Fr. Thomas Keating , is a Cistercian monk at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, CO. He was one of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement and an organization called Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. In 1984, he invited spiritual leaders from virtually all the world’s great wisdom traditions for dialogue on their commonality, which has continued for over 20 years. He has worked with 12 Step groups, offering Centering Prayer as part of 11th Step practice. He is well-known for his numerous books, tapes, and teachings.
Fr. Richard Rohr, is a Franciscan of the New Mexico province and founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in 1986. Fr. Richard has more recently worked in the area of “men as elders” similar to our 12 Step use of sponsorship. His gift is articulating to our minds what we already know in our hearts. He has been a long time friend of 12 Step programs. He is also well-known for his numerous books, tapes, and teachings.
About the Conference Hosts
The Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), located in Albuquerque,New Mexico, was founded in 1987 by Franciscan Father Richard Rohr who saw the need for a training/formation center that would allow spiritually seeking people to balance social action with contemplation, and contemplation with social action. Committed to offering a constructive message of the Gospel that crosses boundaries of religion, ethnicity, social class and gender, the CAC provides numerous programs and resources aimed at offering hope, inspiration and spiritual challenge.
12 Step Outreach is a group of individuals in recovery who offer Centering Prayer, a method taught by Contemplative Outreach, to people in all 12 Step Fellowships as an 11th Step prayer and meditative practice. We help individuals establish meditative practices through small Centering Prayer groups, 11th Step recovery meetings, introductory workshops, retreats, formation programs, and support for the practice.