All Retreat Leaders


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Adam F. Braun, Ph.D.

Dr. Adam Braun teaches Greek, New Testament, Paul, and other electives which highlight class, queer theory, race theory, and political theology.  Pedagogically, Dr Braun aims to create spaces for students to encounter difference around historically marginalized power, to critically interrogate the contexts that produce traditions, and to inquire about possibilities for future communities to practice abolition and care.

Amber McZeal

Writer, vocalist, sacred scholar, and artivist, Amber McZeal, Ph.D., utilizes sound therapy and guided somatic imagery to engage the knowledge of the body within an interactive and liberatory arts practice. In 2018, Amber launched her organization, Decolonizing the Psyche, where she weaves somatic praxis with Afro-Indigenous spiritual technologies and social justice—deep decoloniality—in efforts to end oppression and create more humane social relationships. Amber holds an MA in Somatic Depth psychology and conducted doctoral research exploring Radical Love Traditions and the decolonial turn in maternal healthcare at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Andy Loving and Susan Taylor

Andy Loving and Susan Taylor have spent most of their adult lives imagining ways to act justly with money, learning along the way from communal living ventures, people without houses, and a beautiful array of spiritual companions on the road. Andy and Susan are partners in Just Money Advisors (justmoneyadvisors.com), a financial advising firm specializing in high-impact deposits and investments for people who want to see a more just, sustainable economy. They are both board members of Faith and Money Network. Among other service positions, Andy serves on the board of Kirkridge Retreat Center, and Susan chairs the board of…

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Barbara McAfee

Barbara McAfee is a master voice coach, singer/ songwriter, community song leader and author of Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence. She lives on the St Croix River in northwest Wisconsin.

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Bayo Akomolafe

Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea and Kyah, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Founder of The Emergence Network and host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California. He sits on…

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Beth Maczka

Beth Maczka, a Vanderbilt Divinity School graduate, centers her studies on Mary Magdalene and why she is absent from much of art and liturgy. She highlights the lack of images depicting this profound passage in Mark 14:9 and the need to commission art that depicts Gospel women in positions of authority, as noted in the Bible. Ultimately, Beth invites us to celebrate Easter in its fullness, starting with anointing and ending with Mary Magdalene’s proclamation of the Resurrection when she becomes the Apostle to the Apostles.

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Bill Wylie-Kellermann

Bill Wylie-Kellermann is a nonviolent community activist, writer, and United Methodist pastor living in Wawiatanong/Detroit. He is also is part of the Community at Kirkridge. Bill was a friend of William Stringfellow’s and has done several books on him, including A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow (Eerdmans, 1994), William Stringfellow: Essential Writings, (Orbis, 2013), Principalities in Particular: A Practical Theology of the Powers that Be (Fortress, 2017). He was married to Denise Griebler on Advent’s Joy Sunday, 2013. They have five grandchildren.

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Cat Greenstreet

Cat Greenstreet, M.Ed. has been a Courage & Renewal® Facilitator since 2006. She was an educator for 30 years and devoted the last 20 of those to Waldorf® education as an elementary and middle school teacher, a high school English and drama teacher, a teacher educator, and a school leader. In 2013 she helped co-found Hidden Water, an organization that offers a restorative justice approach for all who are impacted by childhood sexual abuse. She currently offers Circle of Trust® retreats, workshops, and one-on-one clearness conversations, based on Clearness Committees. A thread through all of her work has been creating…

Celina Medrano-Miller

Celina Medrano-Miller (they/them and she/her) is a former student from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in Linguistics who is passionate about language, land, and culture. As an uninvited guest from an Ashkenazi and Quechua heritage born on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory, Celina has been learning hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the language of the people and lands they grew up on since 2019. Their work includes language documentation with speakers of Secwepemctsín since 2020, and being a part of Salal + Cedar with Laurel since 2018. Celina loves supporting spaces of spirituality, radical rest, and justice and celebration for/of our environment and LGBTQ2S+ community.

Denise Crawn

A former Kirkridge employee, Columcille Board Member, and resident of the mountain now residing in Scotland, Denise Crawn has had a deep fascination of all things Celtic since an early age and enjoys spending as much time as possible wandering in nature and exploring ancient and sacred sites. Owner of Walking Awake, LLC, author of “Walking Awake: The Faces In Nature”, and the “Walking Awake on the Isle of Iona Inspirational Card Deck and Book Set”, Denise’s deep-rooted relationship with the natural world began as a child when she would spend extended periods in the great outdoors with her Father…

Denise Griebler

Denise Griebler is a potter and an ordained UCC pastor.  She pastored congregations for over 30 years. She’s the founder of MannaWorks pottery studio at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, where she also served as pastor-in-charge until her retirement in 2023.  Denise has a long history as a human rights and social justice activist, pastor, potter and retreat leader. Denise trusts and cultivates the connections between nature, spirituality, creativity, beauty, justice and joy.

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Derrick Weston

Derrick Weston is the theological Education and training coordinator for Creation Justice Ministries, a faith-based environmental education and advocacy organization.  He is a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, speaker, and educator whose most recent work has focused on the intersection of food and faith. He is the co-host of the Food and Faith podcast and producer of Spoon, Spade, and Soul, a podcast highlighting food and land-based ministries in the Episcopal church. Additionally, he is the producer of the short film series “A Wilderness Like Eden” highlighting the work of churches engaged in food justice work. After two decades of being a pastor…

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Dianne Baker

Dianne Baker lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, unceded territory of the  Shíshálh people, where she has a practice as a counselling therapist.  Dianne has a strong commitment to social justice and human rights work, and deep hopes for building compassionate community. She gathers people in song circles, to share joy, grief, and playfulness, and is also connected to a small and loving church community.   Dianne has been a Courage and Renewal facilitator since 2012.

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Dr. Juanita Kirton

Dr. Juanita Kirton, poet, writer, educator earned MFA from Goddard College. She is widely published; most recently in  AVOW (American Veteran Association for Women Magazine), Sinister Wisdom, Stillwater Review & Veterans Voices. She is the author of 2-chapbooks, Inner Journey (self-published) & Letters To My Father published by Finishing Line Press. Juanita has new work in progress. Riding her motorcycle keeps her sane.

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Dr. Pamela Lightsey

Dr. Pamela Lightsey has a stellar history as a senior administrator and scholar in higher education. She currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meadville Lombard Theological School and Associate Professor of Constructive Theology. Before her appointment at Meadville, she was Associate Dean at Boston University School of Theology. She is also an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. Lightsey is a womanist theologian who has lectured at schools within and outside the continental United States. She has served as co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Womanist Approaches to Religion…

Eileen Campbell-Reed

Eileen Campbell-Reed has been coaching writers for a decade and hosting a virtual writing table since March 2020. She blogs at eileencampbellreed.org and has published books, articles, opinion pieces, devotionals, camp bible studies, and faith formation curricula.

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Eliana Rubin

Eliana Rubin builds transgressive relationships with bodies, land, and lineage through their work as a somatic practitioner, politicized facilitator, anti-Zionist organizer, and full-spectrum doula. Their practice centers queer and trans organizers in developing embodied leadership as well as Jewish organizers in healing intergenerational trauma for the sake of collective liberation. They were born and raised by the dramatic landscapes and freaks of the San Francisco Bay Area, and are now rooted in the red clay of Durham, North Carolina.

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en sawyer

en sawyer (he/him) is an artist, taiko drummer, woodworker, urban mycologist, permaculturist, vipassana meditator, and father.  He aspires to live with discernment and according to the dictates of wisdom. His central questions in life are how to live gracefully and harmoniously on this earth, to laugh heartily, share openly and learn tirelessly. He co-founded Taproot Sanctuary with his partner, Marcia Lee.

