Still wednesday

In the stillness of quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair. 

~ Howard Thurman


Join us for a time of meditative worship, calming prayer, and still reflection.

Wednesdays, 7:00-8:00 PM


Resuming weekly meetings for the 2025-2026 programming year

beginning Wednesday, September 10, 2025.


Sanctuary or Octagon Room at St. Paul's


Give yourself the gift of stillness and calm in our increasingly distracting world. Join for an hour of contemplative communal prayer. Each week week has a different facilitator, and a different focus or form of moving closer to the divine. We typically enjoy about 20 minutes of silent prayer. 


Come as you feel called.

An Evening of Art & POetry

A special evening of art & poetry with Joy-Jayne Bassey


Wednesday, September 10, 2025

7:00-8:00 PM

Octagon Room


Join local artist Joy-Jayne Bassey, founder of MuseVerse Circle, for a night bringing poetry and visual art into dialogue during St. Paul's Still Wednesday. This special event is open to the public!


Joy-Jayne is a multidisciplinary artist, poetic essayist, and cultural facilitator, and founder of MuseVerse Circle, a poetry initiative that brings verse to life through language, dialogue, and shared presence. Her work explores what she calls "rust theology," an inquiry into the scars, stories, and sacredness that shape human experience.


Working with paper, fabric, charcoal, acrylic, and words, she creates sculptural forms and poems that demonstrate both the scars of experience and persistence of beauty. 


Her artistic practice draws from material abstraction and brutalism, finding beauty in impermanence and transformation.


The Rust Series brings painting and poetry into dialogue, gesturing toward tenderness even in fracture, and toward grace even in unraveling. Each piece inhabits the tension between breaking and forming, collapse and confession, grief and hope. The work bears witness to the aftermath of life's wounds and the stpories they carry forward.


A selection of Joy-Jayne's artwork from The Rust Series, curated by Dinah Myers-Schroeder, will be on display in the Octagon for two weeks following the Still Wednesday art and poetry event.


Click here to download a sharable flyer for this event!

What is still Wednesday?

Still Wednesday provides a space for quiet reflection, silent prayer, calm and connection in a busy, noisy world. All are welcome for this hour of quiet prayer and presence. 


We typically meet in the Sanctuary at St. Paul's, but sometimes gather in the Octagon Room next door or in the Memorial Garden outside the church.


The exact format changes week to week as leaders rotate, but typically Still Wednesday invites each participant to light a candle before beginning a time of meditative guided prayer in the form of poetry, scripture, music, journaling, or art. There is usually 20 minutes of silent contemplative prayer and listening. The night usually closes with a chance to reflect privately or share experiences. It is a unique opportunty for both quiet reflection and calm connection.


Still Wednesday meets weekly during the programming year (Sept. - June) on Wednesday nights, and once a month during the summer months of July and August.


No need to RSVP, simply join us as you are able!


Note: The Still Wednesday schedule may change due to weather or holidays. If Still Wednesday shifts to a virtual space, you can join via Zoom! Contact organizer Kenzie Raulin directly or the church office at stpaulsunited@stpaulsk.org to receive updates.

Previous Events

DRUMMING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Renown drummer Katy Gaughan led this form of contemplative prayer. We experience the One pulse that gives rise to all the rhythms of life while we play and listen. Drums were available for all.


KINDLING CREATIVITY

January 27, 2024

Facilitated by Kenzie Raulin. Unplug and join in contemplative exercises to ignite your creative spirit. Journaling prompts, drawing exercises open yourself to the divine spirit within. NO prior creative experience necessary, come with an open heart and mind.


MOVING MINDFULLY INTO 2020

January 12, 2020

Guided meditations, individual reflections, and shared ritual invited us to remember and release 2019 and set our intentions for the coming year, led by Terri Lynn Simpson, retreat director for the National Cathedral.


DRUMMING THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD

November 6, 2019

Renowned drummer Katy Gaughan led a form of contemplative prayer that invites us to listen and play the drums, experiencing the One pulse that gives rise to all the rhythms of life. 


STILL SATURDAY

March 23, 2019

The Still Wednesday team offered an full afternoon workshop with centering prayer, a labyrinth, art-making, lectio divina, reflection, and fellowship for all those interested in seeing what a deeper, calmer prayer experience could feel like.


ART JOURNALING

Jan 5 - Feb 9, 2019

A 6-week series of informal gatherings for contemplative prayer and reflective art journaling in the Chatfield home on Saturday mornings.


LABYRITH WALK

January 9, 2019

By simply following the path laid out on the floor, we are led to the center and back out again. By walking one step at a time along the calming pattern, we give the body and mind space for meditation or prayer. It’s a way of praying with the body that invites God into an active conversation with the heart and soul.


STILL WEEKEND

October 19-21, 2018

Dayspring Silent Retreat Center, Germantown MD

Still Weekend at the Dayspring Silent Retreat Center in Germantown MD allowed those in attendance to explore 200+ acres of forest and meadow, walk the labyrinth, use materials for creative expression, share meals peacefully, or simply be still without a cloud of daily noise. 


Come, come whoever you are,

wanderer worshiper, lover of leaving--it doesn't matter.

Ours is no caravan for despair.

Come even if you have broken your vows a thousand times.

Come, once again come.

                                                                                                                                           - Jalal al-Din Rumi, 13th Century Poet and Sufi Mystic



Wherever you are in the journey, candlelight meditation and exhalation await.