How we live
The Society of the Siblings at Bethany is a Christian community at the Church of the Atonement in the Bronx. Our life together is centered on Jesus through common prayer: we pray Morning Prayer together every day, and we eat together most nights. Our dining-room table has become the heart of our ministry.
In some ways, we are very similar to monastic communities. We live, pray and eat together, hold our money in common, and keep a Rule under a chapter. Other things make us unique. Ours is a form of religious life open to singles, couples and families, and our house includes two married couples. Unlike most monastic communities, we all have jobs in the “real world,” and we see that work, whatever it might be, as ministry too. And our common life is built on the life of a congregation: we help restore the property our congregations have and provide liturgical and administrative leadership. More fundamentally, we care about building vibrant, safe and honest community.
In our fractured world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to relate to one another, to find friends and to make connections. We believe that Jesus, our friend and brother, cares deeply about this, and calls us to co-create spaces where deep relationships with him and each other are possible. We hope you will be a part of this calling, whether you are interested in community life, curious about church, or just wondering where you fit in.
Our story
The Society began at a crossing. In 2023, three of us joined the first cohort of the Community at the Crossing, a year of ecumenical formation led by the Chemin Neuf Community at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. That year taught us that community life can be formation in and of itself. In the spring of 2025, the diocese sent us to the Church of the Atonement, whose rectory had stood empty. On Pentecost, June 8, 2025, we adopted our Constitution and signed our Charter, and on July 29, our patronal feast, Bishop Heyd received our promises.
Our first year
312 Daily Offices · about 260 meals cooked for one another · 20 open dinners · 14 sermons in three parishes · 12 Evensongs · about 60 neighbors at our summer cookout, two-thirds of them new to the church
Who we are
Br. Neil Reilly, SSB, Prior
Br. Jack Smith, SSB, Precentor
Br. Grayson Hadley, SSB, Provisor
Sr. Natalie May Smith, SSB
Taylor Shubert, member of the House
Also pictured: Dean Winnie Varghese and Bishop Matthew Heyd
