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New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today's Church
New Monasticism is a growing movement of committed Christians who are recovering the radical discipleship of monasticism and unearthing a fresh expression of Christianity in America. It's not centered in a traditional monastery--many New Monastics are married with children--but instead its members live radically, settling in abandoned sections of society, committing to community, sharing incomes, serving the poor, and practicing spiritual disciplines.
New Monasticism by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove offers an insider's perspective into the life of the New Monastics and shows how this movement is dependent on the church for stability, diversity, and structure. A must-read for New Monastics or those considering joining the movement, it will also appeal to pastors, leaders, those interested in the emerging church, and 20- and 30-somethings searching for new ways to be Christian.
New Monasticism by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove offers an insider's perspective into the life of the New Monastics and shows how this movement is dependent on the church for stability, diversity, and structure. A must-read for New Monastics or those considering joining the movement, it will also appeal to pastors, leaders, those interested in the emerging church, and 20- and 30-somethings searching for new ways to be Christian.
148 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2008
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March 10, 2010
An important read. The new monasticism is a broad-based movement of evangelical Christians that seeks to take Jesus' teaching about community seriously and relocate with an outward focus, embrace abandoned communities, share resources and wealth, nurture a common life, be a prophetic witness, and serve one another.
The book is understated and doesn't make huge claims. The author understands trial and error and the messiness of real community. Its strength is gathering many aspects of this vision in one brief book. It consciously aims to avoid the traditional mistakes of the so-called Right and Left.
"We know that economic injustice is at the heart of the disease that is crippling our communities. But we have opted not to put our hope in 'compassionate conservatism' or a 'New Society.' We haven't joined the Communist Workers Party. We're not waiting for the revolution. Instead, we've tried to follow the Spirit's lead by reorganizing our households around the manna economy God has already given us" (93).
The book is a great help to those on the fence or those already convinced of its underlying assumptions. Most conservatives will dismiss quickly, but that's okay; it's not called a narrow way for nothing. It's a book that helps ideas coalesce and expand; one need not buy everything here, and the author doesn't insist you do.
The new monastic vision is quickly expanding through numerous publications and authors. It's got an ancient depth that will keep it around for a long while. And while politically conservative evangelicals forever fight about nuances of ideology that Jesus could care less about, and history passes them by more and more, the new monastics will mature and develop and actually have accomplished something.
I wish I could have had ears to have heard this vision thirty years ago.
"New monasticism has been learning that celebration is our best tactic of resistance" (101).
not agree
The book is understated and doesn't make huge claims. The author understands trial and error and the messiness of real community. Its strength is gathering many aspects of this vision in one brief book. It consciously aims to avoid the traditional mistakes of the so-called Right and Left.
"We know that economic injustice is at the heart of the disease that is crippling our communities. But we have opted not to put our hope in 'compassionate conservatism' or a 'New Society.' We haven't joined the Communist Workers Party. We're not waiting for the revolution. Instead, we've tried to follow the Spirit's lead by reorganizing our households around the manna economy God has already given us" (93).
The book is a great help to those on the fence or those already convinced of its underlying assumptions. Most conservatives will dismiss quickly, but that's okay; it's not called a narrow way for nothing. It's a book that helps ideas coalesce and expand; one need not buy everything here, and the author doesn't insist you do.
The new monastic vision is quickly expanding through numerous publications and authors. It's got an ancient depth that will keep it around for a long while. And while politically conservative evangelicals forever fight about nuances of ideology that Jesus could care less about, and history passes them by more and more, the new monastics will mature and develop and actually have accomplished something.
I wish I could have had ears to have heard this vision thirty years ago.
