The Ephrata Cloister

[robertcolumbia]

I was up in Pennsylvania recently and had a chance to stop and see the site of the Ephrata Cloister, an 18th and 19th century Christian commune that was organized with practices inspired by Roman Catholic religious orders (habits, communal living, heavily regimented daily routines) but with Baptist (adult baptism only, personal faith in Jesus) and Sabbatarian (Saturday was the day of worship) theology, with everything mixed with a dose of the founder's personal experiences and a desire for solitude and humility.

Some specific practices included eating only a single meal a day - at 6 PM (!) and men and women dressing identically.

I thought of placing this under cults but it arguably doesn't belong there because this group doesn't exist any more as an organized movement. Some of the facilities remain but they are run by the State of Pennsylvania as a historic site.

It's interesting and valuable to think about these types of groups and the ideas they had - where they went right, where they went wrong, and what we can learn from them. Why do you think they failed? Would they have been a valuable contribution to the Church today if they had survived?

www.cob-net.org/cloister.htm
www.ephratacloister.org/

[Guadalupe]

Interesting. Thank you for the links. It reminds me a little of the Shakers.

Any group or organization that is not centered on God will fail. That's the #1 reason for failure.

PS: took a longer look at these links and the more we read of their theology and lifestyle, the more we feel that they closely resemble the Shakers who also practiced celibacy. The main difference between Ephrata and the Shakers would be stringency. Ephrata had one meal per day, Shakers had 3.

Here's an interesting overview of the various attempts at utopian communities. It also mentions the Amana community and others. As of December 2009, there are 3 Shakers left, 2 women and 1 man. The Hutterites are flourishing and own all property in community.
www.nps.gov/nr/travel/shaker/utopias.htm