When the dregs of depression over the state of the denominational churches takes hold of your hungry heart, have faith. There is hope. There is a whole new wave of spiritual life dawning for the Church Universal. All over the nation, and the world, pockets of intentional communities are emerging and calling themselves a New Monasticism.
Combined with the crest of the Emergent Church, this New Monasticism is build on some simple basic rules of community. They are:
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.
WOW is this something, or what.
A community based on the sharing of things in common, prayer, poverty, intentional formation and contemplation - this sounds like the SECOND CHAPTER OF ACTS. It is worth looking into. Just google the words NEW MONASTICISM.
I am including a link to a publisher that is carrying some of the best mongraphs the movement has produced. Check them out:
Wipf and Stock Publishers
Ciao!
+Tom
