The revival of the Religious life among Anglicans was a significant feature of 19th-century ecclesiastical history. Communities that thrived achieved much in caring for the poor, in education, in hospitals and care homes, in orphanages, in parish work – as well as in their unmeasurable contribution to prayer and worship within the Church. They grew with astonishing speed to meet the needs of the society around them. The burst of energy and enthusiasm around this movement began to falter as the state gradually took over education and nursing, and other social projects in the following century. In addition, the Religious Orders revived in Victorian times adopted the then-fashionable Gothic image for their clothes and their buildings. By the mid-20^th century, this began to look old-fashioned and tied to a bygone age. But having been forged in a particular era, often in the face of hostility, communities found it hard to adapt. As vocations declined and communities aged, the era of the Revival was assumed to be coming to a close. However, in the present century, new expressions of community life are emerging whilst some of the older communities are seeing signs of new life. It is important for the encouragement of both those trends that the history and achievements of the Revival communities are recorded and celebrated. Even if they have faded away or there are now only a handful of older members left, these communities hold wisdom and understanding that can be passed on to whatever expressions of the Religious life are their heirs.

One such community (with just two Sisters remaining) is the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity. Professor Kujawa-Holbrook has provided us with a detailed and scholarly record of this important community of women. She provides a well-written account of the Revival in the Episcopal Church of the USA and the context for all that follows. The Sisterhood was active in ministries in parishes, in providing retreat houses, in the arts, in making vestments, and in education. It is inspiring to see how extensive the reach and effect of these Sisters have been over 140 years, despite the community never being numerically large, with 55 being the highest (in the 1940s). The Sisterhood was not without novices even in the 1970s and 1980s, but very few stayed the course to life profession and so came diminishment. In this respect, the history of this community is similar to others.

The questions that such a historical account prompts are – why did this community survive when others faltered – and then why did it fail to meet the challenge of survival in recent decades? The answers are complex, but they may be found in charism, leadership, and the interaction with societal changes. Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity (SHN) had a founding group of Sisters who worked together and created a charism that could inspire the next generation. They had emerged from an existing community, so were familiar with the challenges of the Religious life. Those Sisters also created a tight structure for SHN, centralized around the authority of the Reverend Mother, who appointed the other significant officials. But there was no overemphasis on the wishes of a founder, where nothing could be changed once that person stepped down. This balance was shown by the fact that branch houses were not allowed to become separate entities, yet Sisters were given opportunities for local leadership. Leadership potential was nurtured so that there was a succession of effective superiors.

Therefore, with good leadership and an effective charism, which saw SHN through several generations, why was it unable to survive in more recent times? There proved less flexibility over the challenges they faced in the post-1945 world. Divisions arose over the ordination of women, proposed alterations to practices and conventions, and new ideas for structure and leadership – all to be negotiated in a society around them that was changing rapidly. As numbers decreased, the Sisterhood had to close more and more of its mission houses – a necessary pruning, yet one that undermined the original charism. None of the efforts to reorient the shrinking community for the 21^st century succeeded. So, this history ends in what seems to be failure. Yet, one could see the demise as a sign of success – the task was completed, and so the need had been met. This can be seen as a success.

Therefore, the fact that this particular expression of the Religious life has declined does not mean that the values and impulse to Religious life are gone. Others follow in meeting the needs of the 21^st century, and the life takes on a different form. In that way, SHN’s history lives on, even though the community has faded. Those who seek to live the Religious life in the future will find inspiration from this community’s experience. It is a gift that we have such a detailed and helpful account to savour.