Our History
We trace our origins back to the founding of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd, a Religious Order of celibate men, mostly priests, that was founded in Cambridge in 1913. Their founders originally owned a house in Cambridge, but found that it was after giving the house up and becoming officially “dispersed,” that they began to grow.
Their founders drew up what are called “The Seven Notes,” describing the charism and lifestyle of this new dispersed community. We adopted these “Notes,” along with the Oratory’s rule of life and constitution, largely unchanged, at our own founding.
Our community was founded in 2006 as the “Sisters of the Good Shepherd,” by three like-minded women, with the support and encouragement of the brothers of the Oratory.
Two of the founding members (as is not uncommon in new communities) left before taking life vows. Only Sr Anita Woodwell, the current Prioress, remained.
Over the following years, Sr Anita was on her own for some of the time, and several others "tried the life on for size" but did not remain. In terms of laying a strong foundation, however, this time was tremendously valuable, as Sr Anita was allowed to attend the meetings of one of the OGS colleges, getting to know the brothers and their ethos from lived experience.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was the Covid pandemic in 2020 that marked the beginning of a significant new stage in our development. At that point, Sr Anita’s ministry went largely online, and it was by that means that she came to know others whom God has called to join our community. In 2022-2023, we substantially revised our Constitution to cover the three categories of membership we now embrace: Vowed Celibates, Vowed Non-Celibates, and Companions. Companions have always included both men and women, but we have now opened all categories of membership to men as well as women, and to Christians of any denomination. Thus we have changed our name from “Sisters of the Good Shepherd” to “Society of the Good Shepherd.”
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This inevitably means that most of our community life can be lived only online, but fellowship is nevertheless our crucial foundation, and we are a genuine religious order, with some of our members taking life vows. We meet together about once every two weeks, for both formal meetings and for “social get-togethers.”
We remain under the authority of the Anglican Communion, on account of its long experience of religious communities, and our Visitor (who oversees our living out of the way of life we profess) must be an Anglican Bishop or Priest. In 2021 we appointed as our Visitor Father David Matthews, who for much of his life was a Benedictine monk, and who therefore understands us very well.
In 2024, two of our Celibate Novices, Sr Rika Boersma and Sr Pam Arlund, made their first Vows. These vows are temporary, taken for one year in the first instance, but "with life intention."
In 2018, we appointed a “Guardian,” Caroline Lewis, now one of our Companions. Her role is to attend as many of our meetings and gatherings as possible, to ensure safeguarding of all members, and to be available to any member who may want to talk through issues arising.
This gave the Community a greater degree of stability, so our Visitor, in consultation with an advisor, decided that Sr Anita (who has kept renewing temporary vows up to the present) should now take Life Vows. On 5th December, she did so and was recommissioned as Prioress and handed a shepherd's crook as a symbol of her pastoral role towards all the members of the Community.
So at the end of 2024, all three Celibate members are in vows, and we have one Non-Celibate Novice, plus three Companions, and a number of Associates.