Society of St. John the Evangelist
Encyclopedia
The Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE) is an Anglican religious order
for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. The SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford
, England
, by the Father Richard Meux Benson
, a priest in the Church of England
. Known colloquially as the Cowley Fathers, the society was the first stable religious community of men to be established in the Anglican Communion
since the English Reformation
.
For many years the society had houses in Scotland
, India
, South Africa
, Japan
and Canada
.
, Massachusetts
, where it became part of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The members of the North American congregation live at a monastery
designed by Ralph Adams Cram
, in Cambridge
, near Harvard Square
. They also keep a rural retreat center, Emery House, in West Newbury
, where guests can stay in small hermitages in the meadow.
The community has just completed a capital campaign, Stone & Light, to restore the Monastery buildings and make them fully handicapped-accessible. The Monastery Chapel and Guesthouse are recently re- opened. Emery House is open for retreats. And the Brothers will be offering a number of Saturday workshops in Cambridge over the course of the year. The Brothers also lead retreats in parishes and dioceses throughout North America, as well as offer teaching in seminaries and universities. They make sermons and other texts and audio offerings available online through their website: www.ssje.org.
The community’s chief ministries are preaching, spiritual direction, and hospitality. Their most recent preaching series is called Longing for Christ. For several years, they have been affiliated with St. George's College, Jerusalem
, serving as chaplains on a number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land
each year. Recently, they also have conducted mission trips to Africa. Individual Brothers work in a variety of local and regional ministries—with students, prisoners, soldiers, the homeless, and persons affected by HIV
and AIDS
. One of the Brothers, Thomas Shaw, SSJE, is the Bishop of Massachusetts. The newly elected Superior, Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE, studied Theology at Pembroke College, where he received his B.A. and M.A., attended seminary at Westcott House, Cambridge, and was ordained in Salisbury Cathedral in 1979. In 1999 he came to the United States to test his vocation with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, where he was life-professed in 2004. During his time in the Society he has traveled widely in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Holy Land, and in Africa, leading retreats and workshops, preaching, teaching, and offering spiritual direction. For the past three years he has served as Chaplain to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church.
, London
. The English congregation still tries to remain true to its founder's vision of a society of mission priests and lay brothers, always available to preach and teach in the church wherever it may be asked. But the society takes "mission" in the widest sense of that word so their work now covers such diverse matters as teaching English
to immigrants, conducting retreats, individual counselling and spiritual guidance, teaching liturgies, preaching wherever it may be asked and so on. Whatever talent an individual monk might have is used in whatever way the community and the individual see as best giving that talent back to God's world. The society believes that through their daily prayer life and acts of worship together, they are able to witness to the power of Jesus Christ in the world today.
Anglican religious order
Anglican religious orders are communities of laity and/or clergy in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and lead a common life of work and prayer...
for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. The SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford
Cowley, Oxford
Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, by the Father Richard Meux Benson
Richard Meux Benson
Richard Meux Benson was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation...
, a priest in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Known colloquially as the Cowley Fathers, the society was the first stable religious community of men to be established in the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
since the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
.
For many years the society had houses in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
North American congregation
In 1870, the society came to BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where it became part of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The members of the North American congregation live at a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
designed by Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
, in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, near Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
. They also keep a rural retreat center, Emery House, in West Newbury
West Newbury, Massachusetts
West Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Situated on the Merrimack River, its population was 4,450 at the 2006 census. Along with neighboring Merrimac and Groveland, it is part of the Pentucket Regional School District....
, where guests can stay in small hermitages in the meadow.
The community has just completed a capital campaign, Stone & Light, to restore the Monastery buildings and make them fully handicapped-accessible. The Monastery Chapel and Guesthouse are recently re- opened. Emery House is open for retreats. And the Brothers will be offering a number of Saturday workshops in Cambridge over the course of the year. The Brothers also lead retreats in parishes and dioceses throughout North America, as well as offer teaching in seminaries and universities. They make sermons and other texts and audio offerings available online through their website: www.ssje.org.
The community’s chief ministries are preaching, spiritual direction, and hospitality. Their most recent preaching series is called Longing for Christ. For several years, they have been affiliated with St. George's College, Jerusalem
St. George's College, Jerusalem
St George’s College Jerusalem is a Continuing Education Center of the Anglican Communion. It is part of the Anglican diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East.-History:...
, serving as chaplains on a number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
each year. Recently, they also have conducted mission trips to Africa. Individual Brothers work in a variety of local and regional ministries—with students, prisoners, soldiers, the homeless, and persons affected by HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. One of the Brothers, Thomas Shaw, SSJE, is the Bishop of Massachusetts. The newly elected Superior, Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE, studied Theology at Pembroke College, where he received his B.A. and M.A., attended seminary at Westcott House, Cambridge, and was ordained in Salisbury Cathedral in 1979. In 1999 he came to the United States to test his vocation with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, where he was life-professed in 2004. During his time in the Society he has traveled widely in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Holy Land, and in Africa, leading retreats and workshops, preaching, teaching, and offering spiritual direction. For the past three years he has served as Chaplain to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church.
Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Living
Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Living is an archive of sermons, workshops, and teachings that seek to distill the collective wisdom of the past and offer practical counsel for living in today’s world. Throughout the church year, the Brothers offer seasonal preaching series, which are collected in this series. The current series, "A Living Tradition," is an Lenten series that reflects on the rewards and challenges of keeping a Rule of Life, as well as the Brothers' experiences of editing and revising their own Rule. The series offers a daily post and can be found at www.ssje.org/lent.Fellowship of St John
The Fellowship of St. John is a group of men and women who wish to live in a closer relation with the Brothers of the Society of St John the Evangelist. They write and follow a rule of life similar to The Rule http://ssje.org/audiorule/ under which the Brothers live. Members of the Fellowship support the Society through their friendship and prayers, even as they look to SSJE for support and inspiration. There are about 1,000 men and women in the Fellowship.British congregation
Today the society in England is based at St Edward's House, a centre for private retreats and hospitality in WestminsterCity of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The English congregation still tries to remain true to its founder's vision of a society of mission priests and lay brothers, always available to preach and teach in the church wherever it may be asked. But the society takes "mission" in the widest sense of that word so their work now covers such diverse matters as teaching English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
to immigrants, conducting retreats, individual counselling and spiritual guidance, teaching liturgies, preaching wherever it may be asked and so on. Whatever talent an individual monk might have is used in whatever way the community and the individual see as best giving that talent back to God's world. The society believes that through their daily prayer life and acts of worship together, they are able to witness to the power of Jesus Christ in the world today.
See also
- Charles Chapman GraftonCharles Chapman GraftonThe Right Reverend Charles Chapman Grafton was the second Bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac in The Episcopal Church.-Early Life:...
, Bishop of Fond du Lac - Spence BurtonSpence BurtonThe Rt Rev Spence Burton, SSJE was an Anglican Bishop in the mid 20th century and the first American to be consecrated a Bishop in the Church of England. Born in 1881 and educated at Harvard University he was ordained in 1908. After a short spell as an assistant priest at St John the Evangelist,...
, Lord Bishop of Nassau and The Bahamas (1942-1961) - Kenneth Abbott Viall, Bishop of Tokyo
External links
- English congregation's website
- North American congregation's website
- Historical resources on the Cowley Fathers from Project CanterburyProject CanterburyProject Canterbury is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999, and is hosted by the non-profit Society of Archbishop Justus...