Our community
We are a dispersed Benedictine community of Oblates - women and men, lay and ordained - who are blessed to have a rich monastic heritage that is still shaping us today. While our members come from varied backgrounds, we originated as Oblates of the former Benedictine Community of Christ the King - an enclosed, contemplative community of Anglican nuns whose monastery was situated in the picturesque and peaceful foothills of the Warby Ranges on Bpangerang Country in North-east Victoria. Uniquely, from inception, the Oblates were welcomed into the enclosure, and took their places in the choir, in Chapel, for the daily praying of the Divine Office. For more on our roots, please visit the Timeline page. Much of the text of the Timeline has been drawn from Called to Pray: A History of the Benedictine Community of Christ the King (2009) by Oblate Dr Lesley Preston.
Each of us individually, at one time or another, answered a deep call to seek God, and found a great richness of support, guidance and friendship on the journey, from the Sisters, from the community's chaplains and spiritual advisors, and from each other. We found, and continue to find, a sense of home. We invite you to be in touch, if, as you read these pages, you have an inkling that in journeying with us you may find this too.
From the time that the Sisters were no longer with us, the Oblates have felt called to continue living under our oblation promises, and to 'stay together' even as we are geographically apart. We form two chapters - Victoria and South Australia - and members of each chapter meet regularly throughout the year with our chaplains, Fr Scott Moncrieff (South Australia) and Fr Neil Hicks (Victoria). For many years, the South Australia chapter and some of the Benedictine Oblates of St Mark's Abbey, Camperdown, have participated together in meetings, and both chapters of the Oblates of Christ the King come together for a conference annually. The Community continues to evolve in response to God's call, with some members presently discerning a further vocation to consecrated life.
Each of us individually, at one time or another, answered a deep call to seek God, and found a great richness of support, guidance and friendship on the journey, from the Sisters, from the community's chaplains and spiritual advisors, and from each other. We found, and continue to find, a sense of home. We invite you to be in touch, if, as you read these pages, you have an inkling that in journeying with us you may find this too.
From the time that the Sisters were no longer with us, the Oblates have felt called to continue living under our oblation promises, and to 'stay together' even as we are geographically apart. We form two chapters - Victoria and South Australia - and members of each chapter meet regularly throughout the year with our chaplains, Fr Scott Moncrieff (South Australia) and Fr Neil Hicks (Victoria). For many years, the South Australia chapter and some of the Benedictine Oblates of St Mark's Abbey, Camperdown, have participated together in meetings, and both chapters of the Oblates of Christ the King come together for a conference annually. The Community continues to evolve in response to God's call, with some members presently discerning a further vocation to consecrated life.
