Society of the Sacred Mission
Encyclopedia
The Society of the Sacred Mission (SSM) is an Anglican religious order
founded in 1893 by Father Herbert Kelly
, envisaged such that "members of the Society share a common life of prayer and fellowship in a variety of educational, pastoral and community activities in England
, Australia
, Japan
, Lesotho
, and South Africa
." "Our Society was founded in 1893 in Kennington
, to train people for missionary service in Korea
. Somehow we got side-tracked into training clergy for the Church in England
- but that stopped in the 1970s." Members have included Gabriel Hebert
and George Every
.
The motto of SSM is "Ad gloriam Dei in eius voluntate" (To the glory of God in his will.)
Central to its ethos since then, has been the inclusion of ordinary men. Kelly was clear from the outset that that this was not a way of life for religious virtuosos.
"No system can be sound which depends for success upon rare and special gifts, rather than upon the steady use of those more limited and commonplace powers which God ordinarily wills to bestow." - H. H. Kelly (SSM, 1898)
, and the next year Kelham
Hall was purchased to become the main centre, a theological college and the head office. The college was established in 1894; their hoods were "black, the cowl faced 3 inches and bound 1 inch (with) sarum red."
"The present Kelham
Hall was built between 1859 and 1862 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. He also built St Pancras Station a few years later and both building share the same Gothic
style. In 1903, it became a theological college for Church of England
priests known as the Society of the Sacred Mission. They added a great domed chapel in 1924. In 1969 the hall was taken over by Newark
and Sherwood
District Council. A few hundred yards from the hall, situated within the trees is the delightful parish church."
Kelham
Hall really was the core of the organisation for the first sixty years of its existence. "It had no lighting except oil lamps, no heating except open fires and no water above ground floor, but there was room for 100 students and plenty of space for gardens and playing fields. Kelham
remained the mother house of the Society for seventy years." However, it was occupied by military personnel during both world wars. The Great Chapel was built there in 1928: "it was almost square with a great central dome, (62 feet across and 68 feet high) the second largest concrete dome in England."
Kelham Hall "was sold to the society of the Sacred Mission in 1903 and housed the Monastic order for the next 70 years...the main accommodation building at the front of the Hall was completed in 1939 to house the Monks and the theological students but its first occupants were a garrison of the ‘Blues’ cavalry and also Texas
and Oklahoma
oil men who were involved in drilling for oil at the nearby Eakring
oilfield. After the war, the SSM Order returned to the site and, until their organisation was re-structured in 1972, continued to live there adding a certain charm and interest to the village."
While in 1962, the "SSM reached a numerical peak of more than 80 members and a large novitiate..by 1972, the college at Kelham
closed as number of student applications drop." Applications to Kelham
"dropped from 400 a year before the war to less than 40 students in 1971 and the college closed in 1973." Consequently, by 1973, a "subgroup of SSM move to Willen (Near Milton Keynes
) to run a priory." By 1997 the contraction went further as "SSM members move out of Willen
priory to a smaller house in Willen
."
Kelham Hall is a grade I listed building, and the associated monastic buildings of 1927-29 are grade II listed.
studied at the College in the 1950s. Revd John Mullineaux "attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, and Manchester University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours English Language & Literature). He trained for the priesthood at Kelham Theological College, a monastic institution near Newark
, Nottinghamshire
where he served five years as a Novice. Amongst his duties were the regular feeding of the pigs, being in charge of the kitchen garden, stoker of the coke boiler and electrician - learning house re-wiring."
Revd Eric Mercer was a student at "Theological College in Nottinghamshire
, then the mother house of the Society of the Sacred Mission which for several generations had broken new ground in opening its doors to non-graduates, boys and men from all backgrounds. The spartan tradition at Kelham
in those days owed as much to First World War economies as it did to monastic
asceticism."
