School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism. Edited by The Rutba House (Eugene: Cascade, 2005)

Review by Darren Cronshaw  (for a forthcoming edition of Crucible online journal)  

Coordinator of Leadership Training, Baptist Union of Victoria

Pastor, Auburn Baptist Church

A persistent question that echoes through my mind as a pastor is what does community mean for  us  as a church? How can we do life deeply together as a community? And how can we as a community discern and join in with what God is doing in our broader community? These are questions that have driven me in search of helpful models, and that have called me to Auburn to want to live this out with a community of friends on a journey and adventure together. These are questions we want to grapple with as a church.

One model for community that I have found intriguing is known as  ¢â‚¬Å“the new monasticism ¢â‚¬ . I want to explore its relevance for community for us as a church in Auburn. People tend to think about monasticism as a way of retreating from the world. Monks would escape to the desert or the monastery to be quiet and pray. But monasticism at its best also embraced and engaged the world. The best monasteries served their neighbourhoods in generous and life-giving and creative ways. Inspired by this,  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in 1935:  ¢â‚¬Å“The restoration of the Church must surely come from  a new kind of monasticism, which will have only one thing in common with the old, a life lived without compromise according to the Sermon on the Mount in the following of Jesus. I believe the time has come to gather people together for this ¢â‚¬ .[1]

This rethinking of what it means to learn from the best of the monastic tradition and apply it in our context has inspired groups like Urban Seed to work and live together, and engage in hospitality and public issues in the centre of the city of Melbourne.[2]  But what does it mean for us in the suburbs? And what does it mean when we don ¢â‚¬â„¢t all live together (and don ¢â‚¬â„¢t necessarily want to), but perhaps want to cultivate a stronger sense of community than just gathering for a spiritual boost on Sundays.

A few years ago some friends from America, Geoff and Sherry Maddock, introduced me to  ¢â‚¬Å“new monasticism ¢â‚¬  as a large part of the inspiration for their church, which they call  ¢â‚¬Å“Communality ¢â‚¬ .[3]  They have planted themselves in their community, and gather in worshipping and discipleship groups each week, but with a distinct focus on sending each other into the world around them  ¢â‚¬“ that they are realising God so loves. They understand salvation as being for them individually but also for  shalom  and wholeness for their broader community. Their  ¢â‚¬Å“textbook ¢â‚¬  is  School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, kind of a postmodern  ¢â‚¬Å“Rule of St Benedict ¢â‚¬ ,[4]  written collaboratively by more than a dozen radicals wrestling with these issues.[5]

I want to grapple with what these marks are and what relevance they have for church in our corner of Melbourne. Interestingly, they resonate with Anabaptism in their counter-cultural rethinking of how we can live the subversive ways of Jesus in a hostile society. (This was part of why Luther didn ¢â‚¬â„¢t like Anabaptists; they were too much like Catholic monks in their pursuit of authentic spirituality and good deeds).[6]  Let me outline the marks, and ask some questions about how they relate to doing church differently and living the way of Jesus in our community.

1.   Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire[7]

Jesus went to the desert and struggled against being seduced by money, power and fame (Matt 4:1-11). He regularly retreated for intimacy with God, sometimes with just a few disciples (Mark 6:31). In church history, monks known as the desert mothers and fathers retreated to arid places to avoid conforming to their culture, and to prioritise prayer and contemplation. It was an exercise in downward mobility not upward striving, and in stability and finding God in one place rather than moving to look for the next exciting option. In our day, new monastics are moving not to the desert but to areas in our cities where poverty is worse and the needs are greatest.[8]  For example, Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) have intentional communities in some of the poorest regions of Melbourne, Sydney and Bangkok.

But what does this mean for a church in an affluent suburb like ours?

