About 10 years ago, Dr. Jay McDaniel of Hendrix College gave a weekend workshop at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway. The subject of the workshop was the importance of silence in religious life. Dr. McDaniel is a Christian and also a student of Zen Buddhism, and in the workshop he spoke about silence as the common ground of both religions, and their meeting place. More than 50 people came to the workshop and some of the participants were interested in continuing to meet for meditation on a regular basis. Jay began to make plans to offer a regular meditation meeting.

     At the same time, Conrad Shumaker of the University of Central Arkansas and his wife Jennifer who were Zen practitioners in the mindfulness tradition, as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh, were thinking of beginning a weekly meditation group at their home in Conway. Conrad, Jennifer and Jay got together and decided to blend their two dreams into one, and to hold the regular weekly sitting on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m., at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

     The evenings are comprised of 25 minute sittings, followed by 10 minutes of walking meditation, and then another 25 minute sitting. Sitting and walking meditation are in the Zen style, but the group is open to people of all religions and philosophies. An introduction to meditation is offered on the first Monday of the month.

     The Journey to Silence group is co-sponsored by the Ecumenical Buddhist Society of Little Rock, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway, AR and Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church in Little Rock. It is the only ecumenical gathering offered through the Ecumenical Buddhist Society at this time.

Conway, Arkansas

Monday evenings at St. Peter's Episcopal Church from 7:00-8:00 p.m.
(The first Monday of each month is an Introduction to Meditation, 7:00-8:30 p.m.)
This group is led by Conrad Shumaker.

Conrad Shumaker Phone: 501-470-1768 (H), 501-450-5126 (W)
Email:          shumaker@uca.edu

Little Rock, Arkansas

Wednesday evenings at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
This group is led by Rebecca Hochradel.

Rebecca Hochradel Phone: 227-4685 (H), 324-9330 (W)

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