Prayer and Meditation Gatherings
These contemplative gatherings are designed to offer you space and time for prayer and meditation. "Beginners" (we are all beginners!) and those on all spiritual paths are welcome. Registration is not required. Please drop by as your schedule allows. Groups meet at the Journey Center and are free of charge, unless otherwise noted.
*Sometimes gatherings are cancelled due to holidays or vacations. Please check our calendar for any cancellations before coming to a gathering.
View the Contemplative Gatherings poster
Journey Home Week Begins - A Candlelight Contemplative Healing Prayer Gathering
Sunday, May 5, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
We begin Journey Home Week with this deeply peaceful and reflective gathering. It is an opportunity to prepare for the retreat week ahead, quieting our minds and bodies, discovering what it is that we are longing for, and opening our hearts to the Spirit. Healing prayer will be available. More>
View the Candlelight Contemplative Healing Prayer Gathering poster
Facilitators: Joanna Quintrell, Cynthia H. Stringer and Laurie Hartmann, Journey Center spiritual directors.
Cost : Free
Location : The Journey Center.
Centering Prayer Groups
Mondays, Noon - 12:45 p.m. (not meeting September 4)
Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (not meeting November 23)
A time of prayer and contemplation in which we practice a Christ–centered form of meditation. People on all silent meditation paths are welcome. Both beginners and experienced practitioners will find it supportive and deepening.
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Facilitator : Mondays facilitated by Barbara Tracy. Thursdays facilitated by Dick Meyer, Spiritual Director.
Cost : Complimentary
Location : The Journey Center Prayer Chapel.
Imaginative Prayer: Encountering Christ in the Gospels
Tuesdays, Noon – 1:00 p.m.
You are invited to encounter Christ in the stories of His life using the gift of your God–given imagination. This weekly gathering offers a guided prayer/meditation time in which the events of the life of Christ become present and personal, allowing us a direct experience of the love of God. More>
This kind of imaginative prayer seeks the truth of the heart; it engages the senses and emotions as we enter the Gospel scenes. Facilitated by Linda Albert, Spiritual Director.
Facilitator : Linda Albert, Spiritual Director.
Cost : Complimentary
Location : The Journey Center Prayer Chapel.
Morning Meditations
Wednesdays, 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. (not meeting during the winter quarter)
We gather to begin the week in quiet prayer and meditation. We enjoy times of silence as well as a guided prayer time known as lectio divina (Latin for “sacred, holy reading”)…an ancient spiritual practice that helps us listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking into our lives today. More>
Feel free to arrive and depart as your morning schedule allows between 7:30-8:30 a.m. This is a lovely experience of being in God’s presence together in a peaceful, supportive setting.
Here are some comments from those who have participated in Morning Meditations:
"What a nice place for my heart to come and rest!”
"To sit at the feet of Jesus in quietness, soaking in His love before the day gets busy... this helps me stay centered and peaceful the rest of the day."
"I love having a quiet place where I can be refreshed and renewed. I feel totally comfortable being who I am- I can be silent, or join in the group prayer if I want to. There are no expectations or requirements, just a special space in which to encounter God and hear what He is saying to me..."
"I have been experiencing strength and healing I've never known before since I started coming to Morning Meditations."
"I'm not a Christian, but I feel like I belong here in God's presence with others who are spiritually seeking."
"It helps to know that I can come when I can get there, and leave when I need to. Some mornings I stay for an hour, sometimes for 20 minutes, and once I was there for the whole two hours. I feel the Spirit's work in me each time..."
Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina
Wednesday evenings, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
We gather each week and begin with Centering Prayer, a receptive method of silent prayer that opens us and prepares us to experience God’s presence and transforming love within us. Following this Christ-centered form of meditation, we embrace the ancient art of praying the Scriptures known as Lectio Divina. In Lectio Divina, we listen with the “ear of the heart” with the aim of nourishing and deepening our relationship with the Holy One. Both beginners and experienced practitioners will find this time supportive and deepening.
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Facilitator: Dale Webb, Spiritual Director.
Cost : Complimentary
Location:The Journey Center Prayer Chapel.
Weekly Contemplative Prayer/Meditation Group in Sebastopol
Centering Prayer and the Prayer of the Imagination
Wednesdays, Noon-1 p.m.
You are invited to come and encounter Christ in silence, in contemplation and in the imagination, as we practice Christ–centered forms of meditation. Beginners and people on all meditation paths welcome. More>
Centering Prayer uses silence as a doorway to enter God's presence. The Prayer of the Imagination offers guided prayer/meditation to encounter the holy though the heart, senses and emotions as we use the imagination to enter the gospel scenes. Both forms of prayer invite us into a direct experience of God/Christ/the Sacred.
Facilitators: Linda Albert and Laurie Hartmann, Spiritual Directors
Cost : Complimentary
Location: Sebastopol United Methodist Church - in the sanctuary (across from Safeway), in partnership with the Journey Center.
