The Society of Saint John the Evangelist: About Our Retreats

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Organic Farming Internship
for Young Adults at Emery House

Retreat center of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist

The Brothers of SSJE are seeking interns for the 2010 growing season. Interns will have the opportunity for a full season immersion in all aspects of a small, diversified vegetable and poultry farm. Of equal importance to the farming portion of the experience will be the practice of living in intentional, praying community with the other interns, Brothers and the caretaker family at Emery House. Prayer, theological reflection and spiritual mindfulness are incorporated into the daily routine.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone with a sense of vocation that finds working with the Earth walking hand in hand with a life of the spirit.

Emery House is a retreat center, a ministry of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, a monastic community of the Episcopal Church. It is situated on 100 acres in the town of West Newbury, MA, forty miles north of Boston. We are in our third year of integrating an organic farm into the life of the Society and their guests, with more than an acre in intensive vegetable production, some small grains and two hundred laying hens, broilers and turkeys. The food produced feeds the Society and its guests, is donated to a local food shelter, and beginning this coming season, will be distributed through a small CSA and farm stand.

Details:

  • Dates of the internship are March 1 – the first weekend in November. (We are open to conversation regarding a late start/early departure due to school commitments).
  • We work approximately 50 hours/week, including Saturdays in the height of the season.
  • Comfortable accommodations and full board are offered, as well as a stipend of $500/month and full health insurance.

Requirements:

This is a young adult initiative. Interns should be between the ages of 21 and 34 and single. Men and Women are encouraged to apply.

  • Willingness to participate in the religious life of Emery House including daily Mass and regular spiritual direction, and to respect the privacy and sanctity of the Community's life.
  • Ability to lift 50 pounds. Ability to handle (and even revel in) the stress of outdoor physical exertion in the heat of the summer.
  • Willingness and ability to use/learn to use power equipment, including chainsaws, tractors, agricultural implements, et cetera.
  • Willingness to participate in all aspects of poultry management, including culling and harvesting birds
  • Horticultural, Agricultural, Forestry, Carpentry and Maintenance experience is not required, but interest in these fields is.
  • A valid Drivers license and your own transportation. (A bicycle is acceptable transportation as mass transit to Boston and beyond is readily accessible.)
  • An in person interview, a physician’s assent to physical readiness for farm labor and three references are required. (A form for a physician’s signature will be available).

The intern is responsible to Brent Was, the Caretaker (a 2005 Harvard Divinity graduate, D.Min student at EDS and candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Massachusetts).

To apply, please contact Brent Was at bwas@ssje.org.



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