The Living School

A School for Prophets 

When Father Richard Rohr founded the CAC, he envisioned a “school for prophets”—a place where contemplation and action for justice are deeply intertwined. Established in 2013, the Living School brings this vision to life, grounding students in the transformative wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition and preparing them to help create a more just and connected world.

Program Overview

Rooted in the rich wisdom of the Christian contemplative traditions, the Living School prepares students to engage the world with greater compassion, courage, and a deeper sense of connection—for the sake of a more just and loving world. 

The Living School is growing into its next chapter, with a renewed focus on supporting personal transformation and inspiring loving action in the world. We invite you to begin this journey through Essentials of Engaged Contemplation—a year-long course rooted in Christian contemplative wisdom and the teachings of Richard Rohr. Alongside a community of fellow seekers, you’ll explore sacred texts, engage in spiritual practice, reflect deeply, and discover ways to integrate what you learn into your everyday life and service. 

Who Is the Living School For?

We welcome all who are seeking a living spirituality through the Christian contemplative traditions. Whether you’re rooted in a faith tradition or exploring new spiritual ground, you’re invited to begin a journey of embodying this ancient wisdom in a way that speaks to your life today. 

Through the Essentials of Engaged Contemplation course, our hope is that students not only encounter transformative teachings but also learn to live them—bringing contemplative awareness into daily life, relationships, and acts of service. 

The ideal student for the Living School is someone who seeks to: 

• Actively embody the Spirit of Christ in the world at a critical moment in history. 
• Integrate contemplative spirituality into their daily lives of experience and action in their families, friendships, daily living, profession, economics, social and political action, and solitude. 
• Develop a rhythm of regular practice, study, reflection, community, and integration to help them personally experience the presence of God within, among, and around them. 

Because of our roots in the contemplative Christian lineage, we engage joyfully with our contemplative counterparts in other traditions and welcome students and seekers of all faith backgrounds who feel drawn to our learning community. 

Program Details 

The Living School supports the spiritual growth of its students by teaching Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action.  

Explore the Alternative Orthodoxy 

We offer students grounding in a fresh and historically rooted vision of the Christian faith—an alternative orthodoxy guided by Scriptures (especially the life and teachings of Jesus), Franciscan and other mystical traditions, and emerging postcolonial spiritualities arising from contemporary experience—especially those whose voices have been suppressed. 

Grow Your Contemplative Seeing  

The Living School leads students into contemplative practices that promote seeing things holistically in integrative and unitive ways.  

We encourage deep listening and awareness of culturally informed contemplative practices from a variety of traditions, and present contemplative seeing and knowing as a lifelong growth process that we practice both in solitude and in community.  

Engage in Loving Action 

The Living School prepares students to engage in creative and loving action so that they plant seeds of prophetic imagination, engage contemplatively with unjust systems through non-violent spiritual activism, and build vibrant communities of prayer and practice. 

Living School Faculty 

Our faculty embody a journey of transformation that draws on centuries of Christian contemplative wisdom and builds on Richard Rohr’s founding vision. They guide us in exploring life’s deepest questions—not to provide all the answers, but to foster inner healing, compassionate action, and a sense of belonging in a world that needs genuine connection. 

The Living School is taught by CAC Core and Affiliate faculty, including Richard Rohr, Brian McLaren, Dr. Barbara Holmes, Dr. James Finley, Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Mirabai Starr, Randy Woodley, and other guest teachers.  

Learn more about CAC faculty. 

Foundations of the Living School 

The Living School was founded by Fr. Richard Rohr alongside James Finley and Cynthia Bourgeault to pass on the Christian contemplative traditions to a new generation of spiritual seekers.  

Rooted in the wisdom of the mystics and grounded in lived experience, The Living School has long invited students into a journey of study, spiritual practice, and deep inner transformation. Today, it continues Richard’s legacy by offering a path of embodiment—where inner awakening leads naturally to compassionate action in the world.  

Through a rhythm of learning and unlearning, silence and solidarity, the Living School continues to nurture a growing community of people committed to living from a place of presence, love, and justice. 

Read reflections from The Living School participants and staff:  

• Encouraging the Evolution of The Living School by Paul Swanson  
• Finding the Baby by Betsy Cañas Garmon  
• Living School Adaptation in Pandemic Times by Gigi Ross  
• A Journey of Grace by Jeri Queenan  
• Prophecy: The Beating Heart of Our Curriculum by Mike Petrow  

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from the Center for Action and Contemplation.