Volume 34 • Number 1
Winter 2008
“The whole community rejoices when a new brother is ready to make the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience… The years of initial profession are dedicated to further formation in the religious life. This is a time to begin discerning the gifts a brother may have for ministry, and providing opportunities for developing these gifts through training and practice. His studies should not be directed to these ministries alone, but should aim at a further consolidation of his knowledge of Scripture and the classics of Christian theology and wisdom. During these years the brother develops a firmer grasp of his identity as a religious and seeks to intensify his self-offering to God in daily life and work.”
The SSJE Rule of Life
Cover photo: Br. Bruce Neal, pictured here in the library of SSJE’s former mission house in Oxford, England (now St. Stephen’s Theological Seminary). Br. Bruce made his profession in initial vows on Sunday, January 27, 2008.
©2008 by The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, North America
A Letter from the Superior Dear Members of the Fellowship of Saint John and other Friends, Curtis Almquist, SSJE
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y brother, Timothy Solverson, and I have recently returned from Tanzania. Just after Christmas we traveled with a group of seven friends of SSJE – a physician, veterinarian, midwife, educators, business professionals – on pilgrimage to eastern Africa. Our Anglican sisters and brothers in Tanzania generously shared with us from their treasure trove of spiritual gifts: faithfulness, hope, abounding love, joy, kindness, gentleness. In the experience of such riches, we realize our Westerners’ version of poverty amidst the privileges we know. We received such blessing from our Tanzanian hosts; we prayed the same for them as we shared from the gifts of our own life and labor. We continue to think, talk, and pray how God is inviting our ongoing “partnership in the Gospel.” We will have more to say in our next SSJE e-letter, to be emailed to you later in February.
Br. Curtis and the Rev. Canon Edward Komba.
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Elizabeth Keller and a friend at the Old People’s Home in Mapinduzi
Upon our return to the States, an SSJE friend asked me, “What did you see in Tanzania?” My answer: “Christ.” We meet Christ anew in many faces, many forms, and we clearly experienced Christ in rural Tanzania, as elsewhere. The founder of SSJE, Richard Meux Benson, wrote more than a century ago, “Our coming to Christ changes everything, and therefore even to the old scenes we return with changed hearts and new powers.” So true. Our conversion to Christ is lifelong. We brothers are giving our lives as passionate witnesses to Christ’s reconciling love, which breaks down the divisions that otherwise separate people in both church and world. During Christmastide and Epiphany we also led two other pilgrimages. In late December our brother Tom Shaw, the Bishop of Massachusetts, led a group of Episcopal chaplains and students from Boston3
Dr. Colin Johnstone and Dr. Robert Lambe consulting with Dr. Jonathan Senyota at St. Francis Hospital in Teule.
Michael Stevens with an armload of love in Mpale.
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Dianne Moss sharing a conversation with two secondary school students in the Maramba Deanery.
Children, the choir, and members of the congregation in Gereza, one of many Anglican parishes we visited.
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in our communications, both ministries drawing on his previous life’s experience. Br. Bruce also actively shares in our preaching, spiritual direction, and retreat leading, and serves as a cantor. We are monks of the 21st century. We are always glad to share conversation with men interested in exploring a vocation to our life. More information is available through our newly-revised website: www.SSJE.org
Br.Timothy Solverson, James Meeks, and a young friend, Charles.
area universities to Israel/Palestine. In late January, our brothers Geoffrey Tristram and Jude Smith were chaplains to more than 40 pilgrims from around the world on a “Palestine of Jesus” pilgrimage based at Saint George’s College, Jerusalem. We are living in very opportune times, and we brothers are seizing the moment. On January 27, our brother Bruce Neal made his Profession in Initial Vows at the monastery chapel in the presence of his SSJE brothers, family members, and many friends. Bruce was raised and educated in Kentucky, then worked on the west coast before coming to us several years ago. He brings many gifts to our common life and ministries, for which we are very thankful. As we say in our Rule of Life, “God chooses us from varied places and backgrounds to become a company of friends, spending our whole life abiding in him and giving ourselves up to the attraction of his glory.” Br. Bruce has become the Guest Brother at the monastery and he works with other brothers and staff members The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Our brother Bruce Neal made his preprofession retreat at Fairacres, the home of the Sisters of the Love of God in Oxford, England. He is pictured here with Sisters Edmee and Margaret Theresa, the Superior of the SLG Community.
