Monastic Companions
About this community
Icon written by Joseph Brown
We are an ecumenical community, open to people of all genders.
Our mission is to proclaim the renewing and transforming power of encountering Christ in our lives and in the world. Like Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, we announce the good news of new life whenever, however, wherever we can.
We proclaim that God is beyond categories, beyond masculine and feminine, and that the power of the Divine is accessible to all.
While we foster transformative leadership in all whose lives are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, we respond to a special call to foster and equip women’s leadership. Like Mary Magdalene, whose power was released through her healing relationship with Christ and her experience of the resurrection, the Spirit leads us to equip others to go and tell the good news of new life.
We welcome as Companions people of all genders who consider themselves part of the Body of Christ, whether they find their spiritual homes in the Church, on its margins, or outside institutions altogether.
Monastic companions live together and are committed to continual conversion of life under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They live by a Rule of Life which was prayerfully discerned and formulated by the founding members. This Rule helps us to embody the Charism of the Companions as we grow into it.
There are many ways to belong to the Companions of Mary the Apostle community: from friends and retreat participants or partipating in Coffee Table Communion online to becoming a vowed monastic Companion. Learn more about how you can be part of this community.
Monastic Companions live in community, have made a life commitment to live by the Rule of Life of the Companions of Mary the Apostle, and have made a life vow to seek conversion of life through poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Sister Shane Phelan
West Park, New York
I am a co-founder of the Companions of Mary the Apostle. Before we began in January 2013, I had several lives. I have lived all over the U.S., from California to Massachusetts. I’m a Westerner who loves water!
I received my Ph.D. in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. From 1988 to 2000 I taught political philosophy and women studies at the University of New Mexico, where I wrote primarily on lesbian and gay politics. I am a teacher through and through; I love leading retreats and small groups, as well as preaching.
I have been doing recovery work since 1985. I learned through that experience how much I love to listen for what God is doing in other people. That eventually led me to learn about spiritual direction, which is now part of my ministry. Through my own prayer I realized I loved to pray, and to help others pray. In late 2000 I entered an Episcopal women’s community in New Jersey, and remained there until 2009. While there I led spirituality groups at a teenage therapeutic community, and served as a pastoral assistant at a local parish that had a large recovering population as well as many lgbt members. In 2009 I was ordained an Episcopal priest, and I served a parish in New Jersey for three years before starting the Companions.
I love to sing and dance and play games. I also write and have published several books, the latest of which is a memoir, Big Queer Nun.
Sister Elizabeth R. Broyles
West Park, New York
I have been reveling in living the life of a Companion since January of 2013, when I became co-founder of the Companions of Mary the Apostle. A priest for the last twenty-nine years, I came to ordained ministry in response to waking up to the deep need of God’s life-giving presence through work with teens with autism, in the foster care system in New Jersey (where I grew up), and finally as a counselor at a soup kitchen in Manhattan. I have had the lifelong joy and challenge of seeking God in body, mind and spirit. Wonderful guides in the Christ’s Way and those of other faiths encouraged me to journey through prayer and spiritual companionships; singing, movement and study; woods wandering and times of silent retreat. I first heard God’s whispers about monastic life at age 17, and had the special blessing of being in residence at Holy Cross Monastery for 5 years during a life-changing time.
I love being a spiritual director and retreat leader, and delight in accompanying others in their lives of faith as a spiritual director. I also enjoy poetry, writing, reading and study, deep conversation, meanderings in beautiful places and playing games with friends—especially Qwirkle!
Are you called into this community of transforming love?
Discover pathways to Companionship