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Table of Contents
Focus Text: Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Romans 12:1-8
Overview
Focus Text: Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Pastoral Reflection by Rev. J. George Reed, Executive Director, NC Council of Churches
Much of the book of Romans is given over to some pretty heavy theological work. What is the meaning of God’s righteousness? Where does Israel fit into this? What about justification by faith? What happens to the Mosaic law? What role does grace play? Heavy questions facing the newly developing church in the First Century.
Key Quote
The religious community is essential, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen. Together, our vision widens and strength is renewed.
Mark Morrison-Reed
Related Texts
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to [God]. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end… Jesus, knowing that [God] had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” … After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord– and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them… I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:1, 3-7, 12-17, 34-35
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels– to say nothing of ordinary matters? If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another, but a believer goes to court against a believer– and before unbelievers at that? In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud– and believers at that.
1 Corinthians 6:1-8
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:7-11
Other Lectionary Texts
- Exodus 1:8-2:10
- Isaiah 51:1-6
- Psalm 124
- Psalm 138
- Matthew 16:13-20
Scriptural Commentary on Romans 12:1-8
At the beginning of Romans 12, Paul – in one of the more memorable images of the New Testament – urges the members of the church in Rome to offer their bodies as a “living sacrifice” to God. It is with this image that Paul shifts the focus of his letter to the Romans from a discussion about how to understand Jews and Gentiles to a discussion about how Christians – whether from a Jewish or Gentile background – should live together in community. It is, essentially, a discussion of ethics. Because we live in a particularly individualistic culture, we often miss the fundamentally communal aspect of Paul’s witness. (For example, even the letter to the Romans itself was read aloud to all members of the gathered community, rather than printed for individual use!)
New Testament scholar Richard Hays reminds us that “The biblical story focuses on God’s design for forming a covenant people. Thus, the primary sphere of moral concern is not the character of the individual but the corporate obedience of the church. Paul’s formulation in Romans 12:1-2 encapsulates this vision…. The community, in its corporate life, is called to embody an alternative order that stands as a sign of God’s redemptive purposes in the world…. Many New Testament texts express different facets of this image: the church is the body of Christ, a temple built of living stones, a city set on a hill, Israel in the wilderness. The coherence of the New Testament’s ethical mandate will come into focus only when we understand that mandate in ecclesial terms, when we seek God’s will not by asking first, ‘What should I do,’ but ‘What should we do?’” (Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament, 196-7).
Paul continues his argument by employing a practical metaphor to explain how this community is supposed to function – it’s like a body, with many parts but one purpose. (Here in Romans the church is “one body in Christ,” while in I Corinthians the metaphor is extended such that the church is “the body of Christ.”) The metaphor of the body highlights the vital relationship between what we might call unity and diversity. Just because diverse members exercise diverse gifts does not entail a fracturing or dividing of the body; unity remains possible even among diversity. At the same time, Paul exhorts his audience to discern the gifts which they have been given by God. Thus, it takes discernment, careful attention, and practical wisdom in order for a community to really come to embody the characteristics of a thriving community. For Paul, it also takes a measure of humility, in order that everyone would “maintain a proper sense of one’s place within God’s scheme of things” (Dunn, Word Biblical Commentary, 732).
In a culture as individualistic as our own, Paul’s instructions to the community of believers often sound difficult, even foreign. And yet, as we learn to exercise the gifts that we have been given, we may yet grow into one body by the grace of God and the work of the Spirit.
By Chris Liu-Beers, Program Associate, NC Council of Churches
Pastoral Reflection on Romans 12:1-8
It’s Paul’s Great “Therefore”
Much of the book of Romans is given over to some pretty heavy theological work. What is the meaning of God’s righteousness? Where does Israel fit into this? What about justification by faith? What happens to the Mosaic law? What role does grace play? Heavy questions facing the newly developing church in the First Century.
But then Paul turns to the practical, the everyday. Therefore, because of justification and grace and all that, you should live as a new creation, Christ’s people in the world. In most of the rest of the book, Paul offers pithy guidance about what this Christian life requires. In words reminiscent of the Sermon on the Mount, Paul calls for love within the Christian community, concern for others, and an end to judgmentalism. “Let love be genuine.” “Extend hospitality to strangers.” “Live peaceably with all.” “Overcome evil with good.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We’ve gone from theological tomes to bumper stickers, and it happens when Paul says, “Therefore.”
