Life Enrichment Seminars

These monthly seminars are held Monday evenings from 7:30 – 9:30 PM at the Christian Counseling Center and are free of charge. Call 956-1122 to make your reservation.

• Monday, February 11, 2008 – Presenters: Rev. Nola Opperwall Galluch, LMSW ~ Connie Vander Schel, MSW, LMSW
  WHO’S RIGHT? WHO’S WRONG? COPING WITH TEMPERAMENT DIFFERENCE IN MARRIAGE
  Discovering how your differences in personality style can enhance, rather than undermine, your relationship.
  
  
• Monday, March 10, 2008 – Presenter: Dr. Judith Kuiper
  WHEN A LOVED ONE IS ADDICTED
  Addiction does not only hurt the one who is addicted. Families are torn apart by an addicted person’s behavior. How loved ones can best respond and care for themselves in the midst of the chaos of addiction is the topic of this presentation.

Community Resources

• The 2008 Grand Rapids Christian Parenting Conference, Celebrating the Family, is planned for Saturday February 2. The program will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., on the campus of Grand Rapids, Christian High School, 2300 Plymouth SE, in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Arts and Worship. Enjoy the keynote address, “Life, Stress, and God: A Guide to Helping Kids Fail Successfully,” by R. Scott Stehouwer, PhD, followed by two break-out sessions. The conference is free of charge and open to the public. No registration is required. Email marketing@pinerest.org for more information.

Upcoming Opportunities

• Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop
  April 26, 2008
  9:00 am to 1:30 pm
  (Plus six Monday evening sessions following)

The Introductory workshop provides a basic definition of the Contemplative Prayer in comparison to other kinds of prayer and expresses the intention of Contemplative Outreach to retrieve, reclaim, and re-appropriated the contemplative dimension of the gospel and share this gift with people of all faiths.

The introductory workshop presents a simple, four-step method of prayer called “Centering Prayer” that introduces a practical way of preparing oneself to receive the gift of contemplation (Presenters are commissioned by Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.) Ample time is allowed for questions, answers, and open discussion.

The One Day Introductory Workshop consists of four presentations:

1. Prayer as Relationship (prayer with the intention to consent to the intimacy of God)
2. The Method of Centering Prayer (participants experience the method)
3. Thoughts and the Use of the Sacred Word (as presented and used in Centering Prayer)
4. Deepening Our Relationship with God (extending the prayer into daily life)

• Six One Hour Sessions on Monday Evenings
  April 28 – June 9, 2008 (Skipping May 26, Memorial Day)
  5:30 to 6:30 PM

Six videotape sessions provide a comprehensive program to the initial introductory workshop. These sessions are facilitated by the presenters of the introductory workshop and provided an expanded understanding of contemplation and a twenty minute period of Centering prayer. Fr. Thomas Keating, OCXSO, founder of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. is the featured speaker in each of the video tapes.