Agape Community

Founded in 1982, The Agape Community is a lay Catholic residential community, interfaith in practice and outreach, open to all spiritual seekers, located on 34 acres of wooded land in Central Massachusetts.  We are a sustainable community, committed to ecological practice, addressing climate change through lifestyle choices.

Land Acknowledgement: Massachusetts is located on unceded territory of Mohican, Nauset, Nipmuc, Pawtucket, Pokanoket, Pocumtuc, Wabanaki Confederacy, and Wampanoag Peoples, who have stewarded this land for hundreds of generations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide, forced removal and attempted erasure from this territory.  Agape is situated on colonized Nipmuc land.

Our fundamental community vision is born out of the lineage of gospel-based nonviolence, beginning Jesus through Dorothy Day and embracing anti-racist, gender inclusive values. We encourage training in and the practice of the nonviolent methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in concert with the Asian spiritual traditions and practices.

In this spirit, we endeavor to live in peace with our sacred earth and all its inhabitants by living:

Gospel Nonviolence

• Practicing nonviolent communication
• Teaching nonviolence and conflict resolution to college students and adults
• Engaging in public witness in opposition to war, institutional violence, racism, homophobia and persecution of migrants, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQ community.

Sustainable Ecology

• Our electrical energy is solar, and we have an electric car
• We cultivate an organic vegetable garden to support our vegan diet
• Our houses are heated by wood and our strawbale house has a compost toilet

Simplicity and Service

• Eating from food from the garden frozen for consumption and constituting 65% of our meals
• We endeavor to live free of fossil fuels
• Service to the poor in our midst: providing financial assistance and employment to marginalize low-income individuals and families in our immediate area
• We offer free hospitality for those wishing to find solace and healing in nature

Contemplative Prayer

• Ecumenical and interfaith in outreach, we pray twice a day with an optional evening meditation.
• Our hermitage offers residents and visitors a space for meditative silence
• Prayer includes silence, chanting, drumming and seeks to include all faith traditions, particularly honoring our Native Nipmuc land roots.