- Contemplative Outreach is a spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities
committed to living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in every-day life through
the practice of Centering Prayer.
- The contemplative dimension of the Gospel manifests itself in an ever-deepening union
with the living Christ and the practical caring for others that flows from that
relationship.
- Centering Prayer consists of responding to the call of the Holy Spirit to consent to
Gods presence and action within. It furthers the development of Contemplative Prayer
by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift.
- The source of Centering Prayer, as in all methods leading to Christian Contemplative
Prayer, is the indwelling Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Its focus is the
deepening of our relationship with the living Christ. Its fruits are ecclesial: it builds
communities of faith and bonds the members together in charity.
- A commitment to the regular practice of centering prayer is the primary expression of
belonging to the spiritual network.
- We encourage the practice of Lectio Divina, particularly its movement into Contemplative
Prayer which a regular and established practice of Centering Prayer facilitates.
- We recognize as mature fruits of Centering Prayer a deepening commitment to the needs
and rights of each member of the human family and an ever-increasing respect for the
integrity and interdependence of all creation.
- We identify with the Christian Contemplative Heritage in which Centering Prayer is
rooted and we recognize the lived experience of that heritage as a common ground for
Christian unity.
- While we are formed by our respective denominations, we are united in our common search
for God and the experience of the living Christ through Centering Prayer.
- We affirm our solidarity with the contemplative dimension of other religious and sacred
traditions.
- Following the teachings of Jesus, we exercise leadership as service, especially by being
alert and responsive to the growth and needs of the spiritual network of Contemplative
Outreach.
- We cultivate and foster a spirit of unity and the utmost charity throughout the
spiritual network.
- We acknowledge that any good accomplished by Contemplative Outreach is the work of the
Holy Spirit.
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