It's Sunday just after 5 p.m.... Seven adults are sitting around a "Christ-candle" in the youth room. There is no talking, no laughter. For 10 minutes, the only noise is the sound of their breathing ... now it's 7 p.m.--one hour into the night's youth group gathering. There are 18 senior highers and five adults sitting in a candlelit sanctuary. A gold cross stands on a table.... They're chanting the "Jesus Prayer," an ancient meditative practice.1

Youth ministry leaders were trained to meet regularly for faith sharing, contemplative prayer, and communal discernment ... communities were then encouraged to begin forming young people in contemplative understanding through silence, solitude, and a variety of contemplative exercises....

Spiritual formation tracks, based on the experience of the Project, were implemented at youth ministry conventions and conferences.... National news services such as the Wall Street Journal, Knight Rider News Service, CBS radio and ABC World News Tonight all ran stories on various aspects of the Project.6

Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen again and again to the voice of love and to find there the wisdom and courage to address whatever issue presents itself to them ... For Christian leadership to be truly fruitful in the future, a movement from the moral to the mystical is required.8

"During that special evening, I felt the need to share my faith with him, to let him know that another Christian artist was sitting next to him. So when he whispered, "How can I ever thank you for this wonderful night?" I said, "Michael, I didn't put this together, God did!" He said, "Oh yes, I believe that with all of my heart."

I told him I was a Christian, and he said he was, too. We talked about the first Christian song we'd both heard as children: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong." With the dinner party loudly going on around us, we both quietly leaned in and sang the song, smiling like choirboys. "Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me." Then we gave each other a short embrace.

I knew at that moment that this sweet-spirited young genius was going to find his eternal peace in heaven.

... one of the greatest artists of our time is now moon-walking along the gold paved roads of heaven, where streets have no name, with a broad smile on his face, and a band of angels welcoming him home.

Tim always preaches with a non-Christian audience in mind, not merely avoiding offense, but exploring the text to find its good news for unbelievers as well as believers. The church emphasizes excellence in music and art, to the point of paying their musicians well. And it calls people to love and bless the city.

In this session, we will focus on Centering Prayer, an age-old practice of authentic Christian meditation. We will cover history, technique, obstacles, and how to overcome them. We will also devote ample time to actual practice and Q &A. We will learn how to properly prepare by grounding ourselves in God's Word. As a prelude, we will consider the purpose, power, and biblical precedent for silence, solitude, and contemplative practice.

[Castillo] "wholly espouses Reformed Presbyterian theology while continuing to embrace her 'inner monk.' Sometimes referred to as 'The Retreat Lady,' she has been fleeing to monasteries to 'honeymoon with Jesus' for over ten years.

The awakened inner Self now goes in search of the Supreme Self. This is the purpose of monastic life. It is a search, a diligent search for higher consciousness, which culminates in discovering the 'eternal relation' that exists between the reality in you and the reality behind all creation [classic Hinduism]. (You have emptied yourself of yourself so that yourself settles totally into the self.)

Jan Johnson in her book, When the Soul Listens: Finding Rest and Direction in Contemplative Prayer, is a perfect example of an evangelical Christian who endorses and promotes this practice. She leaves no doubt about what this type of prayer entails:

Contemplative prayer, in its simplest form, is a prayer in which you still your thoughts and emotions and focus on God Himself. This puts you in a better state to be aware of God's presence, and it makes you better able to hear God's voice, correcting, guiding, and directing you.

Johnson's explanation of the initial stages of contemplative prayer leaves no doubt that "stilling" your thoughts means only one thing; she explains:

In the beginning, it is usual to feel nothing but a cloud of unknowing.... If you're a person who has relied on yourself a great deal to know what's going on, this unknowing will be unnerving.

(ATOD, 2nd ed., p. 82)

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?--Jeremiah 5:30-31

Last year, for example, one featured speaker was Andrew Marin, president and founder of the Marin Foundation, a nonprofit that builds bridges between the religious and gay communities. Marin's appearance hit a nerve with some, but not all, conservatives, and probably prompted Youth Specialties' decision to "play it safe" at the upcoming conventions.

"There's definitely an opportunity to engage in discussions around topics," he said. "It's not like we're trying to make this a vanilla event that is lowering the bar to the least common denominator so that we can all agree on everything and create some kind of false utopia."