Religious Life Sunday in the Episcopal Church
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by Br. Franklin Kline, OP
Do you feel the call to deepen your engagement in your worship and spiritual life? Perhaps you will be interested in exploring the opportunities for participating in the life of an Episcopal Religious Order or Community.
Members of religious orders and communities in the Diocese will be offering a retreat on Friday-Saturday, January 20-21, 2023, at The Marianist Retreat Center in Wildwood as an opportunity to experience community, worship, and to explore the various forms of religious orders and communities in The Episcopal Church. If you are unable to stay overnight on Friday, Jan. 20 , you are welcome to join us on Saturday, Jan. 21 for a quiet day.
On Sunday members will return to their parishes to offer information about the religious life in The Episcopal Church. The day will conclude with a Choral Evensong at Christ Church Cathedral celebrating Religious Life Sunday with the Cathedral choir, diocesan religious, retreatants and friends.
Leading the retreat will be Anglican Dominican Friar Br. Kevin Goodrich, OP. A graduate of Nashotah House, with dual doctorates in Theology and Ministry. Br. Kevin is an Episcopal Priest who is engaged in both parish ministry and a ministry of itinerant preaching and teaching. He has preached and let retreats in England, Scotland and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Australia and throughout the U.S. Br. Kevin was the Third Master of the Anglican Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Br. Kevin has had a particular interest in the lives and works of 14th Century English Mystics who lived in the North and East of England. He has spent much time visiting, exploring an interacting with the locations and parishes where they lived, ministered and taught. His 2022 book Mystic Bonfires (available via Amazon.com) focuses in depth on Walter Hiton, Augustinian Canon, who as a writer is known for his work The Ladder Perfection, the first book on Christian Mysticism written in The English Language. Hilton held that all could embrace a life of ascetic practice, firm faith, and godly contemplation. As a Spiritual Director Hilton counseled both secular clerics and layperson on leading “The Mixed Life’. The Retreat will in particular engage with Hilton’s work in discussion and practical exercises.
General Convention 80 established the Sunday of Epiphany 3, January 22, 2023, as the first annual commemoration of Religious Life Sunday in The Episcopal Church. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets in The Episcopal Church is the existence of religious orders and communities: “Oh, I didn’t know that we had Anglican monks, nuns, friars and sisters.” Many also do not know that you do not have to live in a monastery or convent to be one! Termed as “The New Monasticism” many of our communities are dispersed, comprising of members who are both lay and ordained, men and women, married and single. Lay persons work in their secular professions, and all commit to a consecrated life living under a rule of life, and ministering in various ways in their respective parishes and dioceses.
Diocesan Religious have been gathering together regularly each quarter since the Fall of 2019. In February 2020 at Advent Church, Crestwood, members of The Anamchara Fellowship led in the celebration of evening prayer in the Celtic tradition. Participating communities included members of the Society of St. Francis, 3rd Order, The Anamchara Fellowship, The Anglican Order of Preachers (Dominicans), The Daughters of The King, and The Brotherhood St. Andrews. Also joining in on other occasions have been The Rivendell Community, The Order of St. Francis, The Community of Hope (Benedictine), The Deaconess Ann House ESC Community, and individual oblates and associates of several other orders.
Watch for further details regarding the retreat and other activities planned for Religious Life Sunday in our diocesan publications.
For further information contact Br. Franklin Kline, OP, [email protected] or 314-374-3290.
Tags: News / Dispersed Religious Orders