Review: All Christians Are Monks: The Monastery, the Parish and the Renewal of the Church

All Christians Are Monks: The Monastery, the Parish and the Renewal of the Church by George Guiver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was suggested to me in a short course on Benedictine spirituality as part of the Diocese of Toronto's Seasons of Spiritual Renewal, which focused on how Benedictine spirituality can feed the spirituality of clergy and lay people alike. Guiver's book, as you might imagine, fits in well with this objective.

In All Christians Are Monks, Guiver consider the development of monasticism and what it is like as a way of life and contrasts it with parish life. As an Anglican monk, he makes explicit connections to the Benedictine influence on the origins of Anglicanism, especially in the formulation and development of the Book of Common Prayer. He also considers with what makes the parish different and unique. He, understandably, tends to prefer the monastery to the parish, which he seems to feel has a different mission. But he offers useful insights into what parishes can learn from monastics.

This book is well worth reading, especially for those who are trying to live out an admittedly modified Benedictine inspired spirituality in the world. He provides much to think about, especially in considering how to bring those insights into parish life.

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