What is Iona House?
Iona House is a 71 acre monastic-inspired center for contemplation and Christian formation located in Placerville, CA. What you will discover when you visit is that Iona House is both a community and a place. Iona House offers a unique experience of formation within a communal setting, rooted within the Great Tradition of Christianity, in which all of life is structured in reference to Christ.
Iona House is inspired by, and operated in the spirit of, a monastic abbey. Guests are invited into an immersive ecosystem that features a simple rhythm of daily life experienced alongside our Residents and staff that includes liturgical prayer (Daily Office - 3 x’s a day), silence, solitude, study, fellowship, as well as formative agricultural experiences / physical work (for those who so desire). The whole experience provokes a new imagination for what it could look like to live life differently when guests return to their ordinary lives at home. In this sense, Iona House is best understood not merely as a place of retreat, but as a place of strategic formation. The essence of what we are doing echoes the ancient Celtic model of Christianity called the “Monasterium”
Iona House is a place created specifically to offer separation from ordinary life precisely in order to make possible an experience of intensification of one’s identity in Christ. Read more about how this works…
The Iona House Ethos
Highlighting Key Instincts informing our life together
Iona House exists as a prophetic witness seeking to remind the Church of its true identity. Without realizing it in many cases, the Church has accommodated itself to the form and spirit of the age. The truth is that we are all continually being spiritually formed. The question is, to what end, and by what? At Iona House we are actively engaging a kind of counterformation to that being offered by our culture and era, one rooted deep in the Christian faith in both content and form. Underlying our approach to all that we do at Iona House are some distinctive instincts.
Iona House operates with an instinct to…
…entrust ourselves to the Great Tradition of Christianity
We seek to be students of the wisdom, faith, and practice of the historic Church, particularly dialing in on the more united period of the first 1,000 years of the Church. The focus of the Great Tradition is Christ, Himself, who is the basis of a beautiful unity experienced at Iona House.
…be formed by Monastic Spirituality
At the heart of monastic spirituality is a single-minded focus on Christ, a disciplined lifestyle characterized by intentionality and order, and a comprehensive (head, heart, and hands) approach to Christian life - calling the total person into discipleship. Monastic spirituality is the opposite of hype; it is intentionally mundane, simple, and earthy.
…evaluate, critique, and question the assumptions of Modernity
So much of the confusion in the Church of our era can be traced back to underlying assumptions supplied by modernity that have been uncritically accepted by Christians. Iona House is a place to reimagine life in and through Christ in a way that consciously challenges key aspects of the zeitgeist of our era.
…reimagine an entire community-life (and place) around generosity
Inspired by the generosity of God, we make it our aim to offer all of Iona House as a gift - we do not charge a fee for any aspect of our ministry. In all that we do we are seeking merely to respond to, and echo, the generosity of God and extend what we have received to others. Operating this way stretches our faith and multiplies our joy.
The Iona House Village
The Village consists of the western portion of the campus which includes the Resident House, several guest cottages, the Village Prayer Chapel, the Spiritual Direction room, the Village Barn, four prayer huts, the Village Garden, and our animals. Currently our animals include a horse, a herd of goats, a llama, a mini-mule, chickens, and a duck. This portion of the campus is the currently developed portion of the campus.
The Village Barn area during a Friday Night Feast
Village Highlights
The Residency Program
We offer a unique extended, communal formation experience through our Residency program that comes the closest to the actual experience of monasticism. The Resident House has room for up to 8 residents who remain a part of the community life for a more extended period of time. The Residents hold the rhythm of life at Iona House and form a key part of our team. Resident life consists of three times of structured prayer/worship each day (morning, midday, evening prayer), as well as a mixture of study, work (agricultural, hospitality, maintenance, etc.), recreation, and rest.
For more information check out our Residency page.
A Working, Learning Farm
Currently we have a 3/4 acre garden plot in the Village that we are cultivating. We have a variety of fruit trees, flowering trees and shrubs, berries, vegetables, and more. It’s a favorite spot for many guests.
