The Jampot

Despite their priciness, the jams and rich baked goods here attract a steady flow of customers. The friendly monks themselves are the clerks.

To this idyllic spot next to Jacob's Falls, three monks (yes, monks - complete with hooded brown robes) withdrew from the world and faraway southern Michigan, to establish in 1983 the monastic community of the Society of St. John. Their mission, as explained in

Hard to believe this former soda fountain shop would become one of the Keweenaw's top attractions and the catalyst for a major spiritual center.

their online newsletter The Magnificat, is "to embrace the struggle of life in a hard place; to heed the counsels of the monastic fathers [they mention the desert monks of St. Anthony, fleeing the corrupt and unnatural world created by man], to come to know God through personal and liturgical prayer, and to beg His mercy upon ourselves and upon the whole world."

The Society is a Catholic Monastery of the Byzantine Rite, belonging to the Ukrainian Metropoly in the U.S., in union with the Pope of Rome. "We embrace evangelical poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability of life, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict," states its web site. Ukrainian Catholics have historically looked both to the east and the west.


Things have worked out well for the monks. Their location on a beautiful road busy with summer visitors has enabled them to build a market, without a phone and without much advertising, for their jam and their excellent muffins, breads, cookies, brownies, and giant chocolate chip cookies. Summer business has led to

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The splendid chapel of the Ukranian Catholic Church, an outgrowth of the monks' modest beginnings at the Jampot across the street. Visitors are welcome for daily 8 a.m. services.

lots of Christmas business shipping their jams and rich and delicious rum cakes, sold by mail and on the Internet via

Jacobs Falls, next to the Jam Pot, flows right next M-26. Weirdly, a motel once straddled Jacobs Creek on the other side of the highway. But in the 1950s, a beaver dam far to the east near the creek's source at Meadow Lake burst. The resulting tidal wave of water destroyed the motel.

www.societystjohn.com (The website also gives retreat information.) They have no phone number.

The long winter and physical bakery work meshes well with the traditional monastic life of contemplation. "The winter solitude and the healing presence of the Great Lake make this a good place to live out the monastic tradition," states the Magnificat.

Originally the monks gathered their own local berries for the jams and fruit butters they make, but now that work is paid, and sometimes steps over lines, neighbors feel. Some bakery customers become interested in the retreats offered to men¬¬ ¬— only men — who are clergy or are interested in pursuing a monastic vocation. Retreatants focus on celebrating the Divine Office and Divine Liturgy for four hours a day, and then meditate and reflecting in silence and solitude except for meals.

Increased business has, alas, necessitated a large parking lot which spoils The Jampot's early tucked-away mystique. The monks' elaborate, onion-domed Holy Transfiguration Skete has been constructed just east of The Jampot on Lake Superior's shore. A large surprise bequest from a distant customer enabled it to be built way ahead of schedule.

Visitors are welcome at Sunday Mass, but be prepared to stand — for up to two hours — and to be surrounded by incense. Check the Society's web site for details.

Getting back to food, the pumpkin muffin, full of raisins and nuts and iced with lemon frosting, wins raves for its flavor and texture. Just one with milk and a piece of fresh fruit makes a good lunch. The cakes - things like walnut ginger cake, lemon pound cake, the Abbey Cake, rich with walnuts, raisins, molasses, and bourbon - are quite elaborate and costly.

Orders can now be filled online — a convenience for customers, since the monks have no published phone number. The newsletter is filled with prayers, scripture, meditations, and reflection, plus descriptions of the monastic life in the far north. An excerpt: "When we hear the comment at the Jampot, 'Well, you certainly do live in God's country,' we are likely to respond, 'Everywhere is God's country.' If we are feeling talkative, we may also add, 'But it is easier to see Him in some places than in others.'" (—May, 2008)

Open Mon-Sat 10-5 Mem. Day thru color season. Early May by chance. No phone. Mailing address: Society of St. John, Star Route 1, Box 226, Eagle Harbor, MI 49950. societystjohn.com

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