Jacks McNamara

Jacks McNamara is a queer, trans, neurodivergent poet, artist, activist, educator, performer, and somatic healing practitioner based on the Tewa land of O’ga P’ogeh, also known today as Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2012 Jacks was selected as a Lambda literary fellow, and their first book of poetry, Inbetweenland, was released by Deviant Type Press in 2013. Co-author of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness, Jacks has toured across the US and Canada offering readings and workshops. They have also worked as a writer/artist in residence in many community organizations and the Santa Fe Public Schools. Their writing has appeared in…

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James W. Perkinson

James W. Perkinson has lived for 35 years as a settler on Three Fires land in inner city Detroit, currently teaching as Professor of Social Ethics at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Chicago, is the author of five books including Political Spirituality for a Century of Water Wars: The Angel of the Jordan Meets the Trickster of Detroit; Shamanism, Racism, and Hip-Hop Culture: Essays on White Supremacy and Black Subversion; and White Theology: Outing Supremacy in Modernity. He is an artist on the spoken-word poetry scene and an activist in the…

Jim Reale

Jim Reale has been teaching contemplative practice for 28 years. He continues to compose chant as a form of prayer, inviting the practitioner into the deep silence of contemplation. He has traveled to India on multiple pilgrimages to study many aspects of yoga, meditation and Vedic chant. He has taught chant at conferences with Thomas Keating and Richard Rohr. He has lead retreats integrating Eastern practices with Centering Prayer since 2003. He is featured on the DVD Jesus and Buddha Paths to Awakening with Richard Rohr and James Finley. Jim taught at the Spiritual Directors International conference in Santa Fe…

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John Dear

Rev. John Dear has been working for justice and disarmament and teaching peace for over four decades. A longtime activist, priest, and the former director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, John is the executive director of www.beatitudescenter.org where he hosts zooms on Jesus and Gospel peacemaking. He is the author of 40 books, including most recently, The Gospel of Peace. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize many times, including by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (see www.johndear.org)

Joyce Hollyday

Joyce Hollyday is the author of Pillar of Fire, a historical novel based on the witness of the Beguines. She has written several other books on oral history, spirituality, and social witness, including Clothed with the Sun: Biblical Women, Social Justice, and Us, and a memoir titled Turning Toward Home. Joyce has served as an editor of Sojourners magazine, a co-founder and co-pastor of Circle of Mercy in Asheville, N.C., a court advocate for survivors of domestic violence, a chaplain to children with cancer, and a visitor on death row. She is a member of the intentional community at Kirkridge.

Kate Foran

Kate Foran is a freelance writer and language arts instructor from Podunk lands now known as East Hartford, CT. For her, writing has been about expression, but also about connection. Whenever she shares a poem with her monthly writing group, she thinks of a saying from Nelson Johnson, one of her mentors who continues to work for racial and economic justice out of the Beloved Community Center in North Carolina: “Our work is building community; everything else is an occasion for it.”

Kathy Garrett

Kathy Garrett, Ph.D. is a certified SoulCollage® facilitator and retreat leader who is deeply trained to create a nourishing, safe, inclusive, and creative retreat experience where anyone can discover their wisdom and answer their own life’s questions. She is also a team and leadership professor, consultant and coach who is devoted to creating healthy spaces in the world of work.

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Kerr Mesner

Kerr Mesner (he/him) is a consultant, facilitator, and spiritual director, as well as a queer/transgender contemplative Christian, artist, and activist. Through his company Heart Story Consulting, he supports schools, higher ed institutions, and nonprofits, in creating spaces that honor diversity, with a particular focus on the work of celebrating gender diversity. He is trained with the Pacific Jubilee Program in Spiritual Direction, and is an ordained minister with Metropolitan Community Churches. In his spare time, he enjoys writing songs and performing in his local community theatre.