In our ministry travel, in the hospitality we offer at the monastery and Emery House, and in our daily prayer and worship, our witness to Christ is informed and sustained by so many of you, our friends. You shine the light and life and love of Christ onto us, and we reflect it outward. We are dependent on you for your friendship, prayer, and financial provision. Thank you for enabling our life. Faithfully yours,
Curtis G. Almquist, SSJE Superior 5
‘Barak’: The Blessing of Abraham Mark Brown, SSJE
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:2-3]
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his past October I was privileged to serve as chaplain for a course at St. George’s College, Jerusalem, entitled, “Abraham, Yesterday and Today.” It is a course with an interfaith dimension focusing on Abraham, a key figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. One particularly memorable excursion was to the Machpelah, the great Herodian structure at Hebron over the cave where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah and Rebecca are said to be buried. In today’s political climate Jews may not enter the Muslim section of the shrine; Muslims (who trace Islam back to Abraham through Ishmael) may not enter the Jewish section of the shrine. Christians, being neither, may enter either section. In Genesis 25, Isaac and Ishmael, after some years of living apart, come together at the cave of Machpelah to bury Abraham. According to some rabbinic commentary, to make sure he was dead! He had, after all, tried to kill them both: the near sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah and Ishmael’s and his mother Hagar’s expulsion into the desert when Sarah became jealous. The rabbinic commentary also notes there 6
is no evidence of conversation between Abraham and either son in the sixtysomething years of Abraham’s long life following Ishmael’s expulsion and Isaac’s near sacrifice. Estrangement is a major theme in the Abraham stories. Abraham is, frankly, an ambivalent character. The progenitor that almost kills his two eldest sons. The paragon of faith (“…and Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”) who doesn’t trust God enough to be honest about his marriage to Sarah, passing her off as his sister in Egypt in order to save his own skin. The icon of hospitality (a lavish party for the three mysterious visitors in Genesis 18) who expels from his household not only Ishmael, but all six sons of his second wife Keturah. Abraham has the cheek to bargain with God for the citizens of Sodom like a merchant in the souq, but is chillingly passive when it comes to the life of his own son. At his death at the age of 175, Abraham leaves behind a family estranged from him and from one another. At the outset of Abraham’s long sojourn, however, there was a promise. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will SSJE
God kneeling in adoration before the human being being blessed, but the etymological roots can’t quite be erased. Perhaps the idea of God kneeling in humble adoration when blessing is not so subversive a concept when we recall Jesus at the Last Supper literally on his knees before the disciples, washing their feet as his penultimate act of love. And the abasement of the death on the cross (for Christians the greatest blessing of all) can be seen as a figurative act of kneeling. The humble adoration expressed in kneeling may very well be the kind of blessing the children of Abraham can offer to one another today—and to “all the families of the earth.” Kneeling, at least figuratively, before the other—the other we don’t know, the other we don’t understand, the other we fear— may very well be the Abrahamic blessing God has promised to all the people of the earth. If God, in Christ, can kneel before his people in humility and adoring love and service, perhaps we can as well. We of the Christian household would do well to embody this adoring love
bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:2-3] All the families of the earth are to be blessed in him. In this dangerous age, perhaps it is time to lay claim to this promise. What role do we have to play in this blessing? What role do the other children of Abraham—the Jews and the Muslims—have to play in this blessing? Estranged as we are still, we need to figure this out before it is too late. The Hebrew and Arabic word for blessing, barak, belongs to a family of words based on the tri-consonantal root brk. In Hebrew, barak is to bless or to kneel; berek is knee. Word meanings are fluid and highly contextual, of course, but the Hebrew sense of blessing is intertwined linguistically with kneeling. Blessing someone carries the sense (at least etymologically, if not always contextually) of kneeling, kneeling as if in humble adoration. So when we “bless the Lord, O my soul,” we kneel in humble adoration before God. The very same word, however, is also used when the Bible speaks of God blessing human beings. In the scriptural context, we don’t detect the sense of The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Photo: William Snyder
Machpelah, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah and Rebecca are said to be buried
Graffiti on the separation wall between Israel and Palestine: “God is too big for just one religion”
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Photo: William Snyder
Palestinian boys in the old city of Jerusalem
and service, this “kneeling” before the other. Our example of humility may inspire others, as Jesus’ example has inspired us. Our humility before the other, our loving service, our adoration, may very well be the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise that “all the families of the earth” would be blessed in Abraham. Someone asked me recently what the fruit of my years of interfaith engagement has been. I remember saying, in effect, that I feel that my own Christian identity and understanding have crystallized. I feel more profoundly Christian than ever and more deeply grounded in the reality we know as Christ, even somewhat conventional in my resonance with Christian orthodoxy as expressed in the creeds.
At the same time, I feel a growing appreciation for the religious identity of others. As much as I experience myself increasingly grounded as a Christian, I value the identities of others. The human experience would be greatly impoverished without Jewish identity. The human experience would be greatly impoverished without Islamic identity. If and how our mutually exclusive truth claims can be reconciled, I simply don’t know! And yet there is much in Jewish identity that we can kneel in wonder before, and that we can bless. There is much in Islamic identity that we can kneel in wonder before, and that we can bless. Even in these troubled times. All three of the Abrahamic families, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are experiencing a struggle for the soul of their faiths: there is as much conflict within each household as there is between households! Many are struggling to know the best way to live within their identities with integrity in the 21st century. Perhaps the best way to begin is on bended knee, in humble adoration and blessing of the God who made us. And in humble adoration and blessing of those whom God has also made. In this humility, in this mutual adoration and blessing, the promise to Abraham is fulfilled.
“Jesus called his disciples to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid; through the vitality of our life as a community we are meant to help people remember their own calling to form community. In an era of fragmentation and the breakdown of family and community, our Society, though small, can be a beacon drawing people to live in communion.”
