Interfaith Ministers & Chaplains

My ministerial calling is as a Healer, Spiritual Director, and Yoga Chaplain. I work primarily with women in recovery and with women walking through the realm of physical illness. I am deeply drawn to all forms of prayer, meditation, and shamanism and actively engage in circles and communities to support healing, revelation, and dreaming a new world into being.

Rev. Amy Mays has spent the past twenty years in healthcare, working her way from science to sales to spirit. After finishing the Interfaith Studies program at The Chaplaincy Institute and a year CPE residency at John Muir Hospital in Concord, Amy came full circle and accepted her call as a Spiritual Care Counselor at Hope Hospice, a community based non-profit in Dublin, CA. Amy has spent the past 10 years as an advocate in elder care services, companioning patients and families through chronic illness and end of life.Amy has been a meditation student in the tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism for 9 years, and has studied other non-dual paths including the Mussar practice of Tikkun Middot in Judaism. Additionally, she has experience working in behavior health and substance recovery programs providing one on one care and facilitating groups through mindfulness meditations, exploring personal belief systems and creative therapy workshops. Amy is passionate about offering spiritual care and unconditional compassion to vulnerable and marginalized populations. As a universal mystic and interfaith chaplain, Amy celebrates the infinite ways the divine is expressed in the world and strives to bring holistic healing and connection to those she serves.

Rev. Andrea Goodman was ordained in 2009 and has been offering interfaith spiritual direction since 2002. She co-founded The Interfaith Peace Project; is President of the Board of Directors; and is the Director of the San Francisco Peace Center. She officiates at funerals and witnessed cremations, weddings, peace pole plantings; and is a retreat leader. She leads Sacred Visits designed to promote peace and unity through better understanding of the faith traditions. She practices interfaith spirituality in all the affairs of her life. May peace prevail on Earth.

I am an Interfaith Minister and Street Chaplain, and have been called to work with people experiencing mental health issues,. homelessness, addiction and trauma. Having had a long career in mental health and case management, my individual spiritual care work is informed by this experience and gives me a special skill set in working with people experiencing mental health challenges. I am so grateful to ChI for creating the conditions in which I could grow and become a channel of love and light in the world!

Interfaith Spiritual Care Provider for Hospice and Supportive Care patients at Snowline Hospice Placerville CA. Specializing in Rites of Passage through the life span. Council Carrier, Nature Mystic, Kabbalah student, artist, mother, wife, gardener and Yoga Student. See File #1 for visual representation of current spiritual identity and growth.

Benjamin worked as a corporate accountant for 20 years before hearing a call to chaplaincy. He now has an MDIV and is ordained as an Interfaith chaplain. After serving as a hospital chaplain at Stanford Hospital, he now works as a hospice chaplain for Suncrest Hospice. He loves cats, Indian food, watching figure skating, and old Hollywood movies.

I have been a chaplain for going on my 12 year. I feel particularly blessed to be able to minister to those on Hospice. With covid, the ministry changed this year to include more ministry to the family members of those in Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Facilities and Board and Cares. Many of these facilities are not allowing family members to visit. I am doing more grief work with family's that can no see their loved ones. I arrange FaceTime visits with patient and family when our nurse visit these patients. At lease they can see each other. My favorite part of ministry is prayer. I love to soothe, encourage, bless those I pray for. There is such power in prayer. One family member decided she missed praying at church. She decided to go back to her church after 4 years of non-attendance because we prayed together and she was fed. That's the power of prayer and promise. What a blessing to be embraced by these families in the most vulnerable moments in time as they search for answers and lean on us for support. The work is the gift I give to myself.

Reverend Bonnie Lange continues to volunteer with Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz, CA. She currently leads the Pastoral Care Team, Prayer team, serves on the church Council and finance team. She continues to be involved with Hospice of Santa Cruz, as well. In addition, she serves on the ChI Board of Directors. The best Covid-19 success has been working on a project to deliver plastic pink flamingos to over 100 homes, bringing smiles in the midst of stress and the unpredictable nature of life.

