MONASTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

What MONASTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT does

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit is a Cistercian (Trappist, OCSO) contemplative monastery founded in 1944 in Conyers, Georgia, when 21 monks from Gethsemani Abbey took up residence on the old Honey Creek Plantation. Its core activity is the monastic life of prayer (seven daily liturgical hours), work, and contemplation, governed by the Rule of St. Benedict. The monastery supports itself through a portfolio of self-sufficiency trades under the umbrella of "Abbey Trades": the Monks' Bakery (producing fudge, fruitcake, and biscotti using traditional recipes), the Stained Glass Studios (operating since 1957 and producing custom commissions for churches, public buildings, and private homes domestically and internationally), and Honey Creek Woodlands, a 70-acre natural/green burial ground within 1,000+ acres of permanently protected wetlands, streams, and hardwood forest.

The organization operates on a direct-to-consumer and direct-to-institutional basis through an on-site Abbey Store (Tuesday–Saturday), a dedicated e-commerce site (HolySpiritMonasteryGifts.com) with toll-free mail order, and direct enterprise sales of stained glass commissions and burial plots. Hospitality and educational revenue is generated through monthly Highlights & Insights Tours ($20/person, ticketed via Eventbrite), multi-day spiritual retreats, the Monastic Guest Program (month-long immersive stays for men 21+), and the 17,000-square-foot Monastic Heritage Center opened in 2011. Pricing is unit-based for tours, burial plots, and most products; stained glass and retreats are individually negotiated.

Primary customer segments are spiritual seekers and retreatants (individuals across faith traditions), natural-burial families and individuals, churches and institutions procuring stained glass, and a broad base of donors and benefactors supporting the Season of Renewal Capital Campaign. The monastery is a private non-profit Catholic institute under the Archdiocese of Atlanta; it is not publicly traded and holds assets in common under monastic vows. Governance rests with the monastic community led by the eighth Abbot, Augustine Myslinski, OCSO (elected 2016). Strategic positioning is reinforced by partnership with the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance (since the federal designation in 2006), which designates the monastery as a key gateway for heritage tourism.

Name

MONASTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Legal name

Monastery of the Holy Spirit

Website

https://trappist.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1944

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit is a Cistercian (Trappist) contemplative monastery in Conyers, Georgia, founded in 1944. It serves spiritual seekers, churches, and burial-ground customers through a bakery, stained glass studio, conservation burial ground, retreats, and tours.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious and Spiritual Retreat Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Religious Organizations (81311), Religious Organizations (813110), Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Religious Orders & Monastic Communities (Monasteries, Convents) (BPAGAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG), Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL), Religious & Sacred Sites Tours (THAJAAAF)

Keywords

• Contemplative retreat services
• Artisan monastery bakery
• Stained glass craftsmanship
• Conservation burial ground
• Monastic guest programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Conyers

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales (Abbey Store & E-commerce): Sale of gourmet food products (fudge, fruitcake, biscotti made by monks), religious gifts, books, and stained glass items through the Abbey Store and online at HolySpiritMonasteryGifts.com
2. Custom Stained Glass Commissions: Design and construction of custom stained glass windows for churches, public buildings and private homes domestically and internationally
3. Tours and Retreat Programs: Revenue from Highlights & Insights Tours ($20 per person), retreat accommodations, and the Monastic Guest Program
4. Burial Plot Sales: Sales of plots for natural/green burial at Honey Creek Woodlands, with a portion invested into permanent endowment for conservation and restoration
5. Donations and Fundraising: Online and mail donations supporting the Season of Renewal Capital Campaign for building fund and general operating needs; memorial and tribute gifts

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit is a Cistercian (Trappist) contemplative community that operates a portfolio of hospitality, retail, and burial services. Its primary offerings include spiritual retreats, guided monastery tours, a Monastic Guest immersion program, and prayer-request ministry, supported by self-sustaining "abbey trades" — an artisan bakery producing fudge, fruitcake, and biscotti; a stained glass studio creating custom windows; and a Honey Creek Woodlands natural burial ground. Products and experiences are distributed through the on-site Abbey Store and the HolySpiritMonasteryGifts.com e-commerce site, with operations funded partly by donations.

Product overview

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit offers a portfolio of contemplative and hospitality services, including bakery products (fudge, fruitcake, biscotti), handcrafted stained glass windows, natural burial services at Honey Creek Woodlands, spiritual retreats, guided monastery tours, and a Monastic Guest Program for extended stays. Products are sold through the Abbey Store and online at holyspiritmonasterygifts.com. The monastery, a Cistercian (Trappist) community founded in 1944, operates the Monastic Heritage Center as its visitor welcome facility and maintains the Honey Creek Woodlands conservation burial ground across 1,000+ protected acres.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Honey Creek Woodlands: Conservation burial ground offering natural/green burial services, nested within 1,000+ acres of permanently protected wetlands, streams, and native hardwood forests.

