Sacred Community for Collective Healing

In 1967, in the quiet farmland of central Minnesota, Fr. Kilian McDonnell—a Benedictine monk and visionary—planted a seed. He envisioned a place where the best and brightest of religious scholars from across the Christian tradition could engage in dialogue, inquiry, and community for the purposes of global healing. Through the generosity of Patrick and Aimee Butler, that seed grew into the Collegeville Institute, a center for ecumenical and cultural research on the campus of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The Collegeville Institute’s mission is to foster the world’s healing through the power of religious ideas, insights, faith, and practices. While historically focused on academics and scholarship, it has since expanded its programs to include clergy, laity, musicians, artists, activists, and writers who are faith-based. Through its writing workshops, research seminars, and both long-term and short-term residency programs, the Collegeville Institute has created a space for deep conversation, reflection, and intercultural engagement.

The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model teaches that each person carries multiple parts shaped by life’s experiences. The Collegeville Institute believes that people—and all their parts—carry stories worth telling. When shared, these stories and perspectives have the potential contribute meaningfully to the transformation of communities and cultures. Aizaiah Yong, PhD, executive director of CI, is a level two trained IFS practitioner and says this about what can occur when diverse people and perspectives are gathered within a spirit of curiosity, humility, mutuality and respect, “healing is a relational activity in partnership with the depths within, one another, and the whole of reality.”

At its core, the Collegeville Institute cultivates a space where people don’t just study or write about religion or spirituality—they work through the most pressing possibilities and challenges in community. Leaders confronting burnout, scholars reimagining theology after trauma, poets giving voice to spiritual longing, and artists wrestling with vocation are just some of those who find regenerative energy there.

Those who take part in the Collegeville Institute’s residency programs participate in unique activities only possible on the grounds of Saint John’s Abbey and University. These include the quiet cadence of early mornings, shared meals in the monastic tradition, listening sessions in peer circles, and encounters with the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape.

The Collegeville Institute fosters a culture that honors what IFS calls the Self—that grounded, compassionate inner wisdom also treasured in Benedictine spirituality. It is a culture built on honoring the lived experiences of its residents and participants: where they’ve come from, what they carry, and how they hope to serve the world.

The environment at the Collegeville Institute doesn’t shy away from differences—it engages them with curiosity. In today’s polarized culture, it offers people a different way to see the world and their communities: one rooted in the healing work of attention, imagination, and faithful presence.

The Resident Scholars Program offers time, space, and community to those seeking to explore faith, ignite imagination, and renew community. If you’re drawn to transformation and change rooted in spiritual insight for the purposes of global healing, if you carry questions, you can’t shake and stories you must tell, then perhaps your next step is toward this sacred ground. Join us and considering applying now to be a Resident Scholar or program participating at the Collegeville Institute by visiting collegevilleinstitute.org.