July 21st Speaker
Our speaker on June 21 was Shannon Preston, who spoke to us about the Community of St. Anselm, a program started by the Archbishop of Canterbury and which is hosted a Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop since the 12th century. The program just finished its second year. The Archbishop decided to use part of palace for a community of 16 young people between 20 and 36 years old who focus on traditional monastic practices. There are three basic tenets - prayer, work and study, with two days a week spent out serving the community. Different cultures are living together and creating unity out of the process. The community members spent a retreat of 30 days in silence but still in community. This silent retreat elevated value of words for Shannon and was an active retreat. Shannon told us how the majority of Anglicans are African women 25 to 40 and that by joining this community it gave her a global perspective on how faith is central part of people’s lives in many parts of the world. The program is trying to build relationships and community like Rotary. Shannon is currently ministering at the Episcopal Church of Good Shepherd in Austin.