Religious life

In most communities, promises are taken or vows are made in Community before God and the church. These vows usually, but not always, are made for life. They involve profound and positive values of attending to God and living together. The Religious life is demanding yet joyful. It is counter-cultural not to seek after possessions wealth and fame; to suggest that commitment and purity in all relationships is fulfilling and beautiful; to realise that what makes me feel good may not be best for someone else.  Religious Life is a way to grow in discovering God and a way to relate to these and other challenges of today’s society.

Community life

Most traditional communities are for either women only or men only. Some wear distinctive clothes (a ‘habit’). Some are engaged in active work in the world, others are more oriented to contemplation and prayer.  Members of communities can be lay or ordained.  Almost all traditional communities and many new or dispersed communities have a ministry of hospitality at their heart.  Visiting a monastery or convent Guest House can be a good way to encountering traditional Religious Life for the first time.

Community life – like family life – is not always easy, but the practice of loving forgiveness builds bonds that go beyond difference. The extended commitment to others (in many communities, life-long) is a witness of the love to which Jesus calls His disciples in a society that is often fragmented and divided.

In general, religious communities can be described as active, contemplative, or new, or dispersed:

Active communities have active ministries in society: in education, health and social care, evangelism and parish work. What makes their ministry different is the way it is anchored in a pattern of prayer and in a life lived together. The support of sisters and brothers acts as an encouragement and a witness. Caring for the poor and reaching out to the vulnerable are central to the witness of religious communities.

Contemplative communities revolve around set times of prayer and worship. Time is given for seeking God in private prayer and silence. Some members will leave the monastery (sometimes called a priory or convent) at times to preach and minister, but such outside commitments are secondary to the commitment and dedication to worship and prayer. Some communities confine their work to the home and its grounds, maintaining what is called ‘enclosure’. This helps keep distractions from prayer to a minimum.

New Monastic Communities can trace its history back to the German theologian, Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s statement in a letter to his brother in 1935: “The restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism… a complete lack of compromise in a life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ. I think it is time to gather people together to do this.”  Since then, there has been a revival in the place of Christian groups seeking to live out a call to be a community of prayer, offering loving service within and shared rhythm of life.

Some communities that share this vision of committed Christian living are made up of individuals who do not live together in one place but are “dispersed”.  Members have a common “Rule of life” and pattern of prayer but live out their calling in their home and work setting, meeting with other community members on particular occasions.

The formally Acknowledged new and dispersed monastic Communities within the Church of England can be found here. There are other communities within and outside the Church of England.

Anglican religious communities are found all over the world and a fuller list of communities worldwide may be found in the Anglican Religious Life Yearbook.

Single Consecrated Life.  Some people feel called to a form of Religious Life but, for various reasons, not to community living.  Information about the Single Consecrated Life can be found here.  In exceptional circumstances some traditional communities have enabled individuals to live as hermits but this is only after extended experience of living as a full member of the community concerned and with careful discernment by the whole community.

How do I join a religious community?

Is God prompting you to think about this way of life?  Do you believe God is calling you to serve in community? Are you being drawn increasingly to prayer or time of retreat? Your starting point is to meet with your own vicar, chaplain, or equivalent. Talk with them about your sense of calling. They can put you in touch with the vocations team in your diocese with whom you should also arrange to meet.

It is important you continually pray about your vocation throughout the discernment process.

Each Religious Community is unique and will have its own admission process.

• Each New Monastic Community has a process for helping those seeking a prayerful way of life to discern their call.
• For Traditional Communities the first step for anyone interested in this way of living is to arrange to visit different communities and experience their ways of life as a visitor.  Ask if you may talk with the Sisters and Brothers about their life when you book your visit.

Explore the websites of new and traditional communities here.