In the coming years Iona House envisions having approximately 3 acres of land devoted to regenerative agricultural production.
Learn more about the Farm…
The Village Prayer Chapel
We gather in this cute little chapel three times a day for the Daily Office (consisting of reciting Psalms, reading scripture, offering prayers of praise, intercession, and confession).
The Village Barn
We gather in the barn for Friday Evensong, special events, and for choir practice. It is also a place for workshops and gatherings. The back deck of the barn is where we have our weekly Friday Night Feast - a large potluck for our entire gathered community.
Prayer Huts
A prayer hut is a tiny cabin designed as a place of solitude, study, prayer, and silence. They are popular with folks looking for more of a hermit experience while at Iona House.
Other Ongoing Ministries of Iona House
Day Visit
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Iona House offers a sacred space for local community members and for any guests within driving distance to utilize for day use. The library, garden, and grounds are available for day-use guests. Day use guests are invited to participate in the collective prayer rhythms of morning, midday, and evening prayer. Guests may also enjoy serving as part of a core of volunteers who care for the campus and work in the garden.
Spiritual Direction
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Spiritual Direction sessions are available to be arranged upon request for guests Tuesday-Friday. On Saturday afternoon we offer a Communal Spiritual Direction experience for all campus guests and Residents. Spiritual Direction offered at Iona House is rooted in the Great Tradition of Christianity and exists to orient guests toward Christ.
FRIDAY EvenSong and
Friday Night FEAST
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All are welcome to join our weekly Evensong service each Friday at 4:30pm. This beautiful service combines elements from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer with ancient elements of Orthodox liturgy, music, prayers, and scripture. It is led by our Iona House Choir.
After Evensong our residents, staff, guests, volunteers, and friends gather for a shared meal (Friday Night Feast). It’s a time to meet new folks, reconnect, listen, share, and express gratitude as we enter into a joyful time of holy leisure together. We also learn about a new saint each week.
Iona House: A Sacred Place
Iona House is a place consecrated to Christ. It belongs to the Lord. As such it is a place of serenity, beauty, and life. From our labyrinth to our prayer trails to the prayer chapel to our village pond, there are an abundance of places on campus to pray, listen, and experience solitude.
A long-term vision for the development of
Iona House
As we look to the future we are excited to see Iona House grow and develop into its full mature form. What exists right now is a vibrant microcosm of the vision the Lord has given us. Below are some highlights of what is to come, Lord willing.
The Abbey: a monastic-inspired, immersive setting for weekly cohorts
Once constructed, facilities for approx. 40 guests featuring the Abbey Guest Lodge, the Commons with a theological library, fireside lounge, dining hall, star-gazing deck, and the Abbey Chapel for hosting all of the campus guests and residents for the Daily Office with capacity enough to seat a larger group for a lecture or special service.
(Picture to the left is only an example of what we imagine)
A Great Tradition Study Center
Iona House offers a unique place to learn, grow, experience, be stretched, and otherwise discover the fullness of the Christian faith. In particular we offer an invitation into learning the Christian faith of the first 1,000 years of the church (prior to the Great Schism between East and West and prior to all of the Protestant divisions). As a resource for guests and local community members we are developing what we hope will become a world-class private theological library for study. We already have approx. 3,000 books donated (and more pledged). We anticipate a library of over 10,000 books.
Regenerative Agriculture Orchard
As part of the development of the Abbey side of the campus we will plant approximately 1,000 fruit trees of different varieties to allow fresh fruit to be harvested from June-November. The agricultural aspect of Iona House is a key part of the spiritual formation curriculum we offer. Working with our hands, harvesting fruit, pruning, caring for trees - it’s all very biblical and monastic.
A historical model that informs our vision
The Story of the Iona Monastery
A short (4 min) video articulating our vision
The background and inspiration for Iona House
In a dark and confusing time, St. Columba and his companions established a monastery on the Island of Iona off the coast of present-day Scotland. This monastery went on to spur one of the greatest missionary movements in the history of Christianity.
Iona House… Continuing the legacy of St. Columba