"Working with Kelley has helped me explore my spiritual self in the face of major changes in my life. Knowing that Kelley is walking with me as a spiritual companion helps ease the pain of going through life transitions because I know I'm not alone. I'm so grateful for her guidance and support!"

bio
KELLEY grew up on the east coast and then moved to the midwest for college. She was a philosophy major so she could argue politics more effectively with her father. She has always been a theater artist and after college went to school to get her MFA in Acting and Directing. She has felt outside of the traditional church most of her life and instead has felt much more at home with a group of artists working together to tell stories. She was one of the founding members of Mustard Seed Theatre in St.Louis whose mission was to produce plays that explore our relationship with God and our ethical responsibility to the world. She has been a teacher for over 20 years and has most recently been certified in secular mindfulness training for school age children. She sees the work as vital in the formation of healthy children and imperative in a dynamic and socially responsible public school setting.

Kelley is a certified Spiritual Director through Aquinas Institute of Theology and is part of the 2022 cohort at The Living School at the Center of Action and Contemplation in New Mexico to study with Richard Rohr, James Finely and Cynthia Bourgeault.  She is also a student of Enneagram teacher Chris Heuertz and contemplative activist Phileena Heuertz and their work at Gravity Center in Omaha, NE.  

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Kelley's heart is with those who feel outside any traditional religious setting and yet long for a connectedness to a deep spiritual life. Her faith tradition is rooted in the teachings of Jesus that inspire her towards a loving and just world where we take care of and make space for everyone in radically generous ways.

Areas of interest include:
* the enneagram as a tool for spiritual awakening
* how we are called to embodied solidarity with the marginalized
* Deconstruction/Reconstruction
* LGBTQ+ people of faith
* 12 Step Recovery as a spiritual formation template 
* the inter-spiritual teachings of Eastern and Western religions
* a healing vision of God that leads to a healthy positive sexuality

a journey

  • discovers silence in her honeysuckle fort age 5
  • contemplates her smallness in the universe while sitting in bed waiting to fall asleep age 8
  • becomes a listener to her friends when they want to talk about real stuff age 12 
  • begins a practice of walking in the early morning age 14 
  • takes a class in world religions age 16
  • chooses a college to attend based on viewing a group of students in contemplative practice age 17
  • is taught to meld contemplative practice with creative expression  17 -21
  • reads Thomas Merton's "New Seeds of Contemplation" age 19
  • attends a production of "Inherit the Wind" at Joliet State Penitentiary  age 20
  • hears Madeline L' Engle and Chaim Potok speak and decides #goals age 21
  • leaves school and feels out of place age 22
  • reads M.Scott Peck's book "A Different Drum" and has her mind blown age 23
  • knows what she wants but can't find it  age 23 
  • tries really hard age 23 - 30
  • tries even harder age 30 - 39
  • stops trying age 39
  • prays for wisdom age 41
  • begins reconstruction - reimagining - relearning age 41

                  What has your journey looked like?