The Oratory of the Good Shepherd

The Oratory is a beautiful and quiet, contemplative place to gather in small groups for worship, prayer, song, and study.

 

Like the Labyrinth, this is a place of illumination and transformation. Its form and purpose was inspired by spiritual practices from around the world. The Oratory Of The Good Shepherd is conceived as a "kiva" in the spirit of Southwestern Indigenous traditions. 

 

Kivas functioned as places of initiation, spiritual gatherings, and as a means of affirming a community's values and intentions.

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The sunken potion of the Oratory is round, like a traditional Baptismal space into which we enter to be initiated into the Christian community. The Oratory acts as a place of immersion into the Divine, allowing us to emerge transformed. 

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Stained glass windows from the original sanctuary are hung here. Eight circles over the doorway symbolize the traditions of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and the Native American traditions.

 

We at All Saints’ affirm the diversity of the entire human experience as Divine, as well as the discovery that a unity of Spirit underlies all things sacred upon this earth.

 

We respect, care for, and protect all sacred stories which symbolize and express the Spirit’s work in the world.