CONSD offers local retreats, days of prayer, and formation events online and in-person. At the worldwide Contemplative Outreach Ltd. website, you can find the latest information on online and onsite retreats offered nationally and globally — see THIS LINK and click on the “Events” tab at the top right.
———–UPCOMING LOCAL EVENTS———–
*** Stay tuned for CONSD’s Zoom retreat on Saturday, January 25, with facilitator Elena Bertran. Details to come ***
———–SOME UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE U.S.———–
ONGOING: OPENING MINDS, OPENING HEARTS: A Podcast Series by Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., first launched in November 2022. With Colleen Thomas and Mark Dannenfelser. Seasons 1 and 2 of this podcast series are complete and available HERE or through your favorite podcast provider platforms. Interviewees include Carl McColman, Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown, Fr. Adam Bucko, Pastor Tia Norman, Fr. Greg Boyle, Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Heather Ruce, Dr. Rory McEntee, and others.
The Spiritual Journey Program for Young Contemplatives, with COL’s Young Contemplatives Community. The Spiritual Journey Program is a series of teachings structured in five parts. The program consists of 100 videos, all of which are accessible online. These teachings provide a backbone for the contemplative life and the psychological background for the work of Centering Prayer in the formation of our spiritual lives. Beginning Saturday, July 13th 2024 and each Saturday after, facilitators from our Young Contemplatives community will hold space for our 40s and under community to journey together through the program. Each Saturday for one hour, 10:30am – 11:30am (Eastern Time US) a facilitator will guide a small group through the program. The hour will consist of a short Centering Prayer sit, viewing of the video teaching from the week’s session, followed by a time of faith sharing and discussion around the week’s themes. These are open, drop-in meetings. No pre-registration is required. Anyone is welcome to join as often as possible! We recognize it may not be feasible to come every Saturday but do encourage you to follow along with the sessions, viewing the videos for the previous week(s) you may have missed. We ask that those who join do so with their camera-on. The Zoom space will be monitored by the facilitator(s) to create a sacred and safe space. If you are not able to be fully present and participatory with your camera on we kindly ask that you complete the session on your own and join us another week! For more info and to access the Zoom link, please click HERE.
Living Flame 2 Program, with COL’s Living Flame Service Team. Living Flame is a seven-day in-depth spiritual formation program presented over seven months by commissioned presenters of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. It’s designed to heighten the awareness of the dynamics of Centering Prayer in the context of the spiritual journey. This year’s Program (LF2) includes seven additional topics and is being offered globally on Zoom. Individuals and small in-person groups of five people or fewer are invited to participate. LF 2 is open to everyone who has participated in LF 1 as well as to those who have had a daily Centering Prayer practice for a year or more and who have reflectively read Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating. Registration and participation in the program is a commitment to all seven sessions. Topics for the Living Flame Program are noted in the Living Flame brochure. Each retreat-like day is facilitated in a five-hour scheduled format which includes: two periods of Centering Prayer; two presentations with Q&A; small group sharing; silent breaks, and time for a meal. Dates: 2024 – Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2. 2025 – Jan. 11, Feb. 1, Mar. 1, Apr. 5
Time: 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM Eastern Time (-5 UTC). For more info and to register, please click HERE.
A Morning of Peace and Refreshment via Zoom, hosted by Philippa Curry and Bob Blair. This will be a morning mini-retreat of Centering Prayer periods, contemplative breaks and lectio divina. As we enter the holidays, join us for a deepening of interior silence, as we rest together in God’s presence. Online, December 21, 8:45am to 11:45 am Pacific Time. For more info and for the Zoom link, click HERE.
New Year Silent Saturday with the Silent Saturday Centering Prayer Team. Begin the new year by deepening our relationship with God. Join us for a quiet morning of Centering Prayer and silence. The day provides time for communal Centering Prayer, a contemplative walk, and private journaling and reflection, and ends with a period of Lectio Divina. All are welcome. A brief introduction to Centering Prayer will be offered for those new to the practice. For more information, please email Marilyn Nobori at centeringprayer@hsrcenter.com. Registration online at www.hsrcenter.com is appreciated but not required. In person at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, CA, January 11, 2025, 9:00am to 12 noon Pacific Time. For more info click HERE.
A Time of Peace and Refreshment, with Bob Blair and Philippa Currey. In this mini-retreat, let the Holy Spirit fill you as you rest in periods of silent prayer, contemplative breaks, and lectio divina. Online, January 18, 8:45am to 11:45am Pacific Time. For more info and for the Zoom link, click HERE.
