Latest news with #CSJB

Wall Street Journal

My Ten-Year Journey to Becoming a Nun

Catastrophes attract a lot of people to religious orders. The first time I visited the Community of St. John Baptist (CSJB), the Episcopal convent I now lead as the Sister Superior, it was Presidents Day weekend in 2002, and in the wake of 9/11 six of us had come to explore the possibility of taking vows. We all slept in the guest wing. One of us snored so loudly I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole weekend. Ever since I was a little kid, I'd been drawn to the idea of being a nun. But in Rome, Ga., where I grew up surrounded by Southern Baptists and Methodists, becoming a nun seemed as likely as becoming an NFL quarterback. I pushed the notion deep down and spent a lifetime passing for someone else—for someone richer, for someone high-powered working in advertising, for a wife. But no matter what disguise I donned or personality I tried on, I never belonged.