11 March – Lenten day of Prayer
Come for a morning, afternoon or the whole day
Morning: Christian Meditation as an embodied practice.
Josie von Zitzewitz
9.30 am to 1 pm
We welcome back Josephine von Zitewitz to the centre. Josie is an oblate of the World Community of Christian Meditation and has been meditating for over 20 years. She regularly speaks at retreats and teaches Russian literature and language at New College, Oxford.
This day offers an introduction to Christian meditation as a form of prayer that involves the entire human being – body, mind and spirit. We have often been conditioned to disregard the body in our spiritual life; on 11 March we will explore the theological basis for having an embodied practice with the help of Scripture and ancient and modern teachers. Those new to the practice of meditation are welcome and there will be several opportunities to practice meditation.
Afternoon: Praying with Scriptures
Deacon Ted Wood from the Chemin Neuf Community.
1.30 pm to 4 pm
Cost – a goodwill donation. Lunch will be provided.
A day on Journaling
Andrew Kerr Jarrett
22 April 2023, 10 am – 3 pm
Journaling can be a wonderful help in deepening our prayer life. In this workshop, we explore different ways of using spontaneous writing to draw us into closer encounter with God, scripture and our own histories. Bring lots of paper (or a favourite notebook with plenty of blank pages) and pens, or your laptop with the battery well charged.
Twin passions for prayer and writing first led Andrew to explore the possibilities of journaling as prayer. A writer and editor by profession, he was involved for many years with the Mount Street Jesuit Centre (now the London Jesuit Centre), where he facilitated courses on Ignatian spirituality, as well as workshops on journaling.
Walking humbly with God
Chris Chapman
9 September 2023, 10 am – 3 pm
Francis of Assisi on renewing our relationship with Creation and one another
For Francis, reverence for the poor and marginalized, reverence for Creation, the way of dialogue and active peace rather than power and violence, all flow from one connected source – how God is: a God who is humble, relational, alongside and creative.
Francis didn’t teach that theology in words – he lived it in an engaged life.
In a time when the environment and the climate are in crisis, and those in power prefer to build walls rather than relationships, we need the witness of Francis of Assisi. We will explore how to walk humbly with God, the created world and one another.
Christopher Chapman is a guest director of individually guide retreats for St. Beuno’s Jesuit Retreat Centre, and teaches spirituality for St. Augustine’s College of Theology. Formerly he was Spirituality Adviser for the Diocese of Southwark. He is the author of Seeing in the Dark, Earthed in God: and Send my Roots Rain: Refreshing the spiritual life of priests, all published by Canterbury Press
To register please email cockfosterscs@rcdow.org.uk
Donations
We invite a donation to cover our our speaker’s travel costs and the lunches and refreshments we provide:
Evening £10 / Concession £5
Half day £15 /Concession £10
Day £30 / Concession £20
Online
Evening £10 / Concession £5
Half day £10 / Concession £5
Full day £20 / Concession £15
We don’t want cost to be a barrier – so please pay what you can afford. Concessions for the unwaged. Parishioners of the Parish of Christ the King please pay the concession rate.
To make a donation please use this link where you can make an online payment https://parish.rcdow.org.uk/cockfosters/donate/
Cockfosters Centre for Spirituality 
I really enjoyed this mornings’ workshop ‘From crisis to opportunity’. It was very insightful and relevant. I was able to take away a toolkit for coping with the challenges brought about by the pandemic. There were some very useful and practical suggestions made by the facilitator. I really enjoyed the breakout session where we were able to share and explore issues at various stages in the workshop. Thank you Mary Jo, thank you, Jonathan and to the lovely group of people who were also participating in the workshop.