Home :: Contemplative Outreach Website

Last update February 2010

Click one of the following menu items:

NEWS   EVENTS   CP CIRCLES   SPECIAL INTERESTS   SERVICES

NEWS

Welcome to Oregon Contemplative Outreach's LINKS web page. Our hope is that this site will be both interesting and informative. We will be adapting it according to your needs and desires, so comments are welcome at any time. Please e-mail for and comments and suggestions.

The Healing Circle of Family

I am extremely thankful for centering prayer, centering prayer group members and the two-year Contemplative Life Program. Together they have been a catalyst to a deeper healing in my life.

I started attending group about five years ago. My counselor/spiritual director encouraged me to attend a group, saying they would show acceptance and unconditional love. I had a great fear of being in any group. Speaking out loud in a prayer group was very hard for me because of a difficult anxiety/thought disorder. I was relieved to discover that what my counselor said about the group was true. The acceptance of the group helped me to continue to battle my fears.

I kept attending despite my weakness of afflictive chaotic thoughts and emotions and faltering speech. I found the acceptance, comfort and care that the group gave was just what I needed. The wisdom of the materials and hearing members share their own difficulties was very helpful as I continued in the practice. The supportive atmosphere helped me deal with my huge fear of emotional unloading. As others shared their unloading experiences, it gave me strength to continue the process.

God is slowly freeing me from the tyranny of the harshness of judging others, feeling judged by others, and a deep fear of Him. This allows me to focus on and live in His comforting, gentle, powerful loving presence. Trying to maintain mental and spiritual health through the conventional therapies and medicines could not achieve what only God could do through the simple practice of centering prayer and being in community with others.

Lately I’ve experienced changes in my life with small steps and growth in levels that I didn’t expect. The encouragement from my daily centering prayer, seeing a counselor, and attending an on-going centering prayer group has given me more confidence in approaching God and sharing His love with others. When the group leader was out of town, I was able to lead the prayer group. I also have more clarity of thinking and less anxiety when sharing and praying during Lectio Divina.

I’ve deeply longed for these moments of connection with God which brings tears of gratefulness to my heart. I deeply appreciate experiencing the love of God through the friendship I have found in the centering prayer group. This has helped me accept myself, weaknesses and all. I’ve grown to extend that love outward to my family and church members.

I want to thank the person(s) who sent me an invitation through the mail to participate in the Contemplative Life Program. I am grateful to have taken that path.

Accepting human weaknesses and bringing spiritual truths together in the silence and within the presence of others is very powerful.

For me, this is family.

God bless you all!
Christina Darnell

Feel free to download the January 2010  newsletter (a pdf, 208 KB). It contains news and retreat opportunities in Oregon, Washington.

NEWS   EVENTS   CP CIRCLES   SPECIAL INTERESTS   SERVICES

EVENTS

Click Here for printable Registration Form (opens in new window) For listings of retreats please see our January 2010  newsletter (a pdf, 208 KB). Scholarships Scholarships may be available for workshops and retreats so that finances do not need to be an obstacle to deepening your CP practice. Follow this link to a printable Scholarship Request Form (opens in new window,  best if printed with all margins at .5")

STAY CONNECTED Sign up for monthly e-news bulletins from Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. Please leave this field empty

RETREATS

 

Our Settings: 

The Trappist Abbey offers opportunities with the monks for daily mass and the divine office.

Shalom Prayer Center in Mt. Angel provides wonderful location for Retreat and includes opportunities with the Benedictine Sisters for prayer and Mass on Sunday.

For listings of retreats please see our January 2010  newsletter (a pdf, 208 KB).

TO SCHEDULE WORKSHOPS AND RETREATS IN YOUR AREA

(Contemplative Outreach, Ltd has trained all OCO presenters and retreat leaders.)

Introduction to Centering Prayer: 
  Tom Kinzie, 503-774-2177,   have two dates in mind.

Lectio Divina: 
   Tom Kinzie, 503-774-2177,

Forgiveness Prayer Workshops: 
   Carole Hustead, 503-649-8939,  

Intensive, Post-Intensive, and Advanced Retreats: 
   Norman Carlson, 541-754-9945,

Three-Day Retreats
   Laban Quimby, 503-917-9432,

 

NEWS   EVENTS   CP CIRCLES   SPECIAL INTERESTS   SERVICES

CENTERING PRAYER CIRCLES

"The heart and soul of contemplative outreach
are the centering prayer circles"
Thomas Keating

Centering Prayer Circles: Each Centering Prayer Circle has as its core the practice of a 20 minute centering prayer session. How the group spends the rest of the hour or hour and a half can vary from the beginning. Suggestions include a check in, reading a passage from scripture or related books; viewing a segment of a Father Thomas Keating video, praying Lectio Divina, discussion on certain texts/books important to participants, and ending with prayer requests. Starting a New Centering Prayer Circle : We welcome new Circles! Please contact Kate Le Blanc, (503) 675-3529 or e-mail , if you wish to start one. One of the Facilitators' Committee members could attend the group the first time, if you wish, and we will continue our help as needed. For information about the following circles see our Newsletter (pdf)..

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Prison Ministry : A group of volunteers take Centering Prayer into a federal prison, state prisons and jails in the Portland area. If interested in joining this ministry, contact Billie Walter, 503-859-3902 

NEWS   EVENTS   CP CIRCLES   SPECIAL INTERESTS   SERVICES

SERVICES

OCO Website: www.cochapters.com/oregon.htm
To keep up-to-date on happenings in Oregon and Southwest Washington, visit our website. When other workshops or retreats become available, they are posted here.

OCO Library: OCO has audio and video tapes for rent and over 40 books for sale. Tapes can be rented and books purchased through our librarian, Tom Kinzie, 503-774-2177, . Books are also available for sale at workshops and retreats. Small rental donations for tapes cover replacements from loss and damage, as well as new purchases.

OCO Contacts for More Information

For those who live a distance from Portland, we have contacts around Oregon to serve you.

Contact:	Phone	E-mail
Rev. Richard Loop, Astoria, OR	503-325-4691
Rita Weick, Bend, OR	541-382-0086
Norm Carlson, Corvallis, OR	541-754-9945
Dave Ebel, La Grande, OR	541-963-5684
Gerry Kinneavy, Lincoln City, OR	503-392-5872
Tom Kinzie, Portland, OR	503-380-0135 (w) 503-234-1541, x173
Kathy Seubert, Salem, OR	503-910-3085

NEWS   EVENTS   CP CIRCLES   SPECIAL INTERESTS   SERVICES

 

Home :: Contemplative Outreach
Chapter of Contemplative Outreach Ltd. Contemplative Outreach Ltd.     10 Park Place     2nd Floor, Suite 2B     Butler, New Jersey 07405 Telephone:       Office:        973-838-3384	New Jersey Office Information: Electronic mail:     General Information:  Webmaster: