Contemplative Spaces

About Contemplative Spaces

Contemplative Spaces is a program that explores contemplative spirituality in the Christian mystical tradition. There are currently two groups offered, studying and reflecting on two different books. Please scroll down for details on each group and how to join.

For each meeting, we use a format when we meet called the Circle Group Process, which is a very gentle, contemplative way to encounter one another in a group setting. This format allows everyone the chance to be heard and respected without judgment. You are welcome and invited to show up as who you truly are.

“The Universal Christ” by Richard Rohr
Alternating Thursday evenings, Online

  • 6:00PM every other Thursday over Zoom.

    Please email Carrie Dirks for information and the Zoom link.

  • Based on the book, The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr.

    We will explore Rohr’s transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God – except by its own negative choices. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize Christ’s presence all around us and in everyone we meet. 

    This radical view can touch every aspect of our lives, relationships, churches, and communities.

  • Week 1: Christ-Soaked World – May 3

    Reading: Before We Begin & Chapter 1: Christ Is Not Jesus’ Last Name

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC8128664960

    Week 2: Radical Inclusivity – May 24

    Reading: Chapter 2: Accepting that You are Radically Accepted; & Chapter 3: Revealed in Us – As Us

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC6394902607

    Week 3:From the Beginning – June 7

    Reading: Chapter 4: Original Goodness

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC2006786970

    Week 4: Love Evolves – June 28

    Reading: Chapter 5: Love is the Meaning; & Chapter 6: A Sacred Wholeness

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC9708290185

    Week 5: Respect, Wonder, & Reverence – July 12

    Reading: Chapter 7: Going Somewhere Good; Chapter 8: Doing & Saying; Chapter 9: Things at Their Depth

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC5018203999

    Week 6: An Embodied Path – August 9

    Reading: Chapter 10: The Feminine Incarnation; Chapter 11: This is My Body

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC4752483580

    Week 7: Nonviolent Atonement – August 16

    Reading: Chapter 12: Why Did Jesus Die?; Chapter 13: It Can’t Be Carried Alone

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC5591016501

    Week 8: Practice Resurrection – August 30

    Reading: Chapter 14: The Resurrection Journey

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC5077575370

    Week 9: Peter, Paul & Mary (Minus Peter) – September 13

    Reading: Chapter 15: Two Witnesses to Jesus and Christ

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC4100549530

    Week 10: From Me to We – September 27

    Reading: Chapter 16: Transformation & Contemplation

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC3699001627

    Week 11: Feast on Your Life – October 4

    Reading: Chapter 17: Beyond Mere Theology: Two Practices; Epilogue & Afterword

    Podcast Episode: https://megaphone.link/CFAC6292815973

“The Wisdom Jesus” by Cynthia Bourgeault
Alternating Fridays at Noon, In Person

  • 12:00PM every other Friday in the RCHP Sanctuary.

    Please email Carrie Dirks for more information.

  • Based on the book, The Wisdom Jesus by Cynthia Bourgeault

    This book explores historical Jesus as a wisdom teacher in the line of sophia perennis or perennial wisdom, a stream of living wisdom and the headwaters of the world's religions, which is concerned with the transformation of the whole human being. 

    She states, "Jesus came first and foremost as a teacher of the path of inner transformation...mirror[ing] what God is like, what love is like, and what true humanness is like...Underlying all his teaching is a clarion call to a radical shift in consciousness: away from the alienation and polarization of the egoic operating system and into the unified field of divine abundance that can only be perceived through the heart...Nothing is ever isolated or lost; everything comes from God and returns to God along all the roadways of the world." 

  • Week 1: May 22

    Reading: Chapter 1: Jesus as a Recognition Event

    Week 2: June 5

    Reading: Chapter 2: Jesus in Context

    Week 3:June 19

    Reading: Chapter 3: The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You

    Week 4: June 26

    Reading: The Path of Metanoia

    Week 5: July 10

    Reading:  The Gospel of Thomas Sampler

    Week 6: July 24

    Reading: Kenosis: The Path of Self-Emptying Love

    Week 7: August 7

    Reading: Jesus as Tantric Master

    Week 8: August 14

    Reading: Chapter 8: The Incarnation

    Week 9: August 28

    Reading: Chapter 9: The Incarnation

    Week 10: September 11

    Reading: Chapter 10: Crucifixion and it’s Aftermath

    Week 11: September 25

    Reading:  Chapter 11: The Great Easter Feast

    Week 12: October 9

    Reading:  Chapter 12: Centering Prayer Meditation

    Week 13: October 23

    Reading:  Chapter 13: Lectio Divina

    Week 14: November 6

    Reading:  Chapter 14: Chanting and Psalmody

    Week 15: November 20

    Reading:  Chapter 15: Welcoming

    Week 16: December 11

    Reading:  Chapter 15: The Eucharist