I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t live in Springvale or the slums of Thailand. I live in a street where most people have more than enough, and the cars in the driveway and the swimming pools in the backyard to prove it. But UNOH have challenged me to open my eyes to  see the poverty that  is  in our neighbourhood. They encouraged me to relocate and position myself with those who struggle. Claire at our local Hawthorn Community House told me last week that according to one Council official, Hawthorn has one of the highest levels of post-natal depression. Melbourne wide figures suggest that the Boroondara rate of homelessness is second only to that of Frankston. Statistics collected by the Eastern Region Adult and Community Education sector, indicate that the Boroondara area has one of the highest rates of youth disengagement. Hawthorn is also characterised by  a transient, multi-ethnic community as a result of Swinburne University and TAFE. I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to live in the desert or in a monastery, but I ¢â‚¬â„¢m drawn to sit with those who our society abandons.

The other challenge of new monasticism is stability  ¢â‚¬“ to put down roots and stay put where God has called us and to grow in and with our community.[9]

2.   Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us[10]

Why does Jesus challenge people to generously share with the needy?

New monasticism reminds me, firstly, that redistribution of our resources happens in families and communities who love one another. When a relative of sister in our church died, we pooled funds to help her travel home for the funeral. When we realise the extent of local and global needs, we will want to respond by sharing what we have. Dorothy Day echoed a gospel value when she said:  ¢â‚¬Å“If you have two coats, one belongs to the poor ¢â‚¬  (cf. Lk 3:11; Acts 2:44-45).

Secondly, sharing our resources helps remind us life is not about accumulation and consumerism. Urban Seed take people on tours out the back of their church to where addicts inject hundreds of dollars of heroin hits, and then out the front where shoppers buy shirts for hundreds of dollars, and they ask  ¢â‚¬Å“where are the addicts? ¢â‚¬  When we give, it breaks the hold of money on our hearts and leaves us in a place to trust God. A theology of  ¢â‚¬Å“enough ¢â‚¬  is such a gift, so a healthy prayer is:  ¢â‚¬Å“Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs ¢â‚¬  (Proverbs 30:8).

How would Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ approach to money transform our community? And what it would mean not just for sharing financial resources, but sharing our time and tables with the poor? Shane Claiborne surveyed Christians and found 80% agreed that  ¢â‚¬Å“Jesus spend much time with the poor ¢â‚¬  but only 1% said they spent time with the poor.

3.   Hospitality to the stranger[11]

God is a God of hospitality who welcomes us into his family; how do we reflect that in our community life? Sometimes we think of hospitality as a gift for some of us, but new monasticism reminds me that it is actually a discipline for all of us to  ¢â‚¬Å“share with God ¢â‚¬â„¢s people who are in need ¢â‚¬  and  ¢â‚¬Å“practice hospitality ¢â‚¬  (Roman 12:13). Food was central to Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ ministry, and Christine Pohl comments,  ¢â‚¬Å“A shared meal is the activity most closely tied to the reality of God ¢â‚¬â„¢s kingdom, just as it is the most basic expression of hospitality ¢â‚¬ .[12]  What does it mean for us to give and receive hospitality?

4.   Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation[13]

Where is this needed in Australia? What does it need to lament racial divisions? How can we work actively for reconciliation? There are no easy answers to these questions, but they need our best thinking, prayer and action. The new monasticism is noticing that social problems disproportionately affect minority communities, in our case especially indigenous Australians, and that churches are among the most ethnically uniform institutions in society. This challenges me to ask how can we act locally as a church to help close the gap of indigenous health and education, including theological education?[14]  What does it mean to practice hospitality with the Romanian church that worship in our building? How can we learn from our indigenous and multicultural brothers and sisters?

5.   Humble submission to Christ ¢â‚¬â„¢s body, the church[15]

Part of the good news of Christianity is that we respond to Christ personally but we worship and serve him in community. For Paul there is no distinction between personal belief and church membership. This goes against the proud individualism of our society (and also of modern evangelicalism that emphasises our personal response to Jesus) but it helps us realise our need for one another.

As I think about the future of our church, one thing I can guarantee is that we will have our faults and do things that don ¢â‚¬â„¢t make sense. But I also trust that it is through being church together, and humbly submitting to one another (and not presuming we are individuals free to do whatever we choose), that we will potentially find growth and grace and make a difference in our neighbourhood that will blow our minds. This relates to how we relate to the broader church too. Let ¢â‚¬â„¢s not underestimate our potential as the church together.

