Center for Parish Spirituality

The Center for Parish Spirituality (CPS) is a Catholic pastoral resource center in the Netherlands. Its mission is to help parishes become vital communities of faith, service and witness. Established in 1990 by the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (S.S.S.), the Center offers days of reflection and a wide range of publications, presentations and other tools designed to nourish faith. Since the eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life,” many of our initiatives focus on eucharistic spirituality and the importance of growing in a personal relationship with Christ.

Our Center is housed in a cloister (Klooster Brakkenstein) of the S.S.S. in Nijmgen. Two lay persons serve on our staff. Timothy P. (Tim) Schilling, an American, came to the Center in 2003, after completing a doctorate in practical theology in Utrecht and seven years of work as a catechist in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Mirjam Spruit-Borst, a Dutch woman, joined the staff in 2015 after thirteen years on the catechetical staff of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam. She studied theology (MA, STL) at the Tilburg School of Catholic Theology. Collaborating with Schilling and Spruit is Fr. Jim Schilder, a Dutch priest of the Congregation. Prior to becoming a priest, Schilder worked as a journalist and correspondent for Dutch magazines and media outlets. He was ordained 2012. After nearly a decade of service to the St. Nicholas parish in Amsterdam, he joined the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and the staff of CPS in 2021.

To learn more, please contact us at cps.nijmegen@kloosterbrakkenstein.nl