The Herbert Kelly Institute for Anglican Religious Life
Since the mid-19th century Anglican religious life has flourished in many forms and made a rich, if somewhat hidden, contribution to the life of the Anglican Churches throughout the world. Though it may be declining within the Church of England, the religious life nevertheless represents a universal calling that continues to inspire people today.
The purpose of the Institute is to be a centre of gravity for all things related to Anglican religious life. This means not only working to ensure the preservation of the legacy of Anglican religious life, but also developing the resources that will help to inform its future, including resources for researchers, resources for religious communities, and resources for those exploring religous life and contemplative spirituality for more personal reasons.
Aims and Objectives
Our starting point is the need to ensure the preservation of the legacy of Anglican religious communities, at this critical juncture in the life of the Church.
During the course of 2022-23 we carried out an extensive scoping exercise to confirm the need for such an initiative. This included engagement with a number of Anglican religius communities, as well as work on the SSM archives, in order to gather information about Anglican religious communities and their archive collections.
The work of the Institute comprises the following four strands:
- Library: With all the remaining books from various SSM houses – Kelham, Quernmore, Willen and St Antony’s – now gathered in Durham, we will maintain a comprehensive theological library, specialising in religious life and contemplative spirituality.
- Archives: Recognising the need to preserve the legacy of Anglican religious life, we are engaging with religious communities, mapping the whereabout and contents of religious archives, and exploring ways of improving catalogues in order to create a comprehensive database of Anglican religious archives. We also have some archive materials housed at the institute.
- Research: Drawing together a network of scholars of religious life, monastic studies, church history and theology, we are building relationships with partner organisations, and hosting seminars and conferences.
- Publishing: By reviving the SSM press we will develop further publications in relation to Herbert Kelly, Anglican religious life, and Christian spirituality, as well as other materials such as course handbooks and conference procedings.
For more information contact: scholastica.jacob@ssm.org.uk
Resourcing the Future
The religious life represents a living tradition and a universal calling, but many of the traditional forms in which it has been expressed seem to be in decline at the moment. Yet many still feel called to practices of contemplative prayer and new forms of intentional commuinity.
We therefore see the Institute as a forum for exploring the future development of Anglican religious life, as well as being a place where we can develop resources to nurture the growth of Christian spirituality more widely.
This might include developing material for study programmes in Christian spirituality, based on the Rule of St Benedict, and related sources.
Securing the Legacy of Anglican Religious Life
One of the purposes of the Institute is to support religious communities in the management and maintenance of their archive collections. To that end we are developing a series of Advice Sheets, the first three of which are now available and can be freely downloaded from this page.
These sheets aim to provide a guide to the purpose and contents of archives. They will take the community through identification, creation and ongoing maintenance of its collection. The process of building an archive can be summarised as follows:
- to search for and gather all potential archive material and historical objects
- to note their containers and where they were found
- to number and describe roughly their contents; and
- to transfer them into more suitable and accessible boxes, noting their original containers
- to develop an ongoing policy of collecting records