6.   Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate[16]

The early church came up with a fascinating process to help form and grow people grow in their faith. Most of Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ teaching of his disciples was  ¢â‚¬Å“on the road ¢â‚¬ , giving up things that held them back from discipleship and learning while doing. When the Spirit fell on believers at Pentecost, it launched the church in listening to the teaching of those who had known Jesus, sharing life together, and sharing what they had to care for the needy. (Some call this 3Cs following; Celebrating, Connecting and Contributing.[17]) It was a risky, stretching, daring time for the church, and the church bathed new believers in the Sermon on the Mount to help them live radically. But by the fourth century, when Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the Empire, the focus became much more  believing  the right things rather than  living  a life like Jesus. But some eager monastic types banded together as spiritual-athletes-in-training who didn ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to conform to society or church culture. One of these leaders was Saint Benedict, who wrote what he called a  ¢â‚¬Å“rule ¢â‚¬  or guidelines to prepare novices for intentional Christian community. Since then others have been inspired to develop similar guidelines.

For example, the Community of the Transfiguration, a Baptist monastic community in Geelong, have developed this  ¢â‚¬Å“Resolve ¢â‚¬ :

– Being perfectly assured of your salvation, with your whole life proclaim your gratitude.

– Reject nothing, consecrate everything.

– Be the good of love, for God, for neighbour, for all creation.

– Judge no one, not even yourself.

– Love beauty.

– Maintain inner silence in all things.

– Show hospitality; err only on the side of generosity.

– Speak truth to power, especially power without love.

– Let your only experience of evil be in suffering, not its creation.

– For us there is only the trying, the rest is none of our business.[18]

Part of belonging and joining a group like this, is understanding and living this out, and keeping one another accountable. How might this sort of rule or  ¢â‚¬Å“Resolve ¢â‚¬  make a difference to how we do community?

7.   Nurturing common life among members of intentional community[19]

It seems to me a lot of people talk about intentional community; often with some amount of longing, and sometimes with a realistic awareness of its high costs. When people realise life is not just about climbing the corporate ladder and living individual lives, the idea of joining and living together in community and shared housing is a radical step that some have taken. It can be intense and challenging, especially when people have different expectations (for example, about how much work each person should contribute). It has its dangers. Some people can get obsessed with community and mission, as if pleasing God depends on us ushering in God ¢â‚¬â„¢s dreams for the world. Others are under the illusion that living in community will usher them into a state of ecstasy and blessing.

But at its best sharing life in common with an intentional community can cultivate our longing for how God wants to remake the world. We can do things together we are not able to do on our own. Intentional community can help people live disciplined and service-focused lives, rather than being distracted by mortgages, individualism, consumerism and selfishness.

When I was 18 I boarded with a family who then moved house, with me, to live on a farm with another family. We went there for 4 months while the first family built a house in the suburbs, which ended up taking 18 months. The families had 4 and 5 children each, so the small farmhouse had wall-to-wall boys in the boys room, wall-to-wall girls in the girls room, one couple in the main bedroom, another in the lounge, and Stewart and I in the shearer ¢â‚¬â„¢s hut. We had a sense of shared mission around a horse-riding school holiday and weekend camping program, and had lots of fun and challenges navigating shared duties, shared cars and the single shower, and a house extension going on around us. But those years were among the best of my life. And they give me sympathy with the idea of exploring alternatives to our standard one family unit per one house Western expectation.

Where have you seen intentional community at its best I wonder? And at a local church level, how can we commit to love one another sacrificially, as Christ loved the world?

