The speaker will describe the method and experience of centering prayer, then participants will then practice the method themselves. The session will close with a discussion of the experience.  Maureen McCoy facilitates seminars and leads support groups for persons going through the crisis experience of divorce or broken relationships.

The Amry sisters will discuss having been raised as Muslims in the United States, which is historically a predominantly Christian nation. Their experience of being  strangers in their own homeland  should generate a discussion of Muslim belief and culture, especially as expressed through Muslim art. Hend and Buthyna Amry come from a Libyan North African tradition. They are both students at the University of Kentucky and have given many presentations locally on the Islamic tradition and religion.

Only by a return to reverence for the Earth and acceptance of our stewardship can we hope to hand to future generations a sustainable planet. The sacred writings of the world's major religions and indigenous peoples reveal a common admonition to stop the destruction of our planet and ourselves. The workshop will explore some ways in which to begin that journey, including keeping a personal journal. Barbara G. Ballard, a semi-retired educator and administrator, is a member of the Spiritual Growth Network and of the Environmental Committee of St.Pius X Church in Louisville.

The value of understanding dreams has been recognized throughout history by the majority of world cultures. The presentation will focus on the uses of dreams throughout history, as well as providing techniques to help participants remember and interpret their own dreams. Dr. Paula Raines, president of Psycheology, Inc., P.S.C., has a law degree and a doctorate in transpersonal psychology. She has studied dreams in the traditions of many ancient cultures, including Greek, Roman, Christian, and Native American. She uses dream work in her private practice as a certified psychologist and runs dream groups for women.

The workshop will explore the archetypes of self and house/community, to increase one's awareness of individual likes and dislikes and of the relationship of self to community. Each participant is asked to bring a personal object from his or her past, along with images clipped from magazine of house interiors/exteriors and of various mass-culture objects From these each participant will construct a collage (paper and glue will be provided), which will then be discussed. Mark Clary has taught and practiced drawing, painting, and architecture for twenty years. His aim is to teach and practice architecture in a transcendental and integrated way, combining knowledge, ethics, and aesthetics.

Instruction in yoga breathing and stretching will be given. Participants will be encouraged to develop their own practice, with emphasis on starting from a place of inner stillness, and becoming sensitive to one1s own natural energy flow. Stephanie Powell has eighteen years of hatha yoga experience and has taught yoga for fifteen years. She is a student of Shelley Smith.

Modern film is often overlooked as a source of education and inspiration of the human spirit to transcend itself. Clips from modern films will be used to show how the drama/stories/characters invite us to go beyond our normal everyday realities to explore a new level of awareness. Paschal Baute is a pastoral counselor and psychotherapist in practice for twenty-nine years. Wayne Schmiedeknecht works for the State of Kentucky and has a longtime interest in Eastern and Western spiritual traditions.

While the teaching of formal or orthodox religion is banned from the curriculum in nonsectarian and public schools, the nurturing of the Spirit can be an integral part of any classroom. This workshop will present an understanding of many practical steps to bring about such an awareness of Spirit and ways to keep it alive throughout all activities of the school day. Sister Marcia Jehn is founder and director of the Providence Montessori School in Lexington. She has thirty years of experience in Montessori teaching.

Through the interplay of space and light, great cathedrals like Chartres, Notre Dame of Paris, Rheims, and Amiens embody a distinctive artistic expression of the human spirit and its quest for the transcendent. This  voluminosity  and its underlying spiritual vision will be illustrated with selected slides of early French Gothic cathedrals. Walter J. Bado, S.J., is director of the Newman Center in Lexington. He studied art and architecture at Sankt Georgen Seminary in Frankfort, Germany, and the University of Bonn. His photos are drawn from thirteen years of study and travel in Western Europe.

The workshop will present conflict resolution and transformative mediation strategies with case examples from interfaith initiatives (such as religious holiday disputes). Linda Harvey is executive director of Transformation House, Inc., a non-profit corporation providing community mediation facilitation. She received the Bluegrass National Conference of Christians and Jews Humanitarian Award in 198 for her work in mediation..

The workshop will give an introduction to the understanding of basic personality types presented in the Enneagram. The objective will be to help participants recognize the level of development in each personality type and to become acquainted with resources for further study of the Enneagram. The Rev. Dr. W. Robert Insko is an Episcopal priest and teacher of the Enneagram. He has been a member of the Interfaith Dialogue of the National Conference for ten years.

Chi Gong is an ancient healing art based on traditional Chinese medicine and designed to promote good health and a long life. This presentation will include slides from China and information on Chinese medicine and the history, uses, and benefits of Chi Gong. Workshop attendants will participate in Chi Gong easy-movement exercises, breathing techniques, and meditation practices. Jim Concotelli has a master's degree in social work and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Kentucky. He is founder and director of the Lexington Wellness Center, where he teachings yoga, Chi Gong, and stress management techniques.

The workshop will combine standard didactic and experiential methods. In the first half, a map of the human consciousness based on spiritual growth will be presented. In the second half, participants will have the opportunity to explore dimensions of the map in their own experience.. Mary Greene, Ph.D., is a psychologist and a director of the Kentucky Center of Psychosynthesis for twenty years.

Following forty to forty-five minutes of piano music, the performer will lead a discussion about how music can enhance our spiritual lives. With a background in yoga and the Quaker faith, she will discuss her attempt to incorporate conscious breathing into her piano practice and performance. Dr. Patricia Barnes Griffith has a doctoral degree in music performance (D.M.A.) and has extensive performance experience.

Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing, not like the love of dreams.  Participants will read and study a text together. Joseph Engelberg is professor emeritus of the University of Kentucky School of Medicine.

G. I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) brought to the West a teaching stressing rigorous self-examination and spiritual transformation, based on the Eastern Orthodox faith of his native Caucasus, as well as Sufi and Tibetan sources. The reading of an early lecture by Gurdjieff will be juxtaposed with recorded examples of the haunting music he composed for piano or played on the harmonium. Rob Baker is former co-editor of  Parabola Magazine  and the author of  The Art of AIDS  (Continuum, 1994). Janet Holloway is state director of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center Both have been associated with the Gurdjieff Work for over a decade and are members of the Gurdjieff Foundation of Kentucky.

The Islamic view of the capacity for human evolution will be addressed: Just as human evolves physically from a single sperm and egg, the human being is likewise designed to develop along lines of ascending spiritual growth and transformation. It is the essential purpose of religious philosophy to ascertain and prescribe these lines of development. Iman Shahid S. Rashid considers himself an average human being whose value lies in understanding the capacities of other average human beings. He is a Muslim prayer leader and speaks frequently on Islam.

The workshop will focus on understanding sudden traumatic loss with the aid of spiritual resources, and how to accept spiritual crises as normal and necessary. Pascal Baute, a pastoral counselor and psychotherapist, is a board member of RENEW, a nonprofit organization offering understanding and support to those facing traumatic loss.

Our voice is our breath (which is spiritus in Latin) made audible. Chanting, song, and sacred sounds have been an important part of spiritual traditions throughout history and across many cultures. This session will explore experientially different manifestations of the spirit through chanting, singing, and sonic meditation. Participants are invited to share and teach examples from their own traditions. No formal musical training is necessary. Lance Brunner is a professor of music history at the University of Kentucky who has specialized in Gregorian chant and the healing powers of music. He is a co-director of the Lexington Shambhala Meditation Center.

The Millers will speak about the death of their son, Stephen, of AIDS-related complications, in May 1989. A discussion will follow about Christian conscience and the issue of AIDS. Charles D. (Chip) Miller is director of the Sunday School Department of the Kentucky Baptist Convention in Louisville. Nancy Miller, a medical technologist, is currently a student at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary. They lecture frequently on AIDS awareness.

The Appalachian Scholar:A Study in Identity, Spirituality, and Aesthetics.  The workshop will explore why Appalachian culture is different from American mainstream culture, with the mountain value system's emphasis on small scale over large scale, family context over individualism, place over mobility, cooperation over competition, relationships over materialism, acquiescence over confrontation, and egalitarianism over hierarchy. Dr. Glenna Graves is a history professor at Midway College and a writer. She grew up in Appalachian Virginia and is a member of the Kentucky Appalachian Advisory Council.

Questions and discussions will follow the showing of an color documentary film portraying several American Islamic communities and their basic beliefs, rituals, and cultural practices. Kazi Ahmed1s taught for five years at the Kentucky College of Business. He is actively involved in various multicultural and interfaith endeavors, workshops, and activities.

The session will explore spiritual partnership, with participants working through an exercise together to facilitate mutual understanding. Each individual spiritual journey is a resource for one1s own faith community. When the structure of that practice is strictly hierarchical, however, that potential wisdom often remains untapped. Participants with different views and different faith traditions can potentially meet together here and share hope and inspiration. Ann Siudmak and Michael Kavanaugh have been part of the Spiritual Growth Network since its inception. SGN is a cooperative group in Kentucky that offers retreats, workshops, and a support group to assist the spiritual journey.

An introduction to the Feldenkrais method of movement study, which is used by both professional performers (dancers, athletes) and the movement impaired (through strokes, cerebral palsey, etc.) to reeducate basic movement skills. JoAnn Stickler completed four years of training in the Feldenkrais Method at University of Toronto in 1987. She has taught  Awareness through Movement  courses in Lexington for the past eight years and has also worked for thirteen years as a Montessori teacher.

The speaker will examine Thomas Merton's art of ecumenism art, because it is personal and incarnational, not academic and theoretical. An early text by Merton offers a key:  If I can unite in myself the thought and the devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and Latin Fathers, the Russians and the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided worlds in ourselves and transcend them in Christ.  Don Christopher Nugent has published several essays and given a number of papers on Thomas Merton, including, most recently, a talk on Merton and James Joyce at the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland in Southampton, England.

Marilyn Moosnick, outgoing chairman of the Kentucky Arts Council, will lead a discussion with Gloria Rie and Larry Johnson on the proposed Museum of Culture and Diversity for Lexington, of which the three are founding members. They will be seeking ideas from the community about how to best facilitate this new institution.