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the SSJE Rule of Life
SSJE
Join the SSJE Brothers on pilgrimage to
The Holy Land 2008 June 20 - July 1, 2008
ICONS IN CYPRUS Br. James Koester
December 2-14, 2008
THE PALESTINE OF JESUS
Photo: William Snyder
Brs. David Vryhof and Robert L’Esperance
The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The church marks the place where Jesus was crucified. SSJE brothers serve as course chaplains. We lead in the daily prayer and worship, offer meditations and spiritual reflections, and give guidance to the pilgrims on how to “pray their own lives” amidst the sacred landscape where the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ unfolded. Outstanding faculty, gracious accommodations, and delicious meals are provided through Saint George’s College, a continuing education center for the entire Anglican Communion. For more information and to register for a course, contact: Saint George’s College, Jerusalem www.sgcjerusalem.org email: registrar@stgeorges.org.il
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
telephone: 011 972 2 626 4704
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Mentoring Communities: SSJE’s Collaboration with Campus Ministries The Rev. Amy McCreath
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hen I arrived at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) to take up the work of college chaplaincy, I assumed that the heart of my ministry would be teaching. This was ministry in academia, after all, and here I was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, surely an epicenter of world-class education. It took me a few years, but I eventually came to see that the heart of my ministry is not teaching, but healing. Having grown up in a violent culture, during a time of war, by the age of eighteen or twenty, our young people carry deep spiritual wounds and psychic fatigue. Admitted to colleges after years of striving to “achieve” their identity, they know deep inside themselves their identity is something larger and deeper than their resume or transcript. But they don’t know what it is. They are wounded by the lie of individualism and our society’s insistence that they define themselves over against one another. So what balm can I offer? Through the years, it has become increasingly clear to me that holy healing is not something one offers on one’s own. Sure, pastoral preaching and tender conversation over coffee in the student center are valuable. But real healing, 10
lasting healing, and for students, the kind of healing that forms them for effective Christian adulthood, happens in community. Sharon Daloz Parks, who has written so much and so helpfully about the spiritual needs of young adults, emphasizes that while college students do need mentors, what they need more than anything are mentoring communities. At our best, in our Lutheran Episcopal Ministry at MIT, we are such a community. At our best, the students are not gathered around me, but gathered with one another, offering hope, honest questions, reality checks, and airtime to one another, with me in the background slicing another loaf of bread, coaching a student to lead prayer, or asking a good question. Mentoring communities don’t spring up fully formed. They are husbanded into being, usually by people who have experience of other authentic, thriving mentoring communities. This is the central gift SSJE offers my chaplaincy, the other Episcopal chaplaincies in the Boston area, and the individual students who find spiritual haven and direction at the monastery. Both chaplains and students get a glimpse of the SSJE community at the “Welcome Back, Students” barbeque SSJE
Brs. David Allen and Kevin Hackett, students Tempest Brevard, Maggie Arnold and Janet Chuang, with the Rev. Amy McCreath, M.I.T. Episcopal Chaplain.
each September. For many students who attend, this is the first time they have ever had any contact with a monastery, and in the course of the evening, any preconceptions or fears they may have are allayed by powerful worship, genuine welcome, and delicious dining! Some of our students will return throughout the year for worship services, individual retreats, or even spiritual direction. Some will enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with the monks. Some of the chaplaincies in our diocese bring students for annual retreats to the monastery or Emery House. And brothers will come to preach, celebrate Eucharist, or teach at our chaplaincy gatherings. The students at MIT love nothing more than to hold a winter retreat at Emery House. They enjoy the beautiful setting, of course, but they particularly love the chance to talk over meals with the brothers who are there about their lives and vocations. They comment to me about the chores they see the men doing, the inner stillness with which The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
they conduct worship, their gracious hospitality. They wonder about the conviction, humility, and capacity to change it must take to live in such a small community faithfully. This academic year, the Episcopal chaplaincies in our diocese are partnering with SSJE on a spiritual leadership program for our student leaders. Our decision to embark on this program came out of the shared realization among us chaplains of how much our students are drawn to the brothers and the monastery, and our shared desire to equip our students to lead and grow faith communities on campus. In this program, our students are gathering at the monastery on three Saturday nights for Evening Prayer, dinner, a period of teaching led by two of the brothers, and Compline. Each teaching session focuses on a specific topic: spiritual leadership, liturgical leadership, and inviting others into community. Each chaplain then follows up with his or her students to reflect on the experience and think through how to bring 11
In September, Br. Curtis meeting with seminarians from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale for a day of reflection.
