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New Monasticism ? What It Has to Say to Today?s Church

Author:	Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Published By:	Brazos Press (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Pages:	147
Price:	$14.99
ISBN:	978 1 58743 224 8

Reviewed by Alun Brookfield.

Having been a member of a New Monasticism community during the 1990s, I opened this book with relish. I found it to be well-written, accessible and thorough in its analysis, in spite of the author’s confessed bias in favour of the movement.

I was, however, surprised to discover that American new monasticism is very different from its UK brand, especially in being considerably more political in its motivations. In the UK, the new monastic groups have been motivated by a desire to find a working and genuine piety which engages with the real world outside the church. In the USA, however, the author sees the movement as being a reaction to the over politicisation of mainstream church life.

And while this was all informative, it did not scratch where, I believe, most UK Christians are itching. My conclusion? Good book, wrong continent. If you’re a member of a new monastic community and you’re thinking of a trip to the USA, read this book before you go. If you’re not (either of those things!), I doubt if you’ll want to buy it.