The Center at St. Andrew's
….space for healing, community
and lifelong learning.
Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer Opportunities
Wednesday Evenings, 5:45 PM – 6:15 PM throughout the Year
Chapel of the Resurrection
All are welcome to participate in our gathering for silent prayer every Wednesday evening at 5:45 in the chapel. If you like to spend time in silence or meditation, even if you do not follow the Centering Prayer method, you are welcome to join in. This is a wonderful, restful way to begin the Center Wednesday evenings that include supper and classes.
Sunday evenings, 5:15 – 5:45 PM
A self-led time of silent prayer that can serve as a vestibule to the evening service.
Centering at The Center Contacts
Cherry Haisten, resident Contemplative Outreach faculty member, serves as Program Director of The Center at St. Andrew's. A longtime presenter, she has practiced Centering Prayer for two decades and the Welcoming Prayer and Lectio Divina for almost as long. If you would like instruction in the Centering Prayer method, to be added to the Center Prayer at St. Andrew's email list, or to discuss other programs of The Center, please contact Cherry Haisten at 206-523-7476, ext. 304, or .
Tom Bostelmann is facilitator of The Center's Wednesday evening Centering Prayer gatherings and also serves as contact person for Contemplative Outreach Northwest, local chapter of Father Thomas Keating's international organization Contemplative Outreach. For more information about Centering Prayer related events in the Seattle area, you may contact Tom at . Also please visit these websites: www.conw.org and www.contemplativeoutreach.org.
Please check the website again as we approach fall for specific dates and times for the following programs in the 2011-2012 program year.
Core Contemplative Practices
Centering Prayer: The Prayer of Consent
A method of silent prayer in which we consent to the Divine presence and action in our lives, Centering Prayer facilitates moving from more active modes of prayer-like intercessory or liturgical – into a receptive mode of resting in God. It is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer but adds depth of meaning to them.
Next Centering Prayer Introduction at St. Andrew's:
Saturday, February 18, 2012, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Lectio Divina-"Divine Reading"
An ancient practice, Lectio Divina is a way of praying the scriptures in which the practitioner listens to the text of the Bible with the "ear of the heart." The method includes moments of reading, reflecting on, responding to, and resting in the Word of God with the aim of nourishing and deepening one's relationship with the Divine.
Next Lectio Divina Introduction at St. Andrew's:
Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Welcoming Prayer: Consent on the Go
A method of consenting to God's presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life, the Welcoming Prayer helps us make choices free of the false-self system-responding instead of reacting in the present moment. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, our practice empowers us to take appropriate action as freely and lovingly as possible in any situation that presents itself in our lives. The method includes focusing, feeling, and sinking into the feelings, emotions, thoughts and sensations in your body, welcoming them, and then letting them go.
Next Welcoming Prayer introductory workshop in the Seattle area:
Saturday, March 24, 2012, at The Priory Spirituality Center, Lacey, WA
For registration information, pleast email the spirituality center at
Workshops on these core contemplative practices are routinely scheduled approximately once a year.
A wonderful complement to any prayer practice:
Taizé Eucharist
Every Sunday 6:00pm in the nave (the main sanctuary) of the church. The first Sunday of each month is a contemplative Eucharist with Taizé songs at the beginning and end of the service. The service itself includes Lectio Divina, a short period of Centering Prayer, and a simple Great Thanksgiving. The other Sundays are full Taizé worship with several songs repeated in chant style, some brief silent pauses, a time for prayer and lighting of candles, and a simple Eucharist.
Study with Iconographer Peter Pearson at
An Icon Workshop
A Brush with God
April 26-29, 2012
The Round in Lake City, 2212 NE 125th, Seattle, WA 98125
(formerly St. George's Episcopal Church)
Those interested in the contemplative dimension of spirituality might also be interested in the iconography workshop, sponsored by The Center at St. Andrew's in cooperation with the Little Sisters of St. Clare, coming up in April 2012. Please go to the "Special Events" page to see more information about this workshop.