An Introduction to a Wisdom Way of Knowing: A Wisdom Practice Series, with Joy Andrews Hayter, Heather Ruce, and Catherine Regan. This is a series introducing some key elements of the Christian Wisdom tradition, particularly as synthesized by Cynthia Bourgeault. Wisdom has ancient roots and tends to re-emerge in our awareness in times of great individual and collective transition and turmoil. Wisdom is about seeing through the eyes of wholeness and is anchored beyond the changing circumstances of life. During this Wisdom Practice Series we will introduce teachings and practices that support us in the Wisdom Way of Knowing. These practices will include three-centered awareness, self-observation, centering prayer, sacred chanting, body movement, lectio divina, sharing and discussion. These are all in service of consenting to the presence and action of God in our hearts, the organ of spiritual seeing, and in our lives. The more we are able to put these into practice, the better our ability to respond to what is needed in the world. Online, January 18, January 25, and February 1, 2025 — meetings on each of these days from 9:30am to 12:30pm Pacific Time. For more info and to register, click HERE.
The Contemplative Heart of Unity: A Retreat Into Oneness Through Centering Prayer, with Closer Than Breath. In a world where division and disconnection often overshadow our shared humanity, the call to unity has never been more urgent. The 4th annual online Centering Prayer Summit offers a sacred space to move beyond personal peace to embrace a shared, universal connection with the Divine and with all of creation. Guided by renowned contemplative teachers, including Cynthia Bourgeault, we’ll explore how contemplative prayer not only deepens our relationship with God but also weaves us us closer to one another, illuminating our shared journey. Online, January 25 & 26, 2025. For more info and to register, click HERE.
The Body’s Bridge to the Experience of Living in God: Exploring BioSpiritual Focusing. Two Jesuits, Fr. Edwin McMahon and Fr. Peter Campbell, incorporated the embodied practice of Focusing into the larger context of BioSpirituality. Their work opens us to know ourselves as living within the greater Whole, the Body of Christ. During this day, we’ll experience BioSpiritual Focusing and explore, among other things, the embodied experience of grace and becoming a living expression of love. We’ll learn to reconnect to ourselves, one another, and to God, the Reality in whom we live and move and have our being. In person and online, January 25, 2025, 8:30am to 4:30pm Eastern Time. For more info and to register, click HERE.
Centering Prayer and Three-Centered Knowing: A Silent Centering Prayer Wisdom Retreat, with Joy Andrews Hayter, Heather Ruce, and Catherine Regan. In this retreat we will explore Centering Prayer as a practice, in a way suitable for those new to it, as well as for those who have been practicing for a long time. Along with this, we will explore three-centered knowing, not just with our heads but with our entire physical, emotional, and intellectual being. In The Wisdom Jesus, when Cynthia Bourgeault talks about tuning into Jesus as a living being here with us now she says, “It’s not knowing something more, like a new fact or piece of esoteric information; it’s knowing deeper, knowing with more and more of your being engaged.” Join us in person at the Mercy Center, where we will gather together and practice silence, Centering Prayer, and wisdom practices of chanting and movement that will help to engage our whole being. There will be some group sharing during teaching sessions, but you are welcome to stay silent at those times too. In person at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA, February 7-9, 2025. For more info and to register, click HERE.
Black Contemplative Prayer Summit, hosted by Pastor Tia Norman. Join us for a transformative experience at the First Black Contemplative Prayer Virtual Summit, where we bring together Black spiritual teachers and thought leaders to lead a powerful and enriching dialogue on prayer and practice. This summit is designed for everyone, led by Black voices, and aimed at diversifying the contemplative space. Speakers to include: Julian Davis Reid, Colleen Thomas, E. Trey Clark, Leonetta Elaiho, Shawn Ellison, Cameron Johnson, and keynote Cole Arthur Riley. Online, February 22-23, 2025. For more information and to register, please click HERE.
Spirituality of the Earth: Thomas Berry’s Wisdom for an Interspiritual Age. Thomas Berry, C.P., arguably the father of “ecological spirituality,” anticipated by decades the contemporary turn toward Earth as the living home of incarnate divinity, exhorting us to awaken to our sacred role within the “New Story” and the “Great Work” in a living community honored and protected as “a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.” Come meet Thomas as the Spiritual Master of the Ecological Age. In person and online, February 22, 2025, 8:30am to 4:30pm Eastern Time. For more info and for the Zoom link, click HERE.
