Community of The Resurrection

In 1868 B.F. Westcott, then a master at Harrow, preached a sermon that planted in the mind of the future Bishop Gore the idea of a religious order suited to the age. In 1886 the first stage in the creation of such an order was the founding of the Society of the Resurrection in England by Gore and the Brotherhood of the Epiphany in Calcutta. After lengthy study of various orders, in 1892 six men in Pusey House Chapel made their profession. The distinctive feature of the rule was to be a communal life lived in simplicity. At first each member of the community followed the line of work in which he had been engaged before his profession, but the members soon found themselves in request as missioners, as conductors of retreats, and as wardens to communities of women. After a period in Radley, the community moved in 1898 to Mirfield, and after four years there it began the training of ordinands, a work it has carried on ever since. The community consists of lay as well as ordained brethren, undertakes mission work in South Africa and the West Indies, and has been active in ecumenical affairs, while continuing to serve the church in missions and retreats.