the lessons to life in the context of our specific ministry sites. During the first of the three sessions in this program, I was struck by how effectively the brothers’ teaching that night met our students on their journey as Christians and as leaders. The brothers shared honestly and graciously out of their experience of living in community, and their stories and reflections offered the students a glimpse of how Christ might be trying to work in their own lives and their own chaplaincy communities. The students began to see how the brothers strive to be Christ to one another and those whom they serve – how their vows create a framework for coaching into being the full, beloved person each brother is. This raised questions for them about their own vows, their own routines and rituals, their own practice of community. Part of the “teaching” that night was the experience of joining in the prayer, the silence, and the chant of worship, 12
all of which opened up for the students the possibility of escaping from the frenetic pace and constant distraction of campus life. I watched as my students took mental notes that night, and continue watching as those notes have been translating into greater boldness in speaking about their own hopes and struggles to find Christ and be Christ together. It’s as if a conversation has been started amongst the students: “See how those brothers are with one another? I wonder whether we could be like that? I wonder whether we could share more silence together? I wonder what would happen if we made room for Christ to lead as they do?” Speaking of leadership, the leadership of the chaplain does make a difference, of course, in healing and every other work we are called to do in our campus-based communities. I think I can speak for my fellow chaplains, as well as the priests doing SSJE
parish-based young adult ministry in the Boston area, in saying that SSJE played a crucial role in a particular project we undertook last year to clarify and strengthen our call to lead young adult faith communities. With joint financial support from our diocese and Trinity Wall Street, a group of ten of us came together for a season of conversation with one another and with guest experts centered around central questions about what it means to effectively pastor young adults in the 21st century. As the plans for the gatherings evolved, it became clear that the ideal place for us to meet was at the monastery. Not only was it a convenient location, it was a place already modeling the kind of excellence we were seeking for ourselves and the young people we serve. This excellence is “in mature personhood that partakes of the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Jesus Christ,” (Eph. 4:13). It is an excellence not based on competition with others. It is an excellence which frees us to rejoice in the goodness and graces of others. It is the by-product of faithful response to the faithful love of God. And so we spent four blessed afternoons together in a meeting room of the monastery, with Brother Kevin in our midst and Brother Roy ensuring we were well-nourished and comfortable. Brother Curtis was one of our four guest presenters, offering helpful reflection on the question, “How do we open ourselves to change so that we can be continually converted by newcomers to our communities?” God truly “brought us into an open place” in those gatherings, and the monastery made it possible. The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
James Fowler writes in his excellent study Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian, that “our most serious modern heresy is that we can be self-grounded persons.” It is also true that we cannot be selfgrounded leaders, self-grounded healers, self-grounded chaplains. And so before we can bring the good news of God in Christ and the healing and peace that flow from it to students or anyone else, we need to be healed ourselves of our own heresies and wounds. I am so very thankful for the many ways in which the brothers of SSJE, individually and as a group, continue to work that healing in me, and thereby enable me to serve the students in my cure out of the riches of Christ’s grace, rather than my own misguided and limited stores. I am thankful to brothers of days gone by who made the decision to locate the monastery in the midst of an academic hub. And I am thankful to the brothers of today, who pray for students, work with them, and strengthen those of us who work with them in so many ways. The Rev. Amy McCreath is the Episcopal Chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Coordinator of the Technology and Culture Forum at M.I.T. She and her husband, Brian, worship regularly at the monastery.
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Dust and Ashes: Our beginning and our end Jonathan Maury, SSJE
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19
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hese are the closing words of the LORD God’s sorrowing speech to the man and the woman as their Creator mourns their rejection of the intimate and constant companionship with God which they have known in Eden. God’s words to our first parents sadly note the consequences which follow from the misuse of their freedom to make choices. Their former equality and mutual reflection of the divine image is now marred by the pain of insatiable desire and of sweat-filled toil. The very ground is cursed, not by God, but as a result of human choice to go its own way. God does not curse the human race, but only the serpent, who henceforth shall go on its belly, eating dust all its days. A mysterious reference to continuing enmity between the woman’s offspring and that of the serpent hints at a future restoration of former human glory: Though the dust-eater will strike at the heel of the dust-being, ultimately the human creature shall be empowered to strike the head of the serpent and thus destroy its power. The seeming defeat of the God-man Jesus upon the cross will issue instead in the defeat of death itself and the reconciliation of humanity with God, through the gracious gift of everlasting life in our 14
enjoyment of God (BCP 862). Paradoxically, the intimations of human mortality, our origin in dust and ashes, will draw us to the humility of penitence in celebration of our dependence on loving communion with God in the fullness of life for which we are created. This contradiction, new life arising from (literal and figurative) reduction to dust and ashes, is given further expression in the stories of two seemingly unlikely figures in the Hebrew Scriptures: Abraham and Job. Ultimately neither of these is the offspring who grapples head-on with humanity’s enemy; rather both gain victory and fulfillment through acknowledgement of their mortal nature, and, of the fierce-burning of divine Love who has shared with them the gift of being. Following his offering of hospitality to three angelic visitors near Mamre (Genesis 18), Abraham is portrayed as “standing before the LORD” debating the fate of any righteous persons who may be found in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God has proposed to destroy because of the outcry against the wicked, inhospitable ways of their inhabitants. God has promised to Abraham and his wife Sarah (despite their centenarian status!) offspring as innumerable as the stars and the sand SSJE
Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity, written by Br. Eldridge Pendleton, which draws its imagery from the story of Abraham’s hospitality in Genesis 18
of the sea, and that all nations will be blessed in the aged couple. It should come as no surprise that Abraham prefaces his negotiations with God by characterizing himself as one who is “but dust and ashes”—for that is what he is. Though Abraham dares not go beyond asking that the cities might be saved for the sake of ten righteous, his acknowledgement of mortality as an act of penitence opens him to a deeper acceptance of God’s eternal, loving desire and purpose for Abraham and the whole of humanity. The story of Job’s sufferings and his ultimate acceptance of them is often misunderstood, just as his plight and its causes are by the three friends with whom he dialogues in the text. We, The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
