As a member of the first cohort of Contemplative Renewal Immersions, Katye Chambers’ second Immersion was in January 2020. She did not realize the gift of listening circles, silence and the rhythm of prayer, until the pandemic fully arrived two months later. “I noticed I was not freaking out and panicking in the way that I saw everyone else around me doing. I asked myself what caused that and I realized I am grounded in my spirit and at peace because I’ve spent this time at Holy Wisdom. In the throes of the pandemic I realized I had a sense of peace and calm and rootedness my colleagues and friends did not have.”
It was experiencing contemplative practices in an ecumenical setting that attracted Katye to apply for the new Contemplative Renewal Immersions being offered at Holy Wisdom Monastery in 2019. A few years into her first appointment in the United Methodist Church, Katye knew she needed regular time for renewal and retreat. “I’m naturally the kind of person that overbooks myself. I already sensed in my spirit that I needed to start practicing now, building in these rhythms of stepping back for renewal.” The ecumenical setting also intrigued her. Katye has a background in ecumenical work and study, but notes that “Within the ecumenical movement, there’s a lot of dialogue work and a lot of missional work, but I had not seen ecumenical contemplative work…. Also, I was interested in getting to know ecumenical clergy colleagues and hear about their calls to ministry, experiences and contexts.”
In Contemplative Renewal Immersions, Katye found both the ecumenical connections and the contemplative practices she was seeking. She holds on to a memory of sitting in a listening circle where there was a small rock that each person held as they felt called to share. “I saw in others, and felt for myself, the weight of that tiny little rock. It symbolized giving people permission to speak freely and not hold anything back. It wasn’t a heavy rock, but you could feel that people felt the weight of what it meant to be given permission to bring their full selves into the circle.”
Years later, Katye continues to incorporate the rhythms and practices she experienced at Holy Wisdom Monastery into her ministry. “I started this practice every afternoon at 2:00. We have teatime. It is an intentional way to get away from my computer for an hour and to allow myself to do something different. But I knew I shouldn’t be doing this alone. So, every afternoon at 2:00, I step out into the hallway and ring the singing bowl. Anybody else who’s in the office that day knows it is the invitation to teatime. We gather in my office. Sometimes whoever’s preaching that Sunday will workshop the sermon. Sometimes we read whatever we’re reading at that time. Sometimes it’s literal tea…. But the practice of the singing bowl and the permission to transition and take a step away from what we’re doing and do something different, is in a subtle way, part of what I took away from Holy Wisdom.”
Another piece of what Katye learned at Holy Wisdom Monastery is the relationship between the physical land, our spirituality, and our relationship with God. Serving in Chicago, and now in Little Rock, Arkansas, Katye has found ways within her urban ministry contexts to help people “reconnect with the ground and with the earth.” In her current call she helped the church to start a green team and found joy in supporting one of their green team leaders. “Her passion is helping people connect with plants that are native and indigenous to our own bio region.” They recently held an Earth Day fair and gave people seed packets for native monarch habitats. “[Our] big picture dream is that across Little Rock and maybe even central Arkansas, there will be little plots of butterfly habitat because we said, ‘Take this home and plant it.’”
Since Katye arrived at Holy Wisdom seven years ago, she has navigated a pandemic, had children, moved and changed jobs. The contemplative practices and community of support that gave her peace and a sense of rootedness during the onset of the pandemic still sustains her in ministry today. “Even if I can’t build in the rhythm of renewal leave or a week of vacation, I can build renewal into the rhythms of my day, my week, my month … even if just for a moment because every moment matters.”
Thank you for being part of the fertile ground where Katye found roots to grow as one who continues to scatter seeds of hope for a flourishing world.