🕊️ A sanctuary of stillness—where silence speaks, images stir, and God draws near in holy quiet.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost – A Contemplative Worship Experience – October 19, 2025

Bulletin-10-19-2025

Scripture Reading: Psalm 46 | Centering Prayer, Poetry, and Guided Reflection

This Sunday at Holy Covenant, we departed from our usual worship rhythm to embrace the beauty and depth of contemplative Christian practice. Titled “A Contemplative Worship Experience,” the service invited us to breathe deeply, slow our pace, and become fully present to the sacred stirrings within and around us.

Before worship, congregants were invited to select a printed image—drawn from nature, art, activism, or everyday life—that “spoke” to them. Each person also received a small journal and pen to accompany them on a personal spiritual journey during the service.

Pastor Chris opened with reflections on Christian mysticism, tracing a lineage from the Desert Mothers and Fathers to Thomas Merton and Julian of Norwich. He explained that contemplation is not a retreat from the world but a deepening of our presence within it—a sacred practice of listening with the “ears of the heart.” Through visio divina (divine seeing), we were encouraged to seek God in imagery, silence, and reflection.

During the spiritual reflection, Pastor Chris shared his own experience meditating on a vase of flowers—noticing how we often overlook the vase, the very source that sustains beauty. “What is the vase in your life?” he asked. “What holds you up? What fills you with life?” These questions formed the center of our own journaling exercise, guided by prompts that asked us to pay attention to what we see, feel, and sense through our chosen image.

As the sanctuary grew still, one could hear the gentle whisper of pens gliding over paper, a soft chorus of thoughtfulness—a swish, a scratch, a scribbled pause—like holy rainfall on a page. Outside, the crisp autumn sun lit up the trees, and inside, a sacred hush blanketed the room.

Children were invited into the contemplative moment through a beautiful lesson in “Stories for All People.” Pastor Chris gave each child a smooth stone—symbolizing the quieting of the heart—and reminded them to breathe and slow down whenever they touched it. “Be still and know that I am God,” he quoted from Psalm 46.

The centering prayer, printed in the bulletin, grounded the service with the words:
“Quiet our restless thoughts… May we sense Your Spirit moving like a soft current beneath the surface of our lives—steady, gentle, and always near.”

Music was chosen with intention: from the Taizé chant “Ubi Caritas,” to Richard Smallwood’s “I Love the Lord,” to the contemplative anthem “Little Things with Great Love.” Each piece deepened the soul’s journey inward.

Intercessory prayer was offered in silence, holding one another in the gentle presence of God. Even the Lord’s Prayer was transformed—rewritten by Pastor Chris as a contemplative adaptation full of poetic grace and radical intimacy.

At the close of worship, Pastor Chris invited all to continue journaling and, for those called to share, to gather in the Prayer Chapel. “May we keep the nearness to God that we experienced,” he said. “Even in silence, God is still speaking.”

📖🙏 Order of Worship Highlights:

• Prelude: “It Is Well with My Soul” – arr. J. Inness
• Hymns: “Come and Find the Quiet Center” | “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart”
• Poetry Readings: “Intimacy with God” by Justin Farley | “On Meditation” by Heimir Stein
• Centering Prayer: Led by Pastor Chris – “Quiet our restless thoughts…”
• Scripture Reading: Psalm 46 (with pauses at each “Selah”)
• Guided Reflection: Spiritual exercise using visio divina
• Children’s Message: The gift of a stone – “Be still and know that I am God”
• Contemplative Lord’s Prayer: Adapted by Rev. Czarnecki
• Special Music: “I Love the Lord” | “Little Things with Great Love”
• Prayers of the People: Offered silently, held in communal stillness

“Silence is the language of God. Everything else is a poor translation.” — Thomas Merton