Laurel Dykstra

Laurel Dykstra (no pronouns or they/them) is an author, ecojustice activist, amateur naturalist, and sought-after preacher. Their Flemish and Anglo Celtic forebears came to the land of Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples near the Salish Sea as part of colonization and resource extraction projects. Laurel is and Anglican priest and founder a Salal + Cedar, a church that worships outdoors. They have experienced a life-time of spiritual formation in nature, provide accompaniment and discernment for individuals and communities involved in direct action, and have received training and supervision in nature-based spiritual direction from the Center for Prophetic Imagination. Laurel’s writing includes books, articles,…

Lucy A. Wachter Webb

Rev. Lucy A. Waechter Webb (she/her) is a politicized faith leader & organizer, somatic coach, writer and ritualist working at the intersections of spirit, body and anti-oppression to support the emergence of our collective liberation. She believes the work of engaging our spiritual life is not so very different from engaging in our shared public (political) life. After ten years as a pastor, she is now focused on engaging other racialized-white people in anti-racism practice, as she is always deepening her own. She is a part of rural community on Anishinaabek land (otherwise known as Northern Michigan). She considers the…

Lydia Wylie-Kellerman

Lydia Wylie-Kellermann is a writer, editor, activist, and mother. She is the director of Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center and editor of Geez magazine, which explores the intersection of activism, art, and spirit. She is the editor of The Sandbox Revolution: Raising Kids for a Just World. She lives with her partner and two boys at Kirkridge on Lenape land now known as Bangor, Pennsylvania.

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Lynice Pinkard

Rev. Lynice Pinkard is a Black writer, teacher, healer, pastor, recovering addict, and public intellectual operating at the intersection of Christianity, economics, and social change. Her current work is dedicated to decolonizing the human spirit and freeing people from what she calls “empire affective disorder.” Her commitment is to inspire and nurture a new generation of Spirit-filled servant leaders dedicated to the remediation of day-to-day suffering, the building of collective resilience for transformative change, and the pursuit of structural and systemic justice in the world.

Maki Ashe Van Steenwyk

Maki Ashe Van Steenwyk (she/they) is the Director of the Center for Prophetic Imagination in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ashe is the author of A Wolf at the Gate, unKingdom, and That Holy Anarchist, as well as a contributor to a number of edited tomes and publications. Ashe earned an MDiv from Bethel Theological Seminary, studied Spiritual Direction at the University of St. Catherine’s graduate school, and is currently writing her doctoral dissertation at United Theological Seminary.

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Marcia Lee

Marcia Lee lives in Waawiiyatanong, currently known as Detroit, MI. She aspires to create a more just and compassionate world through deep reflection and conscious actions. Marcia is a Courage and Renewal facilitator who creates embodied spaces for people to connect with their own inner voice. She co-founded Taproot Sanctuary to live in right relationship with ourselves, the earth, and our neighbors. Marcia’s background is in environmental justice, restorative justice, and healing justice. She is a certified healing centered leadership coach; restorative justice circle keeper; popular education facilitator; and tai chi teacher. She is a mother, wife, friend, sister, and daughter.

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Marissa Metelica

Marissa Metelica is a queer, white racial equity consultant, artist, and healer experienced in applied theatre, politicized somatics, and ancestral lineage healing. When facilitating groups, Marissa seeks to illuminate and honor previously hidden wisdom in the body for the sake of experiencing greater belonging, both to ourselves and one another.    Through Equity Allies, which she founded in 2019, Marissa offers interactive, trauma-informed anti-oppression training and consulting. Marissa serves as a core consultant for the Racial Healing Initiative and as the Vice Chair of the Board at Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center. Her theatre for peacebuilding and reconciliation work has…

Marjory Zoet Bankson

Marjory Zoet Bankson is an author, artist, and seasoned spiritual guide. After time as a professional potter, Marjory attended Virginia Seminary and then led Faith@Work for 20 years. During that period, she began making unfired burial urns for friends. Her books include Call to the Soul, Creative Aging, The Soulwork of Clay and Stalking the Spirit. Now, as president of Church of the Saviour in Washington DC, she publishes a quarterly newsletter, Callings, for the wider CoS community and curates the CoS website, inwardoutward.org.

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Max Pearl

Max Pearl (he/him) is a Black, queer, trans man who has been on a life-long journey of learning about and re-connecting to his body. He has been fascinated by the body, the spirit, and culture, and more particularly, the ways in which these meet, interact, and connect. He has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and a Certificate in Theological Studies from Pacific School of Religion. He started a Buddhist meditation practice in 1990. He has been trained in a wide variety of embodiment modalities, including Authentic Movement and classical Tantra. He has spent his vocational life in a wide variety of…

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Meg Eden Kuyatt

Meg Eden Kuyatt teaches creative writing at colleges and writing centers. She is the author of the 2021 Towson Prize for Literature winning poetry collection “Drowning in the Floating World” and children’s novels including the Schneider Family Book Award Honor-winning “Good Different,” and the forthcoming “The Girl in the Walls” (Scholastic, 2025). Find her online at megedenbooks.com.

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Megan LeBoutillier

Megan LeBoutillier, Ph.D., is an artist and a writer. She has been a Courage and Renewal facilitator since 1998.  For half the year she walks the wintery woods of Virginia trying to pay close attention to Nature.  For the second half of the year she lives within a community of Homesteaders and organic gardeners in Maine where she digs in the muck and coaxes vegetables and flowers to emerge.

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Mervin Primeaux-OBryant

Mervin Primeaux-OBryant (he/they), a native of Lafayette, LA, is a non-binary Deaf artist, performer, and CEO/Founder of MPO Foundation. Mervin attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he obtained his degree in Dance Performance & Choreography. He is an actor, director, producer, choreographer, international performer, and advocate. Currently, he’s busy producing a feature documentary and spends time managing his Mervin Primeaux-OBryant foundation and serving on the board as a Co-founder of Def Lens Media. His creative journey has blessed him with many experiences; including with Quest Visual Theatre as an assistant director and as a consultant for American…

Michael Adee

Michael J. Adee, Ph.D., a LGBTQ+ human rights activist and educator.  Michael led the successful campaign for ordination and marriage equality in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  He is the director of the Global Faith and Justice Project and his home is Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Michelle Johnson

Facilitator: Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. She approaches her life and work from a place of knowing we are, can, and must heal individually and collectively. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide. Michelle has written four books, and the fifth is coming out in June 2024. Learn more about Michelle and her work here.

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Michelle Puckett

Hi y’all, I’m Michelle. I’m a Social Justice Coach who works with people who feel alone, overwhelmed, or stuck in their work and/or activism. I help them heal from oppressive conditioning and self-doubt so that they can be their most powerful, connected, change-making selves. As a working class white woman from the South, I’ve been consciously unearthing and working through my own experiences, as both oppressed and oppressor, for my entire life. I’ve spent over 20 years doing emotional and somatic anti-oppression work as a peer counselor.  I’ve organized for social change through electoral, non-profit, and direct action work for over…

Mike Lew

Mike Lew is the author of Victims No Longer: The Classic Guide for Men Recovering from Sexual Child Abuse. 

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Mike Little

Mike Little leads the inward and outward work of Faith and Money Network. Within the network, Mike fosters relationships with individuals and faith communities, leading reflections and discussions on the role of money in our lives as people of faith and in our work as the community of faith.  He’s also a skilled and sought-after group facilitator, with decades of experience helping groups learn, grow, and work together. Mike has spent more than three decades working with Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, in the areas of homelessness, addictions, affordable housing, and job services. He has a life-long commitment…

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Naomi Washington-Leapheart

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart is a Black queer preacher, teacher, movement strategist, and justice advocate. She is an adjunct professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University and Arcadia University, and was the Government Fellow for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School from 2022 to 2024. Rev. Naomi also serves as the first-ever Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates (PRA), a social justice research and strategy center that provides strategic insights and actionable research that identifies, disrupts, and competes with movements and institutions that undermine democracy, justice, and human rights. In 2021, Rev. Naomi founded Salt |…

Nichola Torbett

Nichola Torbett is a white, queer, raised-working-class spiritual seeker, recovering addict, gospel preacher, racial justice podcaster, and nonviolent direct action trainer. She grew up in a sundown town in Ohio and had no consciousness of racism until she was nearly 25. She is grateful to the powerful BIPOC-led movements of Oakland and San Francisco, California, for her political education and to the friends of color who told her about herself and took a chance on her despite it all. She is committed to helping other white people unlearn internalized supremacy and become part of multiracial coalitions to end racism and…

