Deaconess Anne House

Live in Intentional Community 

Corps Members live together in a community house located in the historic Old North St. Louis neighborhood where they form a common Rule of Life based on the Benedictine spiritual tradition. The Rule, a guide rather than harsh taskmaster, serves as a framework, or trellis, for the community’s personal interactions and prayer life and offers a structure on which the corps members’ discerned values can grow. Practicing the ancient monastic art of creating and upholding a Rule moves the corps members’ relationships with each other away from that of house-mate toward that of spiritual brother/sister. 

Work for Justice and the Common Good 

Corps members are placed in a local not-for-profit organization working to improve the quality of life for residents of St. Louis, especially the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. Our work placements fit into one of four broad categories, (1) direct service, (2) social justice, (3) ecclesial, and (4) neighborhood enhancement. Members work 32 hours a week at their placement sites under the direction of an onsite supervisor. We have partnered with a variety of placement sites, each of which offers DAH members a rich and rewarding work experience.  Our current partners are: 

• Places for People 
• Magdalene St. Louis
• Christ Church Cathedral 
• Metropolitan Congregations United 
• Episcopal City Mission
• Grace Hill Settlement House 
• The Vine/Earth Dance Farms 

Study, Learn, and Grow Spiritually 

The Deaconess Anne House is committed to the formation of engaged Christians whose faith informs all aspects of their personal, communal, and civic lives. Christ engaged his political, social, and economic context with the Good News, and it is our desire to teach corps members how they might engage their context with the Gospel that Christ lived and taught. The DAH curriculum has four focuses:  
 

1. Discernment 
2. Spiritual Practices 
3. The Church’s role in American society (American Empire)  
4. Praxis Project  

The curriculum requires only minimal reading and writing (ungraded reflections), but active and engaged participation in discussions, readings, and presentations is expected.