“Nuns and Monks Abroad: Religious Orders in World Mission” was the theme of the Mission Thursday on June 12. Nuns and monks have been prominent in the missional outreach of the Christian movement for many centuries, and the contemporary religious orders of the Episcopal Church follow in that tradition.
Yet, although the Episcopal Church has 19 religious orders and communities recognized by the House of Bishops, many Episcopalians do not know they exist, and still less that they are involved globally. The June 12 Mission Thursday on Zoom was an opportunity to learn about the world mission of such communities.
Sister Monica Clare, superior of the Community of St. John the Baptist in Mendham, N.J., spoke about that community’s work among orphans in Cameroon. Brother Timothy Jolley of the Order of the Holy Cross in West Park, N.Y., presented about the founding of OHC’s monastery in South Africa. Sister Pamela Clare, minister provincial of the Community of St. Francis in San Francisco, talked about their international work.
Sister Kéthia of the Boston-based Society of St. Margaret, discussed SSM’s longstanding work in Haiti, where she is sister-in-charge amid the turmoil of that country. Brother Charlie McCarron, minister provincial of the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis, talked about the dispersed work of that community throughout the Americas – north, central and south. In addition, Brother Christopher John, minister general of the Society of St. Francis, spoke about the work of the “first orders” of the society internationally.
The webinar was anchored by Sister Sarah Margaret of the Society of St. Margaret, secretary of the Board of the Global Episcopal Mission Network.
Religious orders were renewed in Anglican life during the Anglo-Catholic revival of the 19th century. The Society of St. Margaret, the oldest order for women, was founded in England in 1855, and its American house was established in 1873. The Society of St. John the Evangelist is the oldest order for men, founded in England in 1866, with its American house established in 1870. Orders and communities keep in touch with one another through the Conference of Anglican Religious Orders in the Americas.