Nick Prance

Nick Prance was born in the north of Ireland, raised in Liverpool, and has lived in Scotland for the last 20+ years. He worked within the Mental Health services in the UK as a Psychiatric Nurse latterly as a Cognitive Behavioural therapist. Whilst pursuing this career Nick also trained for and was ordained as a minister within the Anglican Church. Shortly afterward he took a career break to live and work for three years on the Island of Iona working for the Iona Community helping to organize and run the program for the many guests who came on pilgrimage and…

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Niyonu D. Spann

Niyonu D. Spann has been assisting organizations and individuals to effectively fulfill their mission since founding Niyonu Spann Associates in 1994. She is a visionary leader, highly experienced in group facilitating and leadership coaching, with a focus on whole systems transformation and liberation training. Drawing on a graduate degree in Organization Development, she designs and facilitates interventions and small group processes that surface shared vision, tap internal resources, and map out a strategic and dynamic plan to achieve and maintain alignment between day-to-day operations, values, and core mission. In 1999, she designed and facilitated the first Beyond Diversity 101, a five-day intensive workshop that…

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Rain Black

Rain Black, M.P.H., CPH (Fae/He) is a trans autistic watercolor artist and forager who earned faers bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Public Health and Art from Cedar Crest College. He holds a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from the University of South Florida and is Certified in Public Health. He is a community educator with 7 years of experience focusing on topics around domestic and intimate partner abuse, queer and transgender justice, foraged art making, life skills, and public health. Fae also teaches about native plants, forest conservation, and foraging on social media and in person. He is a…

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Rev. Cathy Bristow

Rev. Cathy Bristow has a background as a business leader with responsibilities including contract negotiations, human resources, and quality process control. She facilitated dialogue across differences and created a diversity initiative in the financial service industry that focused on gender and racial equity. These experiences led to her co-creating courses for a diversity certification at Cornell University School of Labor Relations. Believing there was a spiritual foundation for her dialogue model, she became an ordained interfaith interspiritual minister through One Spirit Learning Alliance, where she remains active in their anti-racism initiative. In her Harlem community she has offered free workshops…

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Rev. Deb Staniszewski

Rev. Deb Staniszewski (she,her) is a grateful, sober woman, child of God, Lutheran pastor, spiritual director, wife, mom, sister, and friend who loves sharing spiritual practice and sacred space with others individually and in community.  She feels called to work as a spiritual doula with people on the journey, as they experience spiritual growth and transformation that lead to healing, freedom, and joy.  Deb also loves the outdoors, superhero movies, yoga, and going on adventures of all kinds!

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Rev. Dr. Nick Peterson

Rev. Dr. Nick Peterson is a practical theologian and professor of Homiletics and Worship at Christian Theological Seminary. His doctoral dissertation, On Being an Issue of Delores: A Meditation on Black Faith in an Antiblack World, explores how black faith engenders intramural care practices, which he calls black-on-black care. He lives in Indianapolis with his spouse NaKisha and twin sons, Zayden and Zander.

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Rev. Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza

Rev. Espinoza earned his Ph.D. at the Iliff School of Theology at the University of Denver. He is an activist, author, teacher and preacher. In 2018 Dr. Espinoza was named one of 10 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress. He, his spouse Erin Law, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Alfred University, and their two cats, make their home in the Alfred area.

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Rev. Jean Brown

Reverend Jean Brown, pastor, potter, photographer and pollinator is giving shape to Earthen Hands Ministry at Dayspring.  The group gathers in the Seneca Creek Watershed in Germantown, MD  for nature walks, outdoor worship and wanders, lessons from the potter’’s wheel, and contemplative pottery workshops. Through Earthen Hands she is creating a spiritual home for those drawn to God in nature and inspiring the changes needed to be in right relationship with  this precious earth.