Chad Payne was a professed member of the Society from 1971-1980, having formerly been a student at its theological college from 1966.He was the last person to make his profession in the Great Chapel. On leaving the Society he moved to Bedford where he had a long and distinguished career as a librarian, eventually becoming chief librarian of the renowned Bedford Central Library, a library responsible for many national innovations with a staff of over thirty. He retired in 2002 to work with homeless people and is now tutoring at Bedford Modern School, one of the five public schools maintained by the Bedford Charity. He recalls the authoritarian nature of the Society in those days,an authoritarianism that was to last well into the early years at Willen, and the inability of those in charge to relate in any meaningful way with its members. Childish petulance was the response to any questioning of local leadership . Many left the Society with their vocations crushed rather than supported, but went on to considerable achievements elsewhere. The Society may have been highly principled but lacked humanity and the ability to come to terms with the changing needs of its brothers. Even to this day, the Society still preserves the mediaeval distinction between 'Father' and 'Brother'.
Revd. Clement Mullinger describes the Kelham
Theological College as "a very rigid and compartmentalised hierarchy...Kelham
in its heyday of the late 1930s had certain built-in authoritarian terrors comprising histrionic monologues, directives on notice boards, and a general atmosphere under one roof and round one holy table of a great gulf fixed between them and us...the Society was too concerned with its own satisfactoriness and permanence to think that communication with people not actually enclosed behind its hedges needed much attention. Nor was there any awareness that (apart from subscriptions) we needed anything of love, sympathy or care from them...(there was) a militaristic atmosphere said to derive from Kelly's time at Sandhurst
."
of poverty, chastity, and obedience (the Evangelical Counsels
); associate members who live or work in community but do not take those vows and may be married; companions who do not necessarily live in community or directly but are part of the spiritual and prayer life of the society. The Companions, who take only one vow - to "endeavour to live [their] whole life to the glory of God" - make up the Company of the Sacred Mission.
and the woman of Samaria
in St. John's Gospel
. The Well runs a conference centre, a place of retreat, and is a resource for the local community. Its members work with the homeless and people in distress and are active in the peace & justice movement. They also work to foster interfaith relations. The Well also supports SSM's Library (brought from Kelham
Theological College) alongside the library of the Living Spirituality Network - another project partly supported by SSM.
In 2007 The Well community became a work of the Society of the Sacred Mission and so ten years on the house is once again an official SSM house.
In 2008, the society completed a new purpose-built priory in Maseru, Lesotho
.
The provincial of the Southern Province is Christpopher Myers, and the visitor is Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne.
The provincial of the South Africa Province is Michael Lapsley
, and the visitor is Thabo Makgoba
, Bishop of Grahamstown.
.
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...
founded in 1893 by Father Herbert Kelly
Herbert Kelly
Herbert Hamilton Kelly SSM was a priest of the Church of England and the founder of the Society of the Sacred Mission .After army training Kelly studied theology and was ordained in 1884. While training people for missionary service in Korea he founded, in London in 1893, an Anglican religious...
, envisaged such that "members of the Society share a common life of prayer and fellowship in a variety of educational, pastoral and community activities in 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...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 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...
, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, and 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...
." "Our Society was founded in 1893 in Kennington
Kennington
Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
, to train people for missionary service in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. Somehow we got side-tracked into training clergy for the Church in 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...
- but that stopped in the 1970s." Members have included Gabriel Hebert
Gabriel Hebert
Arthur Gabriel Hebert SSM was a monk from Kelham, Nottinghamshire, and a proponent within Anglicanism of the ideas of the Liturgical Movement. As such he was in familiar contact with Benedictine monasteries in Austria and Germany...
and George Every
George Every
Brother George Every SSM was a British historian, theologian and writer on Christian mythology, and poet.He was a member of the Anglican religious community the Society of the Sacred Mission at Kelham, Nottinghamshire from 1929 to 1973...
.
The motto of SSM is "Ad gloriam Dei in eius voluntate" (To the glory of God in his will.)
Beginnings
SSM was inaugurated on the 9th of May, 1893, with Kelly, Badcock, and Chilvers as its initial novices.Central to its ethos since then, has been the inclusion of ordinary men. Kelly was clear from the outset that that this was not a way of life for religious virtuosos.
"No system can be sound which depends for success upon rare and special gifts, rather than upon the steady use of those more limited and commonplace powers which God ordinarily wills to bestow." - H. H. Kelly (SSM, 1898)
Kelham Hall
Kelly's missionary work began in 1902 in South AfricaSouth 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...
, and the next year Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
Hall was purchased to become the main centre, a theological college and the head office. The college was established in 1894; their hoods were "black, the cowl faced 3 inches and bound 1 inch (with) sarum red."
"The present Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
Hall was built between 1859 and 1862 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. He also built St Pancras Station a few years later and both building share the same Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. In 1903, it became a theological college for 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...
priests known as the Society of the Sacred Mission. They added a great domed chapel in 1924. In 1969 the hall was taken over by Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
and Sherwood
Sherwood, Nottingham
Sherwood is a largely residential area in the north east of Nottingham, England. It is approximately 1.5 miles North of Nottingham City Centre...
District Council. A few hundred yards from the hall, situated within the trees is the delightful parish church."
Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
Hall really was the core of the organisation for the first sixty years of its existence. "It had no lighting except oil lamps, no heating except open fires and no water above ground floor, but there was room for 100 students and plenty of space for gardens and playing fields. Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
remained the mother house of the Society for seventy years." However, it was occupied by military personnel during both world wars. The Great Chapel was built there in 1928: "it was almost square with a great central dome, (62 feet across and 68 feet high) the second largest concrete dome in England."
Kelham Hall "was sold to the society of the Sacred Mission in 1903 and housed the Monastic order for the next 70 years...the main accommodation building at the front of the Hall was completed in 1939 to house the Monks and the theological students but its first occupants were a garrison of the ‘Blues’ cavalry and also Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
oil men who were involved in drilling for oil at the nearby Eakring
Eakring
Eakring is a village in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire.-Geography:It is situated between the A617 and the A616 roads between Ollerton and Southwell. Dukes Wood to the south is situated on the top of an escarpment, giving good views over the Trent valley to the east and towards...
oilfield. After the war, the SSM Order returned to the site and, until their organisation was re-structured in 1972, continued to live there adding a certain charm and interest to the village."
While in 1962, the "SSM reached a numerical peak of more than 80 members and a large novitiate..by 1972, the college at Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
closed as number of student applications drop." Applications to Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
"dropped from 400 a year before the war to less than 40 students in 1971 and the college closed in 1973." Consequently, by 1973, a "subgroup of SSM move to Willen (Near Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
) to run a priory." By 1997 the contraction went further as "SSM members move out of Willen
Willen
Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in1967...
priory to a smaller house in Willen
Willen
Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in1967...
."
Kelham Hall is a grade I listed building, and the associated monastic buildings of 1927-29 are grade II listed.
College life
A view of life at Kelham Hall can be seen from the memories of its former student. Reverend Vincent StrudwickVincent Strudwick (academic)
Vincent Noel Harold Strudwick is a British theologian and educationalist. His areas of expertise include sixteenth-century English history and the ecclesiology of Richard Hooker....
studied at the College in the 1950s. Revd John Mullineaux "attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, and Manchester University where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours English Language & Literature). He trained for the priesthood at Kelham Theological College, a monastic institution near Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
where he served five years as a Novice. Amongst his duties were the regular feeding of the pigs, being in charge of the kitchen garden, stoker of the coke boiler and electrician - learning house re-wiring."
Revd Eric Mercer was a student at "Theological College in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, then the mother house of the Society of the Sacred Mission which for several generations had broken new ground in opening its doors to non-graduates, boys and men from all backgrounds. The spartan tradition at Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
in those days owed as much to First World War economies as it did to monastic
asceticism."
Chad Payne was a professed member of the Society from 1971-1980, having formerly been a student at its theological college from 1966.He was the last person to make his profession in the Great Chapel. On leaving the Society he moved to Bedford where he had a long and distinguished career as a librarian, eventually becoming chief librarian of the renowned Bedford Central Library, a library responsible for many national innovations with a staff of over thirty. He retired in 2002 to work with homeless people and is now tutoring at Bedford Modern School, one of the five public schools maintained by the Bedford Charity. He recalls the authoritarian nature of the Society in those days,an authoritarianism that was to last well into the early years at Willen, and the inability of those in charge to relate in any meaningful way with its members. Childish petulance was the response to any questioning of local leadership . Many left the Society with their vocations crushed rather than supported, but went on to considerable achievements elsewhere. The Society may have been highly principled but lacked humanity and the ability to come to terms with the changing needs of its brothers. Even to this day, the Society still preserves the mediaeval distinction between 'Father' and 'Brother'.
Revd. Clement Mullinger describes the Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
Theological College as "a very rigid and compartmentalised hierarchy...Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
in its heyday of the late 1930s had certain built-in authoritarian terrors comprising histrionic monologues, directives on notice boards, and a general atmosphere under one roof and round one holy table of a great gulf fixed between them and us...the Society was too concerned with its own satisfactoriness and permanence to think that communication with people not actually enclosed behind its hedges needed much attention. Nor was there any awareness that (apart from subscriptions) we needed anything of love, sympathy or care from them...(there was) a militaristic atmosphere said to derive from Kelly's time at Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
."
Orders
There are three orders in the society: professed members who remain celibate and live in community, taking vowsReligious vows
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...
of poverty, chastity, and obedience (the Evangelical Counsels
Evangelical counsels
The three evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection in Christianity are chastity, poverty , and obedience . As Jesus of Nazareth stated in the Canonical gospels , they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect"...
); associate members who live or work in community but do not take those vows and may be married; companions who do not necessarily live in community or directly but are part of the spiritual and prayer life of the society. The Companions, who take only one vow - to "endeavour to live [their] whole life to the glory of God" - make up the Company of the Sacred Mission.
Modern times
In 1997 SSM helped to create a new ecumenical lay community called "The Well" at the old Priory in Willen. The name derives from the story of ChristChrist
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
and the woman of Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
in St. John's Gospel
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
. The Well runs a conference centre, a place of retreat, and is a resource for the local community. Its members work with the homeless and people in distress and are active in the peace & justice movement. They also work to foster interfaith relations. The Well also supports SSM's Library (brought from Kelham
Kelham
Kelham is a small village in Nottinghamshire variously estimated as "3.36 miles," "3 miles," or "2.92 miles"to the northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent.-Historical:...
Theological College) alongside the library of the Living Spirituality Network - another project partly supported by SSM.
In 2007 The Well community became a work of the Society of the Sacred Mission and so ten years on the house is once again an official SSM house.
In 2008, the society completed a new purpose-built priory in Maseru, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
.
Current Provincials and Visitors
The provincial of the European province is Colin Griffiths, and the visitor is [John Pritchard]], Bishop of Oxford.The provincial of the Southern Province is Christpopher Myers, and the visitor is Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne.
The provincial of the South Africa Province is Michael Lapsley
Michael Lapsley
Michael Lapsley, known as Fr Michael, is a South African Anglican priest and social justice activist. He was born in New Zealand on 2 June 1949, and ordained to the priesthood in Australia, where he also joined the religious order the Society of the Sacred Mission.In 1973 he arrived in Durban,...
, and the visitor is Thabo Makgoba
Thabo Makgoba
Thabo Cecil Makgoba is the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. He had served in the past as Bishop of Grahamstown.-Biography:...
, Bishop of Grahamstown.
In Literature
Robertson Davies depicted the Society fictionally in his novel The Rebel AngelsThe Rebel Angels
The Rebel Angels is Canadian author Robertson Davies's most noted novel, after those that form his Deptford Trilogy.First published by Macmillan of Canada in 1981, The Rebel Angels is the first of the three connected novels of Davies' Cornish Trilogy...
.
External links
- Overview
- Brief outline
- Addresses and contact details
- The Well at Willen web site
- Radical Faith - an SSM web site
- SSM Records at the Historical Mansuscripts Commission
- Brief outline at The Bridge
- Current Kelham Hall web site
- Excellent picture of the domed prayer hall from the air Kelham, by Manfred Knodt. Article in Quatember 1962 (p. 77-80)