In November 2021 the Society of the Sacred Mission [SSM] initiated the development of an Institute for Anglican Religious Life. One of the key aims of the project is to ensure the preservation of the legacy of Anglican religious orders, some of whom may be reaching the completion of their active ministry. The communities were all founded in a unique period in the history of the Church, and their contribution to Anglican mission and contemplative prayer is not always fully appreciated within the Church today. The project will provide assistance to communities in the management of their historic records, including the development of collections policies and provision of advice on cataloguing and appropriate storage. It will curate a resource hub for the archives of religious communities, especially those that have closed, and provide information about the history of the religious life and signposts to other relevant resources. We propose to work with the custodians and curators of collections to share knowledge and provide a portal for researchers, as well as supporting, where necessary, the creation of detailed catalogues and ensuring the physical preservation of archive collections.
But it’s not just about the history. This is a living tradition, and we wish also to support the future development of Anglican religious life, in whatever form it may take, by sharing the collected wisdom of the established communities to new generations. We will do this through the provision of courses, lectures and seminars to support the development of new forms of religious life, and by engagement with the diverse currents of contemporary spirituality.
Last year we completed the scoping stage of the project, and our future plans were very much shaped by the many responses we had to our questionnaire as well as feedback from the presentation we made to the Anglican Religious Leaders Conference at Wantage. We are now in the development phase and beginning to implement our proposals. Amongst other activities I hope to visit as many communities and their archives as possible over the coming year. I would like to discuss any concerns about preserving historic records and explore ways we can help make each unique story accessible to a wider audience. We are planning an initial publication from the SSM archives which will be available later in the year and hope this will be the first of a series on Anglican life from our own imprint.
While I have outlined the main tasks we have planned for the coming months, ultimately the project is for the service of the communities, and we continue to ask for feedback on our proposals and suggestions for further support that we can give. I am keen to visit as many communities as possible and would be happy to discuss any aspect of this project further. Please do get in touch with me at St Antony’s Priory.
Scholastica Jacob, St Antony’s Priory, Durham, 0191 384 3747, scholastica.jacob@stantonyspriory.org
