Neo-Monasticism

Someone was asking me about Neo-Monastic movements. Neo-monasticism is basically a contemporary movement of Christians seeking to live in a way that reflects the values and ideas of traditional monasticism, only interpreted for their context. A good place to start to learn about them is a document produced by a gathering of such communities known as the 12 Marks of Neo-Monasticism. Coming out the Rutba House community, they declared the following:

Moved by God’s Spirit in this time called America to assemble at St. Johns Baptist Church in Durham, NC, we wish to acknowledge a movement of radical rebirth, grounded in God’s love and drawing on the rich tradition of Christian practices that have long formed disciples in the simple Way of Christ. This contemporary school for conversion which we have called a “new monasticism,” is producing a grassroots ecumenism and a prophetic witness within the North American church which is diverse in form, but characterized by the following marks:

1. Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
2. Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3. Hospitality to the stranger
4. Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5. Humble submission to Christ’s body, the church.
6. Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7. Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8. Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9. Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10. Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11. Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12. Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

May God give us grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to discern rules for living that will help us embody these marks in our local contexts as signs of Christ’s kingdom for the sake of God’s world. (source)

Of course, this is just one example of what might be called Neo-Monasticism. Like a lot of the new, fresh, emerging churches (use what terms you will), these trees are known by their fruit. So here's a few examples of such communities.

• Monkfish Abbey in Seattle.
• The Simple Way Potter Street Community in Philadelphia
• The Reba Place Fellowship in Chicago
• The Living Stones Monastery in Newport News, Virginia
• Communality in Lexington, Kentucky

It's an intriguing development as it connects some very rich and developed traditions with the adaptive energy and authentic discipleship of the emerging church/fresh expressions movement.

Incidentally, I found this article about Neo-Monasticism from Christianity Today. They quote Shane Claiborne, who is a well-known leader in the movement.

-t