Since my ordination in 2002 my ministry has included offering grief counseling through the Marin Co. Health Dept.; energy healing work through Hospice by the Bay, the Institute for Health & Healing at CPMC, and to private clients; Chair of the Professional Advisory Group of CPMC's CPE program; iRest Yoga Nidra through Hospice by the Bay, people without permanent homes through COTS in Petaluma and Homeward Bound in San Rafael; Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) in Sonoma; Marin Oaks High School, Novato; and to private groups.Since March 2020 when Covid closed schools, I have not offered any ministry (iRest Yoga Nidra).

As a community minister, I offer my companionship to those opening to spiritual exploration and growth. We do this through classes called Fully Awake and Truly Alive (Jane Vennard) and one-to-one work utilizing the 10-Point Spiritual Inventory. Working with couples entering marriage, I offer a six month plan that focuses on deepening what is reflected in the ceremony as it relates to the lifelong commitment. Currently I offer remote memorial services connecting families, as well as grief support including bereavement contacts for local hospice. I am active in the work of Bread of Life, Sacramento as it expands its efforts to reach out in spiritual support to our world.

After earlier careers, I knew another chapter awaited me as I participated in offering music and pastoral care to my faith community, listened to my ministerial calling and found ChI. I completed four units of CPE and my APBCC, Advanced Practice Board Certification with the Spiritual Care Association. I currently work as a hospice and palliative care chaplain with Snowline Hospice that serves 3 counties in the Sacramento area where I serve those facing chronic illness and those at the end of their lives, offering spiritual care, grief and bereavement support, celebrations of life, marriage ceremonies and baptisms.

I admire to work with my palliative care team, providing emotional and spiritual support to our patients.

My calling is to end of life and the renewing of it. I am both a bereavement and hospice chaplain for several small hospices. I was made to do this work and I am thriving here...giving care as a circle...and making it renewable.

As Chaplain for Pastoral Care in a church setting, I provide safe, confidential, trust-filled places for persons to share their stories, navigate their spiritual journey, and listen to Spirit/God/Mystery/Source. I facilitate a spiritual writing group, book discussion, support group, and retreats. I also offer pastoral counseling, coordinate an active Care Team, and officiate at memorial services. As a spiritual director, I host a peer support group for spiritual directors and offer one-on-one sessions with individual clients.

Following an early career in wellness and global public relations, Hanna embarked on a spiritual journey becoming an author, peace advocate, interfaith minister and interfaith spiritual director providing spiritual guidance and counseling to seekers of all ages and faiths. Hanna created the storybook Aya while in interfaith seminary and used the character as an avatar to bring peace and mindfulness practices to a wider audience through immersion in her real and virtual storybook worlds. Breathe Peace World made its debut at the United Nations General Assembly SDG Interactive Exhibition NYC and is now being utilized to reduce patient's anxiety in children's hospitals including Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and Connecticut Children's Hospital.

Rev. Jacob Jett, MDiv began volunteering for hospice at the age of 22, after his mother's death from a long battle with breast cancer. While volunteering, Jacob was introduced to the role of a chaplain and felt a deep calling to pursue this path. He was the first student to complete the dual program obtaining an MDiv from Starr King, CHI chaplaincy training and interfaith ordination with the CHI Interfaith Community. During this three year period, he volunteered in the ICU at Kaiser and completed his first unit of CPE at Sutter Health. After graduation from both programs, Jacob completed his year-long CPE residency at John Muir Health with continued chaplaincy focus in the ICU. Jacob has continued to be active with CHI, and was a member of the Deep Culture (DC) design team throughout the 2017-18 assessment period. Currently (and for the last five years), Jacob has served as a full time hospice chaplain.

