August NEWSLETTER friend

CONTEMPLATION

“The spiritual journey can be a lonely road in the beginning. Later God will give us new friends. God does not take anything away except to give us something better.”

― Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian Contemplation

CONSIDER

...and the PRAYER DOES YOU

"Pray to your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:6 (NRSVUE)

When the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, they were asking: “How can we have a relationship with the Father just like you do?” Jesus told his disciples when they pray to go into their inner room and close the door and, "Pray to your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." We may wonder what Jesus meant by "in secret" and "reward," but listen to it this way: "Seek the God of Mystery and God will give you what you need without you knowing how.”

We don't really know what happens in Centering Prayer – we just do it because our Lord told us to do it. We simply trust in Jesus, we trust in the prayer, we trust in our mysterious God. God offers relationship through prayer, so we pray.

In Memoriam: Lynn Crevar

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Lynn Crevar on July 22. Lynn was a beloved and long-time member of our COPNS chapter before she moved to Athens, GA.

Lynn was deeply devoted to Centering Prayer, and was an active, guiding presence in our chapter for more than 15 years. As a trained facilitator, she co-led a Centering Prayer group at Christ the King Episcopal Church in Destin starting in 2019.

When she relocated to Athens, Georgia, in 2023, her dedication to the practice continued. She introduced many practitioners to the transformative power of silence by hosting an Introduction to Centering Prayer workshop in November 2024, which beautifully blossomed into a new group at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens.

Lynn was a spiritual leader, a talented artist and a dear friend to many. She had a wonderful sense of humor that brought light, laughter, and joy to everyone she met. She will be profoundly missed.

Please keep Lynn’s family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this loss.

Rest in God's peace, Lynn. Your beautiful art, joyful spirit, and unwavering dedication to our contemplative community will never be forgotten.

YouTube Video of Lynn Crevar and Fr. Richard

FINANCIAL OPERATIONS FOR COPNS

The Chapter’s Servant Leadership Circle (SLC) met on June 27 to discuss the Chapter’s financial philosophy, expenses, and procedures for sustaining our mission and actions. In the spirit of transparency, we are sharing the outcomes from that meeting.

These principles were based on the financial philosophy of the Center for Action and Contemplation.

Our Financial Philosophy

The SLC decided to adopt financial guidelines followed by Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. These include practicing transparency; never allowing money to be a barrier to participation; understanding exchanges of money first and foremost as vehicles for advancing our mission and message; committing to spending simply, equitably, and sustainably; and leading with giving and generosity.

Our Financial Expenses and Operating Procedures

Routine operating expenses total between $1,500 and $2,000 annually and include annual fees for our communications tools:

Our website hosting platform (Weebly),
Our email and social media platform that we use for our newsletter and event registration (Constant Contact), and
Our online video meeting platform that enables weekly virtual meetings of the SLC (Zoom).

LIBRARY CORNER

Let’s get back to our facilitators’ input on what our local centering prayer groups have found to be helpful readings. Joan White, the facilitator of the Christ Church centering prayer group, recommends The Inspirational Minute Book.

The Inspirational Minute Book is ideally suited for a weekly group because it contains 52 brief readings related to the liturgical calendar and space for daily journal entries, so that the reader can respond to a single reading for each day of the week and be prepared to share their reflections and revelations at the weekly meeting. The library has several copies of this book.

The Inspirational Minute Book from the Works of Thomas Keating, compiled by Sister Margaret AnnCalcutta and illustrated by Meredith Schifsky

These and other books on contemplation may be borrowed from the Carol D. Lewis Library housed in the Centering Prayer Room on the second floor of Christ Church's Education Building. The collection is listed by author, title, and subject in the library catalog: https://CenteringPrayerLibrary.librarika.com

There are no due dates or fines charged to use the collection. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or would like to donate materials, please contact the librarian Caroline Thompson, cthompson57@gmail.com.

COMMUNITY

Contemplative Outreach of Pensacola

PRAYER GROUPS

We welcome all those new to Centering Prayer as well as established practitioners to our Pensacola area prayer groups. Check with each group's facilitator to learn the current meeting status. Please contact Jenni Arnold if you need to make a change to a prayer group - copns44@gmail.com or 850-712-1634.

CLICK HERE for updated information

12 Step Outreach- Contemplative Outreach

For those interested in or currently practicing Centering Prayer as the 11th step, discover new opportunities to participate in monthly on-line Introductory workshops and countless other offerings.

CLICK HERE

Center for Sacred Space

Leads contemplative retreats and workshops that provide safe, sacred space for people to deepen their relationship with God and bring healing and wholeness to themselves and their community.

CLICK HERE

The Meditation Chapel

Find the Meditation Chapel schedule with instructions to register for access to the calendar of daily listings for opportunities to pray with others globally throughout the day and night. These groups have grown and matured since the early days of the pandemic. If you are looking for new connections for practicing centering prayer in community, give the Meditation Chapel a try.

CLICK HERE

St. Mary's Sewanee, TN

Calendar Events — St. Mary's Sewanee

Benedictine Sisters of Cullman, AL

Events | Benedictine Sisters of Cullman, AL

Websites of FL, AL, GA, LA, TN

Check out the websites of these regional Contemplative Outreach chapters to learn about their events, which include many free Zoom & in-person meetings.

CLICK HERE for a specific chapter's events.

Contemplative Outreach of Colorado

Website of events:

CLICK HERE

Closer Than Breath~ Founder Keith Kristich offers a weekly newsletter, monthly contemplative days, and events and resources to deepen contemplative practices.

CLICK HERE

Lindsay Boyer: Spirituality for Questioning Minds including teachings, contemplative practices, prayer groups, special Quiet Days:

CLICK HERE

Fr. Richard Rohr: Center for Action and Contemplation offerings for daily meditations, podcasts, subscriptions and other resources:

CLICK HERE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

COPNS Facilitator's Gathering

Saturday, August 22

10 a.m. - Noon

Trinity Presbyterian Church

3400 Bayou Blvd.

Pensacola, FL

Intro to Centering Prayer Workshop

Saturday, 10/24

9 a.m. - Noon

Christ Church

Pensacola, FL

CONTINUING

You are invited to enjoy the monthly Contemplative Outreach, Ltd E-Bulletin for beautiful offerings and E-bulletin.

CLICK HERE to read the mid-July E-Bulletin.

Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. website: CLICK HERE

The Contemplative Outreach YouTube Channel offers a treasure of free videos of

shorter and longer lengths:

Contemplative Outreach - YouTube

Theological Principle # 4 - Consenting to the Divine Presence and action within us is the heart and soul of Centering Prayer.

Commentary - To respond to the call of the Spirit is to consent to God’s presence and action within us and to the transformative process initiated by the Spirit, which enables us to participate in the divine nature and to become one family in Christ.

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