Why Pray the Labyrinth?

To Seek a Sacred Place Within Yourself

Since starting a labyrinth at the First Congregational Church of Akron in 1998, the biggest question from the traditional sector of the congregation is why do we need the labyrinth to pray? The answer is, we don’t. And the labyrinth may not be for everyone. But let’s consider that there are different ways of praying. If we were Buddhists, for example, we would chant “OM,” which is considered the sound of the universe. This chanting brings you to a deeper spiritual experience. And if we were Catholic, we would use a Rosary, chanting a phrase as we search each new bead. The repetition helps the mind to quiet down, again creating a deeper inner experience. These are only two ways of praying.

In November of 1995, my husband and I had a profound experience in a prayer walk on the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California. After stepping off the path from our first walk, we realized that we needed to have this meditative tool at our church, in Akron, Ohio. Where did we begin? First, we had to find other individuals who were willing to help with the challenge.

There were three years of planning, research, Labyrinth Facilitator Training with Dr. Lauren Artress, the Canon at Grace Cathedral and head of The World-Wide Labyrinth Project. We attended workshops with Robert Ferré the labyrinth maker in St. Louis, Missouri. Then after a lot of hard physical work in drawing and painting, The First Church Labyrinth Project offered its canvas labyrinth to the congregation and to the community. It truly was a spiritual outreach project. The labyrinth came at a time when First Congregational Church of Akron was between ministers and the idea of praying and walking together appealed to those wishing to bring unity to the congregation.

People express themselves by prayer and meditation in the midst of Akron Labyrinth.

In December of 1999, we received a copy of a book written by Jill Geoffrion and a letter from Angela Fasciana, which read, “We at Pilgrim Press, the publishing imprint of the United Church of Christ, have just published a beautiful book called Praying the Labyrinth . . . I personally think it is the perfect book for folks who are about to walk the Labyrinth . . . Please enjoy this book.” It was very timely and we were impressed that a book had been written to help people walk the labyrinth and pray in their own language.

Webster’s Dictionary describes prayer as “any communion, as with God.” In this age of seeking new ways to find spirit or to search for sacred space within the self, there are those who are looking for a different way to experience or explore their spirituality. There are those people who, for whatever reason, do not have a church association, and are looking for ways to discover or rediscover their connection with God. The labyrinth offers the sacred space for those people. Having it in a downtown church makes it accessible from all areas of the surrounding city and welcomes them into an established church community.

There are different types of prayer. To some, the labyrinth is a walking prayer. To others, it is a meditation. Prayer is asking of God. Meditation is listening to God. The type of prayer we are all used to is the prayer of silence. This is called Apopathic Prayer. It is an interior prayer of silence and quiet, the traditional way one thinks of prayer. The other prayer is Kathopathic Prayer. This is the prayer of images (which can come while walking). Dr. Lauren Artress sees these “two types of prayer as two rivers that join around a boulder and become one river. In profound silence, images can come to you and the image itself can create in you profound silence. Using images we can access a part of ourselves that we can’t usually access in order to connect with ourselves and the Divine God.” Dr. Artress asks in the foreword to her book, Walking the Labyrinth, “What is a labyrinth? It is a path of prayer, a walking meditation that can become a mirror of the soul.” When one walks the labyrinth one connects with the Divine, with one’s own creativity, and ultimately, with one’s self.

The issue of prayer was addressed by St. Augustine who said, “It is solved by walking.” We might want to think about who we are being called to become in spite of opposition or lack of understanding. God doesn’t care where we pray. God listens wherever we are. People come to the sacred space where they can walk or just sit and listen to the music. They can express themselves through prayer and meditation and find their own inner sacred space.

In its fifth year, the labyrinth at First Church, which was modeled after the labyrinth built in 1201 at the Chartres Cathedral, near Paris, France, continues to be open for walks on the first Thursday of every month. Featured are local musical artists who share their talents in Celtic, Classical, Therapeutic Harp Massage, Folk, International Drumming, and the music and dance of the Dances of Universal Peace. First Congregational Church of Akron continues to be a meeting place for congregation and community who wish to come to the labyrinth for prayer. Some choose to sit, listen to the music, and pray. Some choose to walk.