I am part of a team that provides structure and support to the members of a mainline protestant church as we explore anti-racist ideas. In my teaching, I explore death, dying, and bereavement issues in a course called "Coping with Death and Related Bereavement." I see myself as one who works to bring new insights and perspectives to more traditional situations.

Having an inclination toward spiritual matters since I can remember, I had no conception earlier in my life that a path to ministry existed for me. Seeking a place to learn "pastoral counseling" to build upon my earlier career in psychiatric social work, I found ChI. This was my first introduction to the possibility of becoming an interfaith minister. Three weeks after discovering ChI through its website, I attended my first ChI module and went straight through the modules. It was like a duck to water. Being an interfaith minister has helped me to express and cultivate my skills and focus at the juncture of spirituality, service, the arts, and social change.

Prior to Covid19 pandemic, I was volunteering as an Interfaith Chaplain at SF County Jail and Hospital. In the SF County Jail, since being ordained, I was providing a unique interfaith program each week to prisoners. I was mandated to stop visiting as of March 2020. In the SF County Hospital, since being ordained, I was providing chaplaincy services to patients throughout the 7 floors of the hospital. I also led meditation groups in the morning chapel. I was mandated to stop visiting as of March 2020. Since March 2020, I have been living off the grid in a forested area near Middletown, CA. I am in the process of considering the creation of a healing center through nature at this location.

I am currently working as a per-diem chaplain at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, where I bring presence, art and music as ministry to patients in tender moments of illness, injury, death, and grief. My care and prayer cards are now available for purchase through Amazon @altarnativearts and I am now in my second year of studies at Earlham School of Religion (Indiana), working towards a dual master's MDiv/ MATW 9Master's of Arts in Theopoetics and Writing).

I continue to focus primarily on veterinary chaplaincy; providing pastoral care to those sitting with grief and bereavement issues around the loss of their companion or service animals. I also still meet in private practice (One Starfish Interfaith Ministry) with spiritual direction clients.

I am a Spiritual Consultant. I honor who you are and where you are on your journey. Training: I have been a Spiritual Practitioner since July 2008. I became Ordained in 2014. I have worked as a Chaplain in an acute hospital/long term care facility and hospice since 2012. Starting in 2018 I started working with bereaved population. I facilitate groups and individual sessions. I enjoy facilitating workshops around grief and how to navigate a new identity and find new meaning. I officiate weddings and enjoy celebrate the beginning of a relationship; as this helps to balance the end of life work I engage in daily. I honor you, just as you are.

Laura Prickett is a spiritual director and ordained interfaith minister. She leads workshops on exploring dreams as a spiritual practice and has led workshops at conferences of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. She has conducted research on dreams and recovery from spiritual abuse that included analyses of 25 of her own dreams about a religious group in which she experienced spiritual abuse, and has presented findings from this research at conferences of the International Cultic Studies Association. Laura holds certificates in Spiritual Direction and Interfaith Studies from the Chaplaincy Institute, where she is a Clergy in Good Standing. She holds a Certificate in Dream Group Facilitation from the Marin Institute for Projective Dreamwork and is enrolled in the Master of Yoga Studies program of the Graduate Theological Union. Laura also has a Master of Community Planning degree and experience working as an environmental planner.

I moved to the Bay Area from Virginia in 2008 with my son and a few critters. My hobbies include reading, traveling, and writing. Current writing projects include children’s books about simple everyday moments and a book about challenging experiences that ultimately led to a cross-country move and an ongoing spiritual journey. I have master’s degrees in psychology and theology, an Ed.S. in school psychology, and a Ph.D. in family and child development. I was a school psychologist for over 20 years and am an online psychology professor, hospice chaplain, and care line coordinator with the San Francisco Night Ministry where I also completed CPE in 2014. I have an interest in prison ministry and restorative justice. I am enrolled in a paralegal program and in ChI’s spiritual direction program. I recently completed Myer-Briggs Type Indicator certification. I facilitate a prayer/support group and Bible study and am organizing a writing group.

Raised in the Midwest, Rev. Lauren Van Ham, M.A., worked as a performing artist in NYC before attending ChI. Following ordination (’99), Lauren served a hospital, focusing in psychiatry, palliative care, and bereavement support. Her ministry moved to corporations (’07), where she custom-designed employee engagement sustainability programs for multi-national companies. She returned to ChI (’10) where, for 9 years, she served as Dean. Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in a collection of women’s work; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating environmental activism from diverse faith traditions. Her writing and audio perspectives appear on “Progressing Spirit,” and Vennly, online resources for exploring spirituality and life across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI). She also tends a private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as guest faculty for several schools in the Bay Area.

I have always felt called to be a healing presence in industry and academia, and have lived my professional life in fulfillment of this calling. My work is to help people grow into fuller relationship with their whole selves, including the difficult parts, with kindness and compassion. Given how much of our lives we spend working, I have always felt that work should be life-affirming and self-developing. I feel honored to do this work and bring great love of humanity to it.

I am an ordained Interfaith Minister and Board Certified Clinical Chaplain through CSCPF - The Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation www.cscpf.org. I have also served as President of CSCPF since 2016. My area of specialization is hospice/palliative care ministry and eldercare.

I was born in Jerusalem/Palestine in 1966 and moved to the United States in 1973. After a career in Washington D.C., I took yearlong backpacking trip around the world and realized economic research was not feeding me. Raising two young children and being the lead caregiver to my aging parents and grandmother it was in these deeply personal venues that I grew to understand what was feeding me: the grace and challenges of aging, dying and most importantly, living a deeply connected and ultimately spiritual life. The introduction to both hospice care and to Non-Violent Communication three decades ago opened my eyes to a world of witnessing, serving and protecting others with deep compassion. I became a Buddhist in 2005 and in 2014, I took Upasika vows (lay ordination) in Zen Buddhism and I am a member of Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette, CA. I was ordained in the Chaplaincy Institute in March 2019 with my clinical training taking me from the halls of Kaiser Hospitals to the streets of the Tenderloin with the San Francisco Night Ministry. I am a Governing Board Director of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, leading the creation of a mentoring program for our youth who are leaving juvenile detention in the county. I live with my husband and two adult children outside of Danville, CA on Bay Miwok and Ohlone land on the southwest side of Mt. Diablo.

As Interspiritual Minister and Chaplain, I am a healer and truth bringer. As a Cosmic Bridge Builder, I accompany others on transformative paths, co-creating towards Ascension. I revere Nature's Wisdom and find Higher guidance there, I offer ritual, for beginnings and endings, and celebrations of life. I create ritual space, such as building alters for a particular purpose. Integrating my holistic practice as Registered Nurse, I midwife others healing journey to find home within themselves, when in crises and transition I am a Spiritual Director. I offer online Spiritual Direction.

Rev. Mark Estes is a ChI ordained interfaith hospice chaplain providing end of life ministry for patients, their families and hospice staff. A full-time hospice chaplain in Oakland, CA. since 2013, after completing five units of Clinical Pastoral Education in hospitals, Mark fulfilled his calling as a practitioner of compassionate curiosity to accompany those in need. His spiritual practices include Vipassana meditation and active participation in the Free Listening movement. Mark serves as a chaplain at Bridge Hospice, on John Muir Hospital’s CPE Professional Advisory Group, is a volunteer clergy/storyteller for Compassion & Choice , educating from neutral perspective on Medical Aid In Dying and serves on the board of American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying.

As a Spiritual Director and eco-chaplain, I serve those who are struggling with the existential questions surrounding Climate Change and Adaptation, the Great Unraveling and the Great Turning. I celebrate liturgies that include sacramental Eucharist, Quaker Silence and Practices, and a living sense of the shamanic presence in all of Life and its kingdoms. I continue to share my skills as a writer and editor as a member of the editorial teams of the Deep Times Journal and The Orff Echo. It is a special delight to explore progressive Christianity and to facilitate Sunday gatherings of the Integral Christian Network.

