📚 Join our Winter Book Club and Discover the Power of Christian Meditation and Centering Prayer!

Look what Richard Rohr had to say about the book Be Still and Listen by Amos Smith! “Amos Smith’s unique voice is rooted in his long-term centering prayer practice and his international background. Be Still and Listen is a trumpet call to the inner treasures of contemporary Christian mysticism.”

Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey? We’re thrilled to announce our Winter Book Club, where we will delve into the profound teachings of Amos Smith’s book, Be Still and Listen: Experience the Presence of God in Your Life.

📅 Dates: February 19 – March 18, 2024
🕒 Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, every Monday
🏢 Location: 368 S. Tuckahoe Road, Williamstown NJ -or- Join via Zoom.
Once you register, we will send you the Zoom information.

In this book club, we’ll explore the art of centering prayer and Christian meditation, discovering the immense potential it holds for personal growth and spiritual connection. Together, we’ll embark on a five-week adventure, with each Monday evening dedicated to the exploration and discussion of key concepts from the book.

🌟 Highlights of our Winter Book Club: 🌟

✨ Engaging Discussions: Led by our experienced facilitators, Teresa Yerkes and Leigh McCarthy, our book club meetings will provide a nurturing environment for vibrant discussions. They will alternate each week, bringing their unique perspectives to the table.

✨ Weekly Reading Assignments: Throughout the club, we’ll follow weekly reading assignments, covering approximately twenty-three pages per week. This pace ensures a comprehensive understanding of the material while allowing time for reflection.

✨ In-Person or Virtual: Choose the mode that suits you best. Attend our book club sessions in person at our welcoming location at 368 S. Tuckahoe Road in Williamstown, N.J., or join us via Zoom from the comfort of your own home. The choice is yours!

✨ Free Admission: There’s no charge to join our Winter Book Club. We believe in making this enriching experience accessible to everyone who wishes to participate. The only cost you’ll bear is purchasing the book from your favorite local or online bookstore.

✨ Optional Participation: While we encourage active participation in the discussions, we understand that everyone has their own preferences. Feel free to join us solely to expand your knowledge about centering prayer and Christian meditation. All are welcome!
Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your spiritual practice and connect with others on this profound journey. We can’t wait to embark on this transformative experience with you!

Remember, true change begins when we embrace the silence within.

Book Description
The various crises we experience in society and culture today, at their root, reveal a spiritual problem: a profound lack of meaning. The mystical truths revealed in scripture can surely help.

Part One, “Entering the Desert,” introduces the reader to principles of awareness, deep listening, and contemplation as essential for “hearing” what Scripture has to say. Part Two details the importance of mystery and struggle in the process of healing from any past or present wounds. And Part Three explores the “undivided heart” that is possible when we come to know God in silence and stillness.

With Be Still, it is possible to explore the contemplative dimensions of the Bible, either on your own or in a group setting, as you perhaps never have before.

About the Author
Amos Smith is a Rehabilitation Therapist, Spiritual Director, and Contemplative Arts Writer and Workshop Leader. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary and teaches contemporary Christian mysticism. His first book, Healing the Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots, is part of the curriculum at Richard Rohr’s Living School: The Center for Action and Contemplation.

About the Christian Meditation Center’s Book Club Facilitators
Teresa Yerkes, the Founder of Christian Meditation Center, has been a Christian since 1983 and has practiced Christian meditation since 2000. She is the author of three books, Come Closer: The Practice of Christian Meditation, God Within You: The Case for Christian Meditation and Making Love: The Spiritual Act of Love.  She teaches and leads Christian meditation training and facilitates sessions.  She is a public speaker, facilitates book clubs and leads retreats. Teresa is a Certified Lay Speaker and Lay Counselor. She brings nearly forty years of her own personal discovery, along with highly specialized spiritual direction training provided by the Shalem Institute.
Teresa’s career background consists of primarily business administration. She is married to her husband Bill, mother of 3 children, and grandmother of 6 grandchildren.  She loves their two yellow labs, Lucy and Peaches, and their cat Gracie. Her favorite thing to do is spend time with family and friends.  She enjoys reading and taking walks with her husband and their dogs.

Leigh “Lili” McCarthy met Jesus and was reborn in 2002, since that time her personal meditation practice has been Christ-centered. She believes that is the most beneficial of all meditation styles, and that little brings us closer to our Lord than time in stillness with Him. Her favorite style of meditation is imaginative, inserting herself as a present observer within the pages of The Gospels. You can expect she will lead you into quiet heart-centered meditation with a bit of imagery and Scripture.

Lili lives in Oregon with her husband, dogs, cat, hamster, and many fish! Her two adult children live in Australia and California. She volunteers with the local food pantry, Christian radio station, pregnancy Center, and works in private practice as a somatic psychotherapist.  She enjoys spending time in her vegetable and flower gardens, her favorite place to meditate is swaying in the hammock in her backyard!

Lili is a registered Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction facilitator, certified meditation teacher, and she teaches mindfulness and meditation at the university and community college, to both students and faculty. In her somatic therapy practice, Leigh works with women and couples using a whole person approach to healing through prayer & meditation, talk therapy, functional medicine coaching, and lifestyle change. She offers in-person and telehealth appointments. You can visit her website to learn more: www.Allinyourbody.com.

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