Acting on the front lines of social service ministries 

Sisterhoods in Province II: On the Front Lines of Social Service Ministries

By Mary Sudman Donovan

At most ceremonial gatherings in Province II, one might notice in the procession or seating together in one pew a small group of women clothed in the traditional garb of a religious order. And inevitably your visitor will ask, "Does the Episcopal Church have nuns?"

Yes, indeed, the Episcopal Church does have several religious orders for women and has had such since 1845. That year Anne Ayres dedicated herself to a lifetime of service in the Church of the Holy Communion in New York City. Antagonism towards the Roman Catholic Church was strong at the time and sisterhoods were held in deep suspicion. Because of this hostility, Ayres actually made her commitment to the Reverend William Augustus Muhlenberg in a darkened church with only the sexton as a witness. Slowly other sisters joined her; by 1858, four women were professed in the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion whose chief work for the next half-century would be providing nursing care at St. Luke's Hospital. Other orders followed, either originating in the United States or coming in from established sisterhoods in the Church of England.

Currently at work in the dioceses of Province II are five sisterhoods: the

Community of the Holy Spirit  (Convent in New York City); the Community of St. John Baptist (convent at Mendham, NJ); the Community of St. Mary, Eastern Province(Convent in Greenwich, NY); Society of St. Margaret (Neale House, New York City & work in Haiti); Sisters of St. Gregory,(Spotswood, New Jersey). For many years, the Order of St. Helena had a convent in Vails Gate, NY with sisters working in New York City but in 2008, that sisterhood decided to move its base location to Augusta, Georgia. Living in community is central to the life of each of the orders except the Sisters of St. Gregory. St. Gregory sisters are bound to each other by vows of poverty and obedience but live and work on their own in the world, coming together regularly for retreat and refreshment.

Though the orders are numerically small, their impact on the Episcopal Church has been enormous. In the nineteenth century, living in community and wearing a traditional habit and veil enabled the sisters to move into areas where "proper" Episcopal ladies dared not go. Thus the sisters made up the front lines of the church's ministry to the poor, the sick and the disabled. Several of them were nurses when nursing was not considered an honorable calling for women. Many contemporary Episcopal hospitals were built on the labor of such women: St. Mark's Center for Children in Albany, NY, St. Vincent's Hospital/School for Handicapped Children and the Hospital St. Croix in Haiti; St. Luke's Hospital in New York City, Christ Hospital in Jersey City, NJ; and St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ are among the most notable. Sister Helen of the Society of All Saints from England had been trained there in the Nightingale method of Nursing. In 1873 she volunteered to develop the nurses' training program at Bellevue Hospital in New York City; that "Bellevue system" became a standard for nurses' training programs throughout the United States.

Along with nursing care, the sisterhoods pioneered so many other social service institutions. They established orphanages, schools, and homes for the elderly. They provided respite stays in the woods or at the seashore during the long hot summers for mothers and children from crowded city tenements. They reached out to the immigrants who were pouring into U. S. cities at the turn of the century. The Sisters of St. John Baptist set up a choir program for the German immigrants on New York's lower East side. Children came to sing the traditional German songs, then stayed to learn the intricacies of Anglican liturgical music. The Society of St. Mary ministered at the Sheltering Arms, an institution established to care for handicapped orphans, until protestant church leaders became suspicious of the order's "catholic tendencies" and expelled them from the home! So the order went on to care for unwed mothers in Peekskill, New York or convalescent children in Norwalk, Connecticut.

And so the ministries continued over the years. Institutions were established by the sisters, who then gathered associates-women and men-who would assist or possibly take over the direction of one institution while the nuns moved on to new work. Always the ability to recognize and respond to social problems has continued. In Central New York it was a shelter for homeless women and their children in Utica, (begun by the Society of St. Margaret), in the Diocese of Newark, a rehab center for young people addicted to alcohol and drugs in Mendham, New Jersey (Community of St. John Baptist). Most recently, the Community of the Holy Spirit has plunged into the green revolution by leaving their former convent on Morningside Heights and constructing a new energy efficient home with rooftop gardens, solar panels and a provision for composting. You can find these sisters also cultivating crops and preserving them at the Bluestone Farm and Living Arts Center in Brewster, New York, developing a new sense of the spirituality of farming. In the Diocese of Albany, the Community of St. Mary offers a place of sanctuary within the ordered structure of the sisters' prayer life at the Christ the King Spiritual Life Center. At the same time they are working with a daughter community in Malawi, Africa that is bringing a similar message of service and prayer to that beleaguered country.

Does the Episcopal Church have nuns? Yes, indeed. Where would we be without them?