8.   Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children[20]

 ¢â‚¬Å“Celibacy or marriage? ¢â‚¬  is a crucial question in how to serve God. Admittedly, it is not always a choice, but celibacy is a very good practice. So is the lifelong vow of marriage. Before the Reformation, the Catholic Church probably emphasised celibacy too much as the preferred form. After the Reformation, the contemporary church has tended to overemphasise marriage and been suspicious of celibacy. The new monasticism appeals for us to support both states, in community. Jesus invites us primarily to be faithful to him, and faithful to whatever state we find ourselves in or called to. Both can be helpful ways of living out our love for God. The challenge for our communities is valuing and nurturing one another whatever our relationships.

This mark challenges me to ask: How are married and single people, and children, supported in our church? How do we hold each other accountable to have life-giving and Christ-bearing relationships  ¢â‚¬“ with partners, friends, the whole church or enemies? How do we help people discern relationship choices? How do we support couples in their monogamous commitment to one another, and in parenting that fosters the Kingdom of God? How do all of us help nurture the children in our church?

9.   Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life[21]

Some communities expect one another to live not necessarily together, but within walking distance. They do not claim a biblical mandate for this, but simply reckon if they are go to build their identity as members of Christ ¢â‚¬â„¢s church with one another, then they need proximity. Proximity does not make authentic community and radical discipleship automatic, but it allows common meals and shared spiritual practices to be easier.

This mark invites me to ask what does this mean for our local church? If we wanted to live closer together, how could we do that? Are there other ways we can practice proximity other than living close? How can we practice proximity in today ¢â‚¬â„¢s  ¢â‚¬Å“networked ¢â‚¬  world of digital communication?

Christ Community Church in Iowa express their commitment to community in small groups with this covenant:

 ¢â‚¬Å“We pledge to  give priority  in our lives to the  shared mission  of reconciling the world to God …

Therefore, by God ¢â‚¬â„¢s grace we will:

•  ·                                Faithfully  meet  together in our homes each week to cultivate our common life in Christ;
•  ·                                Gladly  make time  for each other and for our shared mission in the world;
•  ·                                Cheerfully  share  our possessions with each other and with the poor;
•  ·                                Joyfully  work  together to advance God ¢â‚¬â„¢s reign of justice, love and peace in the world;
•  ·                                Truthfully  speak  words of encouragement and admonition to each other;
•  ·                                  Humbly  submit  to each other in love and mutual service, recognizing each other ¢â‚¬â„¢s gifts and respecting the leadership that God has ordained;
•  ·                                Patiently  listen  to each other,  confess  our sins to each other, and  bear  each other ¢â‚¬â„¢s burdens;
•  ·                                Mercifully  forgive  each other as God in Christ forgave us.[22]

Proximity cannot guarantee sharing life together meaningfully, but it helps avoid the dream getting lost. So come and live as close as you can whenever you get the chance. The other question is how can this mark help us care for the environment, which leads to the next mark.

10.   Care for the plot of God ¢â‚¬â„¢s earth given to us along with support of our local economics[23]

I grew up in the Blue Mountains in NSW, jogged bushwalks almost every day and worked on a horse farm in Megalong Valley on the weekends. For all my school years I was surrounded by National Park, and grew up loving the beauty and therapy of Creation.

It is tragic that wilderness is in decline, animal species are disappearing, usable farmland is depleted by erosion and desalination. Norman Wirzba sadly says  ¢â‚¬Å“creation today does not exhibit the peace, delight, and tranquillity that marked the very first sunrise. In large the languishing of our world is attributable to our abuse of it. We have subverted the purposes of living things to meet our own wants rather than to bring delight to God. ¢â‚¬ [24]  He challengingly asks  ¢â‚¬Å“How much does our  ¢â‚¬Å“high quality ¢â‚¬  of life, the life enjoyed by many contemporary Christians, depend on the exploitation and disregard of whole swaths of creation? ¢â‚¬ [25]

So what changes are needed?

Theologically we need to rediscover a doctrine of Creation that is not just what God did to make the world and set it spinning. God is involved in our world and its environment, and wants us to live out our calling to care for Creation and not just have it serve our needs. Noah was a hero in this  ¢â‚¬“ the Ark was not just a rescue boat from the flood but a context for Noah ¢â‚¬â„¢s apprenticeship in caring for the animals of the world.

