In common with the brothers of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, who supported our founding, and whose charism, rule of life and constitution we have largely adopted, we are a dispersed community. As we have gradually become international, most of our life in common must take place online. Despite this, we are a very real religious order, and some members go on to take the traditional life vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience.
Our members are free to live together if their ministries will be enhanced by doing so, but they are equally free to live apart if their particular lifestyle and ministry should make that desirable.
About Us
Our charism, or ethos, is described in The Seven Notes, the headings of which are:
1. Fellowship
2. Liberty
3. Stewardship
4. Labour of the Mind
5. The Love that Makes for Peace
6. Discipline
7. Joy
The Seven Notes describe a positive and joyful way of life which is grounded in mutual love and respect, openness, self-discipline, and in our desire to serve in the spirit of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
The members are grouped into “Colleges,” although at present we have not grown beyond the “Founding College.” Originally, these colleges were limited geographically to include members able to meet together in person. We still meet together regularly, both for formal chapter meetings, and also for shared worship and recreation, but with our members spread out from India in the East to the USA in the West and South Africa in the South, this is now normally possible only online.
“Fellowship” is the first Note of our Community, and members are exhorted “so to merge their lives in the corporate life of the Community that they will feel incomplete without it and the Community incomplete without them.” This close fellowship is all the more important, given that we are so widely dispersed, and members are encouraged to visit and spend time with one another whenever and however opportunity allows.
We normally meet for a formal Chapter Meeting once a month, plus a “social gathering” in between these formal meetings. Postulants and novices in training also meet with the Prioress, both individually and as a group, several times a month.
As is the case with all healthy religious communities, we have made provision for competent oversight. We have had two “Visitors” since our founding – a priest or bishop who oversees our living out of our Rules of Life and Constitution – and in 2018 we appointed a “Guardian,” who attends almost all meetings with an eye to safeguarding.
