Right. After spending the best part of a year worrying about our budding seminary, I draw aside to create space for more creative things – such as this blog.
It needs more focus, hence a shift from general monastic issues to a fairly specific subject: the ‘new monasticism’. I retain the name ‘african monastic’ because of monasticism’s intrinsic value to our continent – but I’d like now to narrow the scope to the recent phenomenon in contemporary monasticism.
Below are links to 2 videos produced by Travis Best at The Work of the People:
http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00474
http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00498
Both videos feature reflections by Claudio Oliver, a pastor who lives in Curitiba, Brazil.
I’m reading Community of the Transfiguration by Paul Dekar. Part of the small but growing body of literature on this ‘great spiritual movement of our day’, this slim 162 pp volume adds to the ‘New Monastic Library’ , a series edited by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and published by Wipf & Stock.
Dekar’s book follows his earlier article on Monastic Renewal in Australia (Evangelical Review of Theology, July 2007). It describes the life of Holy Transfiguration Monastery (HTM), a Baptist monastery Down Under. I’ll be reviewing a chapter at a time in the comments that follow…
Several months ago, popular author Philip Yancey addressed a men’s breakfast in Melbourne – the article can be found here. In his talk, he refers to the so-called ‘monastic cycle’, wherein he discerns a pattern in the life of monastic groups – in this case, the Benedictines.
“… every time they achieved that prosperity, it started to undermine everything else. And he went through about 4 cycles over the 1200 years history of the Benedictines where they were doing very well at prospering, and then they started to break apart and they started to divide and dissolve ultimately, and then someone would come along and remind them of their heritage and would crank it up again.”
Yancey goes on to apply this ‘cycle’ to the story of the OT, modern church life and – pointedly – to national culture: ‘Where are we [Americans] on the monastic cycle?’ The article is provocative, and a few questions are in order:
I hope you like the new theme! It reflects a fresh enthusiasm for the topic of this blog, namely: Intentional communities in Africa, monastic spirituality and the so-called ‘new monasticism’.
Two, quite different, posts recently caught my eye:
Roger’s hope for the emerging church as a “desert within the oasis of life” (Pete Rollins) raises the intriguing issue of overlap between monasticism and post-modern expressions of Church.
The second article explores how Maria reinterpreted the traditional vows of chastity, obedience and poverty in the context of early 20th-century Europe. Especially interesting is her take on ‘non-possession’.
Best wishes for 2008.
I’m reviewing this book at Emergent Africa. The general theme is church-as-community, patterned on the social Trinity. Peter Homes is a co-founder of Christ Church Deal, a ‘therapeutic’ faith community with some interesting features.
Apologies for the recent hiatus…
About 7 years ago, I began a Master’s dissertation on ‘Intentional Communities’, with Madge Karecki (UNISA) as supervisor. It ran out of steam partly because I had so little to go on by way of local examples.
In view of the seemingly renewed interest in modern monasticism, I’m giving it another shot this year – this time with Philippe Denis (UKZN) as my guide.
Prof Denis is a church historian with a particular interest in oral history. He’s also a Dominican, and so brings with him (like Karecki) a heritage of Catholic monasticism.
The (rather unoriginal) working title is ‘The New Monastic Movement in South Africa’. It might be interesting to blog my progress as it happens.
I’d really appreciate input on any aspect of the project, so don’t be shy to comment!
I’ve had a rough week with the ‘flu. (Trouble is, I often hear God more clearly on my back…) How did monastics view illness? Was it sin, discipline or just bodily inconvenience?
Wow! Didn’t realise the magnitude of what Francis Pfanner began… Since its break from the Trappist Order in 1909, can the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries be regarded as the best example of Catholic missional monasticism in Africa?
In his post on the tonsuring of Hierodeacon Seraphim, Steve Hayes affords a fascinating glimpse into the rite of Orthodox ‘ordination’. This event is important since it may signal “a new stage in the development of … an indigenous Southern African monasticism”.
Would it be possible to contact this brother and interview him online, Steve?
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