"New monasticism has been learning that celebration is our best tactic of resistance" (101).
not agree
July 3, 2008
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
It's no secret to CCLaP's regulars that I have recently started reading and reviewing more nonfiction here regarding religious topics; ironic, I know, given that I myself am an atheist and have no plans on changing my beliefs anytime soon*. It's a fact, though, that the subject deeply informs and influences almost every other aspect of American life, with overwhelming data on the subject that simply can't be denied: for example, that a whopping 92 percent of all Americans believe in some form of "higher power," according to a recent major study by Pew. And this is an especially fascinating time to explore the subject of faith and spirituality in America, I think, because it's such a transitional time that is erasing so many assumptions we've had for a hundred years now, ever since the initial birth and then rise of evangelism/fundamentalism in the early 20th century: the assumption that you must be politically conservative to be religiously pious, the assumption that you must be afraid of modernity and change, even basic assumptions over what defines a "one true faith," or indeed if even organized churches are needed anymore in these Web 2.0, New Age, "pick-and-choose your faith" times. And these are all interesting subjects, no matter what your own personal religious beliefs are, and understanding these subjects help all of us understand the US in a better way than before.
For example, one of the big ethical issues being debated among the faithful in America these days is that of consumerism and commercialism, and how the conservative evangelical groups that have wielded so much power throughout the '00s are to blame for a huge part of why things have become such a mess: how their cozying up to the Bush administration, who in turn cozied up to the corporate world, eventually formed an entire dark culture of runaway consumerism that has gotten completely out of control. These fundamentalist churches have profoundly failed the very Christians they purport to represent, the argument goes, precisely by not standing up to this conservative corporate collusion; that as long as the Bushists in charge were willing to support such cherrypicked fundamentalist issues as abortion-banning and public censorship, these evangelical church leaders were unwilling to tell their congregations to reign in their spending, to concentrate once again on their families and personal relationships, to stop worshipping the false idols of teenage slut-pop and reality television. (My God, the most popular show on television is even called "American Idol;" does it get any more sacrilegious than that?) There are a growing amount of religious Americans who here at the end of the Bush years have finally had their fill of it all; they are tired of overspending, tired of being part of the runaway consumerist culture that has mostly defined the US over the last ten years, tired of the meaningless worship of pop-culture that has led to a trillion-dollar Hollywood industry, and are re-examining the very foundations of the institutions they belong to in order to find an alternative to it all.
And see, when I first noticed and picked up Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's slim book New Monasticism: What Is Has to Say to Today's Church, I thought that this was what it was going to be all about -- a practical guide on how to be more monk-like in one's everyday life, even while living in the middle of an out-of-control consumerist culture, even while married and with a white-collar job and owning a house and all the other things that come with most middle-class people's lives. However, it turns out that this is not what the term "New Monasticism" means within the Christian community, although it was difficult to figure out what exactly it does mean, or at least just from reading this book; because the way Wilson-Hartgrove describes it, frankly, makes New Monasticism sound like just another term for "liberal activism," albeit a form where people specifically live in a big community house with their fellow Christians, deliberately in a crappy urban neighborhood as a way of helping to clean up that neighborhood. And there's nothing wrong with this, of course, and in fact a lot of things to be admired in liberal activism; but it's disappointing to see Wilson-Hartgrove use a term for his book that doesn't quite apply, simply because he doesn't like the term "liberal activist."
As a result, then, the majority of this book is a rather ho-hum guide to the world of soup kitchens, civil disobedience, and begging middle-class people for money -- which, again, is not a terrible subject unto itself, but is not the book I wanted to read, and not the book I thought I was getting when picking one up called "New Monasticism." It's a decent book, I want to make that clear, competently written although extremely preachy at points (duh); it's just that I was expecting a more practical guide to literally being a "21st-century monk," advice on how to better achieve inner peace through intense academic study, a shunning of the material world, and long periods of silent and contemplative self-examination. This book is definitely not that, and potential readers are wise to keep it in mind before picking it up.
Out of 10: 7.6
*And since everyone is always interested when I bring this up, let me explain it once again: that I have been an atheist for roughly 25 years now, but also have fond memories of my upbringing as a Southern Baptist in rural Missouri (on the northern edge of the so-called "American Bible Belt"). I am not, however, one of those Christopher-Hitchens angry and bitter atheists, and in fact consider myself a member of the Progressive "interfaith" movement, in which intellectuals attempt to discover the shared aspects of the world's major religions, instead of highlighting their differences.