The labyrinth at First Congregational Church of Akron is open the first Thursday of every month except Holidays. It can be also accessed through the church website: www.akronfcc.com.

Nancy Nierman-Baker is a freelance artist and writer, has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Kent State University, a Master’s Degree in art therapy from Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and is a registered art therapist working in psychiatry at Akron General Medical Center.

Labyrinths are patterns, usually circular, based on principles of sacred geometry. They have been called ‘divine imprints’ because they are found around the world as sacred patterns, and have been passed down through the ages for at least 4000 years in various forms. The labyrinth is an ancient symbol, which showed up during the time of the crusades in churches. Built into the floors of cathedrals, the labyrinth allowed for a sacred journey at home, since it was too dangerous for pilgrims to travel to the Holy lands at that time. According to Dr. Lauren Artress, the labyrinths are found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. There is only one path in and one path out and different from mazes in that there are no tricks, blocks, or dead ends to keep you from reaching your destination. The path becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives. “The labyrinth is a mystical tradition insisting to be reborn,” (Artress) in many places around the world. Artress says, “In a time when many people are seeing ways to integrate psychology with spirituality, the labyrinth creates a safe, open space where the inner and outer meet and become one. In the Christian tradition, walking the labyrinth represents the journeys and the long pilgrimages we take in our lives.”

Dr. Lauren Artress addresses the walking prayer. She states, “The first stage of walking prayer on the labyrinth is to release, to empty, to quiet. We let go of the things that block communication with our Higher Power. We relinquish the things that we attempt to control. It is believed that the monks and pilgrims walked the first part of the labyrinth on their knees as a penitential act, to humble themselves before God.

Illumination, the second stage of the Threefold Path, may be found in the center of labyrinth . . . Being fully present in the moment is the key to realizing the potential of time. The center is a place for meditation and prayer. Here people find insight into their problems, their lives are illuminated. We may come to clarity in the center.

Union begins when we leave the center of the labyrinth, following the same path back out that brought us in. At this stage, our meditation often produces a grounded, empowered feeling. Union means communing or communion with the Holy. This stage of the labyrinth walk empowers the seeker to move back out into the world, replenished and directed. This is what makes the labyrinth a particularly powerful tool for transformation.”

(Some excerpts from Walking a Sacred Path, Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool. by Dr. Lauren Artress, 1995. Riverhead Books, division of Putnam’s Sons, N.Y.)

First Congregational Church, established in November 1833, was Akron’s first formally organized church congregation. At that time in our history, the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, was in the White House. There were only 24 states in the Union, and Ohio was just 30 years old. It would be almost another 40 years–1870–before the first rubber factory opened for business. These were pre-railroad times; the Ohio and Erie Canal was a mere five years old!

In 1834 the State of Ohio recognized a petition to incorporate the First Congregational Church. Rev. John Petit became the first minister and the first building was located on High Street, where the courthouse currently stands.

In 1868, having outgrown the first building, and after a devastating fire leveled the second building, a third church building was built on High Street. In June of 1908, ground was broken and the cornerstone laid for the current Bedford limestone building at East Market and Union Streets. The congregation marched from the old church to the new one on June 7, to witness the laying of the cornerstone. Plans included today’s distinctive bell and clock tower, 100 feet high and 18 feet square.

The first service was held on March 20 in the still-unfinished building, and on Christmas Day, 1910, the first service was held in the present Meetinghouse. In 1951 the Casavant Freres pipe organ was installed. Built in Quebec, Canada, it currently contains more than 3,500 individual pipes controlled from a console of four keyboards and a pedalboard. A new wing adding a chapel, offices, meeting rooms, and lounge to the existing church building was built in 1958.

The labyrinth at First Congregational Church of Akron is open the first Thursday of every month except Holidays. It can be also accessed through the church website: www.akronfcc.com

The Rev. Dr. Jay Groat is our current senior pastor.