Paul prefaces these pithy teachings by reminding his hearers (for the letter would have been read to the church in Rome) that they have been gifted in different ways, that all their gifts are important to the work of the church, and that they should not think more highly or less highly of themselves (or of others, I would think, though Paul didn’t say that!) because of what gift they possessed.
That’s still how it is in healthy congregations. Some members have the ability to study the Bible and teach the Bible. Some can mow the grass or care for the shrubbery. Some can study the issues of peace or globalization or climate change and lead the congregation to greater involvement in the world. Some can give great sums of money and others can give generously in smaller sums. Some can keep track of the church’s finances, recording income and supervising spending. Some can play the organ or sing in the choir. Some can prepare Wednesday night suppers or wash the dishes afterwards. Some can preside with grace and fairness over church meetings that might be divisive. Some are wonderful working with babies or children or youth. Some bring great comfort by visiting people who are elderly or in declining health. Some work comfortably in meeting the physical needs of vulnerable people in the community. Some see people with disabilities as people with different abilities. Some know how to fix the plumbing, and some know how to fix the computer network.
All are equally beloved by God, and all are critical to the function of Christ’s church.
Now I want to take Paul’s words up a level. All of us with all of our varying gifts are called to be “one body in Christ.” Except when we look at the Christian landscape, we quickly see that we are many bodies in Christ—Baptists and Presbyterians and CMEs and Catholics and all the rest. And, in fact, many of those broad divisions of Christ’s family are subdivided even further. One of the great scandals of Christ’s church is how we have fractured ourselves into so many different bodies, certainly not “one body in Christ.”
But there are hopeful signs, as Christians from various traditions come together to build a Habitat home or worship together at Thanksgiving or operate a soup kitchen or march together for peace. There is hope as regional and national organizations (some called councils of churches, others not) bring people together across the lines of denomination which have too long divided us. And there is hope as denominations once fractured by doctrine or divided by race come back together, re-forming in a more unified way as northern and southern Presbyterians have done, agreeing to recognize one another’s clergy as Disciples and the UCC have done, even reaching conciliation on major theological differences as Lutherans and Roman Catholics have done.
Part of the work for Christian unity is in recognizing that we are more alike than we are different and that we can be enriched by many of our differences. So, within the membership of the North Carolina Council of Churches, some feature fiery, prophetic preaching, while others know the power that comes in silence. Some reach decisions by consensus, while others vote democratically, with majority rule, and others looks for critical decisions to church leaders. Some have a special emphasis on music, both sung and instrumental, and some use eloquent liturgical language. Some are especially involved with peacemaking, others with racial justice, others with welcoming the stranger or feeding the hungry. Some engage in regular, in-depth study of the Bible. Some plumb the depths of spirituality. Some operate health clinics and some practice faith healing.
All are equally beloved by God. All are important parts of Christ’s family. And all are part of living in the broader Christian community, called to live as one body in Christ.
By Rev. J. George Reed, Executive Director, NC Council of Churches
Worship Aids about Building Christian Community
Responsive Reading
Lord, so many people are in pain.
Teach us the way to peace.
When people around us don’t agree and think differently,
Lord, teach us to listen and understand.
When we see people getting hurt,
Lord, teach us to speak up.
When we see people who are hungry and poor,
Lord, teach us to give to them like you give to us.
When we see people treated poorly because of their difference,
Lord, teach us to be an example of love.
When we see war and conflict around the world or close at home,
Lord, teach us how to make a difference and bring peace.
When we see pain,
Lord, teach us to bring healing.
In all that we are and all that we do,
Lord, teach to live together in community in the humility of your sacrificial love.
