Hall of Tyrannus

Through a common rule of life, pastoral oversight, and intentional community, we help men grow in saintly virtue.

The Hall of Tyrannus is a community of Christian men (ages 18-35) who have agreed to live under a common rule of life and the spiritual direction of the clergy of Christ the King Anglican Church. They are devoted to growing in saintly virtue by living in harmony with their brothers, laboring in their respective occupations, and serving the church. Those who join this community and live at the house are choosing to give up the lifestyle that modern culture encourages young men to adopt and to pursue a life of cruciform faithfulness in community. To live in the Hall of Tyrannus requires that one embrace a specific ascetical, missional, and ethical form of life. This life is outlined as follows:

Ascetical Life:

• The three-fold rule of life: Weekly Eucharist, Daily Office, Personal Devotions

  • Weekly Eucharist: An attempt should be made to attend the Sunday Liturgy every week unless there is a canonically permissible reason for missing.

  • Daily Office: It should be a goal to pray Morning and Evening Prayer every day. The minimum requirement is that the Lord’s Prayer is said every morning and evening.

  • Personal Devotions: This includes fasting during Lent and Advent and adopting other forms of person devotion in consultation with your Spiritual Director.

• Communion: Have a shared meal with the whole house twice a week and say Evening Prayer together.

• Spiritual Direction: Agree to meet once a month with an appointed spiritual director and demonstrate a willingness to be mentored. Additionally, at least once a month, the clergy will attend the community meal in order to provide a prepared teaching or Bible study.

Missional Life:

• Church planting: Every man in the house should consider themselves a founding member of the church plant that will eventually be in Canton. This means that they should expect to be called upon to serve in different capacities as the church gets off the ground.

• Hospitality: The household together should uphold a commitment to hospitality, especially for other young men. This could be as simple as throwing feasts in which they invite other men to enjoy Christian friendship. More radical forms of hospitality can be considered in consultation with the clergy. The house should be a gathering place for the church plant, when appropriate.

Ethical Life: (these are summaries of the expectations)

• Chastity: All men are to strive to live a chaste life free from the sexual impurities.

• Temperance: “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.” (Titus 2:6) Although alcohol is a gift from the Lord, we also recognize its detrimental effects in society, particularly in how young men have been encouraged by the culture to misuse it. For this reason, we want this season to be one weighted towards growing in sober mindedness.

• Diligence: Every man will abhor the life of slothfulness and strive to fulfill the daily labor to which he is called. A diligent man persists in his labor even when challenges arise. This will apply to his actual job and to his labor and responsibilities around the house.

• Kindness: Each man will demonstrate a generous concern and consideration of his fellow housemates. This kind consideration of others should bleed into the mundane choices like not leaving a mess for others and even actively caring for one another.

• Patience: Every man in this house will strive to be slow to anger and patient with the faults of their housemates, knowing that God is even more patient with them. Disagreement is to be worked through with grace.

• Humility: The men of this house live to serve one another. No one’s needs are more important and no man is too great to perform the tedious jobs required to keep a clean and hospitable house. Every man is to demonstrate the virtue of service even when he feels that the others aren’t pulling their weight.

• Charity: Charity is love in action—love as the whole gift of the self to one’s neighbor. Every man is expected to give himself for the betterment of the others. Rather than imposing a thousand rules in order to establish a well ordered home, we require only the law of charity, knowing that this law will demand more than any set of commands.