Featured in the Newsletter
- The Franciscan Spiritual Center
- Sunday Soup and Contemplation In-Person Every Sunday
- Forever Zoom morning sit, Mon-Fri, 7-7:30 am, online
- Daily Contemplative Pauses
- New Presenters in Training
- The Voice Newsletter
- Monday Evening Centering Prayer
- Meditation Chapel
- Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop
- Mini-Retreat: Poetry of Transformaion
- Lectio Divina, third Wednesday of the month
- Contemplative Chanting 2nd & 4th Tuesday
- 11th Step Meditation Meetings and 12th Step Centering Prayer Groups
- Fourth Saturday Mediation at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland)
- Find a Centering Prayer Group
- Centering Prayer Workshop on September 26
- Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop at Spirit of Grace
- Retreats 2026 and beyond
The Franciscan Spiritual Center
The Franciscan Spiritual Center at Marylhurst sponsors a variety of contemplative programs
including an in-person Centering Prayer group on the 2nd and
2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 9:30 am
August 12 & 26, September 9 & 23
Franciscan Spiritual Center
3159 Furman Drive
Marylhurst, OR
Sunday Soup and Contemplation
In-person
Sundays
4:30 pm — Contemplative Practice & Sharing
5:30 pm — Soup & Community
Dandelion House
A Catholic Worker Community
13319 SE Linden Lane
Milwaukie, Oregon 97222
Note: GPS will mislead! Directions on the website.
Image by Walter Sturn on Unsplash
Centering Prayer Forever Zoom Sit
Need a little support for your morning sit? Your COOP is here to help! “Forever Zoom” is a no-frills, online Centering Prayer group.
Like the No-Frills sit above, no chit-chat, no ups, no extras. All are welcome. Drop in any time.
Mondays through Fridays
7:00 – 7:30 am
Photo by Hana Oliver on Unsplash
Contemplative Pauses
8:00 – 8:30 am Pacific Time
every day
online
Heather Ruce and team lead sitters in a gentle grounding, followed by brief chanting and 20 minutes of Centering Prayer or other meditative silence.
Photo by Hans Vivek on Unsplash
New Presenters in Training
Congratulations to our five new presenters in training:
Heidi Franklin, Tom Amsberry, Michael Meredith, Mary Brooks Conley, and Christo Glasgow Brehm completed the four-day program at Gini‘s home in collaboration with Contemplative Outreach of Idaho. We are all looking for opportunities to present a Centering Prayer introduction workshop anywhere in the state.
Contact Gini Graham to start a new group or to add members to your current group
giniwg@gmail.com.
Centering Prayer No-Frills Second Sit
Mondays through Fridays
Led by volunteer facilitators at your COOP because sometimes we need help with that second sit. Like the Forever Zoom below, no chit-chat, no ups, no extras. All are welcome. Drop in any time.
Mondays through Fridays
4:30-5:00 pm (Pacific)
Contact us for the Zoom link.
Photo by Autumn Guinn on Unsplash
Centering Prayer Monday Evening Sit
Conducted by our friends at the Mercy Center, this is a contemplative reading followed by 20 minutes of Centering Prayer.
6:30 – 7:00 pm
Every Monday
Online
Photo by Micke Lindström on Unsplash
The VOICE
A Quarterly e-Newsletter for Volunteers
This is the quarterly newsletter for any Contemplative Outreach volunteer who facilitates a group or volunteers in any other way.
You might skim through it at some point to feel connected to the larger organization and learn how it operates and communicates.
Meditation Chapel
Visit the Meditation Chapel website for lots of information in their current newsletter.
Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop
Saturday, Sep 12, 2026
8:00am – 11:00am PST
Zoom
Click here for more information
Photo by Climate Reality Project on UnSplash
Mini-Retreat: Poetry of Transformaion
Sat, Sep 19
(On the third Saturday of every month)
Trinity Cathedral, Portland
Explore poetry as a form of contemplative practice. We’ll sit with a variety of poems, calling on lectio divina, memory, image and sensation to evoke arising and deepening of insight. No experience necessary.
Free: donations gratefully accepted. Click here to register.
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
Lectio Divina: A Time for Sacred Reading & Prayer
In-person – 3rd Wednesdays monthly
10 – 11:30 am
August 19, September 16, etc.
Franciscan Spiritual Center
3159 Furman Drive
Marylhurst, OR
The event is free, but please RSVP through the title link.
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Contemplative Chanting
2nd & 4th Tuesday; 10:00 – 11:15 am
August 11 & 25
September 8 & 22, etc.
in the Children’s Chapel
This growing group is devoted to sacred chant from many traditions, including Gregorian, Taize, and Rumi.
No prior experience needed.
The class is free, but one-time registration is requested.
Trinity Episcopal
147 NW 19th Ave
Portland, OR 97209
in the Children’s Chapel
Image: Pat Zimmer leading a chant at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
11th Step Meditation Meetings and 12th Step Centering Prayer Groups
For a full list of in-person
and online 11th Step Meditation Meetings and 12th Step
Centering Prayer Groups,
Online and In-person
Every Day
Fourth Saturday Mediation at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland)
Deepen your practice in community with an hour of silent meditation
(two, 25-minute sits with a short walking meditation in between).
All contemplative practices are welcome.
Free; donations gratefully accepted.
4th Saturdays
9:30 (sharp)- 11:00 am
September 25, etc.
in the Morrison Room
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
147 NW 19th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
Photo by eldhose kuriyan on Unsplash
Looking for a Centering Prayer Group Not Listed Here?
There are opportunities every day! If you are new to any of these groups, please contact the listed facilitator to ensure the time and location or Zoom link are up to date. Contact Linda Garcia at the button below for more information.
photo: contemplative outreach of portland
Centering Prayer Workshop at St. Gabriel the Archangel Episcopal Church
Centering Prayer Workshop
September 26, 2026
Whether you are new to Centering Prayer, or want a refresher, or just want to hear some stimulating teaching, this is the place for you. We hope also to lay the foundation for an ongoing, in-person Centering Prayer group at St. Gabriel. Join us!
9:00 – 12:00 noon
Tuition: Suggested $30 free-will offering at the door. Registration
requested but not required.
St. Gabriel the Archangel Episcopal Church
17435 NW West Union Road
Portland, Oregon 97229
Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop at Spirit Of Grace
Wednesday, November 18, 2026
1:00 – 3:30 pm
Pre-registration requested, but not required
Free will offering accepted at the doo
To the Contemplative Outreach Community
Thank you!
We are grateful for your continuing financial gifts!
- Your support helps us meet our basic monthly operating expenses
- We strive to keep our costs low, retreats and other events affordable, and scholarships available
- Our staff is 100% volunteer
One small community of people devoted to Centering Prayer can fill the air with higher purpose!
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash
“In contemplative practice, as we pray together, identifying ourselves with the Pascal Mystery, we believe that Christ is in the center of the circle imparting to each the special graces each one needs. The participants are pooling their silence, so to speak, so that everyone gathered there can drink from this marvelous well of living water that rises up from the center of the circle.”
– The Better Part, Fr. Thomas Keating
Photo by Andrew Small on Unsplash
Contemplative Outreach of Portland Newsletter
Contemplative Outreach National Newsletter