Products and services

• Monks' Bakery The Monks' Bakery produces fudge (Chocolate, Southern Touch with peach morsels and pecans, Maple Walnut), Southern-style fruitcake aged with peach brandy and sherry, and biscotti with fruits and nuts, sold to individual consumers.
• Stained Glass Studios The Stained Glass Studios design and construct custom stained glass windows for churches, public buildings, and private homes throughout the United States and internationally, in operation since 1957.
• Honey Creek Woodlands Conservation Burial Ground A natural/green burial ground offering burial plots using plain pine boxes or shrouds, accepting cremated remains, with a portion of plot sales invested in a permanent conservation endowment.
• Abbey Store / Online Gift Store Physical retail store (open Tuesday-Saturday) and online store at HolySpiritMonasteryGifts.com selling bakery products made by the monks, religious gifts, books, and stained glass items to individual consumers and mail-order customers.
• Spiritual Retreats Weekend and midweek retreat programs providing spiritual renewal, contemplative prayer, and immersion in monastic life for individual retreatants of all faiths.
• Highlights & Insights Tour A two-hour docent-guided tour offered the second Saturday of each month at $20 per person (ages 13+), providing access to the Abbey Church, stained glass, and normally closed areas of the monastery.
• Monastic Guest Program An immersive residency program for men 21 and older to live alongside the monks according to the full monastic schedule — Vigils, Mass, work periods, and communal prayer — with a minimum one-month stay.
• Monastic Heritage Center A 17,000-square-foot visitor center that opened on May 6, 2011, incorporating both new and renovated historic monastery structures and including the Visitor Center, Historic Barn, Abbey Gift Shop, Café, Central Courtyard, and Memorial Plaza.
• Prayer Request Ministry An intercessory prayer ministry in which the monastic community accepts prayer requests from individuals, families, and nations and lifts them in the community's daily prayer schedule.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Arabia Mountain Heritage Area AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006The monastery is designated as a key gateway for the 7,000-acre Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. The Federal Government signed the heritage area into law in fall 2006. The partnership promotes heritage tourism, nature trails including the Rockdale River Trail, and environmental conservation. The Alliance sponsors monthly Highlights & Insights Tours at the monastery.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New Melleray Abbey: A Trappist monastery in Peosta, Iowa operating under the same Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance. It runs its own commercial abbey trades (scrapbooking/woodwork/hosting) and offers retreats with a similar contemplative hospitality model.
• Mepkin Abbey: A Trappist monastery in South Carolina with a working mushroom farm, retreat house, and cremation/woodland burial services. Directly comparable in operations: monastic community, commercial abbey trades, retreat programs, and conservation burial grounds.
• Mount Angel Abbey: A Benedictine (not Cistercian) abbey in Oregon with comparable offerings including a working bakery, seminary, retreat house, and the Abbey Foundation. Comparable as a U.S. monastery with diversified commercial operations and retreat programs, though under a different monastic order.
• St. Meinrad Archabbey: A Benedictine monastery in Indiana operating a seminary, retreat house, and Abbey Press publishing ministry. Comparable as a long-standing U.S. monastery combining contemplative life, hospitality, retreat programs, and commercial operations.
• Assumption Abbey (Missouri): A Trappist monastery in Ava, Missouri that hosts retreats, produces artisan goods, and offers Trappist gifts. Comparable as a working Trappist community with similar hospitality and small-scale commercial activities.
• Buckfast Abbey: A Trappist monastery in Devon, England known for Buckfast Tonic Wine and beeswax production. Highly comparable as a Trappist abbey that combines brewing/food production with hospitality, retail, and extensive visitor tours.
• Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani: The founding monastery of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit (1944). It is a Trappist (Cistercian) abbey in Kentucky that operates the same contemplative model, with analogous abbey trades (cheese, fruitcake, baked goods) and retreat programs, making it the closest direct comparable.
• Holy Cross Abbey (Berryville, Virginia): A Trappist abbey in Virginia running a retreat house and gift shop with spiritual products. Comparable as a U.S. Trappist monastery operating a hospitality/retreat model with limited but distinct commercial revenue.
• St. Joseph's Abbey (Spencer, Massachusetts): A Trappist abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts that runs the Spencer Brewery (Trappist beer) and abbey food products, with on-site retail and retreat ministry. Its multi-stream commercial operating model parallels the Monastery of the Holy Spirit's abbey trades.

Others

• Green Burial Council: An industry organization advancing natural/green burial practices in North America. Comparable as it sets standards and promotes the same conservation burial model (e.g., Honey Creek Woodlands) that the monastery operates, shaping the broader market environment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/monasteryoftheholyspirit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/monastery-of-the-holy-spirit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MONASTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT