The Order of the Holy Knights of St John the Divine

The Order is a Christ-centred body of the Christian faithful, an autonomous jurisdiction within the I C S J, created to accomodate those members of the community and beyond with a leaning towards the mystical side of early Christian theology.

 

It is organised on the styles and liturgies of the old catholic expressions of the faith and is open to  male and female cenobitics alike.

 

However, we should point out that women are not permitted within the Order to be ordained as Priests, but may attain the ancient and viable rank of  Deaconess within the community, which is a valid and ordained ministry within its' own right.

 

Anyone seeking to enter the Order must make professions of faith similar to those made at baptism, and within most monastic communities.

 

 

If you feel called to a membership within the Order after reading this page, most especially the Rule at the bottom, please contact our Abbot direct through the guestbook(see menu) and we will arrange to meet with you to discuss the matter further.

 

Please note, due to confusion amongst some people who have sought admission, we are NOT a Roman Catholic Order, this Order is a stand alone jurisdiction for old catholic members within the ICSJ. Anyone seeking admission to a Roman Order is advised to contact their local Roman Catholic Diocese, detail of which we will be happy to provide, should they need us to.

Anyone may seek admission to the Order, so long as they are prepared to confess a faith in God through Christ, and an oath of loyalty to the Order, it's Rule (shown below), and the Abbot ( Brother Barry, The Patriarch of Magdala and Patmos).

 

The ethos behind the Order is to offer the opportunity for clergy within ICSJ and further afield who wish to follow an old catholic style ministry, to expressly and purposefully swear an oath of fielty and loyalty to the Church through the person of the Abbot, and to be subjugate to his authority in the Church.

Currently ordinands within the Order swear loyalty to the Abbot (and, by association; his successor), and once sworn, their allegiance and authority is unmoveable.

 

Members of the Order within Holy Orders (ie clergy) wear hooded scapulars over their cassocks to denote their acceptance of humility, and cinctures (rope belts) of different colours to denote their rank within the Order.

Special services of indulgence and pity are held during the religious year where the members meet, in private devotion as a group, to pursue the spiritual calling of the Holy Spirit to guide them, as a body, towards deeper levels of prayerful living.

 

Applicants for the Novitiate are welcomed from across the broad spectrum of human experience. No one will be excluded on any ethnic nor sociological reason, however all will be examined as to their abilities and reasons for admission under the same rules as any applicants to ICSJ's wider community of faith.

 

(the picture opposite shows our Abbot; Bishop Barry on the left and his ChorBishop (auxiliary) Bishop Ashley on the right. For those of you confused by the ranks etc, please be aware that the Order is a stand alone jurisdiction as an associate body in Communion with the wider ICSJ. Membership of the Order gives automatic associate membership of the ICSJ, however membership of the ICSJ does not give automatic membership of the Order).

 

Are women and non clergy allowed?

 

Of course. Anyone who feels that would like to be part of a religious Order of faith may apply to be admitted into the Noviate. We have lay brothers and sisters who, along with the ordained members, enter at the level of Sergeant.  Promotion through the rank structure of the Order is on merit alone and at the discretion of the Abbot and his deputies.

Please note that, as mentioned elsewhere, women may not proceed to the Priesthood within the Order, following the example of our predecessors in the Old Catholic tradition. However, those wishing to follow clerical status as fully ordained by the acclamation of the people through the power of the Holy Spirit, may apply to Church House of the ICSJ for an application form.

 

We exist to support each other through frugal and right living, in the cenobite secular style, centred on the teachings of the Christ Jesus (our first and highest Grand Master), together with the Holy Spirit endeavouring to reach and touch the weak, the vulnerable, the dispossessed through charitable works and prayer.

 

However, this is not an Order of fraternity where people can 'opt out' if life seems too tough! Indeed we are called, as believers in the gnostic and cathar traditions, as followers of the Magdalene, to be warriors for God, and often membership of the Order can prove highly challenging and unsettling.

For many people in the 21st century, a life based on moral and ethical rules set many centuries ago seems out of style and date. Many people have come into the Order with the highest of moral and spiritual motives, yet have withdrawn after a period of reflection, some remaining within the wider body of the ICSJ, others leaving because they did not get titles, bangles and baubles quickly enough. Everything within the Order is based on humble acceptance of the will of God in all things, and a servant's attitude does not expect reward in this life, merely the hope of a future blessing for efforts actioned.

 

Service times

Within the Order we are called to say the daily office every day, either in private cell devotion, or collectively in corporate acts of worship and meditation.

Church House sees a daily office called by the Abbot in His private Chapel, also the seat of the Lodge of the Order.

