The Center for Prayer & Spiritual Practice is an intentional space for spiritual formation and practice at Grace Episcopal Church–and beyond. The claim that The Center is making is that any renewal of the church as a faithful community must be grounded in a transformation of the heart that comes from deepening our practice of prayer.
A core, foundational vision of The Center is that we seek to transform the community from the inside out. We ask how it might be possible to nurture a contemplative reformation of our community in this day and age. (For a deeper reflection on the elements of a “contemplative reformation,” explore HERE.)
We have an extraordinary opportunity to reform the way we understand the practice of faith in today’s world. With so much around us changing, and with so many challenges, the Spirit continues to call us toward a deeper and more substantial practice of prayer.
We also find ourselves in a situation where the institutional Church faces decline in terms of membership and attendance. Why is this the case? What questions do we need to ask, given that we truly believe in the life-giving presence of the Spirit that calls us to this shared ministry of reconciliation as a Christian community?
Given the clear indication of how spiritual life and practice is essential within Christian community, what if we focused our attention on the heart of our common life? Spiritual practice is like leaven in bread that encourages the life of the entire community to rise.
The Center for Prayer and Spiritual Practice at Grace offers a way to focus our attention—and intention—on the cultivation of an awareness of the indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ, beneath and within all aspects of what we may structure, those programmatic and ministerial aspects of the parish. The indwelling presence of the Spirit invites us to embody a transformative wisdom that reforms every aspect of our lives. Within a traditional parish community, we see the essential hope of human life. We see the rich potential of:
» The wisdom of relationship
» The wisdom of vision and insight
» The wisdom of embodiment
» The wisdom of story
» The wisdom of prayer practices
» The wisdom of spiritual imagination
These are the key pillars of our shared work within The Center for Prayer and Spiritual Practice, and we will offer many opportunities throughout the year for everyone to experience the potential for healing and wholeness that can be nurtured through them.
Throughout the year, we will offer various spaces for exploration, from classes to retreats to lectures, each of which will focus on an element of healing and wholeness.
To explore more, you can click HERE to go to the Grace Church website that houses further details.
(Archive): Dialogues of Creation: A Summer Series in June 2023
During the month of June, we hosted a class for almost 80 people both in person and online, as we reflected on the importance of understanding our creation myths/narratives. We delved into the meaning of “myth,” and its importance within religious practice. We paid particular attention, of course, to the Biblical creation myths, the variety of images we have in our texts that describe “where we come from” and “how we live in the world.”
We laid these Biblical stories alongside myths from the Hopi tradition, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Babylonian and Sumerian stories to highlight various emphases and distinctive elements.
Here is a recording of the reflection on Hopi and Ancient Egypt myths, inviting a conversation.
Thoughts on a Contemplative Reformation 