About Us
Sunday Assembly Mission Statement
We gather for worship, proclaiming and listening to the Word of God and sharing the Bread of Life. Seeing Christ in one another, we offer hospitality to all as we care and serve both within our Sunday Assembly and in our daily lives.
Motivated by our mission we engage the following objectives and activities:
1. We embrace hospitality, rooted in the Benedictine spirit and tradition that calls us to “Let all guests be received as Christ.” We welcome visitors, we are honored by their presence, and we are grateful to them for praying with us.
2. We embrace ecumenism, as the will and prayer of Christ for all Christians to strive for unity. As part of this ecumenism, the monastic women of Holy Wisdom Monastery and the Sunday Assembly worship according to the simplicity of the monastic tradition, drawing from various Christian traditions, and reflecting the living tradition of this particular assembly.
3. We embrace inclusivity. Rooted in our experience of God as offering all people grace and salvation, we include everyone.
4. We embrace worship together, in fullness of equality of men and women, in an open communion table, drawing from the best of Judeo-Christian tradition, influenced by the monastic spirit, praying together inclusively, and constituting our own unique worship tradition.
5. We embrace works of social justice and charity, care of the earth and other activities initiated by members with attention to ecumenical and interfaith participation.
Sunday Assembly Identity Statement
We, the Sunday Assembly, are a welcoming people.
We are composed of the monastic community, women, men and children who gather for community and worship in the Christian tradition.
Sharing the monastic spirit, we are constinually formed by the Word of God, the breaking of bread, concern for social justice and peace, works of charity and care for the earth.
We are moved by the Spirit of God to be hospitable, ecumenical and inclusive.
Sunday Assembly Membership
Membership is established through regular worship with Sunday Assembly, and through becoming known and getting to know the community. Persons are encouraged to register as members of the Sunday Assembly, and forms are provided. A directory of members is published annually.
Sunday Assembly Community Life
1. The community life of the Sunday Assembly includes worship together, fellowship after Sunday worship, occasional meals and socials, assemblies and retreats an mutual attentiveness to events in our lives.
2. The worship of the Sunday Assembly provides for various ministries of worship, which are open to anyone. The monastic women of Holy Wisdom Monastery maintain a Monastic Ritual Team, which takes care to provide for suitable presiders for worship, establishes policy in matters of worship, and deals with all aspects of monastic worship.
3. The formal way in which the Sunday Assembly coordinates its community life is through the Sunday Assembly Council and sub-committees, which have their own procedures for membership, meetings and communication.
4. The work of the Sunday Assembly Council is to nurture and sustain the Sunday Assembly within the framework of Benedictine Spirituality, serving as a resource and advisor to the Prioress and Liturgy Committee. It incorporates the Listening Circle as the regular forum for ideas and issues to arise, which then are presented to the whole assembly.
5. The monastery also provides for a director of worship and music to coordinate the preparation and celebration of liturgy. There is also a standing Liturgy Committee under the direction of the Prioress, and representing the Sunday Assembly, with revolving membership.
For more information about Sunday Assembly, contact Lynn at (608) 836-1631 x138.
