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Saint Hilda's House
St. Hilda's
House is a ten-month residential young adult discernment program devoted to
spiritual formation and urban ministry while living in community. It is based
at Christ Church New Haven in partnership with Berkeley Divinity School at Yale
University. Interns live at either the former rectory at Christ Church or in nearby housing units.
The unique
setting, in the heart of Yale University and New Haven,
gives interns access to a diverse range of service, educational, and spiritual
resources.
Saint Hilda's
House seeks to help interns go into the city and serve God and God's people
with joy. Fr Stuart Headlam, in the late 19th century, was
criticized for ministering in the grittiest neighborhoods of London. Headlam
summarized his faith with both passion and humour. Asked by an angry gentleman
if he thought Saint Paul would have gone to a music hall, Headlam replied:
"I do not know what Saint Paul would have done. But I know our Lord would
have gone, and taken his Blessed Mother with him." Our hope is to continue
to share this tradition of passionate urban ministry with a new generation of
young people.
Paul, Jordan, and Steven help to set up Compline...
Why Saint Hilda's (from our interns)?
"St. Hilda's House is a program that encourages interns to put their faith into action; it encourages both intellectual study and service to the community." - Caleb Bennetch ('11)
"St. Hilda's House offers interns the opportunity to explore their vocational call, while fulfilling all baptized Christians' call to serving their fellow humanity." - Paul Tunnell ('11)
"St. Hilda's House dedicates itself to serving God's people without ignoring the spiritual growth and development of its interns, supplemented by a life full of common worship." - Jeremy Vogt ('11)
"By offering young adults a unique opportunity to serve God by serving others in the context of an intentional, prayerful community, St. Hilda's House stands out as a powerful witness to Christian hope in our Church and in the world." - Kristin Saylor ('11)
"The experience of St. Hilda's House follows God's call for the interns, like all people, to be taken, blessed, broken and shared for the world just as we celebrate in the Eucharistic feast through worship and service to others." - Steven King ('11)
"Saint Hilda's House embodies the Episcopal Church's commitment to and hope for it's younger generation by offering a place for young adults to explore and answer their callings through worship and service as a part of an intentional community." - Jordan Trumble ('11)
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Berkeley Divinity School's origins go
back to the Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley, who
dreamed of building a seminary in the New World that would express
the breadth of the Anglican tradition in new environs.
The James E. Annand Program for
Spiritual Formation allows students from the whole Yale Divinity
School community to discover the fundamentals of prayer and Christian
discipleship from seasoned clergy and lay teachers.
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Anglican-Catholic liturgy and theology,
exquisite music and art, and the more beautiful commitment to social
justice and a community reflective of God’s abundant love are what
we pray will mark our journey into the future.
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"Blessed are they
that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of
life, and may enter in through
the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:14
To
fail to recognize Christ in the hungry and thirsty, in the stranger
and the naked, in the sick and the prisoner, is to deny the
Incarnation.
Kenneth Leech
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What is Saint Hilda's Like?
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 Service
"At Christ Church, we are deeply fortunate – blessed –
to be situated with very special opportunities for making a real
difference in this city and observing the commandment of loving our
neighbor. We are located precisely at the intersection of the Yale
campus, downtown New Haven, and the Dwight and Dixwell neighborhoods,
which allows us to serve as a gateway between these communities and help
them share resources with each other. And, as an engaged urban parish
in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, we have strength in knowing that the
beauty of our liturgy enables and informs important work in the world
and that our commitment to radical love outside these walls enriches
our worship within them."
-Will Baker, member
Christ Church New Haven |
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Formation
The integration of academic learning, practical know-how, and
spiritual insight is a central characteristic of Berkeley's educational
program. In this respect, spiritual formation takes place in every part
of the seminary's life. Saint Hilda's is enriched by our partnership
with Berkeley and particular attention is given to the spiritual life
through an emphasis on daily worship, individual and small group
spiritual direction, retreats and quiet days, and group pilgrimages.
Our partnership with Berkeley provides students an opportunity to
engage with the seminary in ways that will shape their understanding of
mission, ministry, and self-awareness. Berkeley's commitment to the
service of the whole person to the whole of God's people is combined
with Christ Church's commitment to an intentional life of prayer,
service, and seeking God in all things to create a unique and powerful
experience of formation, discernment, and service. |
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Worship
Worship at Christ Church has been described as "completely and
totally oriented toward God." The center of our life together will be
an active, intentional, and deep worship of God in the regular patterns
of the Daily Office, Communion, and the community Eucharist at Berkeley
Divinity.
Especially moving, for many young people, is Compline at Christ
Church on Sunday nights. Darkness and incense - heavy silence greet
those who enter Christ Church on Sunday nights. Candles offer the only
light. Sheathed in colored glass, red, blue, green, they cluster at the
foot of the shrine to the Virgin Mary; they drape the High Altar; seven
lamps hang suspended in the sanctuary like the Pleiades. People in
their street shoes walk slowly up the long center aisle; some
genuflect, bending a knee and crossing themselves. Some simply stare.
Shortly before nine o'clock , the church bells begin to clang, distant
and discordant. And then an unseen choir begins to sing...
Every Sunday night, Christ Church has 100-150 college students in
attendance at Compline, it is the perfect start to a hectic week and a
time of profound rest in the midst of the chaos of the city. |
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