“A total surrender of ourselves to the spiritual journey is required…When we begin the spiritual journey in earnest with a program of Centering Prayer as a path to contemplation, we are initiating a dynamic that involves our personal responses to Christ and affects our whole lives.  These practices, along with our prayer, are a holistic response to Christ’s invitation, - ‘Come follow me.’”
From Invitation to Love, by Fr. Thomas Keating

Class Format:

The Spiritual Journey Series is foundational for our program at Contemplative Outreach of Colorado.  The classes are facilitated by trained facilitators, each of whom has completed a three-year menteeship.  Our goal is for facilitators to integrate the teachings and practices of Father Thomas into their lives and relationships before they begin the facilitating role.  

The first five courses all follow a similar format.  The following are the requirements for these courses:

• Participants will take the Introductory Workshop before they begin the series.  We do make some exceptions for this.  
• The classes should be taken in order, beginning with Course 1 - Basic Centering Prayer
• Each course uses a specific book that needs to be purchased prior to class. The book is listed on the course registration page and the cost of the book is not included in the course price. 
• For questions regarding the classes, please contact us at (303) 698-7729 or Staff@centeringprayer.net  
   

The Spiritual Journey Series courses involve Weekly Self Study and a Zoom discussion session.  A class website is created for each class which contains the content (reference documents, videos, Zoom information, etc) for the class.

For each weekly class, you will receive assignments and information to complete before attending the weekly class Zoom session, including: 

• Two 30-minute videos of Father Keating teaching about specific topics.  The information in the videos is important for our class discussion.  Take notes of your learning, reflections and questions.
• A Facilitator’s Introduction and handouts.
• Integral reading assignments which will expand your understanding and deepen your spiritual growth.  
• Some weeks there may be optional videos and readings which will build on the teachings of Father Keating.

The format for the weekly 1.5 hour Zoom session is: 

• We begin on time with 20 minutes of Centering Prayer.  
• Facilitators introduce and reflect upon the topic(s) for the week’s class.  Generally 10 to 20 minutes.
• Class discussion. This is the most meaningful part of the class, and we hope you will come with your own questions, reflections and experiences.  

Note:  Each class is offered twice each session; one class is on Tuesday Evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 PM Mountain Time and another class is Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:30 PM Mountain Time.  If you cannot come to your weekly class, you can attend the other offering that week.