Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop

The workshop offers a contemporary presentation of the discipline of Centering Prayer as silent communion with God beyond concepts, words and images. Centering Prayer is a method of prayer, which prepares us to receive the gift of God's presence, traditionally called contemplative prayer. It consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ by consenting to God's presence and action within. It furthers the development of contemplative prayer by quieting our faculties to cooperate with the gift of God's presence.

Centering Prayer facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer -- verbal, mental or affective prayer -- into a receptive prayer of resting in God. It emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God. At the same time, it is a discipline to foster and serve this relationship by a regular, daily practice of prayer. It is Trinitarian in its source, Christ-centered in its focus, and ecclesial in its effects; that is, it builds communities of faith.

Presenter: The Rev. Thomas Morris is the Executive Director of St. Mary's Sewanee: The Ayres Center for Spiritual Growth located on the Cumberland Plateau in Sewanee, Tennessee.  Prior to his appointment to Executive Director Thomas has served for 10 years as a parish priest in Western North Carolina and Atlanta. Since 1997 he has been interested in bringing the contemplative dimension of the gospels to everyday life.   He is a presenter of Centering Prayer and a frequent Centering Prayer Retreat leader. He is married to Hadley Morris, whom he met while on a Centering Prayer Retreat.  Together they seek God in silence, in community and in the active life of their nine-year old son Jack.

Time: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM