When the newly-appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby moved with his family into 800-year-old Lambeth Palace in 2013, someone asked him lightheartedly if he had plans for the rest of “this old place.” Without hesitation he replied, “We’ll fill it with young people.”
In the first group of those young people is Peter Angelica, who grew up at St. Elizabeth’s in Ridgewood. As a member of the inaugural class of the Community of St. Anselm (CoSA), launched by the Archbishop on September 18, he will spend a year at Lambeth Palace praying, studying ethics and theology, and serving the poorest in local communities.
Like NEWARK ACTS, the Diocese of Newark’s young adult urban internship program, CoSA brings together young people for both the experience of, and reflection on, intentional Christian community. Peter and fifteen others will have the unique experience of living on the grounds of Lambeth Palace, while another twenty will commute in from the London area. Three ten-month sessions are planned, providing opportunity for the spiritual formation of just over a hundred young people.
After graduating from college in 2014, Peter was working for a bank in Manhattan when he heard about the Archbishop’s program and applied. Learning that he had been selected was something like getting a Rhodes Scholarship and winning an Olympic medal at the same time.
During his interviews, Peter asked a good question: What was expected of those who were selected? The answer was illuminating: the purpose was not recruit young clergy or to form a new religious order. After ten months, Peter would return to his earlier life. They were not so interested in the impact the program would have on his first year out as the difference it might make on his tenth. The goal was not job recruiting, but character formation – they were in this for the long haul.
During the official opening of CoSA, the Community’s Prior, the Rev. Anders Litzell, summarized the goal of the Community:
“Archbishop Justin’s vision is for transformation in church and society through the deep work of the Holy Spirit. Included in that transformation will be his own work as archbishop, informed and challenged by the presence of young people here at his home-base. We trust it will transform these young lives, to reflect the beauty of God’s holiness with irrepressible integrity. But even more, we dare to seek for the transformation of our world – in business, politics, education, healthcare, development – through the work to which God calls and equips each of us as we commit to God and God’s people in self-giving within our local, national and international communities.”
Think of these young people going back to their lives as spiritual “sleeper cells” in a spy novel. Think of them as the bits of leaven that turn wet, heavy dough into light, fragrant, bread. Think of how a few well-formed Christians, scattered about, might begin to make a noticeable difference in many different parts of the world.
Peter Angelica speaks during the launch service for the Community of St. Anselm. PHOTO COURTESY LAMBETH PALACE
Peter’s adventure in community began on September 4, 2015. Arriving at the Palace Gatehouse, bags in hand, he knocked on the door. Many times: “In practice this meant slamming the knocker fairly hard against the door to ensure that I was heard (my first knocks were too soft).” Peter then discovered the on-site Community’s quarters in the newly-renovated Lambeth Cottages, and met his roommate, a recent Oxford (New College) graduate from Brussels. “Every single person in the Community comes from a different liturgical background,” Peter observed, as if CoSA were intended to resemble in microcosm the world-wide Anglican Communion.
Some would describe the Community’s daily life as Spiritual Boot Camp. A typical day, as described by Prior Litzell to The Living Church:
“Each day will begin with silence: breakfast, shared Bible reading, morning prayer, and personal prayer, all in silence until 10:00 am (with the exception for sharing in the liturgy of morning prayer). Then the rest of the morning and afternoon is given to an even split of either study or service outside the walls to the most vulnerable in society. This is broken by a midday Eucharist. The day concludes with Vespers and an hour of joint silent prayer. The contents of the evenings vary, and on Sundays all members will find a local church in which to worship. All household activities are shared – cooking for each other, doing laundry for each other, cleaning, etc.”
Peter and his colleagues spend a fair amount of time with the Archbishop who usually leads their daily service of Morning Prayer. In many elements of their rule of life, CoSA seeks to embody the principles of Benedictine, Franciscan, and Ignatian (Jesuit) traditions updated for our own time. Silence, for example, extends to limits on the use of media, electronic devices, and accessing the Internet.
Each member of the community was also expected to come up with the funding for their participation. Like a community supporting their local Olympic hopeful, Peter’s support comes from all levels of his diocesan family. From a special parish fund created in times of surplus, the Vestry of St. Elizabeth’s awarded Peter a generous grant; that grant was matched by Bishop Beckwith’s Discretionary Fund. Funds also came from the Discretionary Fund of St. Elizabeth’s Rector, the Rev. John Hartnett, and substantial contributions from individual parishioners.
The Rev. Hartnett noted, “Generous pledgers in earlier years, and subsequent fiscal management enabled the Vestry to create a reserve fund which contributed support to Peter's year at Lambeth. I also contributed from my discretionary fund, which is supported largely by gifts from parishioners, often on the occasion of baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Peter is thus taking with him the year-in, year-out life of our congregation, including offerings from occasions of great joy, and those of deep sorrow.”
Some years ago Desmond Tutu observed that the time had come for Africa to start sending missionaries to the West. Peter is actually our missionary to Lambeth: he will certainly learn lot, but he will also have something to offer his colleagues and perhaps the Archbishop, too. So as we teach Sunday School or Confirmation; cook dinner with our families for the local shelter; invite a teen to join Outreach ministry or to help prepare the altar; as we bring our kids to acolyte or choir practice; let us remember that these ordinary, daily acts shape the characters of those who, one day, will bear witness on a larger stage. Maybe not in Lambeth, but after school, in a college dorm or locker room, over lunch with work colleagues, at the playground or playing field with other parents, or in a meeting or a class they lead.
“Every day,” Peter writes, “continues to be eye-opening, challenging, and a test of my faith, but I am better for it.” Wouldn’t that be a good thing for us all.
View Lambeth Palace's Flickr album of photos from the Community of St. Anselm launch service.
