Monasteries and convents are advertising "try being a monk/nun" weekends as a way of encouraging men and women into religious orders. The number of monks and nuns is falling so quickly that very soon there could be none left. In 2000, there were about 710 nuns and 230 monks in Anglican religious orders in Britain and Ireland. Eight years later, numbers are down more than a third - to 470 nuns and 135 monks.
It is no better for Roman Catholic orders. The Vatican revealed last year that numbers worldwide fell 10% in 2005-06 alone. The Conference of Religious in England and Wales represents around 80% of Catholic communities, some 4,930 nuns and 1,320 monks. In 2007, just 13 men and 16 women became novices. Numbers have been declining steadily for at least 20 years and the average age of entrants is much higher.
Many communities have begun to run residential "taster" weekends, often advertised in Christian newspapers. This weekend, four men will try out monastic life with the eight Redemptorist brothers of Bishop Eton Monastery, a Catholic foundation in Liverpool. Father Kieran Brady, of the order of the Redemptorists, said: "Like any organisation, we have to recruit. And this gives people a chance to experience our way of life and think about joining us. It's a dip-your-toe-in-the-water experience."
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