(adapted from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Lord, Teach Us,” at www.elca.org/nonviolence/worship.html#Prayers)
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, You have called us to live in community with You as members of the body of Christ. We confess that we live in a society that worships the individual and neglects the communal, for we are taught by our culture to be self-sufficient. We confess that we fear being dependent on others. We are afraid of being an inconvenience to others and afraid of exposing our weaknesses and vulnerability. Likewise, too often we shun others who may need our care and attention. We fear that they will inconvenience us, and we turn aside from their brokenness and cries for mercy. Gracious God, do not forsake the work of your hands. Do not let us be conformed to this world’s way of thinking and relating to each other. Transform our hearts to love one another and teach us to live together as brothers and sisters in the unity of Your Spirit. Unite us in community through the worship of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
(By Chris Liu-Beers and B. J. Morton)
Teach Us Your Justice
O Lord Jesus Christ, teach us your justice. You regard the lowly and take no pleasure in the pride of humankind. If we boast, let us boast of your abundance and not be afraid to share your bread with those who hunger. Let us delight in your generous hospitality and love our neighbor as ourselves. Let us live in your self-sacrificing humility, knowing that we will be raised as one in the glory of your kingdom, where you live for ever and ever. Amen.
(By B. J. Morton)
Make Us One
Make us one, dear Lord —
black, brown and white,
poor and rich,
able-bodied and differently abled,
weak and strong,
oppressed and free.
May we recognize the dignity of every human being
and live simply and honestly together in the community of your love.
(By B. J. Morton)
Selflessness
O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who came to enlighten the world with your teaching and example, sanctify us in your truth and love that we might continue to shine your light in this world. Teach us to be generous, to give without counting the cost, to spend ourselves without looking for any reward other than knowing that we do your holy will. Amen.
(adapted from “Consecration to the Holy Family,” www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/prayer.php?p=64; and “Selflessness,” www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/prayer.php?p=195)
Our Daily Offering
God of grace and mercy, give your children a share of the self-sacrificing love of Christ. Help us to grow in this love, and give us the desire to serve others, especially the most needy. You long for us to do your will everywhere, especially where people are hurting. Strengthen us and give us courage to do your will, especially when we feel powerless to help. We offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice” on the altar of your love. May all our longings, works, joys, and sufferings each day become offerings and prayers to you, for the sake of your church. Amen.
(adapted from Apostleship of Prayer, “Prayer as Daily Offering,”
http://apostleshipofprayer.org/prayerDailyOffering.html)
Teach Us to Trust
Faithful God, teach us to trust in you and to die to our own wills so that we might become alive in your holy will. Transform the way we think and do not let us be conformed to the world or deceived by our own imaginations. Help us to un- derstand that it is in embracing the cross of Christ—in emptying ourselves towards you, O God, and towards others—that our true selves are to be found. Let us turn to the other and pour ourselves out towards them in the sure knowledge that nothing will be lost. Rather, we fill up the cup of your love and find community. Teach us to trust you, O God, and teach us to love our neighbors as you have loved us. Amen.
(adapted from “Commentary” at http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2007/02/19/ and www.ourmeetinghouse.org/sermons/sermon367.html)
Devoted to Christ
New every morning is your love, Great God of light
and all day long you are working for good in the world
Stir up in us desire to serve you,
to live peacefully with our neighbors,
and to devote each day to your Son,
our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
(adapted from The Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Daily Prayer #5, p. 109)
Suggested Hymns about Building Christian Community
O Thou, in Whose Presence
African Methodist Episcopal 83
African Methodist Episcopal Zion 377
Christian Methodist Episcopal 476
United Methodist Hymnal 518
Come Ye Disconsolate
African Methodist Episcopal 227
African Methodist Episcopal Zion 321
Baptist Hymnal 67
Chalice Hymnal (Disciples of Christ) 502
United Methodist Hymnal 510
Come Unto Me, Ye Weary
Lutheran Worship 345
New Century Hymnal (UCC) 484
For the Beauty of the Earth
African Methodist Episcopal 578
African Methodist Episcopal Zion 14
Baptist Hymnal 44
Chalice Hymnal (Disciples of Christ) 56
Christian Methodist Episcopal 20
Gather Comprehensive (Catholic) 572
Moravian Book of Worship 538
New Century Hymnal (UCC) 28
Presbyterian Hymnal 473
The Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal) 416
United Methodist Hymnal 92
Many and Great
Baptist Hymnal 49
Chalice Hymnal (Disciples of Christ) 58
Gather Comprehensive (Catholic) 498
New Century Hymnal (UCC) 3
Presbyterian Hymnal 271
The Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal) 385
United Methodist Hymnal 148
The Harvest of Justice
Gather Comprehensive (Catholic) 711
Quotes about Building Christian Community
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.
Anthony J. D’Angelo
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
Desmond Tutu
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain – until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
Jane Addams
The religious community is essential, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen. Together, our vision widens and strength is renewed.
Mark Morrison-Reed
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die.
George Bernard Shaw
Vignette about Building Christian Community
Living the Word: An Ecumenical Experiment in the Rural Church
We’ve got a Caucasian farm woman whose e-mail tag is “goatmama.” She goes to a charming hilltop United Methodist congregation with a part-time pastor. We’ve got a 28-year-old white guy who was a 16-year-old, hard-living runaway on the streets, but who now has a conversion story that moves people to tears. He’s on a long trail toward ordained ministry. He credits his change to his rural Methodist church whose community garden is nationally acclaimed. We’ve got an elderly preacher and his wife who have led their traditional black Missionary Baptist church for over thirty years. They’re so well loved the congregation won’t let them retire. And we’ve got the first African-American woman captain of the Hillsborough Police Department.
What is this group with such a wide sampling of fine rural folk? It’s not a church. It’s an Orange County circle called “Living the Word.” It’s an experiment in crossing denominational, ethnic, and other lines in one local place, for a two-year stretch, to see what God might make from intentional abiding among those not normally crossing paths.
The Duke Endowment funded this experiment in rural church capacity building as a way to see how church folk might collaborate to creatively manifest the beloved community. Designed to include the pastor and four others from each of four congregations, this group met one Saturday a month, excluding summers, during 2006 and 2007. Two facilitators from the NC Conference of the United Methodist church and from the NC Council of Churches designed the sessions that included prayer and biblical animation, shared liturgical traditions, programmed discussions, personal sharing, and planning for joint presence in the community.
What binds the group across wildly differing theologies and practices and histories and styles is prayer. In our prayer for one another, we become a gospel community. We are sometimes baffled by each other’s ways, but we keep coming together because we know it is important to move out of comfort zones into the called life of kingdom. The police captain will go to Haiti with one of the Methodist pastors. Several of the group assisted with the Neighbor House homeless feeding ministry of one of the Missionary Baptist churches’participants. In the summer, the group will come together with a community book bag giveaway for school children. We will celebrate one’s birthday with a drumming circle and cookout open to the neighborhood. And for our September meeting we will serve organic and local food to all who come to the community garden for a music festival.
There are deep topics we don’t analyze or touch. It’s certainly not a perfect process. A professional evaluator will glean what has been transformative, what was not well done, and what might be learned for future replications. But we know something has been knit together in this place, and that God does bind us together in love, when we make space for it and come out of our usual domains.
By Barbara Zelter, Former Program Associate, NC Council of Churches; Facilitator, Living the Word
Contacts & Resources for Building Christian Community
www.newmonasticism.org
New Monasticism is an emerging nationwide movement to reclaim the Church’s historic emphases on community life and the pursuit of justice. Central in this paradigm is the renunciation of our society’s rampant materialism and greed. Sustainability, generous sharing, and open hospitality are the core values espoused by New Monasticism.
www.koinoniapartners.org
Koinonia is an intentional Christian farm community founded by Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England in 1942 as a “demonstration plot for the Kingdom of God.” Amidst the poverty and racism of the rural South, they founded an interracial community where blacks and whites could live and work together in a spirit of partnership. The community grew and friendships formed and called themselves the “Koinonians.” The community emphasizes equality and fellowship among all and is committed to 1) treat all human beings with dignity and justice, 2) choose love over violence, 3) share all possessions and live simply, and 4) be stewards of the land and its natural resources.
www.catholicworker.org
The Catholic Worker Movement began in 1933, when a journalist named Dorothy Day and a philosopher named Peter Maurin teamed up to publish a newspaper called “The Catholic Worker.” This radical paper promoted the biblical promise of justice and mercy. Their movement was grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person, and they put their beliefs into action, opening a “house of hospitality” where the homeless, the hungry, and the forsaken would always be welcome. Today there are some 130 Catholic Worker communities in the United States. Catholic Workers live a simple lifestyle in community, serve the poor, and resist war and social injustice. Each Catholic Worker house is independent and there is no “Catholic Worker headquarters.” Catholic Worker communities in North Carolina include: Fr. Charles Mulholland Catholic Worker, Garner; Nazareth House Catholic Worker, Raleigh; and Silk Hope Catholic Worker, Siler City.
www.obsculta.org/companions.htm
The Companions of Stillpoint Ministries, Black Mountain, is an inclusive Christian covenant community sponsored by the Methodist Church that acknowledges God’s revelation to all people and wel- comes the wisdom and presence of other faith expressions. The principles of the Companions rule of life include: sta- bility in regular prayer, worship, study, and service; process of ongoing Conversion; obedience to God’s voice; re- newal of body, mind, and spirit through re-creation; stewardship and compassionate action.
www.anathothgarden.org
Anathoth Community Garden is a ministry of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church that seeks to be a healing presence in the community by mending relationships with the land and with each other. Cedar Grove is a place broken by racial and economic divides. The land itself has suffered decades of misuse through unsustainable tobacco production. The hope is that by bringing people of diverse backgrounds together to grow organic food for one another that these divides will begin to crumble. The garden is as much about building community as it is about growing healthy food. Community-building happens through pot-luck suppers, worship services, concerts, and harvest celebrations.
www.divinity.duke.edu/programs/youth
Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation is a two-week summer program for selected high school students to live in an intentional Christian community on the Duke University campus in Durham. Duke Youth Academy is an intensive encounter with Christian life. Days are patterned by worship through word and sacrament, reflection on scripture, study, service, and play—practices ancient and modern that nourish the life of faith.
www.johnsoninternship.org
The Johnson Intern Program, in Chapel Hill, is an 11-month opportunity for post-baccalaureate young adults to serve in an intensive experience of social justice, leadership training, communal living, and spiritual development. This ecumenical internship program supports the development of community and church leaders capable of understanding the complexities of social and institutional reform. Interns live in an intentional Christian community, coming together for meals, prayer, and theological reflection.
www.agapekurebeach.org
Agape+Kure Beach Ministries is an organization affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and offers year-round programming and facilities. The ministry provides opportunities to grow spiritually, experience the wonders of creation, and nurture leadership skills in an intentional Christian community.
The New Monasticism in Durham’s Walltown Community
“The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” — Mark 1:15.
For Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, these verses from Mark, the first words from Jesus as he begins his ministry, raise profound questions: If the Kingdom of God is at hand, what does it look like? How do we live in it? Does it overcome the kingdoms of the world? Wilson-Hartgrove hopes to find at least some of the answers in a small white frame house in Durham, where he and his wife, Leah, live with a group of fellow pilgrims. Located in Walltown, a poor, historically African American neighborhood north of Duke’s East Campus, Rutba House is an intentional Christian community established in August 2003 by the Wilson-Hartgroves and fellow divinity student Isaac Villegas — a community living out Christ’s love through the twelve marks of a “new monasticism.”
New Monasticism is an emerging nationwide movement to reclaim the Church’s historic emphases on community life and the pursuit of justice. As practiced at the Rutba House since the summer of 2004, “new monasticism” draws on the rich tradition of Christian practices that have long formed disciples in the simple Way of Christ. New monasticism is characterized by the following twelve marks:
- Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire (such as depressed areas in inner cities).
- 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 the lines of the old novitiate.
- Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
- Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their 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 of 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.For more information about the “New Monasticism” movement, see the following articles:
~ “Alternative Christian Communities,” www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3286
~ ”St. Benedict in the City,” www3.baylor.edu/christianethics/CitiesandTownsStudyGuide6.pdfSOURCE:
Excerpts from an article written by Patrick O’Neill, “The New Monasticism in Durham’s Walltown, a Covenant Community,” Divinity Online, Fall 2005 at http://152.3.90.197/publications/2005.09/features/monasticism/01.htm; and “The 12 Marks of a New Monasticism” at www.newmonasticism.org.