It's no secret to CCLaP's regulars that I have recently started reading and reviewing more nonfiction here regarding religious topics; ironic, I know, given that I myself am an atheist and have no plans on changing my beliefs anytime soon*. It's a fact, though, that the subject deeply informs and influences almost every other aspect of American life, with overwhelming data on the subject that simply can't be denied: for example, that a whopping 92 percent of all Americans believe in some form of "higher power," according to a recent major study by Pew. And this is an especially fascinating time to explore the subject of faith and spirituality in America, I think, because it's such a transitional time that is erasing so many assumptions we've had for a hundred years now, ever since the initial birth and then rise of evangelism/fundamentalism in the early 20th century: the assumption that you must be politically conservative to be religiously pious, the assumption that you must be afraid of modernity and change, even basic assumptions over what defines a "one true faith," or indeed if even organized churches are needed anymore in these Web 2.0, New Age, "pick-and-choose your faith" times. And these are all interesting subjects, no matter what your own personal religious beliefs are, and understanding these subjects help all of us understand the US in a better way than before.
For example, one of the big ethical issues being debated among the faithful in America these days is that of consumerism and commercialism, and how the conservative evangelical groups that have wielded so much power throughout the '00s are to blame for a huge part of why things have become such a mess: how their cozying up to the Bush administration, who in turn cozied up to the corporate world, eventually formed an entire dark culture of runaway consumerism that has gotten completely out of control. These fundamentalist churches have profoundly failed the very Christians they purport to represent, the argument goes, precisely by not standing up to this conservative corporate collusion; that as long as the Bushists in charge were willing to support such cherrypicked fundamentalist issues as abortion-banning and public censorship, these evangelical church leaders were unwilling to tell their congregations to reign in their spending, to concentrate once again on their families and personal relationships, to stop worshipping the false idols of teenage slut-pop and reality television. (My God, the most popular show on television is even called "American Idol;" does it get any more sacrilegious than that?) There are a growing amount of religious Americans who here at the end of the Bush years have finally had their fill of it all; they are tired of overspending, tired of being part of the runaway consumerist culture that has mostly defined the US over the last ten years, tired of the meaningless worship of pop-culture that has led to a trillion-dollar Hollywood industry, and are re-examining the very foundations of the institutions they belong to in order to find an alternative to it all.
And see, when I first noticed and picked up Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's slim book New Monasticism: What Is Has to Say to Today's Church, I thought that this was what it was going to be all about -- a practical guide on how to be more monk-like in one's everyday life, even while living in the middle of an out-of-control consumerist culture, even while married and with a white-collar job and owning a house and all the other things that come with most middle-class people's lives. However, it turns out that this is not what the term "New Monasticism" means within the Christian community, although it was difficult to figure out what exactly it does mean, or at least just from reading this book; because the way Wilson-Hartgrove describes it, frankly, makes New Monasticism sound like just another term for "liberal activism," albeit a form where people specifically live in a big community house with their fellow Christians, deliberately in a crappy urban neighborhood as a way of helping to clean up that neighborhood. And there's nothing wrong with this, of course, and in fact a lot of things to be admired in liberal activism; but it's disappointing to see Wilson-Hartgrove use a term for his book that doesn't quite apply, simply because he doesn't like the term "liberal activist."
As a result, then, the majority of this book is a rather ho-hum guide to the world of soup kitchens, civil disobedience, and begging middle-class people for money -- which, again, is not a terrible subject unto itself, but is not the book I wanted to read, and not the book I thought I was getting when picking one up called "New Monasticism." It's a decent book, I want to make that clear, competently written although extremely preachy at points (duh); it's just that I was expecting a more practical guide to literally being a "21st-century monk," advice on how to better achieve inner peace through intense academic study, a shunning of the material world, and long periods of silent and contemplative self-examination. This book is definitely not that, and potential readers are wise to keep it in mind before picking it up.
Out of 10: 7.6
*And since everyone is always interested when I bring this up, let me explain it once again: that I have been an atheist for roughly 25 years now, but also have fond memories of my upbringing as a Southern Baptist in rural Missouri (on the northern edge of the so-called "American Bible Belt"). I am not, however, one of those Christopher-Hitchens angry and bitter atheists, and in fact consider myself a member of the Progressive "interfaith" movement, in which intellectuals attempt to discover the shared aspects of the world's major religions, instead of highlighting their differences.