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Rev. Lorren Z. Buck

Rev. Lorren Z. Buck is a sexual liberation theologian whose healing activism reflects her bold sentiments that the Creator desires people to experience pleasure and healing from the legacy of sexual violence and theological malpractice.  She is blurring the lines between the profane and sacred under the moniker The Pussy Pastor. This to her is a holy act of resistance. Lorren has a background in church leadership, sexual health education and executive non-profit management. She has over 15 years of experience in group facilitation, social justice education and curriculum writing.  Both Lorren’s profession and passions led her to consider the…

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Robin Gow

Robin Gow (it/fae/he & él y elle) is a trans poet, witch, and educator. It grew up in rural Pennsylvania and lives with his queer family on unceded Lenape land also called Allentown Pennsylvania. Over the last five years, Robin has trained over 3,000 people on LGBTQIA2+ Inclusion and Equity and Neurodiversity/Disability justice topics. He serves on the Board of Eastern PA Trans Equity Project and Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living and is a founding organizer of Queer & Trans Lehigh Valley. Robin is the author of critically acclaimed poetry books and LGBTQ+ young-adult and middle-grade novels, earning starred…

Ruth Harvey

Born and brought up in Scotland, with stints in Glasgow, Iona, Stirling, South India, Aberdeen, Germany, Amsterdam and Edinburgh, Ruth now lives in Cumbria, NW England with views of the northern fells and Ullswater where she swims when she can. Having been brought up in faith-based intentional community, Ruth is passionate about the power of intentional community, gathered and scattered, to model that hope to which we are called in the face of so much fracture.   This early immersion in community led Ruth to train as a mediator. She worked for many years in faith-based conflict situations and continues to…

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Shelley DePaul

Shelley DePaul is the Language Director for the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and is one of the few people in the world who speak Lenape proficiently. She has been active with the Lenape Nation as Genealogy Researcher, Historical Researcher, Lenape Language Specialist and Educator. She also participated in the organization of the Rising Nation River Journey and Treaty of Renewed Friendship. From 1979-1997 she worked as a public school teacher, and she currently works as a music instructor. Shelley DePaul received her B.S. in secondary education in 1979 from East Stroudsburg University.

A white person in a white shirt and brown pants crouches down in a grassy field.

Spencer Grugan

Spencer Grugan (they/them), a native of Central Pennsylvania, is a queer transgender Deaf author, content creator,  LGBTQ+ advocate, and DEIA specialist. Spencer attended the Rochester Institute of Technology for their undergrad, specializing in Creative Writing, Women & Gender Studies, Psychology, and Communications, and Wright State University to obtain a Master of Arts in Higher Education. Spencer focuses on advocating for civil rights, diversity, inclusion, and equal employment during their daytime job. Spencer authored “Learn to Sign with Your Baby: 50 Essential Signs ASL Signs to help your child communicate their needs, wants, and feelings”. Whenever Spencer is not reading or writing,…

A white man with white hair and a white beard stands in front of a wooden background. He is wearing a green, black, and tan patterned sweater.

Stephen Hoog

Stephen Hoog has been a Macrobiotic Dietary Counselor and Shiatsu Practitioner since 1980. He has taught Shiatsu classes on numerous occasions over that time and for several years taught a 300 hour Certification course.  He expanded his knowledge of Holistic health by studying and applying Cranio-Sacral work, Lymphatic Drainage, Applied Kinesiology [muscle testing], and Meridian Emotional Release. Stephen has a great interest in the Natural world. In the early 1970’s he began to learn about the use of wild plants as edibles and herbal medicine. In 1975 he began offering Wild Food and Herb Walks in Eastern Pennsylvania and New…

Thom Harrigan

Thom leads groups for male survivors and has worked extensively in the field of recovery from childhood sexual abuse.

A grinning white man is bundled in front of a snowy background. He is wearing a beanie with a sports logo and a keffiyeh scarf.

Tommy Airey

Tommy Airey is a writer and pastor to post-evangelicals. He is the editor of RadicalDiscipleship.net and the author of Descending Like a Dove: Adventures in Decolonizing Evangelical Christianity (2018). Tommy was a high school teacher for eighteen years in the Southern California suburbs before he and his spouse Lindsay moved to Detroit in 2014. He and Lindsay started a non-profit called Kardia Kaiomene committed to the work of “soul accompaniment.”