You might be wondering whether or not you or anyone you know could have anything to do with a religious order.  Would you be welcomed at a convent or monastery for a visit?  What do the people in a religious order do?  Mary Donovan mentioned nuns, but are there brothers, too?  Here is a start at some answers.

Brother of St. Francis at Little Portion Priory

From the "about us" link on the Little Portion Friary website at

http://www.littleportionfriary.net/about.html:

 

"Here's a question: Where in Post Modern America would a group of men from completely different backgrounds, of varying race and education, eat, work, laugh, cry and pray together, and, on a daily basis, try to make a life for themselves?

 

    The answer: in a religious community.

 

Little Portion Friary is one of those anomalies of life in America:

   

    Here in the wealthiest part of Long Island, we've taken vows of poverty.

   

    In a culture that is obsessed with sex and sexuality, we've taken vows of celibacy;.

   

    In the bastion of individualism that is the United States, we are vowed to obedience.

   

We are Franciscan Brothers in the Episcopal Church-not Roman Catholics-but part of the World-wide Anglican Communion. We are members of a world-wide religious order, The Society of St. Francis.

   

Little Portion Friary is where we live and work, but it's a lot more than that. It's a place YOU can visit and be who YOU are. "

 

The Brotherhood of St. Gregory, July 2011

From Thomas Mark Liotta, Brotherhood of Saint Gregory, Minister Provincial, Province II comes the following information: 

"Within the Episcopal Church there are two canons that differentiate the modes of religious life. There are the traditional communities which largely live in community and have a common purse and take the traditional three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  Then there are the Christian Communities, some of whom live together in community and some are dispersed. Some take the traditional three vows but interpreted somewhat differently. Some have a common purse, others do not.  The Episcopal Church website lists them but does not differentiate them from traditional communities and the Christian Communities.

 

"The Brotherhood [of St. Gregory] is now 42 years old.  For our 40th anniversary one of our brothers authored a book, "In Love and Service Bound: The first forty years of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory" by Karekin Madteos Yarian, BSG.and the website for the book is:  http://gregorians.org/publications/ilsb_book.php " 

 

You may even have met one of the brothers, since they do not live and work in a closed community.  Visit their website at http://gregorians.org/ to "meet" the brothers and find out more.

The Sisterhood of St. Gregory

The Sisters of St. Gregory is a canonically recognized community of women in the Episcopal Church who have been called together by God to live the vowed life in a diversity of styles and spiritualities in the world. They live intentionally dispersed, coming together twice a year for convocation, retreat, business, fellowship and worship.

The formation of a Companion Sisterhood to provide a similar form of life for women was among the major undertakings of the Brotherhood of St. Gregory.  Authorized in 1987, the Sisterhood had a rough road for a number of years. In 2001, the Sisters became an independent Order known as the Sisters of St. Gregory (SSG).

Worship at Holy Cross Monastery

Holy Cross Monastery is an Anglican Benedictine Community of Men located in West Park, NY, part of the Order of the Holy Cross.  

The Order was founded by Father James Otis Sargent Huntington in New York City in 1884. The community moved from New York City to Maryland before settling in West Park in 1902. Their facilities consist of 2 Guest Houses, the Monastery Church of St. Augustine, and the Monastic Enclosure, located on twenty-six magnificent acres on the west bank of the Hudson River.

The primary ministry of Holy Cross Monastery is to guests on individual and group retreats. The Guesthouse is among the largest monastic retreat facilities in the Episcopal Church.  In addition to their guest ministry they also manufacture incense, publish, and operate a book and gift shop.

The primary work of the community is worship and prayer, the central components of their daily life.

Community of the Holy Spirit singing the divine office

The Community of the Holy Spirit is a monastic community for women in the Episcopal Church, and a witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.  "We welcome you to share in our life and our work by following along with our  blog and this website, subscribing to our  e-newsletter, and visiting us at our Community houses:  St. Hilda's House in New York City and  Melrose/Bluestone Farm in Brewster, NY."

The farm at Melrose

Founded in 1952, the Community has evolved from its original focus on elementary school teaching to a broader approach to learning.  Our ministries now include education about living sustainably, spiritual direction, retreat leadership, and guest hospitality.

St. Hilda's Convent, NY

Late in 2010 They moved into a new "green" convent in Manhattan. In this urban home, they hope to share with what they are learning about how to live in communion with our Mother Earth.  (Read a profile of the new convent in this New York Times article.)  At Melrose Convent in Brewster, about an hour from NYC, the sisters are learning to plant, harvest, and store their own food, and weave their own textiles, as part of the work of Bluestone Farm.   

