Date/Time
Date(s) - November 5, 2026
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Categories No Categories
Ritual is God’s gift to humanity.
Whether formal liturgy or intentional living, ritual exists in every culture as a conduit to the Divine beyond our own imagination. Ritual provides an anchor that steadies us in the fluid, often unsettling world of moving beyond the ordinary and expected.
This online retreat will explore how people everywhere have turned to ritual as a source of renewal, but also a less benign means of social control. Our focus will turn to how contemplative practices combine attention to the body, refinement of the senses, and a willingness to enter the unknown. With Divine consent, these disciplines can become the agents of human transformation.
The retreat will include contemplative practice to facilitate exploration of the teachings.
Dr. Paula Pryce
is a cultural anthropologist whose research explores silence, ritual, and contemplative traditions across cultures. Her publications include The Monk’s Cell: Ritual and Knowledge in American Contemplative Christianity. Having been raised in an interreligious household, Paula has studied and practiced meditation and other contemplative rites since childhood. She lives in Vancouver, Canada where she leads retreats, facilitates contemplative prayer groups, and writes in a variety of genres. Paula regularly contributes reflections to The Contemplative Society website.