December 23, 2010
so far, I'm intrigued. More later, as I finish it.
-- Finished it --
This is an important book.
Wilson-Hartgrove left me wanting more. But in the good way. He set out to write an introduction to the idea and get the reader excited (or, at the very least, aware) of community movements.
I am now both aware and excited.
His comments about why the church is important were really interesting to me. Sometimes it would seem easier and faster so therefore better to just go do something all maverick-like. But, no, that's not actually what the Bible shows as an example.
I liked that he didn't say very much that was specific. He lays out some principles and some history and kinda leaves it to readers, churches and communities to figure out how to be the body of Christ in their own situations.
A tiny part of me wonders just a little if he's re-writing history at all. I'm not saying that he is, it's just not something that I've studied at all so I don't know one way or the other. None of the actual facts he reported seemed wrong to me, but his hermeneutic is pretty radical. And I know that's the point. I'm on board, but not quite ready for my tattoo.
Not sure that I'm ready to join the Jesus People in Chicago, but I'm lining up meetings and going to churches in Detroit. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on that I don't remember noticing before.
-- Finished it --
This is an important book.
Wilson-Hartgrove left me wanting more. But in the good way. He set out to write an introduction to the idea and get the reader excited (or, at the very least, aware) of community movements.
I am now both aware and excited.
His comments about why the church is important were really interesting to me. Sometimes it would seem easier and faster so therefore better to just go do something all maverick-like. But, no, that's not actually what the Bible shows as an example.
I liked that he didn't say very much that was specific. He lays out some principles and some history and kinda leaves it to readers, churches and communities to figure out how to be the body of Christ in their own situations.
A tiny part of me wonders just a little if he's re-writing history at all. I'm not saying that he is, it's just not something that I've studied at all so I don't know one way or the other. None of the actual facts he reported seemed wrong to me, but his hermeneutic is pretty radical. And I know that's the point. I'm on board, but not quite ready for my tattoo.
Not sure that I'm ready to join the Jesus People in Chicago, but I'm lining up meetings and going to churches in Detroit. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on that I don't remember noticing before.
January 6, 2013
I liked this book. It taught me more about being in community - with believers and with enemies.... to walk in the relational wholeness with those I feel camaraderie with and those I find ... hummm... repulsive and want to not associate with. I realized I can only learn to know who I am and who I am in Christ by following the great commission, Part 2. Love God and LOVE PEOPLE; and how to do that in the framework of the church while reaching out to the larger community.
Here's some quotes.
God has consistently helped the church remember who it is through monastic movements.
"Love one another" wasn't just about being nice but meant learning to negotiate the real differences between people who were trying to live together.
Ephesians doesn't just say that peace with our enemies is possible. It says that peace with our enemies is the only way we can have peace with God. Believe me, I've tried to read it differently. I've looked at the Greek and I've done all the hermeneutical gymnastics I can imagine. I've wanted Ephesians to say something else, but I'm afraid that's what it says. You can't have peace with God outside the church that is God's peace. There is no personal relationship with Jesus without a personal relationship with your enemies.
Here's some quotes.
God has consistently helped the church remember who it is through monastic movements.
"Love one another" wasn't just about being nice but meant learning to negotiate the real differences between people who were trying to live together.
Ephesians doesn't just say that peace with our enemies is possible. It says that peace with our enemies is the only way we can have peace with God. Believe me, I've tried to read it differently. I've looked at the Greek and I've done all the hermeneutical gymnastics I can imagine. I've wanted Ephesians to say something else, but I'm afraid that's what it says. You can't have peace with God outside the church that is God's peace. There is no personal relationship with Jesus without a personal relationship with your enemies.
October 14, 2015
This was a powerful book. I find Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove on target. He gives me hope for the future of the Church. I resonate with his kind of counter-culture tendencies. Wilson-Hartgrove is correct that that new monasticism is not about achieving some standard of personal piety. It is ultimately about transforming our relationships and community.