as Job himself seems to, rightly find the implication of a seeming ‘bargain’ between God and Satan deeply disturbing. In the book’s final chapter, Job acknowledges the power of God and accepts God’s judgment that, in making his defense, he, Job, has spoken without knowledge or understanding. Job’s speech concludes with these words: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6, NRSV) But commentary in The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd Edition, suggests that “The concluding words of Job are ambiguous or, perhaps, multivalent. The Hebrew word rendered by the NRSV I despise myself should probably 15
be translated as ‘I relent’ or ‘I recant’; the word for repent may also mean ‘regret’ or ‘console’; the preposition in is either literally ‘upon’ or ‘concerning’ / ‘about.’ Thus Job may be understood to say that he recants and regrets mournfully (upon dust and ashes…), or that he relents and is consoled about the limitations of humanity (i.e., about being dust and ashes…).” Job has emerged from his inexplicable trials with a new sense of God’s deep desire for intimacy with him. He emphatically rejects any implication of God’s possible capricious, even sadistic torment of him. Instead, Job’s regretful recantation of his views “without
knowledge” concerning God’s doings is transformed, through dust and ashes, into a sharing in the mournful regret of God in Eden at the hurtful consequences which result from willful human rejection of loving dependence on relationship with the One who first brought us into being, God’s gift of everlasting life. This is the abiding mystery of our full, created being coming to perfection through communal and personal acceptance of mortality and repentance, through reduction to dust and ashes by the fire of God’s love; the mystery given sing-able, prayerful voice in the words of the medieval poet Bianco da Siena:
Come down, O Love divine, seek thou this soul of mine, And visit it with thine own ardor glowing; O Comforter, draw near, with in my heart, appear, And kindle it thy holy flame bestowing. O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn To dust and ashes in its heat consuming; And let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight, And clothe me round, the while my path illuming. And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long, Shall far outpass the power of human telling; For none can guess its grace, till Love create a place Wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
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SSJE
How I Found My Sanctuary Mariam Patrose
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was born in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 1924. I first came to the United States in 1976 to visit my oldest son Babu who was studying at Leigh University in Pennsylvania. In 1983, when my younger son Prataap came to study at MIT, I made my first trip to Cambridge. On each of these trips I was exposed to various aspects of what is often referred to as “American culture” – often through the television. I have to confess what I saw at first did not attract me very much. Because of my two sons choosing to live and work in the U.S., I began to come to Cambridge more often. Prataap was fortunate to find a condo at 988 Memorial Drive and my visits to him at first involved enjoying walks along the Charles River and exploring much of Harvard Square. One evening he asked if I would like to visit the monastery. Not realizing that there was one so close by, I was intrigued and followed him. It was evening and between Evening Prayer and Compline and the chapel was dark inside. Being somewhat scared of darkness I did not find the place very inviting, and did not go back for some time. A few years later, Prataap suggested I go to the midday Eucharist at the monastery, and I took him up on his offer. By then he had started to go on silent retreats at Emery House and was The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
smitten by the retreat bug, like many others. One day, while he was at work, I took a walk down to the monastery but I found only five or six souls attending the Eucharist at St. Mary’s altar. Coming from India where every small occasion has hordes of people, I was a little taken aback. But little did I know that this was soon to become my spiritual home away from home. That particular day the late Fr. Frederick Gross was presiding. Fr. Robert Smith also conducted services in the Lady Chapel in those days. Something about those men and the way they conducted themselves and the service attracted me to come back for more spiritual food. That was around 1986 or 1987. Every year since then I have come to services at the monastery most days during the six or seven months I spend in Boston. At first since there were very few people attending services. I got to know Fr. Gross, who took a particular interest in me. He was very interested in finding out about the churches in India and we became friends. Collecting stamps was one of his hobbies and we exchanged stamps for a few years. The ones he sent me I would pass on to my grandson, who had inherited the family stamp collection. Along the way I got to know a number of the brothers. Some joined and 17
later left, others have stayed, and some have passed on. I have fond memories of all of them. Two that I came to know quiet well along the way have been Br Curtis and Br James. While I had many engaging conversations with them and other brothers at the monastery, there is one conversation that stands out for me. I had just met Br. James and he, like the others, was talking to me to make me feel at home. Presuming like most people that Indian Christians were converted to Christianity by missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, Br. James asked how long my family had been Christians. Needless to say, he was more than a little shocked to hear that my forefathers were converted by St. Thomas in the first century A.D.! I grew up as an Eastern Orthodox Christian. The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Patriarch of Antioch. Though this may sound odd to some, I feel very much at home at the monastery. The rituals and services of the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Episcopal Church have much more
in common than they have differences. Maybe it is because they are both “high churches.” The service is almost the same except it is said in Malayalam in Kerala and in English here. Sometimes I enjoy translating it in my head from English to Malayalam during service. The chapel that I found mostly empty when I started coming here in 1986 is now full and that fills my heart with joy. It has also brought me many new friends as a result. This transformation is a testament to the good works of the brothers who have made it an inviting and welcoming environment for many like me. I have one last confession to make. I have yet to go to the Syrian Orthodox church in the Boston area, and I hear there is one. Since I have found the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, I feel no need to seek God anywhere else while I am in Cambridge. I feel the monastery on Memorial Drive is my spiritual sanctuary and I feel blessed to be able to find God among enlightened monks of the 21st century.
The Fellowship of Saint John (FSJ) is comprised of men and women throughout the world who desire to live their Christian life in special association with the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. They have a vital interest in the life and work of the brothers, and support our life and ministries with their prayers, encouragement, and financial gifts. The brothers of SSJE welcome members of the FSJ as partners in the gospel life, and pray for them by name in our daily prayers, following a regular cycle. With us the FSJ members form an extended family, a company of friends abiding in Christ and seeking to bear a united witness to him as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” following the example of the Beloved Disciple.
