• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Healed_IHS

Senior Member
May 5, 2007
962
33
49
Colorado Springs
Visit site
✟23,790.00
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Libertarian
I am considering joining a religious order and was looking for info. I grew up methodist & am now elca, but it seems like our traditions through the baby out with the bathwater during the reformation. Does anyone know of orders that would accept and elca member? I've found a couple that don't require celibacy. I am looking to live communally for a while. Perhaps there is a place where believers just live and worship together? Thanks
 

Healed_IHS

Senior Member
May 5, 2007
962
33
49
Colorado Springs
Visit site
✟23,790.00
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Libertarian
That type of living situation would be ideal, however the denomination wouldn't be congruent w/ my beliefs.
It seems that there is no opportunities that would be fitting. Considering I will have to take on roomies if I live secularly, I wonder if I should just put up ads for christian roommates.
 
Upvote 0

IowaLutheran

Veteran
Aug 29, 2004
1,529
110
54
Iowa
✟17,480.00
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Married
I was at a day-long Lenten retreat at an ELCA church, where the people who were running the retreat were an Episcopal monk and nun.

Their website (www.holythoughts.org) states that a person wishing to enter vowed life there must be a member of the Episcopal Church, but I seem to recall some discussion at the retreat that they would be open to accepting ELCA people in their monastery because of the full communion agreement between our churches. Maybe I misunderstood, but I seem to recall them discussing that as a possibility. Whether or not other Episcopal monasteries would be open to that, I do not know, but it might be worth looking into.
 
Upvote 0

BigNorsk

Contributor
Nov 23, 2004
6,736
815
67
✟33,457.00
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Married
I'm having a bit of trouble knowing what your beliefs are. That is because the entire orders and cloitured life and such were thoroughly condemned by early Lutherans. Which would explain why you are having troubles finding Lutheran orders and cloitures to join.

So just what are your beliefs?

Marv
 
Upvote 0

IowaLutheran

Veteran
Aug 29, 2004
1,529
110
54
Iowa
✟17,480.00
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Married
I'm having a bit of trouble knowing what your beliefs are. That is because the entire orders and cloitured life and such were thoroughly condemned by early Lutherans. Which would explain why you are having troubles finding Lutheran orders and cloitures to join.

The Reformers condemned the medieval form of monasticism, not the whole idea altogether. "At one time there were schools of Holy Scripture and other disciplines useful for the Christian Church in the monasteries, so that pastors and bishops were taken from the monasteries. But now the picture is quite different. In former times, people adopted the monastic life in order to study Scripture. Now they pretend that the monastic life is of such a nature that through it a person may earn God's grace and righteousness before God." Augsburg Confession, Article XXVII.

A monastic community with a focus on Scripture and not on doing "monkish"(Luther's terminology) things to earn merits before God would be fully acceptable in Lutheranism. Bonhoeffer's underground seminary in Nazi Germany would be a classic example of that type of community.
 
Upvote 0

Healed_IHS

Senior Member
May 5, 2007
962
33
49
Colorado Springs
Visit site
✟23,790.00
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Libertarian
I don't really feel 100% congruent w/ any denomination, but do i agree with some philosophies with different ones. There are only a few points that are non-negotiable. Justification by faith alone, sola scriptura. symbolic presence of the eucharist, etc...

The reason (from what I understand of it) that Luther spoke out against the religious orders, is that they were set off as a separate and "better than" the citizens. They also "hoarded" biblical knowledge by keeping it in Latin, while the only people who knew Latin... Monks.

There are in fact, Lutheran Monks and Monasteries. An example is St. Augustine's house in Michigan. Members of the ELCA are also invited to be a part of several Anglican orders (as ELCA is in full communion with them).

I guess my feeling is Luther, Wesley, Melancthon, etc... great guys & their lives should be remembered and honored as such. However, they are not Jesus, and therefore are not infallible. Remember, Luther wrote books so racist, they helped to inspire the Nazi party.
 
Upvote 0

doulos_tou_kuriou

Located at the intersection of Forde and Giertz
Apr 26, 2006
1,846
69
MinneSO-TA. That's how they say it here, right?
✟24,924.00
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Married
There is a group of Lutheran Monks in Michigan, I think they call themselves Augustinians as an ode to Luther a former Catholic Augustinian Monk. I believe this is their website:

http://www.staugustineshouse.org/

pax,

doulos
 
Upvote 0

HappyChicken

Domestic Egg Executive
Nov 11, 2007
784
109
Indiana
✟16,361.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Upvote 0