I love these words that Wilson-Hartgove quoted from Eberhard Arnold: "We do not need theories or idealistic goals or prophets or leaders. We need brotherhood and sisterhood...We need to show that a life of justice and forgiveness and unity is possible today."
I agree with Wilson-Hartgrove that the Church today needs to follow the subversive practices of the prophets: "loving one another, welcoming the stranger, ...returning good for evil."
A toast to Wilson-Hartgrove's dream and mine: The way of life Jesus taught and practiced can become reality!
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)
I love these words that Wilson-Hartgove quoted from Eberhard Arnold: "We do not need theories or idealistic goals or prophets or leaders. We need brotherhood and sisterhood...We need to show that a life of justice and forgiveness and unity is possible today."
I agree with Wilson-Hartgrove that the Church today needs to follow the subversive practices of the prophets: "loving one another, welcoming the stranger, ...returning good for evil."
A toast to Wilson-Hartgrove's dream and mine: The way of life Jesus taught and practiced can become reality!
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)
January 19, 2011
1st read: Sept 27, 2012
April 23, 2020
I probably liked this book a lot more than my 3 stars suggests. In fact, I liked it a great deal, but it still suffers from some downfalls that I want to recognize. First, I love the new monastic movement, especially when its leaders have the sort of healthy, pro-church mentality shared by Wilson-Hartgrove. He avoids two extremes in this book; on the one hand there are the more liberal new monastic movements who find the church hopeless and want to escape it in the name of progressive political ideologies, and on the other hand you have some "Benedict Option" groups that think the church can do little wrong but they are running from the big bad world. Wilson-Hartgrove recognizes that the church is in trouble, and needs reform, and believes that new monasticism can help. On the other hand, he wants to continue to embrace a sound biblical orthodoxy, and in fact wants to take it even more seriously. His approach is not reactionary; instead, he reasons through the signs of the times to suggest that new monasticism is a hopeful way forward not because it is necessary in the face of various evils, but because it is a way we can learn to take Jesus more seriously than we are currently. This is marked by 12 guidelines for new monastic churches listed on page 39, and I'm encouraged by each of them.
I do have some concerns. Mainly, the longer I read, the more I realized that the meat of the book is essentially describing "missional" approaches, despite the fact that missional churches and new monastic communities differ in some strong ways not recognized in the book. This might partially be because "missionalism" was only just taking hold when Wilson-Hartgrove wrote this book in 2008, but I think the book would have benefitted from some recognition that, despite the strong similarities between new monastic social engagement and missionalism, they are different movements in important respects. This leads to another issue with the book: it is full of inspiring anecdotes and stories, but short on methodology and theological and ecclesiological rationale for its ideas. Wilson-Hartgrove quotes the Bible a ton, and not always in proper context, but so do missionalists and theocratics and the like. I would have liked to see Wilson-Hartgrove go beyond "Here are Jesus' words" to a methodological consideration of WHY we should think about Jesus' words in quite the way that he does. Maybe a theological rationale for new monasticism isn't important to Wilson-Hartgrove. Maybe his approach is "Hey, if you think this is cool, then do it, and if not, no biggie." That's fine, but I really think these ideas are important, and they need bigger theological teeth if they are to capture more people's attention and move beyond "movement" and into something more sustainable for the long-haul.
On the whole, I liked this book a lot, and I'm inspired by what they're doing. I've purchased some other books on the topic that I hope will push the conversation forward.
I do have some concerns. Mainly, the longer I read, the more I realized that the meat of the book is essentially describing "missional" approaches, despite the fact that missional churches and new monastic communities differ in some strong ways not recognized in the book. This might partially be because "missionalism" was only just taking hold when Wilson-Hartgrove wrote this book in 2008, but I think the book would have benefitted from some recognition that, despite the strong similarities between new monastic social engagement and missionalism, they are different movements in important respects. This leads to another issue with the book: it is full of inspiring anecdotes and stories, but short on methodology and theological and ecclesiological rationale for its ideas. Wilson-Hartgrove quotes the Bible a ton, and not always in proper context, but so do missionalists and theocratics and the like. I would have liked to see Wilson-Hartgrove go beyond "Here are Jesus' words" to a methodological consideration of WHY we should think about Jesus' words in quite the way that he does. Maybe a theological rationale for new monasticism isn't important to Wilson-Hartgrove. Maybe his approach is "Hey, if you think this is cool, then do it, and if not, no biggie." That's fine, but I really think these ideas are important, and they need bigger theological teeth if they are to capture more people's attention and move beyond "movement" and into something more sustainable for the long-haul.
