New Community of Celebration Way of Life
Our way of life consists of the basic desires and practices that form our new monastic expression. Each year, our members develop an aspirational vision for what it means to lean deeper into this way of life together.
Our new expression of The Community of Celebration emerged from our relationships with a Benedictine religious community of the Episcopal Church, also called The Community of Celebration.
WAY OF LIFE
We want a certain way of life. Each year, our community develops an aspirational vision for what it means to lean deeper into this way of life. It includes:
THE POOR
We want and choose the poor because the Kingdom of God chooses them. This means we live among them, learn from them, seek mutuality and friendship with them, advocate for them, redistribute resources among them, and amplify their voices.
PRAYER
We want and choose lives formed around our common practice of prayer. This means we lean into contemplative, charismatic, and other forms that provide space for God’s Presence to dwell among us.
A COMMON LIFE
We want and choose each other. We tend to our common life in joyful humility and mutual submission. This is a prophetic witness in an age of individualistic idolatry, and it serves as an evangelistic witness of Jesus’ love among us. Levity and friendship at our meals and celebrations sustains us in work and mission.
WORK
We want and choose prayerful work. We seek to cultivate an integrated life of work and prayer that reflects the joyful pursuit of holy desire. Our work is meaningful because of the awareness of God’s Presence in it, and we seek common creative pursuits that manifest human flourishing and joy.
STABILITY
We want and choose this place. We make commitments of rootedness to one another in both geography and relationship. This is a way for God’s sanctification among us and spiritual depth in community and mission.
12 MARKS OF THE NEW MONASTICISM
Schools for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism articulates 12 common characteristics of new monastic communities that have formed in our time. We seek to interpret these marks in ways that reflect what God has already been doing among us. The 12 marks are:
Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
Hospitality to the stranger.
Lament for racial divisions within the Church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
Humble submission to Christ’s body, the church.
Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along lines of the old novitiate.
Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and children.
Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support for our local economies.
Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
Commitment to a disciplined, contemplative life.