Membership
"The Lord Jesus …preached holiness of life to each and every one of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consummator of this holiness of life… Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength and that they might love each other as Christ loves them”, Lumen Gentium
In the Prologue to St Benedict’s Rule, the Lord’s voice calls out to those who “yearn for life”. Our members have all heard this call in some way in their lives, and have freely chosen to drop their nets and follow Jesus.
Wellspring is open to people in all states of life, and our membership takes a number of forms: Core Members, those discerning Core Membership or "Juniors", and Formation and Mission Members – who come for one year, with the possibility of discerning a longer stay.
Our members, whatever their state of life, are united by a shared charism and mission, yet we are called to respond to the call to holiness according to our particular state of life, whether married, celibate, or in discernment of our vocation, since each state has its own particular responsibilities and needs. But in following Christ, we recognise we are called to make this journey together.
Celibacy for the Kingdom
"By their state in life, religious give splendid and striking testimony that the world cannot be transformed and offered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes" Lumen Gentium
The Community’s hope is to have committed celibate members - consecrated religious life - whose life is a radical expression of Jesus' command to renounce self, take up our cross everyday and follow Him (Luke 9:23). The vocation to consecrated life is a special way of following Christ in intimacy, offering a more perfect means to purity of heart - being wholly dedicated to the love of God - and a freedom of availability to love and serve others.
Family Life
The married vocation is a communion of persons, mirroring in a special way, the Communion that is the life of God himself. Married members of The Wellspring Community find inspiration for their vocation from the Community’s charism and the way of St Benedict. They find it to be a means of support and encouragement to live out the call to holiness in family life.
Photo by Michael Woodward
Formation and Mission House
The Community offers young adults the opportunity to spend a year or more living in Community, receiving formation in prayer, the Catholic faith and Benedictine tradition, as well as support to discern their vocation, and many opportunities for service and mission work.
If you are interested in finding out more about our community, we encourage you get in touch, or by coming along to one of our events, to begin to get to know us.
In particular, we welcome enquiries from young adults who are interested in spending a year or more living in our Formation and Mission House. After some initial contact, a visit to the house can be arranged for you to experience a little of the way of life and to ask questions of those currently living there.