The Christine Center

05/25/2026

Meet Your Guides!

With years of spiritual practice, teaching, and community care, Pema and Amber invite participants into an extended weekend of loving kindness and shared discovery.

Pema Lisa Antoniotti was ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in 2002 and has taught meditation and compassion practices since 2004. As co-founder, teacher, and program director of Joyful Path Meditation and Healing Center, she invites others to awaken kindness, cultivate presence, and live with compassionate intention.

Amber Mattingly's work is shaped by Christian faith, theological scholarship, yoga, and somatic healing. As a pastor, yoga teacher, and soul coach, she offers trauma-informed, inclusive practices that support self-compassion, radical inclusion, and spiritual resilience.

Together, Pema and Amber invite a weekend of shared practice and mutual discovery – exploring gentleness, patience, and joy through compassionate awareness, meditation, and community support.

Loving Kindness: Finding Treasures through Shared Practice
June 18-21, 2026
with Pema Lisa Antoniotti and Amber Mattingly of Holden Village

Details and registration:
https://www.holdenvillage.org/calendar/loving-kindness-finding-treasures-through-shared-practice/

05/25/2026

On the Declaration of the Báb, we honor a sacred Bahá’í holy day rooted in revelation, divine guidance, and the quiet power of a turning point. In the spirit of a tradition that recognizes the sacred speaking across times, peoples, and revelations, may this day awaken in us a deeper openness to the wisdom, light, and unfolding we are called to receive.

What in your life is asking for deeper readiness of heart? You might sit quietly for a few moments and notice what guidance, truth, or invitation may be waiting to be gently received.

05/24/2026

This season can be energizing and full, and it can also ask us to return to what keeps us grounded. The forest offers its own gentle reminder of steady growth and rootedness, and our July programs echo that invitation to come back to center. Join us onsite or online for practices that nourish your inner life and help you meet these days with more ease and renewal.

July Programs:
https://christinecenter.org/program-offerings/ -programs

Email from Christine Center Nourish your inner life with steady growth, rootedness, and renewal.   Steady Growth, Rootedness, and Renewal This season can be energizing and full, and it can also ask us

05/23/2026

Every dollar you give will be matched!

In honor of Sister Johanna’s forty years of service at the Christine Center, we are seeking to raise $40,000 to sustain and strengthen this place of transformation for all who come here.

For four decades now, Sister Johanna’s presence has helped nurture a sanctuary rooted in contemplation, compassion, and hospitality. Your gift helps carry that legacy forward.

Please consider making a gift today. Every dollar will be matched thanks to four generous Friends of the Center.

Donate here:
https://4agc.com/donate/johanna-40k-for-40years

Email from Christine Center Every dollar matched thanks to four generous Friends of the Center!   Every dollar you give will be matched! In honor of Sister Johanna’s forty years of service at the Chri

05/22/2026

On Shavuot, we pause to recognize a meaningful Jewish holy day rooted in revelation, harvest, and the gift of Torah. May this day deepen gratitude for wisdom, shared tradition, and the practices that help us live with care and integrity.

A simple contemplation for today: What wisdom have you received that continues to guide your life? Take a few quiet moments to give thanks for a teaching, text, person, or tradition that has helped you live with greater clarity and care.

05/22/2026

There is still time to make space for a deeper kind of attention.

Opening to Pure Awareness offers an intensive week of meditation practice rooted in love, compassion, discernment, and clear seeing – all in a small group setting shaped by shared learning and individualized instruction within the group setting.

Opening to Pure Awareness: the Path of Meditation
May 31-June 7, 2026
with Susan Mickel

Details and registration:
https://christinecenter.org/event/opening-to-pure-awareness-2026

Email from Christine Center Opening to Pure Awareness May 31-June 7   There's still time to make space for a deeper kind of attention. Opening to Pure Awareness: the Path of Meditation May 31–June 7,

05/21/2026

Join us as we welcome Holden Village for a weekend of compassionate awareness, mutual discovery through shared practice, and community support.

Loving Kindness: Finding Treasures through Shared Practice
June 18-21, 2026
with Pema Lisa Antoniotti and Amber Mattingly

Details and registration:
https://conta.cc/4dnyxnR

Email from Christine Center Join Holden Village for a weekend of shared practice and compassionate awareness.   Sometimes what we most need is not another explanation, but a place to practice together

05/20/2026

Is it a ladybug? A tiny slice of watermelon? A painted jewel?

It’s a ninebark calligrapha. With markings like ancient script on its shell, this tiny beetle feels like one more sacred detail written into the season.

05/19/2026

Sometimes the heart feels heavy, and yet something in us still wants to know what is true.

This retreat offers space to turn inward through the lens of the Diamond Approach, exploring how curiosity can help us stay present with our experience and discover the quiet joy woven within it.

Midwest Diamond Approach Retreat:
Sunlight in the Soul
The Alchemy of Curiosity and Joy

May 28-31, 2026
with Diamond Approach Teachers Kathleen Graham, Kara Vangen, and Jim Lockridge

Details and Registration:
https://christinecenter.org/event/diamond-approach-sunlight-in-the-soul-2026/

Email from Christine Center Explore curiosity, truth, and the joy already present within experience.   Midwest Diamond Approach Retreat: Sunlight in the Soul The Alchemy of Curiosity and Joy May 28-31

05/17/2026

In October 2026, we invite you on a pilgrimage to Assisi – an immersion into the lives, landscapes, and living legacy of St. Francis and St. Clare.

Together, we will walk the hills and villages of Assisi, pray in places made holy through devotion and simplicity, and open ourselves to a way of being rooted in presence, humility, reverence, and love.

"Pilgrimage does not take you out of yourself. It settles you more deeply into your own being, gently quieting the noise of daily life so you can hear more clearly what has been there all along."

What is waiting within you to be transformed?

Pilgrimage to Assisi 2026
Encountering Francis and Clare
October 19-30, 2026

Details, itinerary, and messages from your companions:
https://conta.cc/3PcnOn8

Email from Christine Center What is waiting within you to be transformed?   Pilgrimage to Assisi 2026 Encountering Francis and Clare What is waiting within you to be transformed? In October 2026, we i

05/17/2026

Finding Peace in Times of Fear and Anxiety
June 26-28, 2026
with Yanchy Lacska

Reconnect with the deeper ground within.

Together, we will explore practices that support relaxation, inner peace, and healing in body, mind, and spirit. These will include meditation, simple chanting from the Ancient Jewish and Celtic Christian traditions, qigong exercises, quiet time in the healing presence of the natural world, and space for reflection and shared wisdom within the group.

The weekend will close with a holy communion and healing ceremony.

Details and registration:
https://christinecenter.org/event/finding-peace-in-times-of-fear-and-anxiety/

Email from Christine Center Ancient Jewish and Celtic Christian chanting, qigong, meditation, and time in nature. Meet fear and anxiety with greater calm, presence, and trust.   So many of us are carr