Our Goal

The John Main Center for Meditation and Interreligious dialogue is dedicated to the teaching and practice of meditation. The root tradition from which it teaches this is Christian, but it equally recognises and celebrates the universal, unifying extent of meditation as a common human wisdom and as a way into the common ground of humanity. It welcomes members of all faiths as well as seekers who have none.

The Center is part of the network of sacred space at Georgetown (http://www1.georgetown.edu/omm/campusministry/worship/spaces/39364.html)

and affiliated with The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.wccm.org).

The Details:

Meditation is practiced twice daily at the Center.

Each session has short readings from sacred texts and is concluded within 20 minutes. The silent meditation period is the heart of the session.

7 Days a Week

12:30 p.m. / 6:00 p.m.

(Come a few minutes early for an introduction to meditation)

Special events:

Sunday morning:  Meditation is followed with a talk by a guest speaker and discussion. Light Brunch is served after the talk. See calendar page for list of weekly speakers.

Our Current Director

Marco Svoboda

Marco Svoboda is a resident oblate at Holy Trinity Monastery, a Benedictine community in St. David, Arizona.  He has lived on grounds for about four years where he originally came to facilitate a meditation center and share the path of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition.  Meditation has been an important part of his prayer life for several years and he feels very drawn to sharing it with others, especially young adults at the college level.  Among his other duties on the monastery he also serves as one of the Associate Program Coordinators, a program that allows lay people to experience Benedictine monastic life usually for a period of three months. 

Marco, whose parents are originally from South America had the opportunity to visit different cultures early on which presumably had the effect of planting deep seeds for the love of travel and experiencing customs, cultures and religions that were different than his Catholic upbringing.  After finishing high school he joined the United States Air Force in large part to see and experience more of the world.  After the Air Force he attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.  This education he put to use at a public accounting firm until he followed the itch to explore a few more corners of our planet.  While traveling in Asia he was introduced to meditation as taught by the Buddhist tradition of Tibet.  Since then he discovered that this form of prayer was also taught in his tradition.  He continues to be interested in and committed to interreligious dialogue and to the sharing of wisdom between the world’s religions, which includes recognizing the similarities and respecting their differences.  When he is not sitting on his rear, Marco enjoys a variety of outdoor activities such as surfing, skiing and hiking.

Past Directors

Spring 2008 - Jane Grafton, MBA

Jane Grafton is a freelance trainer, management coach and comedy actress.   She owns a People Development business in Singapore where she has lived since 2000.  Her work involves behavioural change, leadership and team development using psychometric instruments such as TMS, MBTI & FIRO-B, conflict resolution, creativity and coaching in self awareness and authenticity.  Jane is English and began her career in the British Army retiring as a Major with an MBE in 1994.  She then joined the John Lewis Partnership where she spent 6 years as a Registrar.   A role which involved Employee Relations, Coaching, Counselling and Mentoring and Internal Communications.  All her life she has traveled and has experience of working in China, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia and a number of European countries.   

Jane discovered meditation on the Creativity Module of her MBA which she completed with the Open University in UK in 1992.  Although raised a Protestant and educated at a Catholic Convent in Belgium, she has taken part in Hindu and Buddhist meditation courses whilst in the Far East.  In 2002 in Nepal she discovered Christian Meditation and then joined a group in Singapore.  Since then she has become an active volunteer in the World Community for Christian Meditation supporting the Guiding Board in its administration and coordinating a database of 2400 Christian Meditation Groups worldwide.  She also facilitates the distribution of teaching materials to meditators in countries around the globe.  Jane has a deep commitment to meditation and has found it has radically changed the course of her life.  Jane enjoys cycling, trekking, swimming, running; has twice completed the London Marathon, she plays golf, practices chi kung daily and loves acting – having played the lead in a number of British comedies, she now has her heart set on one day playing Lady Augusta Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.  

Fall 2007 - Laurence Freeman, OSB

We were pleased to welcome back Father Laurence Freeman, O.S.B as full-time director in residence for the Fall 2007 semester at Georgetown University. Fr. Laurence, who co-founded the center in the Fall of 2005, returned to campus in early September of 2007 to resume his teaching career as well as serve as spiritual and administrative director of the John Main Center.

Spring 2007 - Michael Hryniuk, Ph. D

Michael Hryniuk, Ph.D. is a theologian, writer, speaker, and consultant in the field of Christian spirituality and contemplative formation. He was born in Winnipeg, Canada where he completed his bachelors and master’s degrees in religious studies at the University of Manitoba. Raised in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Michael has lived and ministered in several intentional Christian communities including l’Arche International, a federation of Christian communities that create homes for persons with intellectual disabilities. In 2001, he completed a doctorate in theology and psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where he wrote a dissertation on the theological and psychological dimensions of spiritual transformation in the context of l’Arche. His areas of research interest are the dynamics of shame and healing in care-giving relationships, Trinitarian theology and spirituality, and psycho-spiritual development.

In 1997, Michael became the formative evaluator and later, the co-director of the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, a Lilly-funded national research and teaching initiative based at San Francisco Theological Seminary that promotes contemplative spirituality in the field of youth ministry among mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. After returning to Vancouver, Canada in 2004, he founded and now directs Theosis Resources an ecumenical consulting practice for supporting contemplative formation and renewal in church life and ministry. He continues to teach, lead workshops and direct retreats at churches, seminaries, and universities across Canada, the United States and South America. He is currently serving as the Associate Director of the John Main Center for Christian Meditation and Inter-religious Dialogue at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He is also finishing a book tentatively titled “The Journey of the Beloved” which is rooted in his ministry to pastors, youth ministers and young persons. When he is not working, Michael enjoys golf, swimming, flying and playing blues and jazz on his piano. 

Fall 2006 - Stephan Reynolds

Stefan Reynolds has been meditating for some time (nearly 20 years now!) and has received much inspiration and companionship on the way through WCCM. Stefan has worked at the various meditation Centres in London and has also spent 2006 serving the community in America. In addition, Stefan has worked as a gardener and cook, running his own café for a few years in downtown London (“The Mustard Seed”). Stefan has been studying part time, with two MAs completed and currently working on a PhD on English Mystical Writing. He also helped to set up the course on “The Roots of Christian Mysticism” that is currently taught in London. Stefan has also served the Benedictine order as an oblate.

Spring 2006 - Sarah Bachelard

Sarah is a Lecturer in Theology and Research Fellow at St Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra, Australia. She grew up in Canberra with two brothers, three cats, a dog, ten or so ducks and assorted other wildlife. She did her first degree at the Australian National University in Classics and Mediaeval History, writing her honours thesis on the Cathar heresy in 13th century France. She was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study theology at Oxford, and subsequently a Fulbright Postgraduate Award to undertake doctoral coursework in religion and ethics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She completed her PhD in moral philosophy at the Australian National University in 2000. Sarah worked in the Senate Committee Office of the Commonwealth Parliament for 11 years, as a principal researcher and Committee Secretary, and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia in 2006.

Sarah has a particular interest in meditation in the Christian tradition. In the first half of 2006, she was director in residence of the John Main Center for Meditation and Interfaith Dialogue at Georgetown University in Washington DC, and was one of the key note speakers at the 2007 John Main Seminar of the World Community for Christian Meditation, in Montreal. She joined the faculty at St Mark’s in July 2006, where she runs a meditation group and teaches in the areas of theology and ethics. Other interests include bushwalking, cooking, reading, swimming and singing

Fall 2005 - Father Laurence Freeman, OSB (Founder)

Private meditation sessions and other uses of the Center:

The use of the Center's space will be conditioned by this identity at the discretion of the Director. The Center is further dedicated to the support of all who wish to learn to meditate. This ongoing support is offered through the regular twice-daily sessions. On a discretionary basis the center is also available for private meditation at other times. With this focus the Center encourages inter-faith dialogue - in silence, action and discourse. It welcomes all faiths to meditate together, initiates common worship in a contemplative context and organises both the John Main Lecture and The Good Heart Dialogue at Georgetown University each term.