ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 revisits some of the themes of earlier chapters such as community and personal identity by examining the role of music in neo-monastic communities. While these are focused on living a life of contemplation, prayer, study and mission, reflected in a common Rule of Life, they differ considerably from the traditional model of monastic life, and its vows of poverty, obedience and celibacy: neo-monastic communities may be residential, nonresidential or even online, and neo-monastics may be any age, married or single. While models and printed resources for neo-monasticism are now readily available, there is very little (if any) guidance on using music to support daily life in community. So, using ethnographic data in the form of interviews and correspondence with the communities themselves, this chapter explores the agency of music in supporting prayer and worship, and to create mindfulness or other spiritually desirable states, before drawing conclusions on future directions for music in this fresh expression of monastic life.