Blooming in Centering Prayer with Visio Divina (first Saturday of every month). A half day Centering Prayer/Welcoming Prayer mini-retreat via Hawai?i (1st Saturday of every month). First Saturday online retreats are a special time where we explore our Centering Prayer practice. We are looking forward to sharing Physio-Divina (Moving) practices, Visio-Divina (Visual-Art) practices, Terra-Divina (Nature), Lectio-Divina (Sacred Text) practices in addition to the Centering Prayer and Welcoming Prayer practice that are our foundation. Pulelehua, Liedeke, and Margie welcome all who wish to join us. Online, March 1, 2025. 7:00am to 9:30am Pacific Time. For more info and for the Zoom link, click HERE.
Lenten Silent Retreat, with the monks of Valyermo. During these days of silence at the monastery, the whole Church begins the sacred season of Lent. Short reflections will be offered daily, emphasizing the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The desert silence and the monastery’s liturgies will provide an atmosphere conducive to deep reflection. This is a wonderful opportunity to make our Lenten pilgrimage more fruitful this year. In person at St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, CA, March 4-7, 2025. For more info and to register, click HERE.
United in Prayer Day, with Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. A free, globally-hosted 20+hour day of prayer accessible via Zoom. In the global unity of silence as God’s first language, we hold vigil for suffering humanity and all creation, and we honor Fr. Thomas Keating’s birthday (March 7), and the growing presence of Christ among us. Join in silence and community at any time, as many times as you are able. Each hour will include at least 20 minutes of Centering Prayer and an offering from the hosting group. As we participate in this community prayer, let us remember and hold in our hearts all the members of the worldwide Centering Prayer community who do not have access to Zoom / internet technology, including those who live in remote areas and those who are incarcerated. On Zoom; no registration necessary. The event begins on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 9pm Eastern Time and continues through March 15, 2025. For more info, please click HERE.
Serenity Retreat: Cultivating Rhythms of Wholistic Wellness, with Susan YIM. Serenity is a universal need, though often elusive in our fast-paced, tension-filled lives. While the world’s demands create stress and chaos, serenity offers a path toward peace, grounding us in a state of calm that nurtures our deepest sense of well-being. Far more than the absence of conflict, serenity is a practice that leads us toward wholeness, balancing the body, mind, and spirit in a way that sustains health and harmony. Through contemplative practices such as guided meditation, silence & solitude, creative activities, and reflective storytelling, this retreat will provide the space and tools needed to develop personal rhythms of wholistic wellness. Together, we will explore how serenity, when nurtured, can become a source of strength that transforms our inner lives and how we engage with the world. Ultimately, Serenity invites us to find peace in our imperfect lives, rest in God’s presence, and cultivate wholeness in a broken and troubled world. In person at St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, CA, March 17-19, 2025. For more info and to register, click HERE.
Nine-Day Intensive, Post-Intensive Retreat, sponsored by Contemplative Outreach. This retreat offers three tracks simultaneously: Intensive I, Intensive II and Post Intensive. For everyone, there will be 3 sets of two 30 minute periods of Centering Prayer daily. Intensive I and Intensive II will watch video talks from Fr. Thomas Keating’s Spiritual Journey. Intensive I focuses on “The Human Condition and the Spiritual Journey”. Intensive II focuses on “Divine Love: The Heart of the Christian Spiritual Journey”. The Post Intensive has no videos and an additional hour of Centering Prayer each day. You choose the track that works best for you. Any of the tracks may be repeated multiple times. If this is your first Centering Prayer retreat of this length, we suggest you choose Intensive I. We recommend attending Intensive I before Intensive II. Lectio Divina and a contemplative Eucharist will be offered daily, as well as optional soul-friending with the staff. Throughout the retreat, we will be in silence. Pre-requisite: A daily practice of Centering Prayer for 6 months or longer. In person at the Mercy Center in Auburn, CA, March 19-27, 2025. For more info and to register, please click HERE.
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Scholarships to attend retreats and events are available from CONSD and from Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. Please email consdinfo@gmail.com to inquire.
For more information on CONSD events, call Linda Dollins at (760) 743-8297 or Mary Williams at (760) 822-3916.
For information on COSD (Contemplative Outreach of San Diego) events, see the COSD website, www.contemplativeoutreachsd.org