Franciscan spirituality in Protestantism

The main manifestation of the Franciscan life within the Anglican Communion is the Society of St Francis. It is fully recognised as part of the Anglican Communion and has around 3,000 members in its constituent orders. The society is made up of several distinct orders: the brothers of the First Order (Society of St Francis, SSF); the sisters of the First Order (Community of St Francis, CSF); the sisters of the Second Order (Community of St Clare, OSC); and the brothers and sisters of the Third Order (Third Order of St Francis, TSSF).[8]

Francis of Assisi and Clare of Assisi, the founders of the Franciscan movement, produced separate rules for three parallel orders – the First Order were to be mendicant friars, embracing poverty as a gift from God and living community life in the world by serving the poor. The Second Order were to be a parallel community of sisters living a more enclosed life of prayer and contemplation. The Third Order was to consist of brothers and sisters not living in community, nor under full monastic vows, but nevertheless taking simple promises and following a rule of life in the world. These three orders still co-exist as parts of the Franciscan family in Anglicanism as well as in other Christian denominations. Francis also wrote a rule for those wishing to follow the contemplative life (in the style of the Second Order), but living alone as Christian hermits.

The Society of St. Francis includes an order of tertiaries, people who have taken promises and are followers of a version of the Franciscan Rule but do not live together in community.[9][10] This Third Order (T.S.S.F.) was founded in 1950. The T.S.S.F. consists of men and women, lay and ordained, married and single. It is divided into five provinces: Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the Americas.

The Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy (FODM),[11] based in the United States of America, aim to live in harmony within the Anglican Church of the Americas and invites other Christian faiths to follow an Ecumenical Christian path. They are a Third Order society of men and women who live out of community. Currently this Order has members in the United States of America, Canada and Ireland.

First Order Franciscans live in community under traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In the Anglican Communion the male first order is known as the Society of St Francis, and brothers have the initials 'SSF' after their name; the female first order is known as the Community of St Francis, and sisters have the initials 'CSF' after their name. The First Order brothers and sisters operate worldwide, dividing themselves into internal provinces, and have around 200 members.

Second Order Franciscans live in enclosed community, taking the same traditional vows but following a version of the Rule of St Francis modified to reflect a more contemplative lifestyle. Second Order sisters are often known as "Poor Clares", though they should properly be known as the Order of St Clare or the Community of St Clare. The sisters have the initials "OSC" after their names. They are the smallest part of the Franciscan family and are currently active only in the United Kingdom at St Mary's Convent, Freeland, Oxfordshire. The sisters believe that their "enclosed" life does not mean being "shut in", but rather an opportunity to live and work together on one site in real community.[12] The former second order convent in New York, opened in 1922, closed in 2003 following the death of the last sister of the Poor Clares of Reparation and Adoration (OSC).

A Third Order of Saint Francis (TSSF), with the same name as the Catholic third order, exists in the Anglican Communion, alongside the Anglican Society of St Francis and Community of St Francis (First Order Franciscans), and the Community of St. Clare (Anglican Second Order of Franciscan Sisters).

Third Order Franciscans live as a dispersed community, which means that they meet together regularly for prayer, study, and fellowship, but live individually on a day-to-day basis. Some live alone, others as part of a family. Members may be single or married, ordained or lay, and male or female. They do not take the traditional three-fold vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but they do enter into a binding promise and live by a rule of life based upon Francis of Assisi's original Third Order rule.

The Companions of the Society of St Francis (CompSSF) are individual men and women, lay and ordained, married and single, who wish to follow the spirituality of Francis of Assisi together with the Sisters and Brothers of the Society but without taking formal vows. Companions pray for the Society each day and support its work through giving alms. In some areas, they also meet together for fellowship, prayer and mutual support.[13][14]

Whilst the Society of St Francis (First, Second and Third Orders), operating worldwide, is widely recognized as the principal branch of Franciscanism within the Anglican Communion, there are other religious orders following the Franciscan rule, and living the Franciscan life. Those that are officially recognized as part of the Anglican Communion include the following:

• The Korean Franciscan Brotherhood (KFB) is a First Order male community in formation in Korea, with assistance from the Society of St Francis. An SSF brother has headed the KFB since its formation in 1994, and by an agreement reached in 2001 will continue to support KFB in achieving full independence as an order.[15] The brothers are building friaries and a retreat centre.[16]
• The Sisters of St Francis (SSF) is a Korean community of First Order sisters living in a convent at Cheongwon County, Korea. The sisters engage in community work and parish work within the Anglican Church of Korea.
• The Society of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus and Mary (FSJM) is a community of women founded in 1935, and living in a convent at Posbury in Devon. The sisters accept guests for retreats and also have a small retreat cottage which is sometimes available for guests. The community is small in number, and has ceased much of its active community work.
• The Daughters of St Francis is a community of women following the Franciscan rule in Korea.[17]
• The Order of St Elizabeth of Hungary was an early experiment in Franciscan First Order life for women, founded during the First World War and named after the Franciscan divine Elizabeth of Thuringia. Operating extensively in England and Australia, the society declined rapidly in the 1980s and closed in the 1990s.
• The Order of Saint Francis (OSF) is an active, Apostolic Christian religious First Order within the Franciscan tradition. The OSF admits members of the Anglican Communion (and churches in full communion). Rather than living in an enclosed communal setting, OSF brothers live independently in different parts of the world, with ministries based on the needs of their local communities. Members are baptized men who have been confirmed within the Anglican Communion, and who voluntarily commit to living by a set of vows for a term of years or for life. The OSF is a dispersed order, which welcomes men with dual vocations (clergy as well as lay). Brothers may also be married or single and can be found in the United States, Canada, and Africa.[18]

