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
With this in mind, we have established an Institute for Anglican Religious Life at St Antony’s Priory. This endeavour is not only about preserveing the legacy of Anglican religious life, but also providing the resources that will help to inform its future.
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 engagements 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 religious life represents a living tradition and a universal calling, but it is in decline. We therefore see the Institute as having a role to play in the future development of Anglican religious life, as well as being a resource for the growth of Christian spirituality more generally.
- Curating a research hub for the archives of as many Anglican religious orders as possible, as well as supporting the creation of detailed catalogues, and developing resources to help communities secure their archive collections.
- Providing information about the history of Anglican religious life, as well as facilitating the study of, and developing research projects and publications relating to Herbert Kelly, traditional Anglican Religious Orders, and new expressions of religious life.
- Hosting speaker events and other activities relating to Anglican Religious life and the wider context over last 150 years, and its significance for the future in relation to the Church today.
- Developing material for study programmes in Christian spirituality.
For more information contact: scholastica.jacob@stantonyspriory.org
Speaker Events
Including a termly research seminar, hosted in partnership with the Michael Ramsey Centre for Anglican Studies at the University of Durham, as well as other one-off events, such as book launches.
We intend to record all our speaker events, which will then be posted on our YouTube page here.
2025 Programme
Wednesday 19 March, 4-5.30pm
Ryan Bennett
Embodied Theology: A study of the Incarnational Theology of Archbishop William Temple and Servant of God, Dorothy Day, with reference to the influence of Fr Herbert Kelly, SSM
Wednesday 7 May, 4-5.30pm
Isaac Frisby
How does the ‘Giver of Life’ give us life? Phenomenology of life and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in dialogue
Thursday 5 June, 5pm
Scholastica Jacob
‘Your theology is my theology’: The Correspondence of Herbert Kelly and Dorothy L. Sayers, 1938–1947
Book launch and opening of the Institute