On the whole, I liked this book a lot, and I'm inspired by what they're doing. I've purchased some other books on the topic that I hope will push the conversation forward.
December 12, 2022
The book was published in 2008, so it's why I reference the year in the review - because I do not know if particular named websites or particular communities still exist. He gives examples of communities that were going on in 2008 that shared a "common purse" (like the cult my parents were in Church Of Bible Understanding), but I do not know if the communities he lists are still going on 10+ years later. Other communities do not use a "common purse" and again, I don't know if they're still going on 10+ years later.
There's a bit of history of Monastic communities, how the merging into general Christian culture happens and then the new ones that get started by people called out of the main cultures' goings on. Some of the history includes Koinonia Farm in GA (which I know is still going on because they have a Facebook page) as well as other service oriented organizations.
He also covered "how it's hard to be a Christian in America" in trying to explain what this term "new monasticism" is for; as well as various experiences that he has had previously and not necessarily "how to fix", as much as "how to live, play and work" along with the semi-disclaimer of (paraphrased) I don't know where this leads, but this is my experience of daily life trying to follow Jesus.
There's a bit of history of Monastic communities, how the merging into general Christian culture happens and then the new ones that get started by people called out of the main cultures' goings on. Some of the history includes Koinonia Farm in GA (which I know is still going on because they have a Facebook page) as well as other service oriented organizations.
He also covered "how it's hard to be a Christian in America" in trying to explain what this term "new monasticism" is for; as well as various experiences that he has had previously and not necessarily "how to fix", as much as "how to live, play and work" along with the semi-disclaimer of (paraphrased) I don't know where this leads, but this is my experience of daily life trying to follow Jesus.
June 1, 2018
I'm so glad a colleague sent this book my way, as she quipped to my wife- "I think John will be very interested in this book." She was so right. I have been planning and failing to read this book for several years now. Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove feels like a good friend I have just not met, yet. Actually, reading this book has helped me get a better handle on my current Christian moniker, which I often now claim as Contemplative Activist. As this last year I finished up a two-year Spiritual Direction training and actually came to faith in the 70s Jesus People USA and Charismatic Renewal movements I'm seeing that I've actually had some "New Monastic" roots growing over the years and did not really know it.
School for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism is now in line for soon reading. And hopefully meeting Jonathon will also be coming up the next time I'm on his side of the globe.
School for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism is now in line for soon reading. And hopefully meeting Jonathon will also be coming up the next time I'm on his side of the globe.
October 22, 2021
Good but wanting more
I chose 4 stars because overall the book gives a good overview of the New Monastic Way, but I found myself longing for more of something. I think the something I am looking for is a better understanding of what the New Monastic movement is from an ecclesiological perspective and the prophetic edginess I find in some other writers in the New Monastic movement.
I chose 4 stars because overall the book gives a good overview of the New Monastic Way, but I found myself longing for more of something. I think the something I am looking for is a better understanding of what the New Monastic movement is from an ecclesiological perspective and the prophetic edginess I find in some other writers in the New Monastic movement.
June 22, 2019
Good, not life-changing.
"The pervading color line that divides the church is a sign to us that when the pressure is on, the blood of our racial identity runs thicker than the water of our baptism" (Wilson-Hartgrove 16).
"...sometimes you have to relocate in order to really see the world and reimagine your role within it" (77).
"God's home is the abandoned place" (78).
"The pervading color line that divides the church is a sign to us that when the pressure is on, the blood of our racial identity runs thicker than the water of our baptism" (Wilson-Hartgrove 16).
"...sometimes you have to relocate in order to really see the world and reimagine your role within it" (77).
"God's home is the abandoned place" (78).
April 15, 2020
Many of us have been radicalised into a culture of toxic individualism, which has also made its way into the church.
This book is a great place to explore aspects of living as a Christian in community, rather than in an individualistic framework.
This book is a great place to explore aspects of living as a Christian in community, rather than in an individualistic framework.
September 17, 2020
Monasticism is an old thing so radical that it appears new; it calls individuals into communities which are themselves growths of the church; it goes into the forgotten places in order to show God's love to those forgotten.
I buy all this. Let's see it work.
I buy all this. Let's see it work.
Read
July 21, 2021Really excellent intro to new monasticism
March 27, 2024
This is going to stick with me for a very long time
July 17, 2022
Good book, wish he would say more about the details of his own monastic life.
August 23, 2019
This book offers an excellent antidote to the recently popular The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, which I reviewed here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wilson-Hartgrove provides valuable insight into the role of a church based in committed community. He does not shy away from diagnosing the various ills of American society (though his assessment would differ greatly from Dreher's in Benedict Option because W-H has actually lived a life of community and uses a Biblical worldview. W-H has also walked the walk: he was part of Christian Peacemaking Teams who went into Iraq to try to stop the bombing and stand with the Iraqi civilians during 'shock and awe', he was repeatedly arrested for protesting the death penalty before four government murders (a protest that effectively ended the death sentence in North Carolina), and he has lived in a new monastic community for more than a decade. As such, his insights are about how to make a welcoming community, how to step into the abandoned places of empire, how to love the unlovely and unloveable, and how to speak truth to power.
He talks about all of these things with credible humility, and a simple sense of God's calling to the church to be more than she has been. He does not gloss over difficulties, but seeks transformation in them.
Anyone with serious interest in how to walk a life of faith in a post-Christian culture would do well to read this book.
Wilson-Hartgrove provides valuable insight into the role of a church based in committed community. He does not shy away from diagnosing the various ills of American society (though his assessment would differ greatly from Dreher's in Benedict Option because W-H has actually lived a life of community and uses a Biblical worldview. W-H has also walked the walk: he was part of Christian Peacemaking Teams who went into Iraq to try to stop the bombing and stand with the Iraqi civilians during 'shock and awe', he was repeatedly arrested for protesting the death penalty before four government murders (a protest that effectively ended the death sentence in North Carolina), and he has lived in a new monastic community for more than a decade. As such, his insights are about how to make a welcoming community, how to step into the abandoned places of empire, how to love the unlovely and unloveable, and how to speak truth to power.
He talks about all of these things with credible humility, and a simple sense of God's calling to the church to be more than she has been. He does not gloss over difficulties, but seeks transformation in them.
Anyone with serious interest in how to walk a life of faith in a post-Christian culture would do well to read this book.
June 13, 2014
My readings on small church dynamics now lead me into learnings from other forms of intimate fellowship, beginning with monasticism.
I'd been meaning to read this one for a while, but hadn't quite gotten around to it. It's readable, interesting, and gently spiritual--with a strong interweaving of concerns for community and for justice.
I honestly had thought it would speak more to the way in which the intentional life of the new monastic movement could help shape more traditional churches, but got only a modest gleaning of general concepts. It was more discursive and theological than focused on microecclesial orthopraxis.
Microecclesial orthopraxis. Hmmm. I'll have to remember that one. Makes me sound all smart and stuff.
Anyhoo, it was an easy read, and while it's not designed to give a blueprint for integrating elements of monastic life into traditional communities, it gives enough hints to be worth a look see.
I'd been meaning to read this one for a while, but hadn't quite gotten around to it. It's readable, interesting, and gently spiritual--with a strong interweaving of concerns for community and for justice.
I honestly had thought it would speak more to the way in which the intentional life of the new monastic movement could help shape more traditional churches, but got only a modest gleaning of general concepts. It was more discursive and theological than focused on microecclesial orthopraxis.
Microecclesial orthopraxis. Hmmm. I'll have to remember that one. Makes me sound all smart and stuff.
