Abba House: An abode of faith

Sisters Elizabeth (Libby) Hoye and Mary Gen Smith, RSCJ, founded Abba House in 1971 as a place for religious and laypeople wanting to live a prayer-filled life. There, they could live as part of a prayerful community, take a sabbatical or make a retreat.

"The house of prayer movement in the Church started in the 1960s," explained Sister Mary Gen. "It was mainly a renewal for religious."

Place apart

From its original home at Kenwood Convent of the Sacred Heart in Albany, Abba House soon moved to a spacious house in a quiet, residential neighborhood. In 1979, it incorporated and is still non-profit, owned by its board of directors.

Sister Mary Gen noted that Abba House has never operated in the red, since she and Sister Libby took minor salaries and worked outside the house to support it. Sister Libby was a nurse and Sister Mary Gen, the bookkeeper in a law firm. The house does not receive funding from their religious order or the Diocese.

New styles

In addition, said Sister Mary Gen, "we found we were getting more and more laypeople. Houses of prayer had to find new ways of serving people."

In response, Abba House began to hold Bible study courses and to host small faith-sharing groups similar to those used in the Diocese during the recent "Renew 2000" program. The house became ecumenical, attracting people of different faiths who also had an interest in prayer. An interfaith gathering is still held every fall.

Phases

During the 1990s, Abba House entered another phase: serving people in 12-step addiction-recovery programs.

"Some of the people we knew were recovering addicts and alcoholics," said Sister Mary Gen. "They said, `We want to go to a group where you can talk about God. When you go to 12-step meetings, you talk about your Higher Power.'"

So Abba House began faith-sharing groups specifically for 12-steppers. Those groups are still one of the center's most popular offerings.

Lectures

Bible study groups also spend an entire year delving into one book of the Bible in depth.

"We supplement parishes in a sense," said Sister Mary Gen. "I don't know of any parish that does classes all year long on one book of the Bible. Last year, we did Matthew and Luke."

Crossroads

At the moment, Abba House is holding only its regular faith-sharing and Bible groups, and its interfaith gathering. With just one employee, it isn't possible to do more.

"People still want the `spirituality place,'" Sister Mary Gen told The Evangelist. "They don't want us to stop what we're doing. But having a new administration would be good. After 30 years, we've done our job, and it's time to move on."

Much to do

"We want to revitalize the programs so that more people will come," Sister Mary Gen explained. A search is on for a new director for Abba House, and a fundraising drive in the spring will raise capital for the center -- in part, to pay its new director's salary.

Looking back on her ministry, Sister Mary Gen said, "It's a real sense of well-being that for 30 years I have been a source of help to people, and I think [Sister] Libby would say the same thing. It's been a great pleasure to serve people spiritually.

"To bring God to other people, to inspire people to a deeper prayer life: That's what the 30 years means to me."

(For information on Abba House of Prayer or its search for a director, call 438-8320.)

(09-06-01) [[In-content Ad]]