How our ecumenical ministry grew

My colleague, Sister Mary Gen Smyth, and I are members of the Society of the Sacred Heart, an international Catholic religious congregation. When we came to Albany in 1971, we wanted to establish a "house of prayer," which would number among some 150 others worldwide.

We thought we (and the Lord) had one goal in mind for such a center of spiritual and faith renewal: to provide a homelike setting where Roman Catholic sisters, brothers, clergy, and lay people could come to gain time and space for individual and group prayer. We called it Abba House of Prayer.

Looking back from the standpoint of 25 years in this ministry, I see that the Lord also had another idea in mind for Abba House: an ecumenical and interfaith ministry. We believe God drew us into that work through relationships with many people of faith in the greater Capital District.

The first diocesan priest who came to pray with us was just such an instrument of God. He was assigned to teach religious education in five or six small Catholic parishes in the Adirondacks. There, he was graciously welcomed by the staff of three Episcopal priests and a married couple at Barry House, the Episcopal Diocese's retreat center in Brant Lake. A short time later, the Abba House and Barry House "communities" began to meet, pray together and move along the road to friendship.

In turn, that led to Episcopalians coming to Abba House in Albany for prayer, retreats and programs. In a further development, the Abba House staff was invited to work in Episcopalian parishes, giving "quiet days" (or retreats) and conducting Bible study classes.

Though never before involved in ecumenical ministries, here in Albany, we were truly on our way to being genuine "ecumenists."

Membership on the Albany Diocese's Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs opened more doors. Likewise, service as diocesan representative to the board of the Capital Area Council of Churches (which now has 15 Catholic member parishes) expanded my ecumenical horizons even further.

With Sister Mary Gen also active on ecumenical committees in the area, Abba House gradually found itself welcoming guests from the wide family of people baptized into Christ: Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, members of the Reformed Church, and others.

So, in addition to our basic roster of programs dealing with Catholic spirituality, Abba House found itself with an expanded agenda: welcoming Christians of many churches and developing programs to promote ecumenism. We quickly discovered that clergy of numerous churches were willing to help, whenever and however needed.

At the same time, contacts with rabbis and Jewish laity began to expand. Likewise, our contacts with leaders and laity of Islam grew, as did our connections with representatives of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

Growing out of those contacts, an interfaith program, now annual, has grown up within the past five years at Abba House. We believe it is also distinctive. Here, small groups of interested people can learn first-hand from members of other great faith traditions, often praying together in a homelike setting dedicated to the service of the Creator.

In all these ecumenical or interfaith programs, a basic ground rule is observed: People are respectful, even reverent of the background and culture of others. Moreover, they leave these events enriched and affirmed in the tradition of their own faiths.

Over these past 25 years at Abba House, I have seen a deepening spirit of faith, hope and love develop, a spirit which is always enriching to everyone involved. And I have learned that God is clearly at work in all persons who reach out to the Divine and to their fellow human beings in love and service.

We pray that such spiritual enrichment takes place everywhere in God's own time.

(Editor's note: Sister Libby Hoye is co-director of Abba House of Prayer in Albany.)

(10-24-96) [[In-content Ad]]