Featured in the Newsletter
- COOP Newsletter Service Team Needs Help
- Centering Prayer for 12-Steps Monthly Speaker Meeting, Online; 1st Wednesdays
- Creating Space for Change
- Sacred Chant – In person only: Trinity Cathedral, Portland, on April 7, 14, & 28, 2026.
- The Franciscan Spiritual Center
- Lectio Divina, third Wednesday of the month
- Watch Now: From Holding on to Letting Go
- Introduction to Welcoming Prayer
- Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop, April 25th
- No Frills Second Sits – Zoom
- Forever Zoom morning sit, Mon-Fri, 7-7:30 am, online
- Sunday Soup and Contemplation In-Person Every Sunday
- Meditation Chapel
- Retreats 2026 and beyond
COOP Newsletter Service Team Needs Help
We have two volunteers and need a third.
COOP emails a newsletter to 500 people every month that highlights centering prayer opportunities, especially local events.
We are seeking someone who is not daunted by computers and either knows MailChimp or is willing to learn.
After training, time commitment would be about 6 hours every 3 months.
Questions? Contact us at Lgarciapdx@gmail.com.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash
Centering Prayer for 12-Steps Monthly Speaker Meeting
Online- 1st Wednesdays
April 1, 5 pm Pacific Time
The speaker will be Jeanie L from Oregon!
Discover how Centering Prayer can deepen your 12-Step Journey.
Free
Email info@cp12stepoutreach.org for the Zoom link.
Creating Space for Change
April 6 – 30, Mondays – Thursdays
6:00 – 7:00 AM Pacific
Online via Zoom
Practical Exercises for Activating Your Nervous System’s Ability to Calm and Heal Itself
Cost: $50, scholarships available
Sacred Chant - In-person only Trinity Cathedral, Portland
April Only: extra class April 7, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
2nd & 4th Tuesdays
April 14 & 28, 2026, 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM PST
Meet in the Children’s Chapel, 2nd floor [elevator available]
Join us in sacred chant—a practice of prayer through song. Chant the Psalms (in both traditional and Nan Merrill translations), along with Taizé, Gregorian, contemporary, and Songs of the Presence. This contemplative practice offers a space to quiet the mind and connect with Spirit.
Free to attend, but registration is requested.
The Franciscan Spiritual Center
The Franciscan Spiritual Center at Marylhurst sponsors a variety of contemplative programs
including an in-person Centering Prayer group on the
2nd and 4th Wednesdays
9:30 am
April 14 & 28, May 12 & 26, June 9 & 23 . . .
Franciscan Spiritual Center
3159 Furman Drive
Marylhurst, OR
Lectio Divina: A Time for Sacred Reading & Prayer
3rd Wednesdays monthly
10 – 11:30 am
Apr 15, May 20, June 17 . . .
Franciscan Spiritual Center
3159 Furman Drive
Marylhurst, OR
The event is free, but please RSVP through the title link.
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Watch Now: Prison Contemplative Fellowship dba Praestolari
Michael is a centering prayer practitioner, currently living in Eugene. In this conversation, we sit down with Michael, a member of the Outside the Walls community, for a heartfelt reflection on presence, prayer, and inner transformation.
Michael speaks with honesty and humility about how Centering Prayer has shaped his life, inviting him into a practice of letting go, listening, and learning to live from a deeper place of trust and acceptance. Through the silence, he has found inner freedom, a fresh perspective, and a deeper understanding of who he truly is. We are deeply grateful to
Michael for his vulnerability and courage in sharing his journey. His story is a powerful reminder that transformation often unfolds quietly, through stillness, community, and grace, and that contemplative practice has the potential to change lives in profound ways.
Introduction to the Welcoming Prayer
Saturday, April 18, 2026
8:00 – 11:00 am Pacific Time
“The Welcoming Prayer is a way of letting go into the present moment in the ordinary routines of daily life. It is used when your needs of security, affection and control are frustrated . . . It is a way of turning everything over to God . . . ” – Thomas Keating
On-line via Zoom
Cost $30, scholarships available
Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
Saturday, April 25, 2006
10 am – 2 pm, in-person
St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
2036 SE Jefferson St.
Milwaukie, OR
Cost: free, with a suggested donation of $35.
Bring your own lunch; coffee and tea provided.
Email aphnp1@gmail.com to register or for additional information.
Photo by Mark Valentine on Unsplash
No Frills Second Sits
Mondays through Fridays
(sometimes we need help with that second sit)
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 photo: Chewy on Unsplash
Forever Zoom
Need a little support for your morning sit?
Forever Zoom is a no-frills online group
No chit-chat, no extras. All are welcome. Drop in any time.
Mondays through Fridays
7:00 – 7:30 am
Contact councilcoordinating@gmail.com for login information.
Photo by Hana Oliver on Unsplash
Meditation Chapel
Visit the Meditation Chapel website for lots of information in their current newsletter.
To the Contemplative Outreach Community
The donate button below will take you to our PayPal donation page.
Small amounts are most welcome.
COOP is a volunteer association without 501c3 non-profit status. Donations are not tax-deductible.
“In contemplative practice, as we pray together, identifying ourselves with the Pascal Mystery, we believe that Christ is in the center of the circle imparting to each the special graces each one needs. The participants are pooling their silence, so to speak, so that everyone gathered there can drink from this marvelous well of living water that rises up from the center of the circle.”
– The Better Part, Fr. Thomas Keating
In the above picture:
L to R: Greg, Kathy, Pat, Chris, Benneth, Carole, Karen, Jeannie, Mary, Vicki, Don;
In front: Elle, Janis
Contemplative Outreach of Portland Newsletter
Contemplative Outreach National Newsletter