Two monks from a Cambridge, Massachusetts, monastery will lead a free daylong workshop on spiritual practice at a Vienna church on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Brother Keith Nelson and Brother Lucas Hall of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE) are visiting the Church of the Holy Comforter, 543 Beulah Rd. NE, from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27. The Saturday workshop, titled "Living by a Rule of Life: Deepening Relationships with God, Self, Others, & Creation," invites attendees to craft a personal "Rule of Life," a structured set of spiritual commitments modeled on the one the SSJE brothers follow at their monastery.

The SSJE adopted its own contemporary Rule of Life in 1997. Nelson, the order's Superior, has spoken publicly about the spiritual framework behind the workshop's theme. In a Sept. 1 sermon at the SSJE monastery chapel, he said, "Recovering a living relationship with this Creator Christ and its full implications for the creation we share is the great task of the Western Church in our time."

Nelson grew up in New Jersey and Alabama, studied at Kenyon College and was life professed in 2019, according to the SSJE's website. Hall worked in local politics before joining the order in 2017 and now serves as Cellarer, handling the community's practical affairs.

The day begins at 8:30 a.m. with contemplative prayer in the chapel, followed by coffee and a light breakfast at 9 a.m. A group discussion on what a Rule of Life means runs from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. After a break, a hands-on workshop on crafting a personal rule runs from 10:45 a.m. to noon. The brothers return at 5 p.m. to preach at an evening service.

The church said the event is open to all, including those who attend only part of the day.

Registration is required at bit.ly/ssje0926. The SSJE is an Anglican religious order for men founded in 1866 in Oxford, England. Its North American congregation is based at a monastery near Harvard Square, where the brothers live under vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. More details are available on the church's event page.