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Our Mission Statement Our mission is to live personal lives of God-centered love with others as monastics in the American Orthodox Church. We pledge ourselves to establishing a monastery here modeled on the inner spiritual and outward physical structures of the desert Fathers and Mothers, with solitude for monastics; quiet and hospitality for guests and pilgrims. To fulfill this mission: We remain obedient to the doctrinal and sacramental structure of the Church by being under our bishop, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America, and by having members, trustees and friends drawn from all jurisdictions, in witness to the unity we share in Christ. We seek continually to repent and grow into the vision of truth and reality given by God in and through His Church. We respect and love the life of God's creation. We respect and love all those who are part of our own lives. We respect and love our monastic profession. We welcome women from all jurisdictions who aspire to live the monastic life. We enter fully into Scripture reading and the liturgical services of the Church and allow ourselves to be transformed by them. We take regular days of retreat and renewal as well as time for quiet prayer in solitude each day to renew our vision and sense of call from God. We seek mastery over our bodies through fasting and self-denial as well as exercise and reasonable care. We share and confess our struggles. We read and study to understand better this life to which God has called us. We each take responsibility for our own life: our thoughts, words, feelings, actions and behavior, and we share responsibility for the actions of the monastery. |