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For more information, please write to the Director of the Fellowship of St. John, 980 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02138.
Danielle Tumminio visits with Br. Geoffrey Tristram following her reception as a new member of the Fellowship of St. John.
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Finding God’s Purpose in Our Lives David Allen, SSJE
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hirty-two years ago I returned from Japan to this monastery to live. I don’t remember the exact day, just that it was shortly before All Saints’ Day, 1975. During the spring of 1975 several problems had developed that affected the work of SSJE in Japan. The end result was that the Chapter here determined that the work in Japan should be closed and that I would return to the monastery in Cambridge. I had come to love Japan and its people and the work we were doing there. It was difficult for me to face having to leave that country. I prayed deeply and fervently, either that a Japanese bishop would offer me a position in his diocese or that I could find the strength to accept the obedience given to me. No position was offered, and I took that as God’s answer – that I was to obey and return here. Outwardly I returned quietly, but inwardly I was kicking and screaming. After returning here I began to find compensations, little by little at first. I have been thankful for those. I believe that my acceptance of the obedience, and of the compensations, was the work of the Holy Spirit helping me in my weakness (cf. Rom. 8:26). I still love Japan, but in a more detached way. My home is here. During my last few months in Japan and my first few months back in the The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
United States, people would solicitously say to me that it must have been part of God’s plan that I return to this country. It didn’t take me very long to realize that is not how God works. I don’t believe that God controls us like puppets on strings. We are not pushed and pulled until we fit into some overall plan of God in which every detail has to be fulfilled. I think that the truth is that God does have a plan, but it is to be understood in general terms. God calls us to Life and to Salvation from our sins, but leaves a lot of the working out of the details to us, and to the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit. God calls us, but waits for us to perceive the call and answer from the gift of free will that he has given us. God gives us a nudge every now and then. He may put opportunities in front of us, but he expects us to make the best use of them by our own initiative. St. Paul writes to the Christians at Rome, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). I believe that this supposes some cooperation on our part. We have to learn what it means to love God and be loved by God. We have to perceive God’s call to us. This does not mean that it is neces19
sary to have a complete understanding of God’s love before we can perceive God’s call and answer it. We learn what the love of God is as we begin to perceive this call. While we are feeling our way towards answering that call we discover that we can begin to understand it in some imperfect way. Finally we learn to give God our love, and let God do the rest in the way best for each
of us. This uses the gifts and abilities already within us that have come from God in the first place. A few verses later Paul writes, “Those whom [God] justified he also glorified”(v.30c). I don’t know exactly what that means right now. I think it means something extremely good. I trust God, and I think his promise is worth waiting for.
Society of Saint John the Evangelist The Friends of SSJE Annual Fund 2008 Information on Giving US Giving SSJE Friends in the USA can make tax-deductible gifts to SSJE. Checks: Please make checks payable to: SSJE and send to: The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, P.O. Box 382601, Cambridge, MA 02238 Online: Credit card donations can be made via www.ssje.org Stock Gifts: Please email treasury@ssje.org for details. Monthly Gifts: Please email friends@ssje.org if you would like to make monthly pay ments by credit card. Pledging: If you like to pledge please email your pledge to friends@ssje.org Tax Receipts: After the end of each calendar year receipts will be sent for Chapel gifts made by check and for all pledge payments received.
Canadian Giving SSJE Friends in Canada can make tax deductible donations through The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust. At this time we cannot accept Canadian gifts paid by credit card. Please make checks payable to: SSJE and send to: “SSJE” c/o Scotia Trust Co., Attn: Mrs. Vi Bunclark, Trust Administrator The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company, Exchange Tower, PO Box 430, Stn First Canadian Place, Toronto, Ontario M5X 1K1
UK Giving SSJE Friends in the UK can now donate through Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). This method allows SSJE to reclaim the taxes paid by the donor as is allowed under UK tax law. You can open a CAF Charity Account either online at www.cafonline.org or by calling 01732 520 050. Please specify The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, Boston when making your gift.
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SSJE
In September, the monastery hosted two days of worship and meetings with over 40 representatives of Ecclesia Ministries from across the country. Ecclesia Ministries, founded in Boston by our friend, the Rev. Debbie Little, focuses its mission on ministry among the homeless. Br. Mark Brown served as chaplain for a course entitled Abraham: Yesterday and Today at St. George’s College in Jerusalem. The course examined the role of Abraham in Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
ELO photo/Matthew Davies
COMMUNITY NEWS
Spokespersons for the House of Bishops
Our Brother and Bishop Tom Shaw met with the press following the historic meeting of the House of Bishops in New Orleans in October. From left, Bishop Nathan Baxter of Central Pennsylvania, Bishop Frank Brookhart of Montana, Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop Tom Ely of Vermont, Bishop Chilton Knudson of Maine, Bishop Tom Shaw, SSJE, of Massachusetts.
Br. Mark Brown
Br. Kevin Hackett was selected as a Melodious Accord Fellow in Composition, studying with Alice Parker and seven other Fellows from across the country, October 14-21, at Parker’s farm and studio in West Hawley, Massachusetts.
Br. Kevin Hackett
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
In Boston October 26-27 for the Sabeel Conference, The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel, was Archbishop-elect Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Br. Jude Smith, Bishop and Br. Tom Shaw, the Rev. Naim Ateek, and Br. Curtis Almquist. 21
Br. Curtis Almquist led the annual clergy retreat for the Diocese of Texas, October 1-3. Brs. Curtis and Robert L’Esperance led the clergy retreat for the Diocese of Virginia October 15-17.
Br. Curtis Almquist led an Advent Retreat program and preached and taught at Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, December 7-9. In early December, Roy Cockrum decided to withdraw from the community after coming to the end of his period in initial vows. We are grateful for all the contributions Roy made to our community’s life and work during the years he was with us, and wish him well.
Br. Curtis with Virginia Bishops Shannon Johnston, David Jones, and Peter Lee at Shrine Mont Retreat Center.
On November 23-25, Br. James Koester led a parish weekend entitled Hope: Food for the Journey at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Montreal. That parish and the Society have had a long history together. In the 1890’s, while he was living at the Mission House in Boston, Father Benson preached there, as did Father Hall. On January 18, 2008 Br. James attended the consecration of a Trinity College (Toronto) classmate as the new co-adjutor Bishop of Quebec, The Rt. Rev. Dennis Drainville, at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec City.
Br. James Koester
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A generous gift and a generous bequest have made possible the renewal of several sets of vestments for the monastery. On Advent Sunday, we were pleased to introduce a new set of Sarum blue vestments, and on Christmas, a new festal set in ivory, gold, and red. Both sets were designed and constructed by Patrick Boylan of Grace Liturgical Vestments in Brooklyn, New York. A set for Holy Week is presently in the works.
Br. Mark Brown loads the thurible with incense before a Tuesday night Eucharist in Advent. Serving with him are the Rev. Adam Shoemaker (as deacon) and Harvard Divinity School student Michael Bousquet (as subdeacon).
SSJE
Brs. David Vryhof, Geoffrey Tristram and Jude Smith line up for the procession on Christmas Day.
Br.Tom Shaw works in his pottery studio with his six-year old friend Luke Griffin, the son of former community member, Brad Griffin, and his wife, Julia Slayton.
Brs. Geoffrey Tristram and Jude Smith were chaplains to 43 pilgrims on a Palestine of Jesus course at St. George’s College in Jerusalem, February 1-14. Our work with seminarians continued at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, where Br. Kevin Hackett taught a week-long course on Spiritual Direction, January 14-18. Br. Geoffrey Tristram was chaplain for a course for new bishops and their spouses, held at Camp Allen in the Diocese of Texas, January 21-25.
A woodcarving given to the community by Bishop Baji and the people of the Diocese of Tanga in Tanzania. “Karibu tena” means “welcome back.”
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
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Our Mission Unfolding
T
he SSJE brothers live as a community of men giving our whole selves over to living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rooted in the ancient monastic traditions of prayer and community life, and critically engaged with contemporary culture, we seek to know and share an authentic experience of God’s love and mercy. In successive editions of the Cowley quarterly, in our e-newsletters, and on our website, we will share how we see our mission and ministry unfolding, in four significant ways:
• Silence and Sanctuary The Building of our Future • Guidance in Prayer and
Spirituality
Enabling Spiritual Formation • Nurturing Vocations Encouraging and Sustaining Men as Monks • A Vision for Wholeness Witnessing to God’s Compassion, Reconciliation, and Justice
“The religious, if his religious life is worth anything, takes a large view and a clear calm view of all the phenomena of the day upon which God calls him to work, and is careful to act in a manner proportionate to those necessities. He is not fussy, looking out for something; not gloomy, looking back with sorrow or forward with despondence; but he is ready, looking always upward for the call of God.” Richard Meux Benson (1824-1915) Founder of SSJE
Have you visited our website lately? • Listen to SSJE sermons recorded at the monastery • Sign up to receive our e-newsletter six times a year • Find out about retreats, workshops, and other programs at the monastery and at Emery House
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SSJE
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
The Friends of SSJE Annual Fund 2007
Friends
Brian ~ I am the son and the husband of a minister so it is easy to perceive of working in the church much as anything else as a job that someone has. But the Brothers, with their vows, have taken that extra step that’s just extraordinary and it is something that I have always been amazed at. We love being their guests. Amy ~ It is hard not to get caught in the anxieties that naturally are part of the institution of the Church and to operate out of worry or fear. So for me, one of the things about the Monastery and about the Brothers is that their life of prayer and the vows that they are living into really allow them to be grounded in joy and to operate out of a real relationship with God. It is a real gift to have a time and the place to be able to just worship together and be in the hands of people who are clearly a prayerful community and model attending to God so beautifully. Brian McCreath and the Rev. Amy McCreath. Amy is the Episcopal chaplain at MIT. Brian is a radio producer and host at WGBH. Their twins, Frances and James, were baptized in the Monastery Chapel.
