ORDER OF SAINT FRANCIS

On April 5-7, 2013, Brothers Mark Jenkins, Les Roberts, Jeremy Froyen, Michael Melendez, and Michael Boland met at Richmond Hill, Richmond, Virginia for a mini retreat, sharing in God’s presence, and in brotherly fellowship.



Richmond Hill, the site of a former convent of cloistered Sisters of the Visitation established on top of Church Hill, Richmond’s highest point is now an ecumenical retreat center.  The retreat center is operated by a community of individuals who, work and live at the center, and pray for the city with regular prayer cycles for Morning, Noon, and Evening prayer.



Since the center is ecumenical, there were a couple of other groups at the center while we were there. The groups ranged from a Diocese of Virginia vocational discernment group to a Baptist Church bible study group that was celebrating their 50th consecutive year (with some original members)! Apparently, they community had not hosted to a group of men wearing habits as many of the residents were surprised by it.



While all groups have plenty of time for their own activities, all of the groups are required to share in the community’s cycle of prayer three times a day and break bread in the sharing of meals with each other. At meal times, the community residents purposely spread out among the tables and encourage the groups to mingle while they eat. This was a very interesting dynamic of our retreat and allowed us to share our brotherhood’s way of life with not only other Christian denominations but also to fifteen or so aspirants in the Episcopal Church, who most did not know that the church had religious orders and communities. Since the residents only do prayers three times a day, the brothers held Compline together in the chapel.



On Sunday morning after Morning Prayer, the brother’s walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist.  St. John’s is the site of the Second Virginia Convention in 1776 where Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee and other important figures in the American Revolution, listened as Patrick Henry gave his now-famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech.



In our time together, the brother’s shared with each other their own experiences in their relationships, communities, ministries, and parishes. They discussed their challenges and successes of how others perceive us as Friars, and most importantly how God has blessed each one of us in our own ministries. Praise be to God!



The brothers came together in July for our annual meeting.  The weather in Union, Washington could not have been better.  For this gathering 18 of the brothers travelled from all over the United States and another attended via web from England.  It was a wonderful week for the brothers to share stories of their ministries, break bread together and spend time worshiping and listening to God.