ADDISON TWP. – North America’s only Lutheran monastery is in the process of expanding its facilities, but it’s in need of some financial assistance to finish the job.
St. Augustine’s House, located at 3316 Drahner Rd. between Barr and Hosner roads, is in the process of constructing a two-level building containing approximately 9,000 square feet of additional living space for retreatants/guests and residents of the religious community established in 1958.
It will contain 10 bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom, a gathering space, utility rooms, an elevator and public restroom facilities for the monastery’s chapel known as the Church o

f the Visitation, which has been in use since June 2001.
“It will be versatile,” said Father Richard Herbel, who’s lived at the monastery since 1981 and served as its prior for 31 years. “We could divide it. Maybe put guest rooms on the bottom level and residents on the top or vice versa. Or (use it for) all residents or all guests.”
The project, which began a year ago, is about 60 percent complete.
“The expectation is to be finished by September,” said Father John Cochran, the monastery’s prior since 2014.
An additional $300,000 to $400,000 is required to complete the building.
“That would put us over the top,” Cochran said.
St. Augustine’s House is planning to borrow what it needs from a financial institution. The monks are hoping some generous donors will step up and either reduce the size of the loan needed or help pay off the debt.
The monastery has a very good track record when it comes to meeting its financial obligations.
“If you take the period from 2000 until about 2012, we spent more than $1 million here (building) a new church, a new residence building. We redid the parking areas, all the infrastructure stuff,” Cochran said. “By 2013 or 2014, we were debt-free, completely debt-free. We have a good, solid base of support (from contributors).”
The monastery currently has 14 beds available for residents and retreatants. Right now, it houses four residents and three long-term guests, who have been there for a year. One of those guests is preparing to leave.
Before the advent of the internet, St. Augustine’s House was just this 42.3-acre place tucked away in the woods. It relied on word-of-mouth and exposure in religious journals as its primary means of advertising.
Now, thanks to the monastery’s website and Facebook page, the number of people who want to visit and stay there as retreatants/guests has been increasing.
“It’s a little more every year,” Cochran said. “It’s very different from the way it was before.”
And they’re not just from Michigan. Many are from around the country.
“We get all these reservations from people and often, we don’t have any idea where they’re coming from until they get here,” Cochran said.
The reasons why retreatants seek out St. Augustine’s House are many and varied. Some come to a take a break from their hectic everyday lives. Some come seeking spiritual enlightenment. Some come to work on their doctoral dissertation. Some come to kick off their sabbatical.
“We have people who come just for the day, but the usual retreatant is here for (anywhere from) three or four days (to) a week or a week-and-a-half,” Cochran said.
At the monastery, Cochran said retreatants find “silence,” beautiful wooded surroundings and hiking trails, and “ample time and space” for reflection, conversation and finding direction.
About three hours a day at the monastery is spent in prayer in the chapel.
Herbel said this routine creates a power visitors can feel.
He compared a monastery to a nuclear reactor. In both places, everyone there is so focused on what they’re doing, visitors immediately feel their “attention directed to something that’s unseen, but real and important and powerful.”
“You know you’re in the presence of something very mysterious,” Herbel said.
Life at the monastery is very different from the outside world, according to Cochran.
“It’s a complete change of pace when you step from out there into here,” he said.
Prior to moving to St. Augustine’s House eight years ago, Cochran had been a frequent guest since 1961. It gave him a break from the busy inner-city ministry work he did in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for 42 years.
There is no fixed fee for a retreat. However, there is a suggested donation of $30 to $35 per day. Those of limited means can offer what they’re able to afford.
Visitors aren’t the only ones expressing more of an interest in St. Augustine’s thanks to the internet.
“We get about one request a week from persons who want to know about becoming monks,” Cochran said. “It’s a rather surprising uptick in that.”
To learn more, please visit www.staugustineshouse.org or follow them on Facebook at St. Augustine’s House Lutheran Monastery.