ON MICHAELMAS Day 1973, the very last eucharist was celebrated in the good domed chapel at Kelham — in some ways, the symbolic heart each of the Society of the Sacred Mission (SSM) itself and of the theological college that the Society maintained.
The decision to shut the faculty (with two or three others), due to declining numbers of ordinands within the Church of England, had been taken nearly three years earlier by the House of Bishops, but no prior warning had been given; so the news, when it got here, was a painful shock — especially for the reason that buildings and priory and college life were entirely integrated. Rousing hymns, soaring plainsong, meticulous ceremonial, and real tears were, due to this fact, very much a part of that day.
No recent ordinands had been accepted at the faculty after 1971, and the ultimate cohort were resulting from finish their training in 1975. These students left the Red House — the Society’s retreat centre in Kelham village — in July 1974, and spent their final 12 months in a hall of residence at Nottingham University.
Since these two significant endings took place 50 years ago, now could also be an appropriate time to try a mirrored image on the footprint and legacy of “a Kelham training”. It had prepared many a whole lot of young men for priesthood within the Church of England and other Provinces of the Anglican Communion over greater than three-quarters of a century.
THE story began in 1891, when Herbert Kelly — an angular and visionary young priest — established the Korean Missionary Brotherhood in Kennington, south London, to coach young laymen for work within the East Asian mission field. The capability of the small Korean Church to employ such men was somewhat limited, and a few of those coming to Kennington with a way of vocation were, anyway, keen to explore the potential of ordination.
Out of this environment of Christian community life and endeavour, the Society of the Sacred Mission was born in 1894. The growing community moved briefly to Mildenhall, in Suffolk, after which to Kelham Hall, on the banks of the River Trent, just east of Newark, in Nottinghamshire, in 1903.
Brother Gilbert SSMA BBC film crew visits the refectory at Kelham in 1960
Once there, the household of nearly 50 members of the young SSM and associated students grew, by 1914, to greater than 80. After the First World War, recent men joined; extensions to the west of Sir Gilbert Scott’s mansion were built, and the Great Chapel was consecrated in November 1928. By then, a non secular community — comprising professed members of the Society, and a cohort of ordinands living alongside them — numbered greater than 120.
Fr Kelly (“HK”, or “the Old Man” as he was later affectionately called) resigned as Director of the Society in 1910, but remained a big presence for each SSM and its college until his death in 1950.
SOME principles in community life and aspiration had clearly emerged at Kelham, and can be developed in subsequent years. HK and his successors were especially keen that young men of working-class background, without much access to education, must be valued and encouraged to supply themselves for what he termed “the divine service”. To this end, a rigorous programme of coaching was devised, lasting 4 or five years. It was to be delivered by suitably qualified members of the Society.
That ordinands should live alongside brethren in a framework of shared prayer, community life, mutual responsibility, and Christian discipline was viewed as a vital environment for the event of priestly character and self-giving service. Although educational opportunities for all broadened considerably because the twentieth century unfolded, the actual Kelham “model” persevered and grew as a strong option for theological education, ordination training, and private formation.
In a way that will simply not be possible today, the House of the Sacred Mission provided a complete environment for all who lived there. Both work and recreation were shared and obligatory.
Ordinands — often known as Associates — found themselves working alongside professed brethren in such tasks as washing windows, cleansing lavatories, polishing floors, preparing meals and clearing up afterwards, and maintaining the extensive garden and grounds. There was weekly football within the two winter terms, and cricket or tennis in the summertime.
Worship within the resonant chapel was, after all, central to the lifetime of the House. Alongside the fourfold every day office, the most important holy days were fully observed, and the Sunday eucharist was celebrated with a comfortable mixture of solemnity and matter-of-factness. Greater Silence was observed every day between compline and the tip of breakfast. Laughter, leg-pulling, and arguments were also, after all, very much a part of the every day rhythm.
FR KELLY and Wardens of the faculty after him were desirous to encourage ordinands to think for themselves. For instance, philosophy and logic were key features of first-year study; the complete narrative of church history was taught; and unfolding biblical inquiry was sustained over 4 years.
Although clearly rooted within the Catholic tradition, Kelham’s was a hospitable Catholicism that was at home with questions. HK had been a well-known figure at events of the Student Christian Movement within the Nineteen Twenties and ’30s, and Kelham students then and thereafter were often to be found at SCM summer camps and conferences. Ecumenical and international visitors were often welcomed on the House.
Chores with a feathered flock at Kelham
As a part of this same picture, the expansion of SSM saw the muse of provinces in South Africa, Australia, and (briefly) Japan. Members of the Society — and ordinands, too — were drawn from all these countries, in addition to from Canada, the United States, and Ghana; so Kelham horizons all the time tended to be broad.
Today — half a century after bidding farewell to an awesome chapel, and the closure of the theological-college doors — it is sweet to be reminded that towers and temples do inevitably fall to dust, at the same time as God’s creative purposes proceed. During their span of life, these structures can, indeed, serve a useful and even an excellent purpose.
I’m certain that I’m just certainly one of very many people who find themselves profoundly thankful to have been touched by Kelham’s unique and peculiar glory.
The Rt Revd Christopher Morgan was a theological student at Kelham from 1966 to 1970. He was Area Bishop of Colchester in Chelmsford diocese from 2001 to 2013.
Three members of SSM are currently living in retirement in England, and a member of the Australian province is a doctoral student in Scotland. The Society archive and a big a part of the Kelham library are actually housed at St Antony’s Priory, Durham — a house of the Society, now functioning as a Christian spirituality centre.
