The Center for Christian Spirituality companions with persons who desire a deepening connection with God that makes a difference in who they are with God, self, others, and the created world.
WHAT we do as The Center for Christian Spirituality
■ We companion with persons who desire a deepening connection with God that makes a difference in who they are with God, self, others, and the created world.
■ We provide resources for a spiritual journey rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition.
■ We create open and honest spaces in which persons can explore the terrain of their own souls.
■ We provide resources and community for persons who are on a journey of becoming.
■ We provide these resources and this companionship through regular Contemplative Worship, classes, retreats, small group experiences, and larger experiences of contemplative community.
■ We provide persons with resources and tools so they may access their own interior resources that are appropriate to living the Kingdom of God fully in their own context, wherever their unique spiritual journey might lead them.
HOW we do what we do as The Center for Christian Spirituality
■ We describe rather than prescribe. We want to describe ways of connection with God rather than prescribe them. To prescribe (mandate, instruct) assumes that each spiritual journey is the same. But each journey is different. In our case, descriptive always takes precedence over prescriptive.
■ We provide the space for spiritual exploration that is non-judgmental and open, trusting that each person’s path is unique to him or her. We trust that God will lead each person as he or she needs to be guided. No two persons will arrive at their authentic self in the same way; therefore, there is no single, measurable template for an unfolding life.
■ We try to do this interior work with honesty . . . honest with God, self, and others about who we are and how we are. We dare to acknowledge the way it really is with us, because it is the real self that God loves – not an illusory self or a projection of self.
■ We are faithful to the Christian mystical/contemplative tradition. We believe this tradition provides a life-giving alternative to a religion of rote practices, self-recrimination, and judgment.
■ We do not operate by motivation and persuasion. We faithfully and continually open up space for persons to experience a deepening connection with God, trusting that when a person is ready for this kind of connection and this kind of inner journey, they will be led to this ministry.
WHY does The Center for Christian Spirituality do what it does?
■ Because the God-human connection is at the heart of all life. It is first.
■ Because deepening this God-human connection through “becoming” and “unfolding” is the primary human task.
■ Because deepening this God-human connection transforms people and the world. Transformed people transform the world.
■ Because the life that proceeds from a deepening God-human connection is a life of love, mercy, and healing. Love, mercy, and healing all serve to bring persons and the world to wholeness.
■ To provide persons with resources for an unfolding life as they make an interior journey in their own life-world.
■ Because fidelity to an inner journey of deepening the God-human connection strengthens the Church and heals the world.