I have worked in medical settings since ordained. I currently work at a nursing home, Chaparral House in Berkeley, where I have been the interfaith chaplain for the residents for five years now. Before the pandemic, I visited with families, spent quality time with residents, held a held weekly interfaith services, as well as attending Shabbat each Friday. Since the restrictions of the pandemic, I have not been able to hold services or Shabbat, as no community meetings are allowed. At present, I provide a lot of care to residents who are stir-crazy, tired of being alone, and very very anxious. I also provide counsel and emotional support to staff at the facility. I try especially now to be a positive sociable helpful person in the midst of a very hard-to-handle situation.

Maura Singer Williams, MA is an interfaith minister trained at Naropa University and the Chaplaincy Institute. For the past nine years she was the chaplain and Spiritual Care Coordinator at the Alta Bates Summit Comprehensive Cancer Center where she designed and implemented the spiritual care program, provided spiritual counseling to patients and staff and created rituals for the Cancer Center community.

I was ordained by the ChI Community as an Interfaith minister and chaplain on September 24, 2016. My area of interest is serving elders in the community. Since ordination, I have done several internships and completed several units of CPE in senior residences. For two years, I have served as chaplain for the Sequoias, San Francisco, a continuing care retirement community for 350 residents and 200 staff. However, due to the pandemic I have not been able to be on-site and have been working from home calling to check on residents. However, I continue to lead a weekly Meditation Group via Zoom for residents. Some of my duties prior to the pandemic were to visit the residents in the higher levels of care - the Health Center, Assisted Living and Memory Care as well as Independent Living to provide spiritual and emotional support. I am on the Spirituality Committee and bring items to be discussed by the committee members and implemented in the community. I have co-officiated services tied in with Christian religious days, co-officiated at quarterly Celebrations of Life for residents who have passed away, and helped to plan and set up A Day of Remembrance for all the residents who died in the previous year. I am also a certified spiritual director and received my training from Mercy Center, Burlingame.

I am an interfaith Spiritual Provider for Hospice and Supportive Care patients at Snowline Hospice in Placerville Ca. I specialize in Rights Of Passage through the life span and am currently training with CSCPF to be a CPE Supervisor. I am also a student of Kabbalah, a Council Carrier, Nature Mystic, artist, mother, wife, gardener, and Yoga student.

Rev. Rebecca Senoglu was ordained in May 2002. Rebecca works as the Cancer Support Program Coordinator at Enloe Cancer Center, and volunteered for the Spiritual Care Team at Enloe Hospice for ten years. She served seven years as Treasurer of the Chico Area Interfaith Council. She taught others about community ministry and creating meaningful memorials as adjunct faculty at the Chaplaincy Institute, 2007-2014. In 2009, she completed an extended unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at UC Davis Medical Center where she gained experience as a chaplain in a Level I trauma center. Since 2003, she has been employed as an officiant performing memorials and weddings. In 2013, Rebecca became a certified Home Funeral Guide and co-founded the Alliance for Support and Education in Dying and Death. Most recently, Rebecca has expanded her ministry to the airwaves on her radio show The Wheel on KZFR 90.1 and KZFR.org. She is a member of the Chico Friends Meeting and lives in Chico, California, with her husband, Kazim.

I grew up in Malibu, CA, developing a deep love, understanding and respect for the natural elements. During the 1980s I was a member of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and the Orange County Catholic Worker. Later, I was one of the McCabe's Guitar Shop crew. I then worked in hospice, which led to my decision to become a chaplain. In 2013 I was ordained. I am the mother of four wonderful people and grandmother to four extremely energetic boys. I now live on the Mendocino coast and have built a life with my partner that is filled to the brim with the joys of country living: gardening, harvesting, star-gazing, camping, writing and making art.I travel the length of my beloved California quite often to visit family and friends in Socal. I am currently a volunteer chaplain at our local rural hospital and lead intensive book study circles on such subjects as Mary Magdelene, Origin Stories and the Sermon on the Mount. I am drawn to the beauty and truth in all spiritual paths, but belong to none in particular. I believe that Love is the greatest power, the greatest mystery and the only solution. My simple vow is this: To go deep To dream dreams To be a witness to the mystery To be a bearer of the paradox And an iconoclast for love.

The name of the game is simple: Help People. I'm currently working as a Hospice Chaplain, which was the original intent that led me to the Chaplaincy Institute. Before Hospice I spent over a year as a Chaplain in a hospital. On the horizon I definitely see entrepreneurial ministry, which will have something to do with magic, ritual, and rites of passage.

Since 2003 I am working at Marin Medical Center (former known as Marin General Hospital) in Greenbrae/CA. I have been the Director of Palliative and Spiritual Care in the inpatient setting till 2019. In February 2019 I transitioned to the Ambulatory setting where I am currently overseeing the Supportive Care Center which is a Palliative and Complex Care Management Outpatient clinic. In addition I continue to supervise the Palliative Care Inpatient team at the Marin Medical Center. Since the onset of the pandemic the ambulatory setting has implemented telemedicine which allows our patients to be seen without having to leave their home. I continue to offer spiritual care to our patients and their family. It has been an enriching journey on so many levels.

My ministry consists of offering spiritual companionship, hosting a long-standing morning meditation group and leading creative writing groups that invite expression of deep, authentic truth and wisdom. I express my own creativity through writing and music as well growing much of my own food. My husband and I practice Earth stewardship through personal sustainable living choices. As a master gardener, I enjoy helping others grow some of their own vegetables, flowers and beneficial plants. I have a background in healthcare chaplaincy (hospital and hospice) and a previous career as a transpersonal psychotherapist. My spiritual perspective embraces the Creation Spirituality tradition, the teachings of Yeshua from the Aramaic, daily meditation, body prayer and sacred chant. Until we are past the pandemic, my ministry is on Zoom, online or by phone.

Rev. Scott Quinn is an ordained Lutheran minister and interfaith minister, having served as an associate pastor in Dallas, Texas. He also served as an educator and spiritual director at an interfaith spirituality center in Austin, Texas and then as Director for Community at The Chaplaincy Institute, which is an interfaith seminary and community in Berkeley. He is currently the Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council. Scott has been trained as a spiritual director and supervisor of spiritual directors and is part of the Core Faculty for the Chaplaincy Institute’s Spiritual Direction program, as well as a supervisor with San Francisco Theological Seminary’s Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program. He sees directees and supervisees at his studio in the Sun Valley/West End area of San Rafael. His website is: www.scottquinn.net.

Religion and spirituality have always been foundational aspects of my life. Raised in a Christian tradition which remains foundational and a Western cultural perspective, I began a committed spiritual journey that during the past thirty years has traveled on Shamanic, Hindu and Buddhist paths. As an ordained interfaith minister, an interfaith Palliative and Acute Care chaplain, with a MA in East-West Psychology; interfaith service and East-West spiritual dialogue continues to be my path and passion. My chaplaincy practice and experience are as a hospital or palliative care chaplain working in a multidisciplinary care environment to serve and comfort patients, families, and staff facing serious, advanced illness or end of life transitions. Skilled in clinical assessment, care-filled listening presence, appropriate interventions; helping patients, family and staff utilize spiritual, personal, and relational resources and align their beliefs, spiritual/cultural values, and life goals with their treatment choices.

Currently serve as a Spiritual Care Counselor for a community-based, non-profit Hope Hospice in Dublin, CA, covering Orinda to Oakley, 680 corridor to 580 Hayward to Livermore and Fremont.

