Vision of

Contemplative Outreach

Draft-Board of Trustees approved 8/8/06

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1. As a growing spiritual network with an evolving vision and practice, we serve the needs of Christian contemplatives through an attitude of listening and responding.
    
2. We seek to embody the Divine appeal: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
    
3. We deepen our relationship with God through living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life.
    
4. The contemplative dimension of the Gospel manifests itself in an ever-deepening union with the living Christ and the practical caring for others that flows from this relationship. It reveals the deeper meaning of the mysteries of Christ.
    
5. We present the practice of Centering Prayer which consists of responding to the call of the Holy Spirit to consent to God’s presence and action within. God’s presence affirms our basic core of goodness and God’s action is the process of transformation in Christ.
    
6. We also present the practice of listening to the living Word of God in scripture (Lectio Divina), particularly its movement into Contemplative Prayer, which a regular, established practice of Centering Prayer facilitates.
    
7. The source of Centering Prayer is the Indwelling Trinity. Its focus is the deepening of our relationship with the redeeming Christ. It builds communities of faith and bonds the members together in charity.
    
8. We are formed by our respective denominations, but united in our common search for God and the experience of the living Christ through Centering Prayer.
    
9. We identify with the Christian Contemplative Heritage in which Centering Prayer is rooted. We recognize this Heritage as the common ground of Christian unity.
    
10. Centering Prayer leads to an ever-deepening commitment to the needs and rights of each member of the human family and an ever-increasing respect for the integrity and interdependence of all creation.
     
11. We affirm our solidarity with the contemplative dimension of other religions and sacred traditions.
     
12. We foster a spirit of unity, generosity, and utmost charity in all of our relationships.
     
13. Following the teachings of Jesus, we exercise leadership as service.
     
14. We acknowledge that any good accomplished by Contemplative Outreach is the work of the Holy Spirit.

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Administrative Principles

1. Contemplative Outreach fulfills its mission through attraction to the Centering Prayer programs, not by proselytizing.
    
2. Servant Leaders are responsible to one another to support and transmit the Vision of Contemplative Outreach to others.
    
3. We reach decisions with as much consensus as possible.
    
4. Those who serve in leadership ordinarily do so in a voluntary capacity.
    
5. All who provide Contemplative Outreach services do so in consideration of and in balance with their personal, family and professional responsibilities.
    
6. Each unit of organization (Centering Prayer Groups, Chapters and Clusters) aims to be self-sustaining through the gifts of time, talent and financial support and is encouraged to maintain a modest reserve.
    
7. Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. and the local chapters avoid indebtedness and owning real estate in order to remain free to devote our resources to sharing the gift of Centering Prayer.
    
8. We cooperate with those who exercise Church authority in the areas where we work, but we do not seek canonical status as a religious or lay institute.
    
9. The spiritual network must remain accessible to everyone. Therefore, we do not endorse particular causes or take part in public controversies, whether religious, political or social. As private individuals, we act according to our own conscience.
    
10. When necessary, Contemplative Outreach, Ltd will hire employees and engage contractors to accomplish the mission and to serve the growth and developing needs of the spiritual network.
     
11. We value the resources and support of the International Resource Center and share responsibility for its continuation through various means of financial support.

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Structure of the Spiritual Network of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.

1. Contemplative Outreach Ltd. is a not-for-profit corporation that serves the needs of the spiritual network.
    
2. The International Resource Center of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. provides resources, programs and service to Chapters, Chapter Servant Leadership and the spiritual network, and handles all business-related activities.
    
3. The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Contemplative Outreach Ltd. and is responsible for the oversight of the corporation and its activities.
    
4. The voting members of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. are current and former Resource Faculty, Coordinators, Advisory Board and Board of Trustee members.
    
5. The Resource Faculty is responsible for developing, maintaining and refining of programs, as well as the formation, commissioning and mentoring of individuals who present these programs, and is accountable to the spiritual network and the Board of Trustees.
    
6. The Chapter Coordinators are responsible for implementing programs appropriate to each Chapter’s stage of growth and for the support of small groups which are called Centering Prayer groups. Centering Prayer groups work in collaboration with Chapter Servant Leadership teams. Chapter coordinators, Centering Prayer groups and the Chapter Servant Leadership teams are accountable to the spiritual network and the Board of Trustees.
    
7. Coordinators are responsible for reporting their Chapter activities and finances in their annual report of activities and other information as requested to the International Resource Center.
    
8. Each Chapter, in the spirit of interdependence, maintains communication with the Coordinators’ Communication Committee, a part of the International Resource Center.
    
9. Clusters are formed as Chapters network within a given geographical area.
    
10. The Board of Trustees, Resource Faculty, and Coordinators maintain the integrity of the method of Centering Prayer and its conceptual background as articulated by Thomas Keating in Open Mind, Open Heart, and other practices and programs offered by Contemplative Outreach.
     
11. We recognize and maintain a spiritual relationship with St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.

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Draft-Board of Trustees approved 8/8/06