Take a moment to hear these first few lines of the poem by Howard Thurman…
How Good It Is to Center Down
by Howard Thurman
How good it is to center down!
To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!
The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic;
Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences,
While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull.
Do you need to “center down”? Would you like to learn concrete spiritual practices you can teach in your church? The Center for Leadership Excellence invites you to a workshop with Winston Charles…
Contemplative Prayer, Contemplative Living, Contemplative Leadership
Join us for an afternoon of learning and contemplative practices, and discover how these resources can be a deep source of communion and connection for your congregation and community.
Wednesday, February 26
12:45pm-3:45pm
St. Mark’s UMC, Raleigh (map)
Registration: $20
*** Register three or more from your church and receive a 25% discount! Coupon Code: BRINGYOURTEAM. Must register by February 19 to receive discount.
A Word from Winston Charles about the Event…
As the head pastor of congregations of many sizes, I very much appreciated learning skills and techniques of organizational leadership and pastoral ministry. Nonetheless, the keystone that would make these most effective tools of grace for me and my congregations was found somewhere else – in the reclaiming of the ancient Christian tradition of contemplative prayer.
Our time together on February 26 will offer an understanding of how contemplative prayer and spirituality can become that deep source of communion with the Beloved to which Jesus invited those whom he met. Here is found a different center of grace from which to live lives of compassion and courage in church, at home, for the world. Returning to this center – or this spiritual heart – is a constant source of resilience, discernment, conversion, and calling, which becomes the very foundation for contemplative living and leadership.