News From New Mexico
The Mendicant
Carrying the Work Forward
February 15th, 2023
A few months ago, CAC Faculty Brian McLaren reflected on what he believes has made Richard Rohr’s work so special over the years. Among the many elements of Fr. Richard's teaching that Brian honored, he summarized “three phenomenal gifts” that Fr. Richard has consistently offered:
The articulation of an
A Sense of Wonder in the Digital World
February 1st, 2023
The Digital Product Team at the CAC operates from a deep sense of curiosity. We sit with questions each day on the best solutions to technology problems. How can we make this easier for our end users? How can we create ease for those interacting with our digital platform?
This means that often we don’t have the
Transformation Over Transaction
November 10th, 2022
Transformation Over Transaction has been the grounding philosophy of CAC’s Engagement Team since 2017. As marketing and communications professionals, we hold a complex and, at times, controversial post. We all know the digital world casts a large shadow, which is why our engagement campaigns prioritize audience
Celebrating 35 Years of Action and Contemplation
October 7th, 2022
After I had been engaged for fourteen years in a community of committed members, I deliberately wanted to do something different in New Mexico. Our main intention was not to found a community, but to gather people who had a vision of service to the world, to train them and make them qualified for this work. We were
The CAC Library: Cataloging a Legacy
September 2nd, 2022
Can you believe it? Lee Staman has just entered his tenth year as the CAC’s Library Director! In 2013, the CAC embarked upon a very ambitious journey: the Living School. Thankfully, CAC leadership knew that if they were going to start a “school for prophets” they would need a prophetic librarian. A sojourner on
Encouraging the Evolution of the Living School
August 31st, 2022
I flash back to a moment in the Fall of 2013, when Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Jim Finley ascend the stairs to take the stage at the first Living School Symposium. It was electric: superstar mystics, who could not care less about their status and could not care more about passing on the lineage that animates
Expanding Online Learning Experiences at CAC
August 30th, 2022
In 2012, CAC staff began exploring ways of making Fr. Richard Rohr’s teachings as globally accessible as possible. In 2022, we are excited to be celebrating ten years of offering online courses to constituents worldwide who are seeking to learn about the Christian contemplative tradition.
Fr. Richard’s recorded
Honoring the Past and Supporting the Future
August 29th, 2022
We're caught in the rigidity of an old system that's no longer appropriate. So, I say the work [we are called to do together] is to hospice the death of the old structures and systems that no longer serve us, while we midwife the new structures and systems that are consistent with a sustainable, just, fulfilling, and
Prophecy: The Beating Heart of Our Curriculum
August 26th, 2022
Fr. Richard often reminds us that the CAC’s Living School was conceived of as “a school for prophets.” For him, this idea is the beating heart of our curriculum.
One thing that has become clear to me in conversations with our faculty is that while prophecy is often defined as “speaking truth to power,”
Living School Adaption in Pandemic Times
August 24th, 2022
On March 9, 2020, the Living School began an Intensive at a local retreat center. In the middle of the week, the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed in New Mexico. On the last day of the Intensive, Fr. Richard taught students from his hermitage over Zoom. That very same day, CAC staff learned the CAC campus was closing