Emerging & New Monastic

[Ian Mobsby]

One of the developments I have noticed in some Anglimergent groups, is the combination of alternative worship forms of worship, combined with new monastic forms of community, that are then able to be radical in the way they model worship, mission and community in particular and contextual forms of church-missions in the US, Canada and UK. I think this combination is important, because it indicates a model of church that resonates with a more postmodern culture, which is about participation, and a sustainable and deep spirituality. I think this foundation is inspired by a more Trinitarian informed understanding of being church, which I talk about a little on a recent moot podcast. Many of us now have rhythms of life, ( I attach Moots) that seeks to pattern a sustainable and holistic approach to a sustainable spiritual life. This has been framed on forms of network church, but increasingly I think many of us are seeking to relate to both network and place. Some like me have been inspired by the Friars of the premodern movements, who were sent to specific areas to practice radical hospitality, mission and spirituality through a communitarian approach drawing on contemplative forms of Christian prayer and meditation. Many of us dream of setting up postmodern friars or refectories in our postmodern times to practice this radical hospitality.

So it will be interesting to see where this form of church goes.

[Sister Barbara Jean Brown]

Here it is... July 11th.... again. I just noticed that this post took place a year ago. The Anamchara Fellowship, to which I belong, uses the Celtic Daily Prayer as our office book... but with modifications. We use the Book of Common Prayer's Pslater cycle each day as well as the lectionary. Our manner of reciting the Psalms comes from our connection with MESTRI (Misioneros Episcopales de la Santisima Trinidad). This is the first monastic group for the Episcopal Church in Central Ecuador. They recite the Psalms, one verse per person, as they go around the group. We in the Fellowship do the same and I find it a very meditative way to do the Psalms.