Sue is an Interfaith Minister serving individuals and ‘Families in Transition,” not only in raising compassionate and whole-hearted children, but also serving families who are transitioning into caring for an elder, ready for hospice, or ushering a loved one across the threshold of death. Sue offers Grief Support and is a Certified Home Funeral Guide, collaborating with families to create their own grieving and funeral rituals and earth-friendly Green Burials. As a Spiritual Life Coach, Sue seeks to clear and transform all that keeps us from living and expressing our divine nature and our ability to see the divine in each other, using an integrative anthroposophical approach to counseling which addresses not only the mind but also the soul and spirit, as they manifest into thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Healing and transforming the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other so-called “mental illnesses” can often act as a doorway to spiritual awakening, growth, and conscious evolution, instead of being treated as a pathologic disorder.

I currently serve in my vocation as a leadership and team Coach, as well as organizational consultant. Helping leaders and teams step into their potential and empowered, authentic selves is a true calling of mine.

Rev. Suzanne Tindall, MA, Interfaith Minister (OUnI) and Certified Spiritual Director was ordained by the Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, She received her M.A in Culture and Creation Spirituality from Holy Names University and her B.A. in Art History from UCSB and CSU East Bay. She received 4 Units of CPE from UCSF. In her spiritual direction practice, Suzanne loves playing with the arts, most often poetry, visual arts and storytelling. Her work centers around the belief that everyone can find a way to nurture and grow their connection to and relationship with the Divine, and that this is the key to real growth, happiness, and healing. She happily creates workshops and retreats for individuals and groups. In addition to her Spiritual Direction Practice, Suzanne is currently working as Hospice Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator at Bridge Hospice where she leads bereavement groups and ministers to the dying and to those left behind. Griefwork has become an important part of her ministry. Prior to being ordained, Suzanne worked in nonprofit management as Director of Communications and Development and board member for several medical nonprofits doing medical missions in Jamaica, Haiti, Uganda and Tanzania. She was also the Interim Executive director for the Hesed Community in Oakland.

I am in private practice as a Medicine Chaplain. I have been ordained in three lineages, as an Interfaith Chaplain, a Sufi Guide, and a Medicine Guide. I integrate several methods in my work with clients, including somatically-oriented trauma therapy, depth psychology, Sufism and Buddhism, and entheogenic medicines. The focus of my work is to facilitate the process of resolving developmental and intergenerational trauma.

Spiritual Companion/Guide, Healer, Interfaith Chaplain If you are spiritually curious, fluid or wounded, are spiritual but not religious, I will walk with you. If you have had a near-death or spiritually transformative experience and are struggling with integration into daily life, I will walk with you. If you are contemplative, creative, interested in mysticism, or if nature is your church, I will walk with you. If you are a seminary or spiritual direction student, I will walk with you. In 2005, a near-death experience turned my world upside down, and launched my own quest to know my true Soul-Self. I have wandered the labyrinth of life through well over a decade of spiritual training and direct experience—from mystery school to seminary, from life at an ashram to work as a hospital chaplain—only to find that what I was looking for was already inside my-Self. My wish is that we walk in the world awake, connected with and respecting our inner truth, our fellow beings and the natural world around us. I’m a Spiritual Director and an ordained Interfaith Chaplain through The Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, CA., where I am an academic advisor and guest teacher. I am also a graduate of the Nine Gates Mystery School, and I hold professional memberships with SDI and the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Currently I work for the Center for Consciousness Medicine, and live in the San Francisco Bay area with my two feline companions, Richie and Margot. https://ljwdivinesight.com/ Offerings: Tending to the Soul Spiritual companioning and guidance: embracing creative, sacred and healing arts in reflective conversation, deep inquiry and divination. Celebrating Family/Community Honoring life’s milestones and transitions: ceremonies and rituals for weddings, births, deaths, grief and loss, near-deaths, awakenings, and life’s many mysteries. Contemplating Nature Practicing contemplative seeing an listening to nature’s wisdom we reveal the interconnection of our inner and outer worlds during local walkabouts.

