Benedictine Volunteer Program
Thank you for persuing more information about Newark
Abbey’s volunteer program. We hope that the brief summary
given here will encourage you to pursue your interest in serving
with us as a volunteer. Please give us a call, we’d be
delighted to hear from you.
DEFINITION AND PURPOSE
The monks of Newark Abbey follow the Rule of St. Benedict,
worshipping and working as a community in the center of New
Jersey’s largest city. We are conscious of our call to be a
city on a hill and a sign of hope to our neighbors.
Our location in the gives us the opportunity to witness to
God’s love in a variety of ways. St. Benedict’s Prep
and St. Mary’s Grammar School offer urban minority children
an excellent Catholic education, and St. Mary’s Parish
brings the Gospel to the local people through liturgy, catechesis
and outreach programs such as the Pierre Toussaint Food Pantry.
Through the Newark Benedictine Volunteer Program the monks
offer others an opportunity to share our spiritual vision, to
reflect more deeply about Gospel values and the Christian meaning
of life, and at the same time incarnate those values in works of
Christian justice and charity. The presence of the volunteers is
itself a gift to the monks, enriching us with new insights and
new possibilities in our common search for God.
ELIGIBILITY
The program is open to Catholic men 20 years or older, without
dependents, who are serious about their personal search for God.
LENGTH OF COMMITMENT
Dates are negotiable, but The Newark Benedictine Volunteer is
asked to commit to a minimum of six weeks of service. Two periods
seem to be the most convenient:
- Summer: Six weeks from the end of June to the
start of August, during our prep school’s summer
session.
- School Year: From the beginning of September to
beginning of June, or longer.
SPIRITUAL ASPECTS
- The volunteer is introduced to the spirituality and the
ideals of the monks of Newark Abbey.
- Regular presentations and reflections cover such topics
as prayer, the Rule of Benedict, and monastic
spirituality for lay persons.
- Participants are welcome to attend the Liturgy of the
Hours and the daily Eucharist with the monks, and to join
them occasionally for meals and evening recreation.
- Individual spiritual direction is also available.
WORK OPPORTUNITIES
Work is assigned according to the volunteer’s interest
and expertise. All work sites are located on the abbey grounds.
They include:
- St. Benedict’s Prep School: teaching, tutoring,
coaching sports and activities, doing clerical, computer,
library and other work.
- St. Mary’s Parish and Grammar School: teacher aide,
community outreach, catechesis, food pantry, and other
activities.
- Monastery: a variety of tasks including grounds keeping,
maintenance, automobiles, and infirmary.
APPLICATION AND ADMISSION PROCESS
- A person interested in becoming a Newark Benedictine
Volunteer contacts the director of the program and
receives further information about the program by phone
or mail, and is sent an official Application Form.
- The applicant is required to make a personal
visit at some time during the application process.
- Three letters of reference are required,
including one from a pastor, chaplain or spiritual
director.
- Application deadlines can be adjusted as
needed, but generally all application materials should be
received April 15 for the Summer period and June 1 for
the September period of service.
- The Selection Committee interviews the
applicant, reviews the completed application form and
letters of recommendation, and asks for any further
information it may deem necessary.
- The applicant is notified of the results as
quickly as possible.
- Along with the notification of acceptance the
candidate is given a clear idea of the specific work or
works that will be assigned.
- An arrival date is then mutually determined and
the volunteer is responsible for making the necessary
travel arrangements to and from Newark Abbey.
BENEFITS
- Room and board are provided free of charge.
- Residence is in Turrell House, located alongside the
Abbey garden.
- Volunteers usually eat in one of the dining rooms or the
school cafeteria, and occasionally join the monks in the
monastic refectory for meals.
- The volunteer receives a personal stipend of $100 per
month.
- Health insurance is provided to volunteers for the
duration of their stay.
- Volunteers have the opportunity of hiking, relaxing or
spending retreat time at our facilities on 67 acres of
forest in the mountains of Sussex County, an hour and a
quarter from Newark.
- Faculty members at St. Benedict’s Prep have
qualified for partial cancellation or deferment of
certain types of student loan debts.
For further information please contact:
Rev. Albert Holtz, O.S.B.
Newark Benedictine Volunteer Program
528 Dr. M. L. King Blvd.
Newark NJ 07102-1314
Phone:(973)792-5751
email:aholtz@.sbp.org