The John Main Seminar

What is it?

The John Main Seminar has been an annual event since 1984. It was established to honour John Main’s memory and develop the influence of his teaching in new fields and dialogue with the modern world. Presenters include the Dalai Lama, Bede Griffiths on John Main, Mary McAleese on Reconciliation of Conflict, Bernard McGinn on Christian Mysticism, Richard Rohr, Charles Taylor, Thomas Keating and Sarah Bachelard and multiple speaker events on The Crisis of Change and Indigenous Wisdom.

View talks from past seminars

How did the John Main Seminar start?

The first seven Seminars were held at the former Benedictine Priory of Montreal, beginning the year after John Main’s death. They were relatively small-scale events and the presenters were all prominent members of the Community with high standing in their professional fields.

The 1991 Seminar was a transformative event for the WCCM, inded the birth of the organisational aspect of the ‘monastery without walls’. It was held in New Harmony, Indiana. The participants were representative of a growing global family. The presenter was Bede Griffiths, the pioneer of interfaith dialogue and friend of John Main who spoke on Main’s vision of community under the theme of The New Creation in Christ. Immediately after the Seminar he remained with the leadership of the Community and contributed to a three-day process out of which the WCCM’s organizational and structural constitution were established.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama led the 1994 Seminar, The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teaching of Jesus. The resulting book, of the same title, containing his commentaries on the gospels and dialogues with Laurence Freeman and other Christian teachers became an international bestseller in many languages. His Holiness also headlined the roster of former John Main Seminar presenters at the new millennium Seminar held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. That event involved over 3000 participants making it the biggest single organizational seminar of the Community to date.

Other Seminar presenters include: Jean Vanier (France), Fr. William Johnston S.J.  (Japan), Laurence Freeman, OSB, Fr. Raimon  Panikkar (India), former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, Abbot Thomas Keating, Prof Huston Smith, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Bishop Kallistos Ware, Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, composer and singer Margaret Rizza, Robert Kennedy, SJ, James Alison, Timothy Radcliffe, OP, Philosopher and Theologian Leonardo Boff  & Frei Betto OFM (Brazil), Fr. Joseph Wong OSB Cam, Daniel Madigan, SJ, Professor David Tacey (Australia) and Alex Zatyrka SJ (Mexico).

Still Present: The Life and Legacy of John Main in 2007 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. It featured a panel of speakers including Charles Tayor and Sarah Bachelard. Fr. Laurence. Cardinal Walter Kaspar was the keynote speaker at the 2008 Seminar in Germany on Unity: Local and Global.

The Seminar talks are framed by four periods of meditation a day and a final contemplative Eucharist. The WCCM’s Annual General Meeting is an integral part of this annual event. A three-day silent retreat led by Fr. Laurence is linked to Seminar