Join the Community

There are several ways that you can join the Anam Cara Abbey Community. Read on to see how you might want to partner with us!

Visitor

Many abbeys welcome visitors from around the world. Anam Cara abbey is no different. We welcome anyone who is interested in learning more about the rhythms and practices that shape the abbey. Maybe you want to stop in from time to time and see what’s happening or maybe you need some encouragement. You might be looking to have an occasional conversation with others who want to know more about the community. If that describes you, then you will be welcome as a visitor to the abbey.

Monk

You’re a monk at the Abbey if you choose to be part of what happens here in more than just a passing way. You’ll commit to a set of practices and presence that support what Tara and Anam Cara are doing and you’ll have a place to interact with other monks and decide how to shape the community together.
Tara will be there, of course, as will other staff and leadership of Anam Cara, but those communal spaces will be your spaces together. By connecting with others who call the Abbey a place of spiritual sustenance, you’ll partner with Anam Cara to help its work continue and grow.
Suggested donation: $7-$25/month

Steward

You’re a steward at the Abbey if you’re stepping in a little closer. In the early monastic communities formed by the desert fathers and mothers, stewards were in charge of a group of monks who had made committed vows of stability, poverty, and prayer. While we’re not asking vows of anyone here, the place you step into as a steward is one of having more impact on the community as a whole.
We’ll reach out to you to ask for your prayers, input, and vision for what Anam Cara Abbey is and will become.
Suggested donation: $25-$50/month

Friend

You’re a friend at Anam Cara Abbey if you know that the language of spiritual direction and formation is your heart language and you want to immerse yourself fully into this sacred community. It would be easy to see the word friend as a lesser role than a monk or steward, but we see it as a holy calling. To be a friend at the Abbey is to be an anam cara, someone who is dedicated to the flourishing of the whole person through the ministry of holy listening and who desires to see this kind of Kingdom work grow.
Suggested donation: $50-$100/month (or more)