Retreat starts with Dinner Friday at 5:30 and ends after breakfast on Sunday

Nancy Cord-Baran, Michael Gidlewski and Kathleen Maxwell invite you to join us in this weekend retreat. It is for people who participate in any 12 Step program of recovery and have the intention to improve their meditation practice and enlarge their spiritual life.

The retreat will offer an environment of solitude and silence in community with time for reflection, fellowship, and 12 Step meetings. We will present an Introduction to Centering Prayer in the context of 12-Step recovery. There will be an optional Track II for participants who have attended this retreat before. 

Centering Prayer is a simple method of prayer rooted in ancient Christian practice that opens us to God’s presence and divine healing. Some of the fruits you may experience with a regular practice of Centering Prayer include enrichment of one’s prayer life, being able to ‘let go’ in the course of daily life, a non-judgmental attitude toward others, growth in self-knowledge, the ability to live in the present moment, and love and respect for others and all creation.

The vision of 12 Step Outreach is to pass on the gift of Centering Prayer and related Spiritual Practices to improve our conscious contact with a God of our understanding, wherever there is a desire for deeper healing from anyone in 12 Step recovery. (View their website cp12stepoutreach.org)

Home - 12 Step Outreach

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry […]

cp12stepoutreach.org

If you are starting a meditation practice, seeking a new path, or are interested in deepening your current practice, come and join us.

Nancy Cord-Baran is a Spiritual Director and Retreat Leader who serves as the Coordinator for Contemplative Outreach of Central Pa. She received her BS  from Penn State University and worked for 25 years as a Recreation Therapist. Nancy is a graduate of Oasis Ministries’ Spiritual Direction for Spiritual Guides and Deepening Year of Direction Ministries programs. 

Nancy has been practicing Centering Prayer daily since 1998 and is a Commissioned Presenter for the Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop, The Forgiveness Prayer and 12 Step Outreach. She has led retreats on Centering Prayer as an 11th Step Practice at Bethany for the past 18 years.

Nancy is a long-time student of David Frenette, a long-time student of Fr. Thomas Keating.  

Michael Gidlewski, has had a daily practice of Centering Prayer since 1995, and became a commissioned Centering Prayer Presenter in July of 2011. Michael has led many retreats on Centering Prayer and Centering Prayer as an 11th step practice and through the practice of centering prayer has deepened his own spiritual life.. Michael and his wife Rosemary also facilitate a weekly Centering Prayer Group on Zoom with a lively book discussion to reinforce our practice.

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Michael is the founder of Achievement Unlimited, Inc. As a growth catalyst and meditation teacher, he has presented hundreds of leadership and management programs, facilitated strategic plans and helped clients get the right people on the bus to grow their business. Continually reinforcing clients need to take time away from the business to recharge their life in silence and solitude. 

5:30pm – Dinner in the Dining Room 

6:30pm – Welcome, Orientation – House Conference Room

7:30pm – 12 Step Meeting (optional) – Prayer Center

Retire in Silence

7:30 – 2/20 minute Centering Prayer Periods with Contemplative Walk – Prayer Center

8:30 – Breakfast in Silence

9:30 – Conference I – “Prayer as Relationship” – House Conference Room

11:00 – Conference II “The Method of Centering Prayer” House Conference Room

12:30 – Lunch in Silence 

Open Retreat time – Optional Soul Friending (sign-up) Prayer Center Rooms

3:00 – Conference III “Thoughts and the use of the Sacred Word” House Conference Room

4:30 – Conference IV “Depending our Relationship with God” House Conference Room

5:30 – Dinner with Conversation

5:30 – Mass at St. Mary’s in Frenchville (optional)

7:30 – 12 Step Meeting (optional) Prayer Center

Retire in Silence

7:30 – 2/20 minute Centering Prayer Periods with Contemplative Walk – Prayer Center

8:30 – Breakfast in Silence

9:30 – 12 Step Meeting – God as I Understand – Prayer Center

10:40 – Introduction to the Labyrinth – Prayer Center

11:40 – Closing Circle – House Conference Room

12:30 – Lunch with Conversation

Departure