Wisconsin monks blend Web business

Wisconsin monks blend Web business, prayer life

By Michelle Martin
Catholic News Service

{Sent to us by: Archbishop +Michael Damian Benedict, OSB}

CHICAGO (CNS) -- A thousand years ago, monks spent their days copying manuscripts, illuminating Bibles and spreading knowledge both sacred and secular.

So why, Cistercian Father Bernard McCoy wonders, does it come as any surprise that his small abbey in Sparta, Wis., is supporting itself and its good works by engaging in the enterprise of the information age?

Father McCoy, 37, led his brother monks to start Lasermonks.com two years ago as the community looked for a new way to raise money.

"What a lot of Americans don't get is that abbeys -- Benedictines and Cistercians -- have to support themselves, so they're not just living off donations," he said.

Lasermonks offers toner and inkjet cartridges for printers; the cartridges are brand name, manufactured by third parties or refurbished. They are sold at a significant savings over retail stores, with the exact savings varying by product. Churches, schools and nonprofit organizations can take advantage of free shipping as well.

Traditionally, monks have used agriculture, or marketed products such as jams, jellies and fruitcakes. More recently, some monasteries have begun producing and selling caskets, with Trappist Caskets being perhaps the best known.

Others, like the Monastery of the Holy Cross on Chicago's South Side, have begun to act as distributors for other religious communities. The Monastery of the Holy Cross also runs a bed-and-breakfast.

The Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank had moved from a site in Oconomowoc, Wis., to its site near Sparta in 1984, Father McCoy said. After they settled in and several younger members completed their formal education, the community began looking for a way to make money.

Ideas ranged from growing shiitake mushrooms to operating a conference center and golf course. As Father McCoy, the abbey's steward of temporal affairs, investigated the options, he spent a lot of time at his computer, and ran a lot of things through his laser printer.

But when it came time to order more toner, he was shocked at the price. "It seemed like an awful lot of money for a little black dust," he said.

He thought the monks could find a way to provide the products for less. And with the creation of Lasermonks.com, a for-profit company owned by the monastery, they have.

"An income project that was based on a necessary consumable item, like toner and ink cartridges, was exactly what the monastery needed -- a solid, consistent income that would not be affected by difficult economic times," Father McCoy said. "We offer something people would need to buy anyway, at a lower cost, and they support good works. And we offer a unique perk -- the monks will pray for you."

Of course, no purchase is necessary for prayer requests.

Father McCoy serves as CEO, but the nuts-and-bolts operation is outsourced to a third company, Monk Helper Marketing, which was formed by two women who originally had planned to get out of the imaging supplies business and offered to give the monks their customer list.

Another corporation, this one nonprofit, handles the charitable projects the monks help fund with their profits.

And profits there are. In the first year of operation, the monks grossed only about $2,000. The next year, 2003, they grossed about $500,000, Father McCoy said. This year, they're on track to make five times as much, with plans to expand by offering their own line of products and to begin offering general office supplies as well as toner and ink.

The five monks who live at the abbey -- one member is in a nearby nursing home -- all help out in areas where they have particular talents, Father McCoy said. For example, the prior, Father Robert Keffer, deals with graphics and does cartoons of the monastery's two dogs for the Web page.

Despite the modern business, the monastery maintains the order's 900-year-old tradition, spending much of the day in prayer and in Gregorian chant. "We spend four and a half hours a day in the (Divine) Office," Father McCoy said.

The tradition of living according to the Rule of St. Benedict extends to the business side of the operation as well, Father McCoy said, in the hospitality shown to customers.

"The Rule of St. Benedict says we must treat every guest as if he or she was Christ," he said. "That applies whether they come to us through the front door, over the telephone or through the Web portal."

Editor's Note: More information is available on the Internet at: www.lasermonks.com.