About

What is the House of St Michael the Archangel?

COMMITMENTS

The House of St Michael the Archangel is a community of followers of Jesus Christ who are dedicated to total conversion – the total conversion of our hearts, minds, souls, bodies, and all the world, everyone and everything.

We are committed to being a living memory of the Faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. In an age when it is so easy to forget, we strive always to remember the Faith once handed down by the Apostles and received by the Fathers of the Church.  Through the writings of the Fathers, we dwell in the Scriptures as we seek and pray for total conversion.

We are not an intentional community or a church plant. The House of St Michael is a reinforcement ministry that encourages radical discipleship among pastors and laity in order to serve the witness of the local church.

We are committed to St Michael the Archangel because he is the leader of the angelic host that has cast Satan from heaven. So we look to him as we confront our post-Christian age with confidence and humility.  And we are committed to St Michael because he lives the angelic life of worship, which is the quintessential knowledge of God.

The House of St Michael is committed to the pursuit of holiness – the pursuit of intimate and incomprehensible loving communion with Jesus Christ.  We are committed to the love of God in Jesus Christ and to the love that Jesus Christ has for his Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Saints.  And so we love the Church.

We are also committed to patience and simplicity. This corresponds to moving with slowness and smallness, for the purpose of aiming at comprehensiveness (total conversion) and extensiveness (the House grows in its influence from a place of incredible strength).  The work of the House cannot be accomplished quickly and to try to do so will just make it take even longer.

We are committed to fearlessness. We pursue the perfect love that casts out fear.  So we die to ourselves every day and stand with confidence before impossible things.  We confess that such confidence is a choice.  It’s also the only calling we’ve received in Christ.  What Jesus, the Apostles, Prophets, Patriarchs, and Fathers call us to is astounding.  The House encourages people to pursue this calling.

We are committed to iron sharpening iron. Every member of the House is committed to becoming iron – for their own sakes, the sake of others, the sake of the House, and the sake of faithfulness to Christ.  Spiritual struggle is part of this.  Rest is part of this.  Vigilance is part of this.  People need to be sharpened by each other.

PRACTICES

Expectations for members of the House of St Michael:

Once a month (February-October), the House gathers for worship, fellowship, and discussion.  Our worship liturgy is an enactment of the Book of Revelation and our discussions focus on the writings of the Fathers.

Once a year, we gather on September 29 to celebrate the Feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Once a year (late October), we hold an all-night prayer vigil on the Saturday evening nearest All-Saints Eve.

Once a year (early December/early Advent), we meet for the Dick Ray Extravaganza.  Here, Dick Ray, an elder mentor in the Faith, shares reflections on the Fathers.

Once a year (mid-February/near Ash Wednesday), House members make public vows regarding their patterns of devotion for that upcoming year.

Seminary students (and others) in the House lead discipleship groups at local churches (and campus ministries) that call people to the commitments of the House.

A small contingent from the House regularly visits local pastors to pray for them.

Opportunities for non-members:

We host an annual Devotional Conference (mid-January/near Epiphany), a two-day gathering that manifests, initiates into, and encourages people to lives of greater devotion.

We offer Intensive Cohorts that connect non-members to the culture and ethos of the House.  At these gatherings, ancient writings are discussed in the context of prayer, worship, and fellowship.

The House website offers regular ongoing reflections on the Fathers:

www.houseofstmichaelthearchangel.org

CONTACT INFORMATION

Tim Becker, Director of the House of St Michael: becker.timothy.j@gmail.com

INFLUENCES

Ecumenism is not fundamentally a matter of documents, it’s a method of human and Christian relationships built on mutual trust and friendship.
- Cardinal Walter Kasper

Don’t be afraid to be saints.
- Pope John Paul II

We should lay everything before God in hope.
- Mark the Monk

Can any king achieve what holiness achieves?  … In the contest between holiness and a king’s power, victory went to holiness.  The prophet did not fight; it was holiness that routed the enemy.
- Neilos the Ascetic

If you wish to engage in spiritual warfare, let that little animal, the spider, always be your example for stillness of heart … The spider hunts small flies; but you will continually slay “the children of Babylon” if during your struggle you are as still in your soul as is the spider; and, in the course of this slaughter, you will be blessed by the Holy Spirit.
- Hesychios the Priest

Just as troops are undefeated because they are protected by iron, so we can break through the black ranks of the demons if, because of our good works, we are protected by the armor of divine light and the helmet of salvation.  For it is not only to cease from evil that brings purity, but actively to destroy evil by pursuing what is good.
- Diadochos of Photiki

The one who keeps the commandments is purified.  The one who is purified is illumined.  And the one who is illumined is judged worthy to sleep with the Word-Spouse in the inner chamber of the mysteries.
- Maximus the Confessor

Genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
- Apostle Paul