8-day Centering Prayer Intensive and Post-Intensive Retreats
January 6-13, Sunday 6 pm until Sunday 11 am Intensive Retreat: This retreat is designed for those who desire a more intense experience of this form of prayer. While silence in community is observed a good portion of each day, there are opportunities for questions and comments. Retreatants will participate in worship, Centering Prayer, and instructional sessions. There will be ample opportunity for solitude and reflection, light exercise and private interviews, if desired, to facilitate an ever deepening level of interior silence and attentiveness to the presence of God.
The retreat is recommended for persons who have completed the Introductory Workshop or persons who have a regular practice of Centering Prayer.
Post-Intensive Retreat: Running concurrently with the 10-day Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat, this retreat is for those who have previously made a 10-Day Intensive Retreat. There will be increased silence and additional periods of Centering Prayer to facilitate an ever increasing intimacy with God. This is facilitated through the cultivation of a deep level of interior silence in a nurturing, supportive environment that combines both solitude and community. The Post Intensive is a next step into a profound silence and stillness in order to facilitate a more intimate union with God.
Presenter:
The Rev. Tom Ward, Episcopal priest for over thirty years, served parishes in
Mississippi and Tennessee and recently retired as the University Chaplain at Sewanee, the
University of the South. Tom now focuses on the contemplative dimension of the gospel, teaching
centering prayer and leading retreats that deepen one’s relationship to the Trinity who dwells
in our hearts as well as in the world around us. He has been practicing Centering Prayer for 19
years and has a special interest in fostering this practice in local congregations. For the
past fifteen years Tom has worked closely with Thomas Keating and Contemplative Outreach Ltd.,
a network which seeks to foster contemplation, and serves as a member of the Advisory Board of
Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.Residential Fee: $575 Deposit: $50