Book Description

Founded in 1888, Australia's Anglican Community of the Holy Name order has administered schools, hospitals, a girls' reformatory, orphanages, and an inner-city mission throughout its charitable empire, which stretches from its Melbourne base to New South Wales, South Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. But behind the edifice of social welfare, a profounder, more mysterious reality has inspired the order's members, a commitment to the "hidden life...a life of astonishing simplicity, of almost, by the world's standards, scandalous unreason." This oral history of the Community draws on its members' personal accounts to explore its history and present-day realities: the struggles to cope with inner and outer change, confront the dualities of existence, and define its role in an increasingly materialistic world. The book also deals with the part played by this order and others in attempting to clarify and advance the role of women in the ministry.