'New Monasticism'

Article appearing in the September 2010 issue of Worcester Diocesan News

The building work at Mucknell Abbey is nearing completion and soon the members of the Community will be moving in. Along with the Franciscan Friars at Glasshampton, this will mean we have two religious communities in the diocese. It’s a particular pleasure that the men and women at Mucknell follow the tradition of St Benedict, as in the early centuries of the Diocese of Worcester the bishops were also the abbots of the Benedictine cathedral monastery. At the same time as we celebrate the arrival of a ‘traditional’ religious community to the diocese and so we can rejoice in something very powerful that the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of many men and women across the country. It is my privilege to chair the national advisory council that works with religious communities. Much of our work at present is with what is being called ‘new monasticism’. Groups of men and women, including many young adults, are coming together to explore how they might begin to live a life in the monastic tradition.

Some are seeking a community to belong to in order to sustain them in their daily living. Others want to form a group that can minister among the poorest. And, whereas in the past monasticism has been seen as largely the preserve of Anglicans in the Catholic tradition, today’s new communities are a likely to be drawn from evangelical and charismatic backgrounds. At the same time some longstanding church organisations are changing their status to that of communities. The Church Mission Society has already done so and the Church Army is in advanced discussions. There is a particular flowering of communities that seek to find harmony with the creation; often they find strength in the Celtic Christian tradition.

Most of these emerging new groups are ‘dispersed’: the majority of their members live in their own homes; they own private property; many have paid jobs; they are not all single. They are more like the Third Order Franciscans of which my wife and I have been members for many years. What they have in common is a recognition that there is a discipline to the Christian life and that a community, even if not all living under one roof, may be the best way to be sustained and supported in living it.

For many people the local parish itself and their involvement in it is sufficient community; but not for all. For those who will benefit from something more, the new monastic movement offers a challenge and a promise, as do the continuing traditional orders for whose arrival at Mucknell and continuing presence at Glasshampton, we are enormously grateful.

By Bishop David, Bishop of Dudley