People of Praise

People of Praise is a network of lay Christian intentional communities. As a parachurch apostolate, membership is open to any baptized Christian who affirms the Nicene Creed and agrees to the community's covenant. The majority of its members are Catholics, but Protestants can also join, reflecting the ecumenical nature of People of Praise. It has 22 branches in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, with approximately 1,700 members. It founded Trinity Schools, which are aligned with the philosophy of classical Christian education.

People of Praise was formed in 1971 by Kevin Ranaghan and Paul DeCelles. Both men were involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, in which Pentecostal religious experiences such as baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and prophecy are practiced by Catholics. In its early history, it influenced the institutional development of the Catholic Charismatic movement in the United States and played important roles in national charismatic conferences.

People of Praise practices a form of spiritual direction that involves the supervision of a member by a more "spiritually mature" person called a "head". People of Praise maintains that members retain their freedom of conscience under such direction. The community, like the Catholic Church, has few women in leadership positions. It nevertheless encourages women to pursue higher education and employment.

History

The founding of People of Praise by Kevin Ranaghan and Paul DeCelles in 1971 in South Bend, Indiana, while the two were graduate students, was an early and important event within the history of the overall covenant community movement. Various individuals who participated in its founding had attended Cursillo movement retreats, including another graduate student, Stephen B. Clark (who came to author Building Christian Communities in 1972). In 1963, after having attended the Archdiocesan Cursillo Center in Chicago, Clark organized a Cursillo retreat in South Bend. Influenced both by Cursillo, local prayer meetings were formed. After Bill Storey visited from Duquesne University in 1967, elements from out of as well the burgeoning Catholic charismatic renewal of the times, were incorporated into these meetings.

Eventually several Catholic covenant communities were formed. After Word of God community formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967, and the True House (1971–1974) and People of Praise communities (1971–present) were formed in South Bend. (Others formed since then include Sword of the Spirit, the Mother of God Community as well as constituent members of the North American Network of Charismatic Covenant Communities.) Such communities were influenced by the 1960s Jesus movement, the Shepherding movement, as well as perhaps some of the communitarianism of that era's counterculture.

Historical theologian Paul Thigpen writes that in general these communities "typically involved a commitment to at least some degree of sharing financial resources, regular participation in community gatherings, and submission to the direction of the group's designated authorities." Larger communities were often divided into "households", which did not always mean members were living in the same house. However, members of the same household needed to live close enough to each other to share meals, prayer times and other forms of fellowship. Most households were made up of one or two families, but others might be for single men or women.

People of Praise experienced early growth recruiting from major universities and was especially closely connected to the University of Notre Dame. The group helped develop important institutions for the larger Catholic Charismatic movement. Until 1990, the South Bend community was the headquarters for the National Service Committee (a coordinating body for the various Catholic charismatic groups). It was also the headquarters of the Charismatic Renewal Services (a national distribution center for religious books and tapes) and published a magazine called New Heaven, New Earth. It also played a major role in the renewal's annual national conferences. By 1987, People of Praise had around 3,000 members, including children. By the end of the 1980s, Catholics were 92 percent of the membership.

The overall Catholic charismatic renewal had begun in the United States in 1967 and saw Pentecostal religious experience and practices such as baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues embraced by members of the Catholic Church. People of Praise became involved with the international body of the Renewal movement is the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, located first in Brussels and later in Rome. They have also worked ecumenically through participation in the International Charismatic Consultation, the Charismatic Concerns Committee, the Charismatic Leaders Fellowship and, more recently, in the Rome-based Gathering in the Holy Spirit. Members also served with Cardinal Josef Suenens in drafting of Malines Documents I and II, and with Father Kilian McDonnell, in the writing of Fanning the Flame. These documents have contributed to the articulation and understanding of charismatic renewal and its place in the Catholic Church. They have also contributed to an understanding of how this movement can be understood by members of Protestant denominations of Christianity.

The group has drawn media interest due to Judge Amy Coney Barrett's association with the group. Numerous media outlets have reported that Barrett is a member. In the wake of heightened interest in the group and its members following her nomination, People of Praise removed some materials from its website: "Recent changes to our website were made in consultation with members and nonmembers from around the country who raised concerns about their and their families' privacy due to heightened media attention."

Description

People of Praise defines itself as an ecumenical, charismatic covenant community "of families and single people who seek to participate in the mission of the church in our time and to live our lives communally". Members live in their own homes, and sometimes single people will live with an unrelated family. There are some households in which only single men or single women live together.

People of Praise is not a church. All members of the community simultaneously remain members of their local parishes. The majority of its members are Catholics, with Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals and nondenominational Christians also represented. The Spirit and Purpose of the People of Praise state that "we will live our lives together as fully as our churches permit, with the hope that we may soon attain a unity of faith in the fullness of Christ our Lord."

Members of the People of Praise engage in weekly meetings that include religious teaching, Scripture readings, witnessing, and prayer for those with needs. Local groups may also hold charismatic prayer meetings and meet for dinner, fellowship and praise and worship. Members also meet in small groups.

Anthropologist Thomas Csordas has written that People of Praise is theologically conservative with a hierarchical leadership structure, but it is also influenced by the communitarianism of the 1960s counterculture.

Covenant

The People of Praise considers itself to be a "covenant community." The community considers the covenant, when entered into among members, to be one of mutual care and service in spiritual, material, and financial matters. The covenant is not an oath or vow; a member is released from it if they believe God is calling them to another way of life. The covenant states:

Therefore, we covenant ourselves to live our lives together in Christ, our Lord, by the power of his spirit. We agree to be a basic Christian community, to find within our fellowship the essential core of our life in the spirit, in worship and the sacraments, spiritual and moral guidance, service, and apostolic activity. We accept the order of this community, which the Lord is establishing with all the ministry gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially with the foundational ministry gifts of apostles, pastors, prophets, teachers, and evangelists. We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries in full harmony with the Church. We recognize in the covenant a unique relationship one to another and between the individual and the community. We accept the responsibility for mutual care, concern, and ministry among ourselves. We will serve one another and the community as a whole in all needs: spiritual, material, financial. We agree that the weekly meeting of the community is primary among our commitments and that we will not be absent except for a serious reason.

Membership is open to all baptized Christians who believe in the Nicene Creed. There are two stages of membership in the community: underway and covenanted. People who are new to the community join as underway members. This stage of membership is meant as a time for people new to the community to freely explore (in consultation with the leadership) whether they belong in the community. Underway members participate in all aspects of community life. Full membership occurs when one makes a public commitment to the covenant. Members make this pledge freely after a formation and instruction period that normally lasts three to six years.