Kentigern School & Community

The Way of Contemplation

Contemplation cannot be taught, but we can nurture the ways that open us to the experience.

It is the fulfilment of the longing for the realisation of the ‘something other’, the Real, the Divine.

It is to be con-templum "in the temple" and "at one with the holy". For the contemplative, the primary source of faith and action in the world is this unifying relationship.

The School is a rich and inclusive exploration of contemplation…what it is, how to engage with it, how it might help us to live a more fulfilling life, how it draws us into a deep sense of being centred in the Sacred, the Divine, the very Source of Life itself, however that is experienced for us.

The emphasis is on immersive spiritual exercises that support deep spiritual inquiry and qualities of connection, reunion and relationship. This is nurtured through exploration of subjects such as discernment, authenticity, compassion, joy, awareness, service and wisdom. The teachings are grounded in the rich traditions of Christian mysticism while reaching out to embrace and include

Truths and practices of the mystic-contemplative Way across beliefs. We look at where we connect across beliefs rather than what divides. The School is intended for those who are comfortable with spiritual inquiry and ready to go deeper and to work with others in doing so. The Work is not easy, nor is it meant to be. Nor is it about personal spiritual self-gratification. It is about a transformative understanding of self, of engaged spirituality, awareness and the practice of compassion. It draws primarily upon teachings summarised in the Heartfullness book, encouraging the contemplative Way in everyday life.

The School is open to all people of faith or none, a welcoming place for those already ‘residents’ in a tradition or those who ‘nomads’. After the course, participants can, if wished, stay connected with others from previous schools in an emerging community of like-minded-hearted seekers.

The School consists of two residential weekends. In between participants are expected to follow a series of readings and exercises. Monthly on-line groups give the opportunity for further teaching and spiritual direction. The residential sessions are experiential with individual and group work, spiritual direction, contemplative prayer, silence, movement, discussion, lectio divina and reflection. The focus of the programme is a deep dive into the key virtues of the contemplative Way, how to ground them in the everyday, and how they help us to face the fierceness of a world in crisis.

The weekend residential sessions for the next course in 2025 are 4pm Friday June 20th to 3pm Sunday June 22 nd (2 nights) and 4pm Friday November 14 th to 3pm Sunday November 16 th (2 nights).

The venue will be in the heart of Kentigern country and high on the side of a mountain - the Blencathra Centre, Threlkeld, Keswick, Cumbria. The monthly Zoom meetings, to be arranged, last an hour.

The cost for 2025 is £875, which includes all course materials, the Heartfullness book, and all meals, refreshments and accommodation (always individual rooms, four nights in total over two residential weekends). Options to pay by instalments can be arranged.

The School, which emerged originally from a joint venture between the Diocese of Carlisle and the Sacred Space Foundation, is now an independent entity supported by both.

Venue

The venue will be in the heart of Kentigern country and high on the side of a mountain - the Blencathra Centre near Threlkeld.

FSC Blencathra Centre, Threlkeld, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 4SG

Dates

The weekend residential sessions for the next course in 2025 are Friday June 20th at 4pm to Sunday June 22nd at 3pm (2 nights) and Friday November 14th at 4.00pm to Sunday November 16th at 3pm (2 nights).

The monthly Zoom meetings, to be arranged, last an hour.

Booking

The cost for 2025 is £875.

This includes all course materials, the Heartfullness book, and all meals, refreshments and accommodation (always individual rooms, four nights in total over two residential weekends).

Options to pay by instalments can be arranged.

If you feel it is right for you and/or would like to know more, then please contact us.

Kentigern School Course Director

Rev. Prof. Stephen G Wright PhD FRCN MBE

Starting out with the curse-blessing of the original dysfunctional family, Stephen emerged from this Manchester working class background to grow his hair long and wander around Europe like a lot of his generation did in the 60s. He drifted into nursing, and by conventional measures made a success of it, eventually becoming the first consultant nurse in the NHS in 1986. He got into conference speaking and course-leading internationally, shuffled around in academic, made TV programmes, wrote lots of books and research papers about nursing, advised governments and WHO and the Royal College of Nursing, and matured his craft in the nursing practice of older people culminating in leading a radical nursing development unit that influenced nursing far and wide. He gathered lots of glittering prizes along the way to add letters before and after his name, which appealed greatly to the Enneatype 3 personality he carried around with him. Thus all the usual trappings of an acclaimed career were in place.

