Workshop
CONTEMPLATIVE CHANTING
AND PSALMODY WORKSHOP
Overview | Cynthia Bourgeault | RATES / REGISTER


Part 1: Thursday, January 21, 3-6pm
Part 2: Friday Jan 22, 9a-noon

Chanting is a universal, spiritual practice to awaken the heart, deepen contemplative prayer, and engage compassionate action. This hands-on workshop will give you everything you need to begin to work with this practice in your own prayer life—even if you consider yourself “musically challenged.” No sight reading or singing skills necessary: just a willingness to go deeper into the embodiment of spirituality. We will explore both traditional paths of Christian psalmody (chanting the psalms), and new forms of chanting including Taize and Christian “zikr.” Emphasis will be on engaging the heart, opening the breath and tone (those two core elements of divine creativity at the core of our being), and deepening compassion.

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Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, PhD serves as Principal Teacher for the Contemplative Society and an adjunct faculty member at the Vancouver School of Theology. She is the author of six books: Chanting the Psalms, Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Love is Stronger Than Death and The Wisdom Jesus. She is also responsible for many articles and CDs on the Christian Spiritual Life. She is a past Fellow of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural research at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN, and an oblate of New Camaldoli Monastery in Big Sur, California.  As well as her role with the Contemplative Society, she is also a retreat and conference leader, teacher of prayer, writer on the spiritual life, and Episcopal priest. Cynthia is passionately committed to the recovery of the Christian contemplative path and has worked closely with Fr. Thomas Keating as a teacher of Centering Prayer, Fr. Bruno Barnhart, and other Christian contemplative masters. She is also committed to working with leaders of other religious traditions.