Punk Monks or New Friars? by Andy Freeman

Published: June 17th, 2009

A few weeks ago I was in Minneapolis, sharing in the USA National 24-7 Gathering.  In amongst all the seminars and worship, we had one wonderful Friday evening.  Based around the Source Boiler Room, we celebrated God in art, music, good food and good company.  Our gathering for one night became a community celebration, a street party, where local people mixed with delegates from the gathering - where our prayers hit the road and made sense in real life, real action.  It was glorious, and it asked me some questions. 

“Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.” - Author Unknown, from Be Thankful 

I think I may have got something wrong.  I’m sorry. 

About 4 years ago, I was writing the manuscript for Punk Monk.  It’s a book which I believe in passionately.  It’s values and all the things we’ve explored in Boiler Room communities - they resonate deep within me.  Part of those core values lie in what many people call ‘new monasticism’ - a revived version of deep wells of spirituality.  

But as I stood watching the scene in Minneapolis, some recurring worries came back to me.  Do I like that word ‘Monasticism’?  Do I feel happy with that? You can always tell when a movement or idea has become part of the furniture - that’s when it has a Wikipedia page to itself.  ‘New Monasticism’ now has that honour. 

We have a lot of good friends around the world who are attempting to live out the values we believe in: Rhythms of prayer, community life, hospitality, serving the poor.  I genuinely believe that God has led us to a rich seam of life, something which can help us build the church into the future.  But my question to us, and to others like us is this .... monasticism, what does that word say about us? 

There was a time in church history several hundred years ago when a movement of quirky monks and nuns who were people committed to a counter cultural life hit a problem.  They became mainstream and popular.  Monasteries got big and politics mixed with faith. They literally became cool.  

As they did so, it seems to me the root of the word monasticism became a problem.  The word literally means ‘mono’ or ‘one.  When we trace this idea back it means alone.  For some monastic movements, seclusion became an art.  Monks in closed monasteries, a hurting world outside, squirrels frolicking around the grounds, gold and silver in their store houses.  

For 24-7 Prayer right now I have a simple question.  What is ‘mono’ about anything we’re trying to build?  Even in the moment of just you being in a prayer room alone, you’re surrounded by the prayers of others, rooted into community and family. Should we have been surprised that God has begun to build families of faith from prayer rooms?  Probably not, I’m not sure there’s much that is ‘mono’ about our God either - God is communion himself, three-in-one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

My reflection as I stood in Minneapolis was this:  Have we got this wrong?  Surely we’re not ‘new monastics’. Maybe we’re more like ‘new friars’. 

800 years ago a man called Francis was called by God to rebuild the church.  At first he did this literally, with his bare hands and with rock and stone at a ruined church in Assisi, Italy.  Then one day he heard Bible verses that changed his life, Matthew 10, Jesus sending out the Twelve to preach the Kingdom, no provisions or money, just dependent on the grace of God.  

Dressed in robe, barefoot and without anything, Francis preached the gospel.  Others joined him.  They built family, eventually in the shape of an order which still exists today.  They became an order of travelling "friars" who planted communities of faith in Europe and around the world.  Francis prayed and his prayers sent him out into the world.  GK Chesterton, in his biography of Francis, wrote that “St. Francis walked the world like the pardon of God.” As I read and reflect on the life of Francis, I find myself echoing prayers.  In our movement, in the church, might we be like this–walking grace, going into the world.  

I loved watching Brian Heasley's Video Podcast on Friday 12th June.  God calling us out of our meetings into the world, sending us amongst those who are lost, so that we might share Him who found us. 

Maybe it’s only words, but I believe God is calling us in 24-7 to be ‘New Friars’: deeply committed to prayer, and deeply present in the world.  Chesterton observed that “Christ was the pattern on which St. Francis sought to fashion himself”.  Being Christ-centred is our prayer too.  In Punk Monk, Pete Greig wrote about ‘rescue shops’, centre’s of peace in our cities, welcoming in people with the love of God.  This means one simple thing.  Our doors must be open.  Throughout the history of the church, so many of the monasteries became closed. They were built to house a separated community whose whole purpose was to honour God, but often they were also separated from real life and real people.

Let our doors be open always.  So that ordinary people may come and be with us, and so that we can constantly be reminded of our need to go, to be amongst the people God calls us to love and serve. 

Lets be ‘New Friars’ who mingle with this world which is so in need of love. 

Andy Freeman is 41 years old and a father to 5 beautiful kids.  He lives in Reading, England.  Andy was part of the team that pioneered 24-7's first Boiler Room community.  He is now a trainee Ordinand with the Church of England and is working with others to plant the Reconcile Community, a 24-7 Community which is an Anglican Fresh Expression.  Andy loves reading, movies, music, cricket (the sport) and Arsenal football club.  Andy is involved with Just 24-7 and 24-7's partnership with Fresh Expressions.  You can continue to dialogue with Andy on his blog.

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