Faith Leadership for an Ecumenical Future
It is an understatement to say
that we live in a fast moving, rapidly changing environment.
Business leaders at every level realize
the impact of rapid communication technology,
the globalization of the work force,
with all the ethical challenges that it presents.
In the scientific, the technical, and the business world
there is a constant need for leaders
who are competent, creative, and informed.
These are the same requirements
that more and more people have of faith leadership.
In this country we face some amazing challenges at this time.
Religion per se, that is, religious belief,
is more important than ever to our citizenry,
but loyalty to the religious tradition of one's origin is declining.
There seems to be no question
that the marketplace mentality has triumphed in all things,
whether it is getting a college education,
or choosing a church, a religious tradition.
I think people are looking for faith leadership
who can provide in a regular manner
thoughtful analysis and synthesis of the world that we are in,
how to make sense of the being alive
as a human being in this time,
our rapidly changing sense of our identity
as we grow in our awareness of deep space and deep time.
What do our religious beliefs mean in a religious environment
that is fundamentally plural and diverse?
How to think ethically about profound moral dilemmas:
how to think about our sexuality
how to think about the significance of a human life,
either at its very earliest or end stages,
how we should live on this planet with all other life forms,
and how to live in such a way
that the incredible imbalance
between the very rich and the very poor is diminished.
In a world of pop culture and media hype,
how does one stay focused on the big issues?
How does one live in such a way to make a difference,
with the Gospel for a guide,
truly respectful of other Christian traditions,
indeed world religions?
No faith leadership is going to drive up to answers
to these questions at 60 miles/hour.
It takes sustained time for reading, thought, reflection, study.
There has to be time for personal integration and prayer.
Time away from the pressing demands of committees,
building projects, preaching,
and the demands of pastoral leadership.
There has to be a place
where new insights can be thought through
for coherence and durability
as well as for the way
in which these insights intersect with other religious traditions.
Does such a place exist?
I am here to say that such a place already exists
and it is closer to you than you might think.
Chapter 7 of the Rule of Saint Benedict is on humility.
It may well be the apex of chapters 5, 6, and 7
of Saint Benedict's spiritual teaching.
It is often noted that Benedictine places
have a hard time talking about themselves,
shall we say, crassly, blowing their own horns,
because of the fear of arrogance, one-up-man-ship,
and just plain hype.
For the next three minutes
I am going to bracket Chapter 7 on humility
and speak about a place that is very dear to me
and to the monks of Saint John's Abbey,
The Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research.
What the Collegeville Institute offers
The Collegeville Institute
is a hospitable place where religious leaders
can read, study, and incubate religious and cultural questions and ideas,
discuss and write about the complex faith, theological, and moral issues of our time.
Institute scholars have the time to dig deep and widely,
with a balance of solitude and company.
We all know from experience how important
cross-fertilization is in coming to a new synthesis.
In meeting other religious leaders and thinkers,
institute scholars find they are not alone;
they discover common ground,
but they also retrieve the riches,
the breadth and wisdom of their tradition.
Finally, these scholars, these faith leaders,
write excellent articles and books,
and just as importantly, prepare courses of action for the future.
The Collegeville Institute is different from a fishing house,
where so many Minnesotans have their only hermit experience.
The Institute is located at the edge of a liberal arts university
that has a large Benedictine monastery
and a great School of Theology-Seminary that have been working for 150 years.
The monks come together every day for a round of prayer
and scholars, many for the first time,
encounter the unbelievable riches of the Liturgy of the Hours.
It is one thing to study the Liturgy of the Hours, to know they are there,
it is one thing to pray them in solitude,
it is quite another to pray them with a monastic community.
Each scholar has their own self-determined relationship with that life of prayer.
For many, it is a true discovery.
As Johnny Carson would have said it,
"I did not know that!"
And for those who have a taste for a beautifully choreographed liturgy
with lots of smells and bells, we do it fairly well.
More to the point,
no deepening of faith leadership can really occur
without simultaneously deepening one's life of prayer,
without a more profound encounter with the living, Triune God,
in whom we live and move and have our being.
The School of Theology is a living theological laboratory
where students from many traditions
are preparing to be faith leaders and scholars --
there is a close working and social relationship
between the faculty, students and the institute scholars.
There just happens to be a Liturgical Press on the campus
where many scholars have published the fruit of their labors.
Finally, the university campus offers the kind of ongoing series
of lectures, musical and artistic events that provide a rich menu of experience.
I doubt that there are any institute scholars
who have enough time and energy to take it all in.
I am here to say that the Collegeville Institute
needs your support,
to carry on this great tradition of providing a place
for building trustworthy relationships between faith leaders,
for creating time and space
for faith leaders to create a new synthesis
and to ask bold new questions.
The Institute needs your help to give an articulate voice
to the need for ongoing dialogue between religious traditions,
for doing the hospitality between religious leaders that is the basis for trust building.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
26 April 2007
The Minneapolis Club
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