**1. New and Old Monasticism**

The phrase 'new monasticism' has entered into theological vocabulary during the last fifty years. It covers a wide range of communities, practices, writings and movements which all recognize that they belong in some way to the tradition of monasticism. New forms of community life are found in all parts of the church. These new communities not only challenge and critique of modern secular culture, but also live out a renewed vision of the Christian gospel. They also enable a fresh assessment of monasticism, seeing it as rooted in the call of the gospel and lived out in different ways and settings. Here, we will consider, first, the beginnings of the monastic movement; then, the various different ways it developed; and finally how 'new monasticism' has taken shape within it (Christie and Flanagan 2020).