Journey Home Week - Prayer/Meditation Gatherings
Monday, September 28–Friday, October 2
Throughout the week, workshops and prayer/meditation groups will be offered at various times- both daytime and evening. See the schedule on the prayer/meditation gatherings poster. You are invited to choose the gatherings that will best support you on your journey home to your own true heart and the heart of God. More>
View the Prayer/Meditation Gatherings poster
Facilitators: Joanna Quintrell and other Journey Center spiritual directors
Cost : Free
Location : The Journey Center unless otherwise noted.
Journey Home Week - An Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop
Thursday, May 19, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Join us for this introduction to the contemplative practice of Centering Prayer. In addition to learning about this approach to a deeper connection with the Holy, the workshop will include an opportunity to experience the practice. More>
View the Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop poster
Facilitator: Dale Webb, spiritual director intern.
Cost : Free. Registration is required.
Location : The Journey Center.
A Quiet Place
Friday, May 20, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
A safe and peaceful space for those who want to slow down, catch their breath and reconnect with their own heart and the heart of God in a quiet and contemplative setting. We offer music, prayer and meditation and healing prayer. More>
Facilitator: Robin Terwilliger-Orton.
Cost : Free.
Location : The Journey Center.
A Quiet Place
Wednesdays, Noon to 1 p.m.
Our lives can be so busy and noisy! Right in the middle of the week, we offer a safe and peaceful space for those who want to slow down, catch their breath and reconnect with their own heart and the heart of God in a quiet and contemplative setting. “A Quiet Place” is a special weekly gathering offering music, prayer and meditation. More>
The doors open at noon for silent prayer and meditation, followed by a time of guided reflection from 12:15-12:35 p.m. and then continued quiet prayer until 1:00 p.m. Healing prayer is available for those who desire it for themselves or loved ones. Arrive and depart as your schedule allows.
Here are some comments from those who find A Quiet Place helpful to their heart on the journey:
"I come to A Quiet Place because it is the only time in my whole week when I am able to be still and listen to God."
"You can feel God’s presence when you come into the room."
"To meditate each week on the words of Christ has brought a new depth to my spiritual life, and to my understanding of who He is."
"I need a place like this where the focus is entirely on God."
"Right in the middle of my crazy, busy, noisy work week is this oasis... I can deeply connect with God and find refreshment for my soul, on my lunch hour! It’s worth arranging to be gone a little longer on Wednesdays."
Facilitator : Robin Terwilliger-Orton
Cost : Free
Location : The Journey Center.
Natural Reflections: a Contemplative Prayer gathering with Julie Miller. This quarter's reflections based on The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature by Gerald May.
January 12, 26 and February 2, 9, 23, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
"Wilderness is not just a place; it is also a state of being. If happiness means being happy and sadness means being sad, then wilderness means being wilder." -Gerald May. Join naturalist and spiritual director Julie Miller for this contemplative gathering, which will use this short book for reflection. Discover that wilderness is our natural state and the wild nature of the Holy woos us, especially in the natural world back towards our true selves.
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Relax into the material by listening to sections read aloud and respond or contemplate what is stirred within you in a safe and comfortable setting.
Facilitator : Julie Miller is a Journey Center spiritual director and a naturalist
Cost : There is no charge for the group; participants will purchase a copy of the book prior to the first session.
Location : The Journey Center, Santa Rosa
Come Away... To A Quiet Time
An evening experience of quiet, meditative time
3rd Fridays Cancelled!September 21, October 19, Cancelled!November 16
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Do you long to: just stop ...get quiet ...calm yourself ... breathe in God's love and comfort and strength and peace? This is a drop- in group where there is a mixture of meditative quiet sitting... sometimes with music, with words, with the imagination, with poetry or scripture. There are three movements each night, with 5 mins of silence in between.
Please come experience the value of quiet to your mind, body and spirit. Come as your schedule allows; enter in silence if the Quiet Time has begun. More>
View the A Quiet Time Fall Poster
Come and experience a variety of ways to pray and enter into holy time.
Cost: Donations appreciated.
Led by: Alexandra Montoya, spiritual director and counselor
Questions? Email or call 707-575-9075.
NEW! Ash Wednesday:
A Lenten Gathering for Reflection and Healing
Wednesday, February 13, 7-8pm
Join us as we observe Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian tradition. Spiritually, Ash Wednesday is a day of humbling our hearts before God. We will be reflecting together on the state of our hearts and lives, knowing that whatever we find, the One who loves us unconditionally is full of forgiveness, grace and healing. More>
This evening we prepare for the next 40 days of Lent in which we will turn towards Him by remembering the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a time of noticing, pondering, and anticipating. During our time of quiet prayer, music and blessing, we will be offering the ceremony of giving ashes for those who would like to receive them. This is an opportunity for folks who do not have a faith community, or are in one that does not incorporate this ancient practice, to find a safe place to gather with those who are connected to this spiritual practice.
Facilitator : Dan Beach and Ruah Bull are spiritual directors on staff at The Journey Center.
View the Ash Wednesday poster
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