What can help us move on from thinking creation just exists for us?

Practically, I am finding help from a few avenues:

•  ·                  Planting and growing a garden helps us organically grow food and get in touch with seasonal rhythms.
•  ·                  Shopping locally and ethically has helped me get beyond my ignorance of what goes into producing our products. How can we know what damage producing our food does to the environment? To what extent are workers who make my clothes and coffee appropriately compensated? Two things help  ¢â‚¬“ firstly going to our local farmers ¢â‚¬â„¢ market on the third Saturday of each month (which helps cut down on transport costs, speaking of costs to the environment), and the Ethical Guide to Shopping.
•  ·                  Sharing household goods, which is easier with neighbours who live close. But I ¢â‚¬â„¢ve shared mowers and trailers. It ¢â‚¬â„¢s worth asking, how can we take less and share more?
•  ·                  Celebration slow food. The Slow Food movement has encouraged us to carefully produce, prepare and enjoy our food. We have enjoyed doing this with our own  ¢â‚¬Å“Master Chef ¢â‚¬  family dinners.[26]

Which of those possibilities could we practically do more as a local church?

11.   Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18[27]

What do we do with Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ commands to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-45)? To what extent and where, if at all, is violence ever an appropriate response in our world? New monastics promote non-violence, believing that Jesus meant us to take his words literally  ¢â‚¬“ as individuals and as nations. The church has developed different perspectives on war through history, most popularly the  ¢â‚¬Å“just war ¢â‚¬  theory. But most Western nations turned their backs on even that in the twentieth-century, because it is supposed to  not  involve non-combatants.

Simon Moyle is a Victorian Baptist pastor whose anti-war convictions and commitment to Pacifism has taken him to protest war-games in Australia and to stand with Youth Peace Volunteers in Afghanistan. He has his fair share of critics, but he has a harsh critique of the militarism and dubious humanitarian justification for the continuing war. There is a huge war industry that for all sorts of economic and power reasons, promotes ongoing build up of arms and the continuation of violence around the world. And the church is often silent about this, but the concern for security and protecting our  ¢â‚¬Å“way of life ¢â‚¬  that drives this is all connected with the huge environmental and inequality issues in the world.[28]  The world desperately needs alternate approaches. New monasticism challenges me to ask how can we practice peacemaking in a violence-prone world?

And we need to practice peacemaking locally as well. As churches we proclaim a gospel of peace, but how do we express that in our response to global issues but also in our approach to conflict within our churches? Jesus said:   ¢â‚¬Å“ ¢â‚¬Å“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. ¢â‚¬  (Matthew 18:15). When we have an enemy, on the other side of the world or across the other side of the church, Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ encouragement is to go to them and seek not punishment but restoration. And how do we deal with them if they refuse to listen? We go again, with other people if necessary, and again. We follow Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ example, and invite ourselves to dinner with them, and keep going to dinner with them. New monasticism reminds me of the importance of relational reconciliation, and avoiding things like verbal violence. How often do I fail to respect the contribution of another by speaking over them, or trying to get my point across before understanding theirs? (This is an especially challenging question when I consider people who are different from me and who I may not understand straight away, including people of other ages, cultures or gender.) How can we best practice peacemaking and conflict resolution within our communities?

12.   Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life[29]

Contemplation is a gift to help us receive the mind of Jesus, to think his thoughts and see the world as he sees it. New monasticism does not encourage retreating from the world forever, but seeks to integrate action  andcontemplation; in fact the most important word there is  and.  Contemplation is the wellspring out of which world-changing action can flow.

My inspiration for combining action and contemplation is contemplative activist Michael Leunig.   Leunig beautifully voices the need for action grounded in contemplation and spirituality expressed in working for a better world:

Dear God,

We give thanks for places of simplicity and peace.   Let us find such a place within ourselves.

We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty.   Let us find such a place within ourselves.

We give thanks for places of nature ¢â‚¬â„¢s truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration and renewal, places where all creatures may find acceptance and belonging.

