CONTEMPLATION

True humility is recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God.



Thomas Keating

CHAPTER EVENTS

We will share two periods of Centering Prayer and times of silent reflection. Reverend Dan Baughman from St. Mark United Methodist Church will lead a guided meditation.

Be open to receiving and giving. Bring a journal, notebook, or notepad and a pen for recording thoughts, prayers and reflections.

CHAPTER EVENTS - 2026

CONSIDER

Recovering Our Lost Treasure

"This is the human condition - to be without the true source of happiness, which is the experience of the presence of God, and to have lost the key to happiness, which is the contemplative dimension of life, the path to the increasing assimilation and enjoyment of God's presence.”

— Thomas Keating

Over the past several years I have been traveling to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where my ancestors lived, to research family history in the library archives of Eastern Mennonite University. I uncovered several diaries of my great great grandfather from the mid-1800's. I transcribed the handwritten entries of one these diaries recently and emailed the document and photographs of the pages of the diary to several of my Heatwole second cousins interested in the family history. 



CENTERING PRAYER GROUP HIGHLIGHT

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Centering Prayer Group

Almost a decade ago, Carol D. Lewis and Minta McDavid offered an introductory series on Centering Prayer at the historic church of St. Mary’s in Milton, Florida. Following our instruction, we formed a centering prayer group that continues to meet weekly on Wednesday mornings in the church at 10:15. Most of the current members were in the founding group of 12 and each person has been dedicated to the prayer individually and in the group. Since its inception, the group has incorporated a classic on contemplation as our lectio divina practice. Over the years, we have covered the Cloud of Unknowing, Abandonment to Divine Providence, as well as more recently, Keating’s Fruits of the Spirit. We spend about 15 minutes sharing what resonated to us from the readings and then we enter a 20 minute period of centering prayer. We use the bells recorded in the Contemplative Outreach app to begin and end the prayer period. We usually read a psalm, a spiritual poem, or a short biblical text prior to centering.

Our group is fortunate to be a part of the Wednesday morning offerings at St. Mary’s, including bible study, which follows centering prayer at 11 in the Rectory and Morning Prayer at noon back in the church. This special time of formation feeds us as one event leads into another. There is plenty of balance in our sequence of prayer, study and worship.

We have developed trust and authenticity as a group and our relationships with each other have grown closer as our prayer life deepens. There is a core group that is faithful to the practice, although we welcome those who come for a visit or become a new member. In fact, if someone new to centering prayer attends our session, we make sure we review the centering prayer guidelines and furnish the person with an introduction flyer from Contemplative Outreach.



We are blessed to have a supportive priest and parish at St. Mary’s. Centering Prayer has become an integral part of our church community and last year we partnered with our priest to host a Lenten Retreat that incorporated centering prayer, Taize music, and a Eucharist. Almost 60 people attended. 

LIBRARY CORNER

We recently received a donation from Will Turnipseed, who practices centering prayer and is currently attending the St. Christopher’s group on Wednesdays. Will is a seminary student at the United Seminary of the Twin Cities and one of his class assignments is to “go explore a library and contemplate some of the books, then make a presentation about it in class.” He asked if he could visit our library (of course). When he came by, he donated six of his books, which fit nicely in our collection.

These and other amazing books 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).

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Saturday, November 22

Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop

8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

St. Mary's Sewanee Retreat Center

Sewanee, TN

REGISTER HERE

Saturday, December 6

Advent Morning of Silence

10 a.m. - Noon

$10 per person

Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church

75 Fairpoint Drive, Gulf Breeze

REGISTER HERE

Saturday, January 24

Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop 2026

9 a.m. - Noon

Christ Episcopal Church

Pensacola, FL

REGISTER HERE



COMMUNITY

CONTINUING

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

CLICK HERE the mid-October E-Bulletin.

Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. website: CLICK HERE

Theological Principle #9 - We believe that the Christian contemplative tradition and its expression in service is the common ground for Christian unity.

Commentary - Christian contemplation is rooted in scripture and the principal mystics of the Christian tradition. Our contemplative heritage unites the members of the Christian denominations who share the same Baptism, faith in the living Christ, and trust in God.