Those called to singless for the sake of the kingdom use their availability to serve their community in ways those raising children might not be able to. The Nashville Family of Brothers will help each brother discern how God has uniquely called him to use his singleness for the sake of the kingdom. In addition, the Family will have a shared service in the community. The Nashville Family of Brothers serves us our city by:

1. Modeling vocational singlness in our churches and the city of Nashville at large
2. Teaching our churches about the theology of vocational singleness found in Scripture
3. Helping Christians in Nashville discern whether they are called to vocational singleness or marriage with someone of the opposite sex

But why? Monastic communities have historically been tied with the reteaching of ancient trust to the Church, reminding her to seek spiritual growth in areas it has laxed or forgotten. We believe a Nashville monastic community can address a specific need of the American church today: a need for a better theology and practice of vocational singlessness in the Church. Our churches often offer romance and marriage as THE solution to loneliness, to the detriment of all people, gay or straight, single or married. Without a robust theology and practice of vocational singleness, single people in our churches struggle with loneliness, leading to sex outside of marriage, rushing into marriage, adultery, and divorce. This cheapens marriage. Widows, divorcees, and gay Christians are disproportionately affected. And the Church suffers, because we lack this powerful minority wholly committed to advancing the Kingdom. Without a meaningful minority of Christians thriving in vocational singleness and doing the work of the Church, we lack a key Sacrament – we lack this unique embodiment of the truths of the gospel. In contrast to the idolatry of romance inside and outside of our churches, lifetime singleness preaches the gospel that God is worth giving up everything and can provide more than the gods of our culture ever could. Our hope is that our monastic community would address this need in the Church in Nashville.