The Community of the Way
In his second article, Matt Webster considers formation and training in a monastic context.
The core of the monastic project is to be a community of people who are seeking to live as disciples of Jesus although perhaps ‘apprentices’ might be a better word in our modern context.
There are two aspects of an apprenticeship. There is usually some form of training followed by the practical application of that training, usually in the context of following a master in that trade.
If we are pursuing our discipleship, we should be placing ourselves in an environment where we are both experiencing training but also practically outworking that training. St Benedict in the prologue to his rule says that what he wants to do is set up a school of the Lord’s service.
In order to join us as a member there will be a period of focused learning at the beginning - step one of the School of the Lord’s service. For full-time members of the community (although others can join the school as well) this discipleship training lasts six months and consists of an initial classroom-based lecture phase where we will explore together a wide range of subjects and learn to practically express those things as we live together in community, engaging in the regular rhythm of life in community with its daily round of prayer and work.
This is a time to build friendships and dig deeper into the questions we all have. Following the classroom phase, we will take what we have learned out into the wider community for an extended period of mission, putting into practice what we have learned together. For those joining the dispersed community a similar non-residential programme will be offered based on the excellent resource of Practising the Way (which is also a fantastic programme for churches to use)
At all stages of our discipleship we need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and his teaching - to live as if Jesus really did mean the things he said and expects us to follow him. Christianity is not a passive religion; as Christians we must get back to the heart of our faith - the call to be disciples and to go out into the world and be disciple makers.
For more information about us and to contact us please go to our website https://communityoftheway.org.uk/