Provocative New Title in Religious Life--THE VOWS BOOK

Release Date:  February 2, 2014

Provocative New Title in Religious Life--THE VOWS BOOK

Release Date:  February 2, 2014

The Conference of Anglican Religious Orders in the Americas (CAROA) is proud to announce the publication of The Vows Book: Anglican Teaching on the Vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity by Clark Berge, Society of St. Francis.  This book presents the traditional vows of religious life as resources and inspiration for all who seek to live a life following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

 

“What is needful in the vowed religious life is not really different from what the rest of us need,” said Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, priest, author and spiritual director.  “This is why the enduring classics of the contemplative tradition, most of them from the pens of nuns or monks, can strike so many responsive chords with those of us whose daily surroundings are so different from theirs.  Brother Clark writes to his brothers, but he stands in a long line of religious whose words speak comfort and challenge to us all.”

The book is written in simple, direct language, in the “Easy Essay” style of Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.  “I wanted to communicate in such a way that people for whom English is a second or third language would understand it easily. This includes almost all of the Anglican religious in Melanesia and many other parts of the Anglican Communion,” Br. Clark said. “The Vows Book is written in simple English, but addresses many of the complexities of religious life. It is simple, not dumbed-down.” Dr. Petà Dunstan, fellow and tutor at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge, and editor of the Anglican Religious Life Year Book agrees:  “In direct and accessible language, Brother Clark examines the vowed life to reveal the wisdom it offers to all Christians.”

Susan R. Pitchford, author of Following Francis, God in the Dark, and The Sacred Gaze said, “The Vows Book is what happens when an author has both uncommon gifts and unusual perspective.  And Br. Clark’s long experience of religious life, coupled with his visits to Franciscan communities around the world as Minister General, prevents his treatment of the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity from being culture-bound.  This is a wise, loving, and deeply honest look at what it means to choose life in a religious community.  It will be an invaluable resource for his own order, but will be inspiring reading for other religious and for lay people as well.”

The Vows Book: Anglican Teaching on the Vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity is available at Amazon.com after February 6.

Copyright © 2014 The Society of St. Francis, All rights reserved

 

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Clark Berge, SSF

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P.O. Box 399

Mt. Sinai, NY 11766

Email:  vestpocketpublications@s-s-f.org