Let us search for these places: in the world, in ourselves and in others.

Let us restore them.

Let us strengthen and protect them and let us create them.

May we mend this outer world according to the truth of our inner life and may our souls be shaped and nourished by nature ¢â‚¬â„¢s eternal wisdom.[30]

New monastics, like other radicals seeking to transform church and the world, can tend to get busy with activism and projects, but this final mark reminds us of the importance of grounding our spirituality in a quiet contemplative strong centre. It reminds me to ask myself, at my best, where do I practice commitment to a disciplined contemplative life?

Which of these marks speak to you the most? How are  you  currently participating  in a new monasticism?[31]  These are not the only way of following Jesus or being community together, but they point in helpful and challenging directions. I pray with the new monastics:  ¢â‚¬Å“May God give us grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to discern rules for living that will help us embody these marks in our local contexts as signs of Christ ¢â‚¬â„¢s kingdom for the sake of God ¢â‚¬â„¢s world. ¢â‚¬ [32]

References

Bahnson, Fred. “Mark 11: Peacemaking in the Midst of Violence and Conflict Resolution Along the Lines of Matthew 18.” InSchool(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 149-61. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Bennett, Jana. “Mark 8: Support for Celibate Singles Alongside Monogamous Married Couples and Their Children.” InSchool(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 112-23. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Claiborne, Shane. “Mark 2: Sharing Economic Resources with Fellow Community Members and the Needy among Us.” InSchool(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 26-38. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Cronshaw, Darren.  Credible Witness: Companions, Prophets, Hosts and Other Australian Mission Models. Melbourne: UNOH Publications, 2006.

Dekar, Paul R.  Community of the Transfiguration: The Journey of a New Monastic Community. Eugene: Cascade, 2008.

Hirsch, Alan, and Dave Ferguson.  On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

Janzen, David. “Mark 6: Intentional Formation in the Way of Christ and the Rule of the Community Along the Lines of the Old Novitiate.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 80-96. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Kauffman, Ivan. “Mark 5: Humble Submission to Christ ¢â‚¬â„¢s Body, the Church.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 68-79. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.

Kenney, Maria Russell. “Mark 3: Hospitality to the Stranger.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 39-54. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Leunig, Michael.  When I Talk to You: A Cartoonist Talks to God. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins, 2004.

Maddock, Sherry and Geoff. “An Ever-Renewed Adventure of Faith: Notes from a Community.” In  An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones, 79-88. Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2007.

McKenna, Sr Margaret M. “Mark 1: Relocation to Abandoned Places of Empire.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 10-25. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Rice, Chris. “Mark 4: Lament for Racial Divisions within the Church and Our Communities Combined with the Active Pursuit of a Just Reconciliation.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 55-67. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Rutba House, The, ed.  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism. Eugene: Cascade, 2005.

Simpson, Ray, and Brent Lyons-Lee.  Emerging Downunder: Creating New Monastic Villages of God. Adelaide: ATF, 2008.

Steiner, Sherrie, and Michelle Haroer Brix. “Mark 7: Nurturing Community Life among Members of Intentional Community.” InSchool(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 97-111. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Stock, Jon. “Mark 9: Geographical Proximity to Community Members Who Share a Common Rule of Life.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 124-36. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

Wilson-Hartgrove, Jonathan. “Mark 12: Commitment to a Disciplined Contemplative Life.” In  School(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 162-72. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2005.

 ¢â‚¬” ¢â‚¬” ¢â‚¬”.  The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture: Paraclete, 2010.

Wirzba, Norman. “Mark 10: Care for the Plot of God’s Earth Given to Us Along with Support of Our Local Economies.” InSchool(S) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism, edited by The Rutba House, 137-48. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2005.

If you want to read more then I recommend this book, but also especially Brent Lyons-Lee ¢â‚¬â„¢s book with Ray Simpson,  Emerging Downunder: Creating New Monastic Villages of God. Adelaide: ATF, 2008.

Darren Cronshaw