - I read today's before yesterday's for some reason.

11John5918
Editat: maig 10, 2018, 7:41 am

Am I the only one who would apprecate it if the OP would actually join in the conversation which he started and in which two or three of us have tried to engage? I honetsly believe it is an interesting and important topic, but it's looking a bit one-sided at the moment and could benefit from some input from a chap who has apparently made a study of it.

12John5918
maig 11, 2018, 2:36 am

Sorry to post so much from Richard Rohr, but this week his daily thoughts are all on "alternative community" - here's "Canticle Farm", a community of "contemplative nonviolence" with Franciscan leanings.

13PossMan
maig 11, 2018, 3:23 pm

>12 John5918:: A bit OT but "canticle" is a slightly odd word and that link of yours reminded me of A Canticle for Liebowitz, a book I read and enjoyed many years ago which also had tenuous links to monasticism.

14pmackey
maig 12, 2018, 5:55 pm

>10 John5918: "Church Was Supposed to Be an Alternative Society"

I agree that Christianity is supposed to be an alternative society given that any society not based on the love of God will descend into selfishness. And of course the church itself isn't immune. I think that's what is wrong with Christianity in the "West". We've lost the vision that God's Kingdom upsets the worldly paradigm onto its head. Until we rediscover that, we'll continue to be seen as irrelevant to everyday life. I have hope, though, that we will see a new birth of God's Spirit poured out on Christians IF we seize God's love.