Mission Statement

Bethany Ministries is a spiritually diverse community of households who seek to live creatively in the tension between solitude and community.

The stories of Jesus in relationship with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany, as mirrored in the lives of Clare and Francis of Assisi, provide the inspiration for the existence and activities of Bethany Ministries.

Prayer, Proclamation and Hospitality are the three principle ministries of the Bethany Ministries Community.

Our Goals are lived out in the context of a Shared Covenant, according to the following basic principles and activities:

  1. Hospitality: a willingness to welcome one or two guests when space is available and personal circumstances allow; readiness to care for, pray with and foster the solitude and healing process of guests and each other; providing hospitality for those who work directly for peace and justice and among the poor; providing a welcoming context for people who desire to grow spiritually but who are not ready to commit themselves to a specific religion or spiritual community.
  2. Prayer: commitment to prayer in solitude; covenant to pray with other members of the local web at regular intervals; promoting justice and peace through prayerful awareness of significant issues; offering opportunities to deepen the contemplative roots of this kind of ministry.
  3. Discernment: collaboration in discernment, decision making and ministry as appropriate to the call and gifts of the people involved, allowing the Holy Spirit to call forth, shape and animate the details of the life and ministry which will emerge.
  4. Support: readiness to support one another practically as the need arises and resources allow.
  5. Collaboration: to engage in and model a collaborative style of ministry and community life with single lay women and men, religious sisters and brothers, married couples and clergy with particular attention to supporting women in ministry as peers.
  6. Clear Expectations for participation in the local web of households and in the activity of Bethany Ministries.
  7. Simplicity: living simply and providing for personal and ministry needs by working and through donations from guests and supporters.