 

Basically speaking we are monks and nuns living in the secular world. The only constraint on those in enclosed Orders that are not placed on us is celibacy, as we believe as an Order that God has given us the gift of creative love and the proper following and use of that gift can be an act of praise in itself.

 

We practice emotional restraint, contemplation, meditation, prayer and praise. We also give ourselves to humility and frugality, rather giving what we have to those who have nothing than see them go without.

 

The Knights Templar have been given so much copy space and tv/film coverage in the past few years there is very little to add here, other than to mention that we live our lives under the auspices of the original intent of the early Knights, just, holy and purposeful in the Lord of life.

 

If, having read the Rule, you feel that you would be still interested in considering applying to join the Order as a Novice, then please apply, as mentioned previously, to the Abbot  through the guestbook.

 

We should, at this stage, point out that the Order is exclusively Christian, and therefore, although membership is still open to lay folk of any religious background, the ordained status of clergy within the Order might be at odds with your particular background, and you would need to spend some considerable time in meditation and prayer within your tradition to discern if this is the path for you.

 

If you like the principles of the inter faith community that is the world wide ICSJ, then perhaps commissioning and or ordination in your style under the 'acclamation of the people for God by the right hand of fellowship' principle might be more appropriate to you, in which case please make an enquiry to the  'other faiths' co-ordinators via the guestbook or by direct contact with Church House.

 

Whatever your path choices, may God, in whatever way you feel comfort associating with the divine source, bless and guide you aright.

The Order of the Holy Knights of St John the Divine  

  

The Rule of the Order  

 

 

In the name of God, I Barry, first Abbot & Master of the Order and servant of Christ’s poor on earth, advise and instruct that Our Sovereign Majesty, the High King of heaven; Jesus the Christ, having called us to this holy and apostolic service, commands and instructs us through the benevolent grace of the Holy Spirit of God to undertake such works as may benefit the peoples of creation by charity, through witness and action as the fishers of men accounted and appointed in the Gospels of the New Testament, and further and latterly subscribed to under the old Grail  law  of our brothers and sisters of other such Orders. 

 

 

  

You who subscribe to the order as Officers or Knights are commanded and instructed to adhere to the following Rule:  

  

That all Officers and Knights should regularly and diligently attend to their prayerful life, turning to God through the intercession of our blessed lady Mary of Magdala and beloved St John, and to serve the people of God through obedience, charity and compassion for all.

 

1.    

That all should claim for themselves nothing but clothing, food and shelter, the basics of life under God’s heaven, and to seek humility in all they do, so that they may understand and support the pain of their fellow men and women, as Cenobitic faithful.

 

2.    

That their conduct at all times should be as if they were before the altar of our heavenly Parent, and should exercise their conduct correctly and with due reverence, respecting without favour ALL they come into contact with, without exception or judgement.

 

3.    

That when they are abroad in the public and private places, let their conduct be of such standard as to promote the aims of the Order; namely the promotion of the Great Commandments and by such actions undertake to adhere to the Great Commission of Christ.

 

4.    

That they should seek to gain support, both material, financial and spiritual for all who are in need, and to contribute by talents and finance as they are able so to do, to the benefit of Almighty God in the world.

 

5.    

That their penitence for wrongdoings and misdeeds be true and sincere, for the Lord our God sees all and demands the highest of pure standards from members of the Order.

 

6.    

That they may dutifully maintain a prayerful silence each day to place themselves closer to God’s divine will.

 

7.    

Should an Officer or Knight be convicted under common law of any offence, let them come before their brothers and sisters and declare their punishment before the assembled throng, and make an act of contrition before them to God.

 

8.    

Wheresoever an Officer or Knight should receive a custodial sentence under common law, they are to be dismissed from the Order without meritous mention and never be permitted to return.

 

9.    

Let all the Order exist solely for the benefit of their fellow men and women who are in need of grace, through intended acts of charity and gracious support. 

 

 

10. 

That all officers and Knights should withhold from accusations, malicious comment, gossip, spiteful actions or intentional harm to any living soul, lest they receive their due punishment on the day of judgement.

 

 

 

 11. 

That Officers should tend  to the needs and makings of all God’s people, and that those from within their number elevated to the Noble and High Rank of Knight should diligently and faithfully before God attend also to the needs of their brothers and sisters in Officer rank, giving their all to defend the power and majesty of God’s love, and may, through good works and deeds, and in obedience to God’s divine will, protect, serve and support all in body, soul and spirit, to the ends of their days.

 

 

 

 

   

 

May God grant us grace and favour in this our high and noble calling.

 

  

++Barry 

 

Knight Grand Cross and Abbot

 

The Order of the Holy Knights of St John the Divine Nov 1994

 

 

 

 

 

 (to the right the seal of our Abbot)