The Lee Abbey Community is a call to a way of life that’s built on a rule of life, with values and promises. They enrich our life together in Christ, help us carry out Lee Abbey Devon’s mission, and keep us accountable to each other.
Initial membership (probationary period)
When you first join Community you won’t be asked to make all the promises at once. We recognise that would be asking a lot if you are not used to living and working closely with other people. Initially you take three promises:
- Do you affirm before the Community your personal faith in Christ and your desire through prayer, study and service to seek a deep and mature faith? I do.
- Do you understand by this that your mind, your time, your talents, your possessions and all your relationships are to be increasingly surrendered to Christ as Lord? I do.
- Do you promise to be loyal to the Community in its aims, its work, its standards of behaviour, and its disciplines? I do.
These promises are about living our lives intentionally, learning to give more of ourselves to God, and to each other. They help us to be prepared to give our lives more to God.
Full promises
These promises challenge us to give more of ourselves to God and to each other and to recognise our responsibility to the wider world. They are something we grow into during our time on Community:
- Are you prepared to learn to live in fellowship, being open to be known for who you are, accepting one another in love, and saying of others nothing that could not be said to them personally if love and wisdom required it? I am.
- Have you accepted the discipline of regular private recollection through Bible reading and daily prayer? I have.
- Are you willing to participate fully in the worship and prayer life of the Community, in weekly Corporate Communion and daily prayers? I am.
- Are you ready to serve, in every way, those who come to us, seeking to help one another to a clearer and deeper knowledge of Christ, through your work and by your words? I am.
- Are you willing to welcome the stranger, be a voice for the voiceless and work to alleviate poverty and injustice? I am
- Are you willing to work to cherish and protect God’s creation which God the Father loves and entrusts to our care? I am