Every morning the Brothers pray for the Holy Spirit “to rule our hearts, that our lives may be holy, our prayers acceptable, our wants supplied, our words directed, and our work prospered, to the glory of God’s name.” We are able to pray this prayer only through the sustenance of your friendship and your financial support, on which we depend. We are so grateful. Curtis G. Almquist, SSJE Superior At a time when shadows loom over the economy many friends have given gifts and added words of thanks like “the Brothers move hearts,” “the graciousness of your presence and theology,” “so blessed by the experience,” “I was vulnerable, they helped.” To witness an act of kindness is moving. To witness a stream of kindness is inspiring. To witness a circle of kindness is confirming, confirming of the gift of life, life as a gift from God. At this time we are especially grateful for all your gifts which make possible the ministries of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Jamie Coats, Director, Friends of SSJE The Annual Fund of SSJE is made up of gifts given by the Friends of SSJE and it includes collections in the Chapel, the spring and fall appeal gifts, gifts from members the Fellowship of Saint John, pledge payments, and donations given at other times. It does not include restricted gifts or bequests. In 2007 the Annual Fund was up 1% from 2006 and covered 41% of operating expenses. The brothers worked hard to hold the 2007 budget close to the 2006 level despite being increasingly challenged by familiar rising costs (energy, building maintenance, healthcare etc). SSJE welcomes your support in 2008. A report on the SSJE’s finances will be available in the spring.
# of Donors
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
• All donors • $2,500 + • $1,000 - $2,499 • $500 - $999
1,439 23 62 96
1,523 25 50 100
1,516 27 74 113
1,472 55 123 183
1,545 59 128 156
579,632
829,257
835,539
Total Donations (US Fund) 512,029
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
461,656
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Retreats at The Monastery Cambridge, Massachusetts
For information about retreats at the monastery, visit our website at www.ssje.org or contact the guesthouse office at (617) 876-3037 or guesthouse@ssje.org. NOTE: Retreats listed in bold type-face are available for registration. For full program descriptions and to register, visit our website at www.ssje.org. Continuing education credits are offered for programs marked by an asterisk (*). NOURISHING THE SOUL weekends open for individual retreatants February 15-17, February 22-24, March 14-16, April 4-6, April 18-20, May 2-4, May 23-25, May 30-June 1, 2008.
*HOLY WEEK AT THE MONASTERY March 18-23, 2008
Retreats at Emery House West Newbury, Massachusetts
For more information about retreats and programs at Emery House, visit our website at www.ssje.org or contact Emery House at (978) 462-7940 or emeryhouse@ssje.org. NOURISHING THE SOUL weekends open for individual retreatants February 15-17, March 28-30, May 16-18, May 23-25, 2008. *TIME FOR GOD – a week of renewal for clergy January 29-February 2, 2008 (Tuesday, 5 pm – Saturday, 2 pm) Led by Brs. JAMES KOESTER and ELDRIDGE PENDLETON LENTEN QUIET DAY FOR CLERGY February 12, 2008 (Tuesday, 9 am – 4 pm) Led by Br. JAMES KOESTER J.S. BACH’S “ST. JOHN PASSION” IN MUSICAL MEDITATION February 21-24, 2008 (Thursday, 5 pm – Sunday, 2 pm) Led by Br. JONATHAN MAURY
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BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD – icon writing retreat/workshop February 26-March 2, 2008 (Tuesday, 5 pm – Sunday, 2 pm) Led by Br. JAMES KOESTER THREE-DAY COMPANIONED RETREAT March 6-9, 2008 (Thursday, 5 pm – Sunday, 2 pm) *FIVE-DAY COMPANIONED RETREAT April 8-13, 2008 (Tuesday, 5 pm – Sunday, 2 pm) TOUCHING THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT – Advanced Training in Healing Touch April 24-27, 2008 (Thursday, 5 pm – Sunday, 2 pm) Led by Ms. PATRICIA WARREN
SSJE
SATURDAY WORKSHOPS AT THE MONASTERY 980 Memorial Drive • Cambridge, Massachusetts 2007-2008
Workshops begin at 10:00 a.m. (registration begins at 9:30 a.m.) and end by 3:00 p.m. The normal fee for a Saturday workshop is $75 ($40 for full-time students), which includes lunch. To register, call or write the guesthouse office at: Tel: (617) 876-3037 Email: guesthouse@ssje.org web: www.ssje.org FORGIVING and BEING FORGIVEN February 16, 2008 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) Forgiveness is central to Christian living, yet it is one of the most challenging aspects of discipleship. This workshop will explore the biblical basis of God’s forgiveness as well as the practical dimensions of forgiving and being forgiven. Led by Br. CURTIS ALMQUIST BEGINNING TO MEDITATE April 19, 2008 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) For those who are beginning to pray or want to deepen their experience of prayer, this workshop will offer teaching on meditative prayer and opportunities to practice it. Led by Brs. TIMOTHY SOLVERSON and BRUCE NEAL YOURS ARE THE HANDS: Advanced Healing Touch Workshop May 31, 2008 (Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm) This prayer of St. Teresa of Avila sets the tone for participants to learn the skills to develop a Christ-centered approach to healing touch. Using prayer, meditation, scripture, reflection, and “hands on” practice, this advanced workshop invites participants to experience God’s healing love and to be channels of that love and healing power to others. Led by Ms. PATRICIA WARREN, a Christian healer who has traveled the world studying and teaching Buddhist, Sikh and Christian methods of healing for the past twenty-five years. She is dedicated to the direct experiential practice of God and healing in ordinary lives. Suggested fee for this workshop: $100 (half-price for full-time students)
The Society of Saint John the Evangelist
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