I am a Palliative Care Chaplain serving at a Level One trauma center. My hospital is a not-for-profit community medical center. I am bilingual (English/Spanish) and am grateful to serve in my community.

Ordained in 2016 as an Interfaith minister and chaplain, certified in individual and group spiritual direction, Erin serves as a village ritual maker for life moments which may have no ready spiritual support. Erin is also devoted to anti-racism work and volunteers with the organization My Work To Do. My Work To Do is an online affinity group designed to help white people build stamina for discussing racism, systemic injustice, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in their everyday lives. Also a new mother during the pandemic, Erin’s current ministry is in the creation of 64th Place PlayPod, an educational play space under the trees in her back yard in Inglewood, CA.

Rev. Felicia Parazaider is an ordained interfaith minister through the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministry. She holds degrees from the University of California Berkeley in both Religious Studies and Peace & Conflict Studies, and certifications in Spiritual Psychology, Tree of Life Teachings, and Nonviolent Training. She is a sacred activist, traveling to India and the Middle East on peace delegations, walking over 400 miles against nuclear proliferation, as well as being arrested over twenty times for injustice and violence in the form of drone warfare, nuclear proliferation, and the zero-tolerance policy separating migrant families from their children. She is the founder of The Revolution of Love, an inclusive ministry and movement that focuses on the inner and outer work of service through the power of nonviolence. Her life is a commitment and dedication to calling out all forms of violence that we may know freedom.

My calling to chaplaincy has been in the healthcare field. I have been working for approx 12 years as a healthcare chaplain in the hospital with 7 years in hospice. I continue to study palliative care chaplaincy and am passionate about addressing conversations regarding EOL wishes. I also enjoy incorporating mindfulness into chaplaincy and self-care.

In 2017, after 15 extraordinary years as Manager of Spiritual Care at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego, I retired. Now, I am finding retirement a complete and absolute joy. I have created more time to attend to my spiritual practices of mindful compassion meditation, yoga and walks along the beach. I have been presented with some health challenges and now have the luxury of time to devote to alternative and complimentary therapies which have made a profound difference in my healing journey. I have developed my own private Spiritual Direction practice exploring meaning and purpose with others which adds a rich dimension to my life.

My theology is rooted in “the God of your understanding.” I believe in and support each person’s spiritual/soul expression, however and wherever that journey takes them. A chaplain whom I admire says, “The chaplain must remain Agnostic,” meaning that when I come to be with you in your joy and/or deep sorrow, I stand with you, grounded in my own practice and also with you in your experience~ with openness and acceptance; without judgement or “fixes.” For me, this is a beautiful model for co-existence. We are interwoven yet distinct spirits who lean on one another as beings made of light and love. I wish everyone could train to be a chaplain.

Rev. Laura L. Mancuso, MS, CRC is an interfaith minister who serves the Santa Barbara community as an end-of-life chaplain, spiritual advisor, and grief counselor. Rev. Mancuso is the Spiritual Life Director (chaplain) at Vista del Monte Retirement Community and an Advance Care Planning Instructor with The Alliance for Living & Dying Well of Santa Barbara. She strives to honors all faith traditions, as well as the spiritual paths and life philosophies of those who do not adhere to any religion. Through her online collections of wildlife photography, she brings nature to those unable to access wilderness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My life is tattooed across my body—telling the story of archetypes, totems, familiars, relations, poems, symbols, loves, and the cycles of life, death and rebirth that have crafted me into the being I am today. Inside this artistic landscape I embody my calling as a Professor, Alchemist, Priestess, Artist, Author, Workshop Facilitator, Herbalist, Yogini, PhD Student, Friend, Daughter, Wife, and Mother.