Benedictine Volunteer Corps Class of 2020-2021

The 2020-2021 Chapter of the Benedictine Volunteer Corps has been working, praying, and living at Saint John’s for the past month, following the conclusion of their two-week retreat in late July. While worldwide travel restrictions are still in place, most volunteers are stationed at Saint John’s - what they have begun to affectionately refer to as their “Mother House” as they eagerly await word from their host monasteries to come ahead. Meanwhile, they continue the daily routine of Saint John’s Abbey - work and prayer. Their day begins and ends with prayer, leaving a good part of their waking hours available for work. Like the monks of Saint John’s, the volunteers are assigned to a specific department or area. The work varies from being tutors and substitute teachers at Saint John’s Preparatory School, to shaving and sawing oak boards with Michael Roske and Fr. Lew Grobe in Abbey Woodworking.  In general, all the volunteers are active in the work life of their host monastery. Beyond the monastery however, volunteers also help in the student refectory, the Abbey Arboretum and managing contact tracing for COVID-19. Having formed their own living community at the Episcopal House of Prayer on Fruit Farm Road, volunteers cook, clean, and live together. This offers the thirteen men now present there a unique opportunity for personal and communal growth. 

While Bardia Bijani Aval and Terran Ferguson are in daily communication with Abadia de Jesucristo Crucificado in Escuipulas, Guatemala and hope to depart to begin that assignment within the month three volunteers have departed from Saint John’s to begin their year of service at Newark Abbey in Newark, New Jersey. Josh Aune, Nick Swanson, and Alex Modeas substitute teach at Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School while continuing the prayer life they started during their retreat at Saint John’s... Remaining volunteers will continue their daily ritual of work and prayer at Saint John’s until travel bans and restrictions are lifted. To learn more about this Chapter of BVC members and the program itself please go to https://sjbvc.com/.