 

   

Sisters at St. Mary's, Greenwich, NY

The Community of St. Mary is the first Anglican/ Episcopalian religious Order in the United States. The Sisterhood of St. Mary was founded in New York City in 1865, centered in several active ministries. Property was purchased in Peekskill, NY, in 1873 which the sisters called Mount St. Gabriel. The Mother Foundress moved her office there, intending that the site become a quiet place for the training of the community's novice sisters and a haven for aging sisters. Mother Harriet saw the completion of of a monastic church at Mount St. GSt. Mary's Chapel, Peekskill in 1890, and at the turn of the century a convent was built.

 

St. Mary's sisters in Malawi

The Eastern Province today is comprised of two houses -- in Greenwich, NY, and Luwinga, Malawi, Africa. The sisters in both houses draw near to Christ through a disciplined life of prayer set within a simple agrarian lifestyle and active ministry in their local communities.  The  new St. Mary's Convent is set on a hillside overlooking Christ the King Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich, New York, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. The sisters' ongoing witness to a life of prayer make Christ the King unique among conference centers of its kind in the United States.   

 

Sheering at St. Mary's

When in 2003 the American sisters moved from metropolitan New York upstate to a rural, agricultural area they made the decision to continue their micro-farm enterprise in solidarity with their African sisters' farm which raises food for their ministry to local orphans. The convent in Greenwich, NY, was completed by 2004 and a barn for small ruminants was built in 2005.   

 

Benedictine in ethos, the sisters of the Eastern Province of the Community of St. Mary seek to live a traditional, contemplative expression of the monastic life.

 

 

 

 

 

Community of St. John Baptist in Choir

From England, the Community of St. John Baptist Sisters came to the United States in 1874 through the generosity of the Folsom family of New York. Helen Folsom joined the Community in 1871 and became Sr. Helen Margaret. The Folsoms donated their former home to become the first St. John Baptist House. Three years later, the Community built their first convent in New York City. In 1900 the Community bought land in Mendham, New Jersey. In 1908 St. Marguerite's orphanage was built there, and a new convent fol

Children in Cameroon

lowed in 1915. In 1929 St. John Baptist School moved from New York City to Mendham.

Changes in society led the Community to shift its focus from large institutional works to a more flexible ministry. The orphanage became a retreat house. The school now houses Daytop, a teenage drug treatment center. As the big works closed, the Sisters made the convent and grounds a place of spiritual retreat and renewal. The CSJB also supports the Good Shepherd Home for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in the Cameroon, West Africa.

The Sisters of St. Margaret are an Episcopal Religious Order of women called to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through our worship and work, prayer and common life. Our commitment to God and to one another is expressed through vows of poverty, celibate chastity and obedience.  While their main convent is in Massachusetts, Province I, they have two ministries in Province II.     

The Sisters living at Neale House in Manhattan are there at the invitation of Trinity Church, Wall Street.  The three Sisters participate in a variety of ministries at Trinity including being a part of the Pastoral Ministry team and making regular and emergency pastoral visits. They help with a brown bag lunch program, assist in the Sunday school classes, and conduct the Children's Chapel.

The earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010 has changed life in Haiti forever. Post-earthquake Haiti offers enormous challenges for the Haitian people, as well as unique and uncharted possibilities for ministry.  St. Margaret's Convent has been destroyed completely. One building of the Foyer Notre Dame, our home for the elderly, has

Sister in Haiti

been badly damaged, and the other has been demolished. Our Sisters are now in a house owned by one of our Associates, but are still without many of the basic necessities of life that we all take for granted. Ministering in Haiti during this time of crisis are Sr. Marie Margaret and

Sr. Kethia.

Even as they struggle to meet their own daily needs, the Sisters are still ministering to others. They are still trying to direct their scholarship program for children and young people who otherwise would be left out of school for lack of ability to pay even minimal fees. The people of Haiti are desperately trying to get their schools open again as soon as it is possible.  Read the update here. 

Companions of St. Luke

Another religious community without walls is the The Companions of St. Luke. Its members are men and women; young and old; married, divorced, single and celibate; straight and gay; teachers, lawyers, doctors, bankers, nurses, clergy, law enforcement and military officers; administrators; students; housewives and retired people; Episcopalians and members of other denominations; and, they live in places ranging from Alaska to Florida and from New Hampshire to California. The companions are committed to following our savior, Jesus Christ by following the Rule and living into the Vows of St. Benedict. Some of the companions have lived communally in the past but most of them carry the monastery of the Community in their hearts as they live lives in local communities and parishes across the United States and beyond.

So now it is up to you.  Visit the websites, visit the convents and monasteries.  You might explore becoming and Associate of one of the orders or even an Oblate.  Find out what that means as you learn more about these people who have been set apart and are often on the front lines of social service ministries.