Young adults joining Servant Year commit to a year of volunteer local service, as well as a common rhythm of life, spiritual companionship and asking big questions.

Spiritual Life

Community life is shaped by a daily round of prayer. Each community has its own regular pattern for this prayer. Although we will not all always be able to be in the same place at the same time, we commit to sharing in this pattern of prayer, and participating in it as best we can as leaders, servers, and participants. The Angelus,  a practice of prayer that is signaled by the ringing of a bell in a particular pattern that corresponds to prayers, is used to anchor our pattern of prayer.

The worship of God is fundamental to Christian practice, and a central charism of the communities at Saint Mark’s and St. James School. Worshiping God in the beauty of holiness is a daily aspect of our vocation as a community. Engaging in the worship of God contributes powerfully to our formation as the Body of Christ, and as Members within that Body. Members actively participate in the larger  worshiping community of Saint Mark’s or St. James. Your involvement in worship will reflect your community.

Volunteering

Christian service begins with the recognition that we are called by our baptism to be servants of God. Our identity as servants in this way is not demeaning or denigrating, rather, it locates our work in the service of God and the building up of his kingdom, in response to the echoing command of Jesus to his disciples to “go” and do something! First, we are called to serve God.

Second, we are called to serve God’s people, especially those who are in need. Members of Servant Year have offered themselves for a year of intentional, considered service, modeled on Jesus’ assertion that he is among his disciples as one who serves (Lk. 22:27).

Financial Package

Servant Year members receive housing at either St. James School or St. Mark’s Church, in individual rooms. Members also receive a $600 monthly stipend, and are encouraged to participate in a retirement savings plan in which the program matches member contributions up to $1,100. Members receive health insurance with no charge to themselves, and the program covers all co-pays for care. A $5,000 education award to help with student loans or continued education after the program, is available to all members. The program also covers travel costs for arrival and departure for the year of service and one trip during the service year. The program also supplies each member with a $500 clothing allowance at the beginning of the year.  Be sure to ask Fr. Kellner about these benefits and how they can help you launch your career.

Wider Community

A community is a communion of sharers. Not every aspect of our lives is shared here, but for a time we commit to sharing a great deal. Mutual respect is our watchword, guided by the Golden Rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Servant Year members form a community within the community of either Saint Mark’s or St. James School, which is larger and more dispersed. Your place within the community is important, and you represent both communities in a public way.

For eleven months, you will call home a building that is closely linked to others. It is home to others who live there, and in some ways a home for the people who work, learn, pray and have fellowship in its broader community. A home is a safe place, by definition, and we commit to safeguard one another’s safety in every reasonable way, primarily by taking responsibility for ourselves and our own actions. ​

Learn more about Servant Year.