The Contemplative Sciences Center presents Faith, Play, and Practice: Analog Hour: a chance for students and community members to engage in hands-on and screen free activities in the Contemplative Sciences Center. Step away from your daily grind and enjoy a mid-week contemplative practice that engages your childlike sense of play. Facilitators will guide participants through a new exercise each session that encourages deep reflection and presence. Learn more about the spiritual significance of mindful moments and share a meal with the Theological Horizons community.

Participants will engage in a contemplative practice grounded in a meaningful theological context. Before beginning the practice, participants will mingle and partake in a small catered meal. A short reading will ground the activity in its potential spiritual significance for faithful participants. The group will then be led in a hands-on, analog activity which encourages deep reflection. To conclude the practice, participants will have the chance to discuss the impact of the time they spent and will write on a small piece of paper what the secret significance of this practice was in their lives.

Join Carolyn Mitchell Dillard on October 28th, 3:00-4:00pm as she walks you through crafting a blessing. Experience the embodied impact of a written and spoken blessing both on yourself and those you bless.

Catered by Milan Indian Cuisine. Free to the public. No reservation required.

Carolyn Mitchell Dillard is the Community Partnerships Manager in the Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity. She serves as the University’s liaison for community and neighborhood engagement and is responsible for  Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL) programming and initiatives.

Carolyn is the first female pastor of the historic Zion Hill Baptist Church in Keswick, VA (established 1870), and serves on the Board of the African-American Pastors’ Council of Charlottesville & Vicinity. She has a B.S. from George Mason University, an MBA from National Louis University, an M.Div. from the Samuel Dewitt School of Theology at Virginia Union University and received her doctorate, D.Min., in 2025. Her passion is trauma-informed care for the Black church and community.