CO Retreats Team 2025 Suggested Guidelines for Intensive Retreat Videos
by Leslee Terpay
The Contemplative Outreach Retreats Service team is responsible for the guidelines that cover content for the Intensive and Post Intensive retreats offered by Contemplative Outreach retreat leaders. There have been questions around why we still suggest using Thomas’s original Spiritual Journey human condition videos at an Intensive Retreat.
Hosting CO Intensive Retreats
If you are hosting an Intensive Retreat the videos are the those on the Spiritual Journey program on the Contemplative Outreach site. Click here for a pdf file that outlines which ones to use on different length retreats and links to each video. These videos were edited in 2018 under Thomas’ direction and are mostly shorter than the ones that appear on our YouTube Channel.
Knowing that Thomas grew and evolved since the human condition videos were originally recorded, the CO Retreats Team faculty have been in constant discernment prior to and since Thomas’ passing around what videos to use for the Intensive Retreat. We also consider that Thomas asked everyone especially those who are in the commissioning process to present the Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop to view his Human Condition teachings.
I personally use these videos at Intensive Retreats around six times a year. Most people on the Intensive are new to Centering Prayer and new to the teachings. It is important for the video facilitators to keep up with the science that has been updated since Thomas’ recordings; that way, if there are questions, it is important to be able to address those questions if they come up.
Facilitating the Spiritual Journey Videos
We advise retreat teams to facilitate the videos viewing during Intensive retreats. The most important part of facilitating the videos is to invite folks at the beginning to watch the video in a Lectio Divina manner. And after the video to give a time for silence and ask participants “What is the Spirit saying to you about your own personal journey at this point in time–about your relationship with God, yourself, others and the cosmos?” This helps them focus on their own journey not the learning content. I advise new facilitators that we are not teachers, Jesus is. We are there to help them get to their heart space not spend time on the video content which keeps them in their heads. Let them know they can view the videos after the retreat if they want to spend more time with learning content rather than on their own grown in Love.
What we have recommended to retreat teams is to marry these video teachings with readings from Thomas’ newer books if they feel the group is ready to hear his later teachings. (Especially doing this for the Post Intensive retreat’s additional Centering Prayer periods.) These newer readings can also be read at meals or to begin Centering Prayer if you do not use the traditional Psalms for Praying readings. The readings should still be around 2-3 sentences. The team knows their retreatants and how much reading they need prior to silence. The reading can be longer vestibule prayers at the beginning of a retreat, and shorter as people have dived into the silence and stillness of their retreat time.
Historical Perspective
Finally, our team has heard criticism of the Intensive Retreats teachings, yet the people who serve retreats and attend the Intensive Retreat are usually new to the Centering Prayer community and so we begin at the beginning while still reminding people who Thomas was during these tapings and who he evolved to at end of his life. Thus, older videos with newer readings.
At an Advanced Intensive retreat, any of Thomas’ or other teacher’s videos or teachings can be covered. Our team does not have guidelines in place for the Advanced intensive other than to stick to at least three prayer periods of one hour each (three-20 minutes periods or two-30 minutes periods) per day. With extra prayer times listed as optional.
The retreat team team can offer an Advanced Intensive rather than an Intensive if they want to show other videos. Why this determination? Thomas asked us to create an Intensive that offered the same videos wherever it was offered so people would know it was the Intensive he asked everyone to experience as their first Centering Prayer long retreat. Yet if the retreat group will include anyone who is attending the Intensive Retreat as a requirement for their formation in the commissioning process, we ask that they please follow the Human Condition video list as noted above.
Ongoing Support
All in all, the retreat team is there to hold the space for the Spirit to work individually for each retreatant. If there are any questions that arise from this information, please contact one of the team. We are happy to talk with you and share any resources we’ve compiled over the past few years.
Leslee Terpay co-leslee@comcast.net, Susan Rush susrush@aol.com, or Marie Howard mrhfamlife@aol.com
