The Society of Saint John the Evangelist: The Shape of Our Life

The Shape of Our Life

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE) was founded in the parish of Cowley in Oxford, England, by the Reverend Richard Meux Benson in 1866. SSJE was the first stable religious community of men to be established in the Anglican Church since the Reformation. Our order came to Boston in 1870. For many years SSJE also had houses in Scotland, India, South Africa, Japan and Canada. The brothers of the North American Congregation live at the monastery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Harvard Square, and at Emery House, a rural retreat center in West Newbury, Massachusetts. The brothers live under a Rule of Life and, at profession, we make vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience.

We gather throughout the day to pray the Daily Office–Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline. On most days we join in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Our common prayer and worship sanctifies the work of the day, interrupting it so that we can direct and offer it all to God in thanksgiving. Every morning we also spend an hour alone before God, usually in our cells, where we come to know the rewards of "the Father who sees in secret." In our prayer we bring to God the needs of the world, as well as our work and our joys, our gratitude and our sin, our sufferings and our dreams, our poverty and our desires, our passion and our sexuality, our fears and our resistance, our gifts and our grief. Our prayer includes all and we welcome all. The monastery chapel doors are open throughout the day and evening, offering passers-by a sanctuary for prayer and meditation. Everyone is also welcome to join the brothers in our daily corporate prayer and worship.

We offer a closer association with our community through the Fellowship of Saint John to men and women throughout the world. In our guest houses in Cambridge and West Newbury we extend our hospitality. Guests may come for an individual retreat or may attend group retreats on topics related to prayer and spirituality. These are led by many of the brothers, who also lead retreats in parishes and dioceses throughout North America. We preach, teach and write on the life of prayer, and we offer spiritual direction and formation. Individual brothers work in a variety of local and regional ministries–with students, with prisoners, and with persons affected by HIV/AIDS. We maintain our own publishing company, Cowley Publications, producing books on topics related to prayer and spirituality for an ecumenical readership. One of our brothers, Thomas Shaw, SSJE, is the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. SSJE is officially recognized as a religious community by the Episcopal Church in the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada.