Center for Prayer & Spirituality (CPS)

Our Mission Statement

To reawaken an interest in Christian spirituality and to integrate mind, body and spirit by offering contemplative practices, classes, lectures, workshops and spiritual direction to foster connection, understanding and compassion for self, others and the mystery that beautifully and expansively holds us all.

The Quiet Garden Movement

The gardens at St. John’s Cathedral are registered with the international Quiet Garden Trust and throughout the year host regular opportunities for hospitality and prayer. The Quiet Garden Ministry began in 1992 with the first Quiet Garden in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, England. At the heart of Christianity is a treasure to be unearthed: the treasure of contemplative prayer and quiet resting in silence reaching back to Jesus himself, who regularly took time out to pray in solitude and in still places. The Quiet Garden Movement rediscovers these riches and makes them accessible to a spiritually hungry world by providing contexts of natural beauty and stillness where we may refresh our soul. St. John’s Cathedral supports this mission and ministry, eagerly offering its Quiet Gardens to feed the soul of the hungry searching for places of quiet and prayer.
More information.

Director

Owene Courtney
[email protected]

Board

Susan Bancks
Megan Cochran
Gregory Curry
Lisa Duncan
Liesl Gavronsky-Howsare
Joe O'Shields

Spiritual Practice Offerings
Visit Spirituality & Practice for some at home practices.

Save the Date for Gladdening Light Symposium 2019!

February 1-3, 2019
at Rollins College
Matthew Fox & Ilia Delio

HONORING ALL OF CREATION WITH WISDOM TRADITION AND AN EMERGING UNDERSTANDING OF EVOLUTION

What a joy it is to welcome the return of acclaimed activist-theologian Matthew Fox who spoke to a rapt symposium audience in 2013 on creativity. A pioneer in the alternative premise of Original Blessing and author of more that thirty-five books and articles too numerous to count, Matthew is the only keynoter in GladdeningLight's history to repeat. In short, he is the heart and soul of love, art and spirit in the eternal now.

Listen to a few things Matthew says about Creation Spirituality:

1) In Creation, God is both immanent and transcendent.

2) God is beyond all words and images, as much Mother as Father, Child as Parent, mystery as history.

3) Diversity is the nature of the Universe.

4) The basic work of God is compassion.

Creation Spirituality is not a newly invented path, but rather a new path for Westerners. It has historical and biblical roots and boasts a communion of saints. "As a movement, it becomes an amazing gathering place, a kind of watering hole for persons...seeking to reconnect science with wisdom."

Theologian Ilia Delio is a professor at Villanova University and authority on the integration of science with religion. Her books have helped the world engage visionary Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin and theories of the gravitational universe in bloom. Together with Matthew Fox, Sister Ilia will explore love as the fundamental engine of evolution.

Deep, mutual admirers, both Matthew and Ilia will be presenting together for the first time at GladdeningLight 2019. Their lectures promise interplay and growth for one another and all who bear witness.

Registration Begins Mid-Summer!

GladdeningLight again heralds the musical artistry of Owen & Moley Ó Súilleabháin who join their beloved mother Nóirín Ní Riain by way of her priestly residency in Ireland. The three will conduct a morning Celtic program, an evening soundscape in honor of St. Brigid and frame each event with wondrous theosony.

Accommodations

Please make reservations to commence on January 31, 2019 to arrive in time for the Thursday evening pre-symposium reception. Discounted rates available at The Alfond Inn and the Park Plaza Hotel, located within walking distance, or the Comfort Suites Downtown Orlando. Reservations may be made online for the Alfond Inn using the discount code GLAD19 at checkout, the Park Plaza Hotel from $199 per night by calling (407) 647-1072 and online at $110 per night for the Comfort Suites. When making phone reservations, be sure to mention the GladdeningLight Symposium.

GladdeningLight

[email protected]

GladdeningLight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit spiritual arts initiative

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Periodic Offerings

Eleventh Step Meditation: A Way to Transformation
On the second Saturday of the month, we gather for meditation and reflection formed by Lectio Divina
9:30 a.m., Room 301 Cathedral House
Led by Dianne Larson and Tim Lynch

Spiritual Companioning
Based on ancient tradition, the Center offers to link interested seekers with trained spiritual companions/spiritual directors who are members of the cathedral parish. All is confidential. If interested please contact one of the following:

Susan Bancks • [email protected]
Claudia Milligan • [email protected]
Joe O’Shields • [email protected]
Susan Woods • [email protected]

Quiet Spaces in the Center for Prayer and Spirituality, 3rd Floor Cathedral House
The Rev. Bernie Dooly Lending Library and The Chapel of the Transfiguration are available.
Please check in with the cathedral receptionist.

Weekly Offerings

Tuesdays:
Yoga
Gather in the late afternoon in the beauty of a sacred space for yoga practice, concluding with prayer. Cummings Chapel. (Enter on Duval Street)
5:45 pm - 7:00 pm.
Led by Megan Cochran

Fridays:
Contemplative Eucharist
Conducted by cathedral clergy and lay leaders, this service combines contemplation and holy communion in a warm, welcoming worship service. Cummings Chapel, 12:10 pm.

Weekly e-Words
E-mailed quotations from works of religious leaders, inviting personal reflection and prayer.

Lectionary Bible Study
Join us for an informal but informative hour at 10 a.m. in Ingram Lounge each Friday. We read and study the readings, Old and New Testament, The Psalms and the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday and sew the thread of the theme together to have a better understanding of the Biblical times and how they apply to our lives today.
Led by Selecia Young-Jones
Sundays:
Contemplative Yoga
Using the principles of yoga, professional teachers will lead a gentle class integrating body, mind and spirit with the reading of Scripture. Bring your yoga mat. 10 a.m. Cummings Chapel
Guided Spiritual Life Story with Charlene Vincent
Beginning in October

Advent Icon Painting Retreat with Teresa Harrison
December 3-7, 2018
Cummings Chapel
More information to come.

Quiet Garden Mornings 2018-2019
Mornings of holy silence with spiritual reflections, readings and prayers. Quiet Garden Mornings are held on the grounds of the Cathedral, including Ingram Lounge, Cummings Chapel, and the Gardens.
Held on Saturdays four times a year, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm

Every other month in the coming year, the Center will offer a Quiet Garden Morning featuring a speaker/facilitator who will guide participants through a contemplative practice to foster connection, understanding and compassion for self, others and the mystery that beautifully and expansively holds us all. In the past, we have offered programs on writing spiritual memoir, praying with icons and praying with psalms. This year the Quiet Garden Mornings will be on the second Saturdays in October, December, February and April. Please follow this website to learn more about what will be offered. We will be honored to have you join us.
For more information please contact: Owene Courtney, Director.