Anyhoo, it was an easy read, and while it's not designed to give a blueprint for integrating elements of monastic life into traditional communities, it gives enough hints to be worth a look see.
January 5, 2015
I accidentally started reading "New Monasticism" because I confused it with another book. Greatest reading mistake ever. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is grappling with one of the most important questions I can imagine - how do we truly live the fullness of the life Jesus teaches and demonstrates for us in the gospels? How can the idealism of the Sermon on the Mount become real in a place like America? I often consider a good Christian book to be one that agrees with my own beliefs - a great book is the one that takes me by surprise and grows my beliefs into something new and better. This is a great book.
January 20, 2010
This book presents the movement known as new monasticism through stories, histories, anecdotes, biographies, and ideas. It presents New Monasticism as a movement that draws on ancient traditions and new contextualization to show both the churched and un-churched on the radical call that God has for his adopted family(Christians).
This book resonated with the concept of New Monasticism I previously had, and also added to it. It does not present its material in any ground-breaking fashion but I found it a refreshing challenge to consider New Monasticism now at a new stage in my life.
This book resonated with the concept of New Monasticism I previously had, and also added to it. It does not present its material in any ground-breaking fashion but I found it a refreshing challenge to consider New Monasticism now at a new stage in my life.
April 15, 2012
An important book that introduces the New Monastic "movement," but nothing particularly new or moving to those familiar with any part of it. Wilson-Hartgrove's strongest points are in connecting this movement with the previous ones as his historical background is very informative, but the description of the current movement and what their communities actually do left me wanting more. An easy, quick read, but not compelling enough to warrant more than 3 stars for me. Maybe I just grabbed the wrong book.
July 26, 2010
This book wasn't what I expected. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a relatively young man, apparently not much older than myself. His goal isn't to lecture on conclusions he has reached, only to set forth a few ideas that he and some friends are living by. Consequently, I found the book to be more inspirational than instructional. And I suppose that's exactly how the book was intended. And it succeeded: I'm inspired.
Read
July 14, 2012Great book. It's been a while since I read it, but from what I recall there are two tasks this book accomplishes really well: 1) It shows the connection between monasticism throughout the history of the church and the new movement of the spirit which has been labeled "new monasticism." 2) It distills some the wisdom of the new monasticism and makes it accesible for those whom God has called to a different form of discipleship.
January 3, 2015
"It's hard to be a Christian in America," is the main premise of this book. After considering Wilson-Hartgrove's arguments I would agree with a slight addendum: "It's easy to say you're a Christian in America." This work makes a clear point that new monasticism is not a movement outside of the church, nor is it a form of 'extra credit Christianity.' I hope I will get the chance to take the Duke Divinity class on prison ministry!
Want to read
May 3, 2008This book is written by a young man (I think he's only 27!) who lives in Rutba House in North Carolina. We met him in San Francisco a couple years ago and he is included in the people who have influenced us in the direction of intentional community. This is his newest book, and I want to read it - not sure when I'll get to it!
August 3, 2011
Good overview of the history of monasticism and how God's missional purpose has flowed through it.
The author speaks from personal experience leading a new monastic community in Durham, NC. One of the core ideas explored biblically and historically is about how God relocates and renews His people in abandoned places, both rural and urban.
The author speaks from personal experience leading a new monastic community in Durham, NC. One of the core ideas explored biblically and historically is about how God relocates and renews His people in abandoned places, both rural and urban.
February 14, 2014
This book makes a convincing argument for how the qualities of monasticism are a much needed in today's Christian church. The author particularly emphasizes the need for community. This is a theology book at heart. I was hoping the author could make more practical connections to the lives of today's Christians.
February 10, 2010
This is a good book about Christians living with shared resources and shared lives in peaceful communities. It made me question a lot of my economic assumptions. The author is sharp and articulate and interacts with a good bit of Bible and Church history.
January 28, 2010
Interesting. The stress on community, the church, incarnational evangelism and rather thasn "doing ministries" to help people, smply being the people of God and the help, need-meeting etc being integral to what we are.
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