The endowment will support professorship and international conference

NASHOTAH, WISCONSIN (November 16, 2016)—Nashotah House Theological Seminary has received a $3.5 million commitment from the Order of St. Benedict Servants of Christ as a gift to carry on the order’s legacy. The endowed fund will be used to support the St. Benedict Servants of Christ Professorship in Ascetical Theology and Monastic Studies and an annual international conference on religious life and Anglicanism also named for the order.

The order was founded in 1968 by the Very Rev. Dom Cornelis deRijk, OSB (a priest and Benedictine monk) with the Rev. Canon Lewis Long in Phoenix, Arizona. The Priory of the Servants of Christ is a Benedictine community guided by the balance of prayer, study, and work. Father deRijk, the head of the order, received his Master of Divinity from Nashotah House in 1976. He died unexpectedly on September 24 of this year.

As membership in the order diminished, it became clear to Father deRijk that the Benedictines needed to leave a legacy in a way that would appropriately recognize and carry on their values at its core.

Originally conceived for monks, Benedictine spirituality underwrites the Book of Common Prayer and permeates the Anglican way of spiritual growth. As a monastic spirituality, it is concerned for community and the cultivation of charity. An embodied spirituality, the Benedictine way fastens spiritual life to the outward disciplines proven to foster inward growth.

“The Benedictine way of spirituality is a cornerstone of the Nashotah House ethos. As we practice the Benedictine disciplines of work, study, and prayer together, the members of our community grow in faith, hope, and a love beyond words,” stated the Very Rev. Steven A. Peay, dean and president of Nashotah House.

“This generous gift-investment will honor the order’s legacy of service, keeping it alive in perpetuity. It will ensure that, for generations to come, House seminarians will benefit from their exposure to the great church leaders and mentors who will occupy the professorship and present at the annual international conference,” said Dean Peay.

He added: “We are very humbled and proud that the Servants of Christ and their place in church history will be permanently tied to Nashotah House and our mission.”