Introducing the reading for our Winter Series
January 16 through March 20, 2025

List of Presenters (in order of date of presentation)

Session 1 — January 16 Speaker — John Philip Newell,
author of the book we will be reading together

John Philip Newell, the author of our Winter book choice, is an internationally renowned Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.

Canadian by birth, and also Scottish, he resides with his wife Ali in the ecovillage of Findhorn in Scotland. In 2016 he began the Earth & Soul initiative and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.

His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books, including his award-winning publication, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, which was the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and Religious Thought of the West. His new book, also with HarperOne (and published in the UK by Wild Goose), is The Great Search, in which he looks at the great spiritual yearnings of humanity today in the context of the decline of religion as we have known it.

Session 2 — January 23 Speaker — Rev. Dr. Tim Burnette

Tim writes and teaches in philosophy, theology, cosmology, and decolonial mysticism. He earned his doctorate from Claremont School of Theology, where he studied process metaphysics and compassion. He has hosted the Theopoetics Podcast and currently curates the Way Collective, which is a contemplative community for love and liberation in Santa Barbara, CA. He is a partner, father, musician, athlete, and avid reader. He agrees with Kurt Vonnegut that you can see all kinds of things from the edge that you can’t see from the center. Although…sometimes it helps to be centered out on the edge as well.

Session 3 — January 30 Speaker — Katherine Collis

Katherine Collis is a retreat leader and spiritual counselor with a background in gerontology, human development and spiritual psychology. Her focus is on life transitions and the awakening of the soul.

For 35 years she has led retreats and pilgrimages to the Isle of Iona in Scotland.  She is a Findhorn Fellow, co-founder and minister of the Lorian Association and a Millionth Circle convener and group facilitator.  

After a nearly a decade of working closely with Santa Barbara’s La Casa de Maria and the Center for Spiritual Renewal until their closure 4 years ago, she is now in private practice and teaching on-line. 

Session 4 — February 6 Speaker — Rabbi Steve Cohen

Rabbi Steve Cohen has served as the senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai B’rith since 2004, after nineteen years as the rabbi and Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation at UC Santa Barbara.

In his capacity as senior rabbi, Steve’s primary responsibilities include teaching adults and youth, guiding the development of the congregation’s educational, worship, social action and cultural programs, providing pastoral counseling for congregants in need, helping families move through the great passages of life (birth, coming of age, marriage and death) with love and meaning, and working closely with the volunteer leadership of the congregation to build a vibrant Jewish community.

Session 5 — February 13 Speaker — Elisabeth Gonella

Elisabeth is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working in the mental health and spiritual counseling fields for over 20 years. Currently, she is a Core Faculty member and serves as Interim Co-Chair of the Counseling Psychology Department at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She teaches a variety of courses in Psychotherapeutic process and Law and Ethics for counselors. She has expertise in working with adolescents and young adults which includes college-based counseling, private practice, wilderness based programs, emotional growth boarding schools and psychiatric hospital settings. She is experienced in acute psychiatric care and crisis management fostered by collaborative work in psychiatric care institutions.

Click here to READ MORE

Session 6 — February 20 — Fr. Jim Clarke, PhD

Fr. Jim Clarke Ph.D. is presently a consultant for the Spiritual and Human Formation for the Permanent Diaconate candidates and their wives for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is also an Associate Spiritual Director at the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for Priests. With a rich academic background in Theology, Depth Psychology, Counseling, Education, and Mythology, Fr. Clarke is the author of five books and two CD/DVD series. He is a popular Retreat Director and Conference speaker throughout the Southern California area and beyond.

Session 7 — February 27 Speaker — Dr. Fariba Enteshari

Fariba Enteshari is an international educator. Born in Shiraz Iran, she grew up with the sufi poetry of Hafiz and and Saadi. In her teens, she emigrated from Iran to Germany, and later to the United States. She was educated in Germany and the United States and holds degrees in Biological Sciences, Physics, German literature and linguistics as well as a doctorate in educational leadership from Fielding University. She is the founder and director of the Rumi Educational Center in Santa Barbara.

Session 8 — March 6 Speaker — Kathleen Moore

Kathleen has been a university professor of political science, law and society, and, most recently, religious studies for thirty years. She has authored five books and several articles and has extensively presented her work on religious liberty and pluralism at conferences in the U.S. and worldwide. She is the editor (with Dr. Eric Mazur) of a University of Virginia Press book series on Religious Freedom and Public Dialogue. She was ordained as a vocational deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2021 and is involved in ministry and community service while remaining committed to her educational career. She is the deacon at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Isla Vista, the Episcopal Diocese of LA’s campus ministry at UC Santa Barbara. A mother, teacher, scholar, and nature lover, she is on a dialogical spiritual journey centered on the god in the “between” of us, manifested as personal, social, and ecological relationships.

Session 9 — March 13 Speaker — Rev. Steve Jacobsen

Steve Jacobsen earned a BA in European History from UCSB, a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Seminary and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University. He served as a Presbyterian pastor for 30 years, with the last 16 in Goleta. 

From 2008-2014 he was Executive Director at Hospice of Santa Barbara; from 2014 to May, 2018 he was Director at La Casa de Maria. He has published a book and 11 articles on the relationship of spirituality to various aspects of daily life, including secular work, leadership and digital technology.  

He has been active in interfaith projects with Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities. Since “being “released into the wild” and retiring in 2018, he has served as an Interim Pastor, first at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian and now at Summerland Presbyterian. He writes a weekly blog, “Pocket Epiphanies” at www.drjsb.com

Session 10 — March 20 Speaker — Rob Field

Rob founded the Center for Spiritual Wisdom in 2016 after serving 22 years as a minister in the Episcopal Church and following a brief career in journalism. “The idea came, and I couldn’t shake it,” he says. “I kept thinking: this part of North Carolina would be the perfect place for a practice-based spirituality center.” After deep reflection and lengthy conversations with several wise advisors, Rob decided to leave the congregation he served for 18 years: “I finally jumped off the high dive into the deep end of the pool.” Rob especially enjoys teaching, writing, and working with individuals who want to broaden and deepen their spirituality. He also taught World Religions at Brevard College from 2018 to 2022.

 Return to top of page