A hand-brake turn in self-perception and a reawakening of the mysticism long suppressed since childhood took him in a different direction in the 90s – exploring spirituality as it related to himself, health care and as service to others. He trained with some eminent teachers and was mentored most deeply by Ram Dass and Jean Sayre-Adams. He is a member of the Iona Community and his latest work with Wild Goose focuses on the life of Kentigern/Mungo and offers a pilgrimage route around the Northern Fells of Cumbria. Other books have explored spirituality and health, pilgrimage, poetry, and the quartet of spiritual guidance Coming Home, Contemplation, Burnout and latterly, Heartfullness. The last of these is the culmination of decades of work and the teachings offered in the Kentigern School for Contemplatives.

Like many others, he hands on by the fingernails to participation in the Anglican Church, but its where he fits and feels called after a life of nomadism, and where he finds service. He’s a Fellow and visiting prof’ at the University of Cumbria which offers some degree of input still to the academic world as well as conferring some vague respectability to his work. He lives with his partner in the English Lake District, enjoys grandfatherhood and his organic garden and at 72 still finds working as a trustee and spiritual director for the Sacred Space Foundation a joy.

What People Say

The core, sacred, stability in life that is experience by following the Contemplative Way is, I feel, essential for living truly and faithfully, especially in these troubled times.

I have absolutely loved the Kentigern School and the Contemplative Way. It is difficult to put into words how to evaluate something so meaningful. It has changed me in such a positive way.

Drawn to the course by its open invitation to explore a deeper relationship with the Divine, and what I knew of the course leader’s genuine, and attractive, spirituality, I embarked on the journey that is the Contemplative Way.

I feel that my compass, my direction of travel, has been re-set and I am in a more relaxed and accepting place, reading to continue this life-long course in heartfullness, compassion and love, trusting it will lead me to the place the Beloved would have me serve in the world.

Whether people are of faith or church, having an established spiritual practice or not, the course offers the opportunity to go deep and explore who we think we are and who we really are.

The Kentigern School enabled me to continue my spiritual life and to meet like-minded individuals who were also searching.

Why does the Kentigern School ‘stand out’ and help me in unique qualities? 1) the wisdom and energy which Stephen brings to the course and the group, both in live gatherings and online. 2) the variation in styles and textures of our practice – by word, listening, sharing, song, chant, circle dance and, very much, quality silence – silence which very few leaders of a course can hold with the same energy and acceptance and stillness and comfort of being. 3)the variety and yet common bond between the students of the school, both in the same and other years – a real warmth and collaboration and reassuring support in our journeying.

If felt like a deep immersion in what it means to live the contemplative life. It set me on a more committed inward path of mediation/prayer and an outward path of service, that I trust will lead to deeper knowing and surrender to the Diving indwelling. It has led me to a greater openness to, acceptance of, and thankfulness for, the mystical nature of much of that ‘knowing’ and which often finds expression in my poetry. What had been a half hearted spiritual search has become something more vocational in nature.

We came across the Kentigern school seemingly by accident, though more likely divine intervention. The words “Fierce Contemplation for Nomads” caught my attention immediately, and I though this is what we’ve been looking for. I had been in various different churches at different times in my life and never felt completely comfortable in any of them, always felt like a bit of a square peg, so discovering that I was a Nomad made a lot of sense. The course itself feels like a radical approach to the personal spiritual life, which then enables service in the world. I found it challenging, thought provoking and rewarding.

It has been a process of listening, discerning, facing fears, and a place to question and listen. Stephen has such Compassion and Wisdom and has put so much into each person on the course. On a practical level the Course has improved the relationships with my family, friends, and wider community. I can’t thank Stephen enough and for his accessible way to search for a route to God. Through practical exercises, through music and dance, through exegesis, through the accessible and well referenced letters, through poetry.

I feel a calling to be able to contribute from “left field” to the establishment. Meetings, rotas and committees are not for me. However, through the support of the Contemplative Way, I have felt able to contribute to the community of the local church in a way that suits my personality and gifts.

I was challenged but the opportunities to work through, discuss and reflect on the work were many. It felt like a spacious time even though we covered a lot. There was a sense of community which has grown over the months. The letters have offered life changing opportunities which I feel very grateful for. I’ve come a long way in the past months, and I realise this is a life work which I’m very encouraged to walk with and now have resources which I can draw on. I would heartily recommend it to those who, like me, are searching for more.