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A religious
Order can be defined as a group of Christians called by vocation to a
shared task, a life of communal fellowship and the following of
particular rule. They are part of the church (in this case the
worldwide church, the body of Christ, as defined in 1 Corinthians
12), but not a church in themselves.
Traditionally,
the shared task is serving God and the community in one form or
another and is a mixture of worship and prayer, manual work and
study. In On Call serving God and serving the community may be done
in a variety of ways and is very much up to the individual to
discern, sometimes under the direction of the executive bishop or
another member who has been given leave to act as a spiritual
director. To each are given unique skills, talents and gifts and we
put no limit on the way that these can be put into daily practice. We
have no wish to limit or restrict the work of the Holy Spirit in any way.
Although
technically a dispersed Order with members working individually in
many parts of the UK, there are increasingly regular meetings and
opportunities for fellowship. With the ease of communication these
days, being a member of a dispersed Order is less of a problem than
it might have been a decade ago. It does however mean that members
can feel isolated at times and this is recognised - this is why the
applications procedure is now so searching - members need to be
commited, mature and disciplined in their faith, and able to work
independently without the immediate support of other members of the
Order on occasion.
All members
follow the Order's rule, 'the
Rule of Simplicity' and
it works along side the Order's principles
and guidelines and the code for
professional conduct.
As stated
elsewhere, the principles and guidelines of the Order do not
generally conflict with the Canons of the sponsoring Christian
traditions members have come from, rather the Order's principles and
guidelines are intended to compliment, enrich, supplement and enhance
them. There are times however when conflicts will arise and members
of the Order will inevitably have to decide where their true
loyalties lie and this may not be easy to reconcile.
In many ways,
there are recognisable elements encapsulated within the Order's
principles and guidelines that capture the essence of the Rule of St
Benedict. The structure and organisation of the Order mirrors quite a
number of elements of a Benedictine Order although titles are not
given for particular roles (other than that of the Executive Bishop
or Assistant Bishops), members do what is required through a
recognition of skills, talents and spiritual gifts without the need
for such things. Roles change within the Order according to need but
all members are considered equal in Christ, none being considered
greater or less than another, all being considered full members of
the team. All ministries are considered essential and unique, however
great or small they may seem, and without which the whole body of
Christ is lessened.
Lastly, the
Order is not a church or a sect or a denomination. It is a collective
of priests, ministers, religious, pastors and associate members who
wish to serve both God and the community outside the restrictions and
prejudices that are sometimes caused by the maintenance of
traditional denominational barriers.
I hope that
this goes some way to explaining why we are an Order rather than a
society or association. Please do contact
me if you wish to have further
information or ask a particular question.
Every blessing,
+ Ian |