• The Little Brothers of Francis (LBF) is a small Australian community of men, whose three founders were First Order brothers (SSF) who felt called to a more individual and contemplative life. They live according to the Rule of St Francis for Hermitages, and thus bring a further dimension to the Franciscan family within Anglicanism.
• The Little Sisters of Saint Clare (LSSC)[19] is a fresh expression of the Second Order rule founded in 2002. The sisters wear traditional habit and follow the contemplative life, but they currently live as a dispersed community (though with regular Chapter meetings) pending the funds to establish a physical convent.
• The Society of Our Lady of the Isles (SOLI) is a contemplative community living on Fetlar, an island in Shetland (Scotland), according to a hybrid rule derived from a blending of the Franciscan Second Order rule and the Cistercian rule. Oblate sisters live enclosed within the community, whilst fully professed sisters live as solitary sisters, engaging with community activities at prescribed times.

• The Company of Jesus is an unusual order in two respects. Firstly, it is a deliberate mix of the Franciscan and Benedictine rules, forming a "hybrid" community. Secondly, although it is a Third Order movement, it bears many of the characters of the First Order. The members spend large amounts of time in community in traditional habit and the order maintains a residential monastery (Livingstone Monastery in Virginia) where members may live the monastic life, despite their Third Order status.
• The Community of Francis and Clare (CFC) is a dispersed contemporary vowed religious community of women and men who live a common Rule and Life, prayer and service within the Episcopal Church (United States), its Communion Partners, and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The CFC seeks to follow Jesus in the footsteps of Francis and Clare by living simply and humbly, serving and praying with and for the marginalized members of the communities they live in, and by helping to re-build the Church in their contexts. As a contemporary expression of the Franciscan tradition, members – lay or clergy, partnered or single – live individually, in common, or with their families, and support themselves through secular or church-related employment. The members of the CFC vow poverty, chastity and obedience seeking to place these evangelical counsels into a contemporary expression (simplicity, fidelity, humility).[20] They have diverse ministries in their communities, as the Spirit and the needs of the church lead them. Founded on All Saints Day, November 1, 2018, the community has members in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.[21]

The Order of Lutheran Franciscans, founded in 2011, is a dispersed, "undifferentiated" Order in the tradition of the other Franciscan orders. Life-professed women and men, lay or ordained, make Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.[22]

In Europe, there are nine Franciscan third orders, two of which are commonly referenced.

Evangelische Franziskaner-Tertiaren (Lutheran Franciscan Tertiaries, officially "Evangelische Franziskanerbruderschaft der Nachfolge Christi") was founded in Germany 1927 within Hochkirchliche Vereinigung.

Franciskus Tredje Orden, FTO in Church of Sweden, is part of the European Province of the Third Order of the Anglican Society of St Francis. Stockholm based pastor Ted Harris is a well established member and contact man for Franciskus Tredje Orden.[23][24]

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• Evangelische Franziskaner-Tertiaren in Germany (in German)
• Franciskus Tredje Orden in Sweden (in Swedish)
• The Kanaan Franciscan Brothers
• Helige Franciskus Systraskap Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish)
• The Order of Saint Francis-Lutheran (OSF-L)
• Order of Lutheran Franciscans
• Franciscan Brothers of St. Michael Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine at website of Evangelical Marian Catholic Church
• Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy, United States
• Assisi-Kredsen (in Danish and English)
• Franciskus-Sällskapet i Finland (in Swedish)
• The Kanaan Franciscan Brothers

• Little Sisters of Saint Clare (LSSC)

• Order of Saint Francis – Province of Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Asia
• Order of Saint Francis – European Province
• Order of Saint Francis – Province of the Americas
• New Zealand Province

• Franciscan Community of Mercy

• Companions of Jesus
• Order of Ecumenical Franciscans
• Order of Lesser Sisters and Brothers
• Saint Francis Ecumenical Society

• Online guide to the Academy of American Franciscan History Microfilm Collection (1526–1972), The Bancroft Library
• Franciscan authors, 13th – 18th century
• Digital Franciscans