Br. Jim Woodrum, SSJE
A native of Bristol, VA, Br. Jim Woodrum studied music at the University of South Carolina and East Tennessee State University. A musician and performer specializing in the euphonium (a tenor tuba primarily found in symphonic bands), Jim taught brass methods in many high schools and youth organizations across the Southeast before coming to Community. He arrived at SSJE to test his vocation in 2012 and was life-professed in 2017. He has served the Community as Choir Brother, Facilities Brother, Vocations Brother, and currently is the Brother who guides Mission and Communications. Jim enjoys all kinds of music, reading history, and is fascinated by Neurotheology (the relationship between the human brain and religion). When he is away from his desk (and that “Office” in the Chapel), he enjoys cooking Southern cuisine, exploring neighborhoods in Boston, and indulging his keen interest in craft beer.
Learn more about Br. Jim's Catch the Life journey to monastic life >
Selection of Br. Jim's teachings from "Brother, Give Us a Word"
Shame
We need to practice a posture of humility that seeks forgiveness for the shame we force upon others. In our human finitude, we all transgress against our neighbors. The act of asking to be forgiven, if genuine, is the doorway which frees all of those involved and incarcerated in the shame of injustice. -Br. Jim…
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Sometimes participating in God’s mission may not turn out the way we expect, or we may be called to change course mid-journey. We cannot fully know the mind of God in the accomplishment of God’s will. But that’s okay. All you need to ask God in prayer is ‘What’s the next right thing?’ And then…
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Angels in the Architecture
Advent 2021: A podcast series that occurs throughout the year. It explores not only the structures of buildings, but also those of liturgy, sacraments, colors, vestments, and the traditions that form us.
Selection of Br. Jim's writing
“In the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer each day, I am reminded that if I turn to God in my moments of temptation, then I, like Jesus, will be able to dismiss temptation’s toxicity, and be fortified and empowered to live into the divine life which God has enabled in me.”
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“As a follower of Jesus with my own diverse and at times complicated identity, where and how do I belong in this equally diverse and complicated realm of Christianity and the Church? And what does such “belonging” entail?”
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“Life in community teaches us about the love and grace of God as it helps us to grow into the fullness of our place in the Body of Christ: accepting our limitations, giving freely of ourselves when we see a need, and recognizing that we belong to one another through our Baptism.”
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