Featured in the Newsletter
Contemplative Outreach of Portland needs your help
To date, 21 people contributed over $1,700 toward our annual costs of $2,500/year to maintain the COOP website, monthly e-news, and multiple Zoom accounts.
Can you assist us with a donation?
Click here to donate through PayPal.
COOP is a volunteer association without 501c3 non-profit status. Donations are not tax-deductible.
Welcoming Prayer Practice Newly Commissioned Presenter Vicki Hess-Smith
Mentored & encouraged by Mary Dwyer, Vicki also facilitates a Centering Prayer group every 2nd & 4th Wednesday in-person at Franciscan Spiritual Center, Saturday Zoom Centering Prayer with Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and daily Centering Prayer Zoom at 7 a.m.
photo by Rita Hess
Find a Centering Prayer Group
The COOP website has been updated. Facilitators, please click on the link below and double-check information for correctness. Contact us if anything needs to be edited.
Artwork: Agni Yoga, by Nicholas Roerich
Labyrinth, Simple Supper, Taize In Person
April 5, 2024
and First Fridays monthly
- Labyrinth walk 5 pm
- Supper 6 pm
- Taize 7 pm
Franciscan Spiritual Center, Marylhurst Commons
donations gratefully accepted
Introduction to Centering Prayer In Person
Saturday, April 13, 2024
8:30 am to 12:00 pm
Holy Name Catholic Church
50 S. Dean Street
Coquille, OR 97423
Email 3443elle@gmail.com for more information.
Spring Labyrinth Retreat Day
What is Blooming Within You?
In Person
Saturday, April 13, 2024
10 am – 2 pm
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
2036 SE Jefferson Street
Milwaukie, Oregon
Bring a sack lunch. Beverages provided.
Cost: $25
New In-Person Centering Prayer Group
When: Thursday mornings, 10:30 – 12:00
Where: St. Catherine’s Episcopal, on Hwy 101 in Nehalem
They are currently reading short passages from The Heart of Centering Prayer, by Cynthia Bourgeault, followed by a 20-minute prayer period and time for discussion.
For more information, contact facilitator Roxanne Brown.
Emotional Sobriety - Finding the Heart's Center
Centering Prayer 12-Step Outreach is offering:
April 20, 2024 9 – 11 am
Emotional Sobriety – Finding the Heart’s Center
Speakers and discussion
(Registration required to receive Zoom invitation)
The Faces of Mary: An Online Retreat with Rev. Matthew Wright
When: Saturday, April 20th, 9:30-12:30 Pacific Time
Where: Online via Zoom
The Contemplative Society invites you to join an online morning retreat with Matthew Wright, Episcopal priest and student of Cynthia Bourgeault.
Registration fee $20-50, pay from the heart
Centering Prayer Introductory Workshops
entering Prayer 12-Step Outreach is offering:
five monthly online Centering Prayer Introductory Workshops from
May to September 2024
First Saturday of each month, 9-11:30 am Pacific Time
Registration is required to receive a Zoom invitation.
Enter the Silence: A Centering Prayer Retreat
Monday to Sunday, October 28 – November 3, 2024
Twin Rocks Friends Camp
Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of Portland & Contemplative Outreach Willamette Valley
Welcoming Prayer Part 2: The Divine Therapy
Welcoming Prayer Part 2:
The Divine Therapy
Saturday, June 1, 2024
9:30-12:30 (doors open at 9)
In Person
Vicki Hess-Smith will review the Welcoming Prayer Practice and take us on a deeper dive into consent-on-the-go, welcoming God into our feelings in daily life.
Mini introduction to Centering Prayer 9:00-9:30 am.
Franciscan Spiritual Center, Marylhurst Commons
Preregistration is requested but not required. Suggested donation of $20 at the door
Watch for the registration link in May COOP news.
No Frills Second Sits
Mondays through Fridays
Mondays through Fridays
4:30-5:00 pm (Pacific)
No chit-chat, no extras.
All are welcome.
Drop in any time
Contact councilcoordinating@gmail.com for login information.
Photo by Linda Garcia
Spiritual Journey Course - Zoom
Every Tuesday night, 5:00 – 6:00 pm
(right after No Frills – same link)
Community building as we walk the spiritual journey together
Come to all or drop in anytime.
April topics 4/2, 4/9, 4/16: Contemplative Service, Creating a Rule of Life and Farewell – Last lessons in series.
Contact councilcoordinating@gmail.com for login information.
artwork: Marguerite Laing, Ground of Being II
Calling Certified Spiritual Directors
Email us at councilcoordinating@gmail.com if you have an established Centering Prayer practice and are accepting new directees, or have questions.
Spiritual Directors with Centering Prayer Practice
The following people have submitted their names and contact information to us. We are simply passing on that information without vetting them or holding any responsibility for them.
[Names alphabetical by first name]
- Christine Naylor, cnaylor@francisspctr.com
- Mark Lesniewski, markl@francisspctr.com
- Sr. Mary Jo Chaves, https://www.francisspctr.com/spiritual-direction
- Melinda Lee Jackson, melindaleejackson@gmail.com
- Patricia Hutchinson, hutchinson.patricia@gmail.com
- Paul Rietmann, paulrietmann.com
- Susan Turpin, slturpin@me.com
- Sylvia Sepulveda, hadeninstitute.com/faculty/sylvia-sepulveda-2/
- Terry Shaughnessy, terrenceshaughnessy.com
- Group Spiritual Direction at Franciscan Spiritual Center: contact Ann Steigerwald, ann@francisspctr.com
Word of the Week
“Epiphany is the Christian celebration of what our brothers and sisters in other religions call enlightenment.
Enlightenment is the inward realization and consciousness of being identified with who we really are. We are not our false selves or egos. Kiss them goodbye. They have no future. We have to have an ego in some degree to function in this life, but the most important aspect of our life is the epiphany or revelation of God that is going on all the time in the details of life.”
– Thomas Keating,
artwork: Hilma af Klint, Altarpiece
Contemplative Outreach of Portland Newsletter
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