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The PodcastJoin us for Season 1 of the Abide in the Spirit podcast, as we focus on the art, ministry, and practice of Spiritual Direction. What is Spiritual Direction? How do you find a Spiritual Director and what should you look for? And what does Spiritual Direction bring to our lives?
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4/20. Season 1. Episode 10. Season Finale.
In an end of the season wrap-up we answer questions that we received about spiritual direction and look back at the wisdom and insight of each of our guests.
In an end of the season wrap-up we answer questions that we received about spiritual direction and look back at the wisdom and insight of each of our guests.
4/13 Season 1. Episode 9. Noelle Rollins.
Noelle Rollins is primarily a poet, but also a writer, a traveler, a lover of labyrinths, an aspiring hermit, and a member of Saint Brigid of Kildare Monastery, a dispersed Benedictine community of monks. She worked for a number of years in ministry and higher education but now focuses full time on her writing.
In 2021 she and her husband sold almost everything they owned to live full time on the road and to explore a life of peregrinatio – wandering for the love of God.
You can find Noelle on Instagram at @noellecrollins where she posts regularly about her families travels, and on her website www.noellerollins.comwhich hosts her poetry and travel blog, “The Wandering Hermit”.
4/6. Season 1. Episode 8. Michelle Bodle.
My name is Michelle Bodle and I am blessed to be the director of Abide in the Spirit. This podcast episode briefly shares my journey with spiritual direction - the ups and the downs - that lead me ultimately to pursue offering spiritual direction to others. I live in Central PA with my chinchilla, Wesley, and tortoise, Angelo. I have served as a pastor for 13 years and have joined St. Brigid of Kildare monastery in the last two. In my free time I volunteer with campus ministry and hospice and love to read.
3/30. Season 1. Episode 7. Merri Lynn Bouckaert
My name is Merri Lynn Bouckaert. I am a woman devoted to a life of prayer and work in the Benedictine/Methodist traditions. I live with my husband in the Northern-Lower Peninsula of Michigan on a small farm surrounded by Lake Michigan. A former teacher, I am blessed to be retired and to have time to enjoy our 5 children, their spouses, 8 grandchildren, our 2 pups, and 6 chickens. It is a blessed life.
My name is Merri Lynn Bouckaert. I am a woman devoted to a life of prayer and work in the Benedictine/Methodist traditions. I live with my husband in the Northern-Lower Peninsula of Michigan on a small farm surrounded by Lake Michigan. A former teacher, I am blessed to be retired and to have time to enjoy our 5 children, their spouses, 8 grandchildren, our 2 pups, and 6 chickens. It is a blessed life.
3/23. Season 1. Episode 6. David MacDonald
David MacDonald lives in Ada, Ohio, with his wife, two dogs, three cats, and a set of bagpipes. He and his wife have two children, who are both college students. David is the university chaplain at Ohio Northern University, and is the founder and sole employee of Glenbogle Spiritual Direction, Coaching, and Consulting. He blogs online as “The Grumpy Contemplative,” a persona that only slightly resembles who he is in reality. He is the author of the book, Benedict on Campus: Eight Spiritual Disciplines for Collegiate Ministry (Wesley’s Foundry Press, 2018), and several articles for Presence, the journal of Spiritual Direction. In his spare time, he loves to knit, camp with the family, hike, and write bad poetry that no one will ever read.
David MacDonald lives in Ada, Ohio, with his wife, two dogs, three cats, and a set of bagpipes. He and his wife have two children, who are both college students. David is the university chaplain at Ohio Northern University, and is the founder and sole employee of Glenbogle Spiritual Direction, Coaching, and Consulting. He blogs online as “The Grumpy Contemplative,” a persona that only slightly resembles who he is in reality. He is the author of the book, Benedict on Campus: Eight Spiritual Disciplines for Collegiate Ministry (Wesley’s Foundry Press, 2018), and several articles for Presence, the journal of Spiritual Direction. In his spare time, he loves to knit, camp with the family, hike, and write bad poetry that no one will ever read.
3/16. Season 1. Episode 5. Allie Kochert
Allie Kochert, MA, LPC, CSD holds space for others to grow into their resiliency, authenticity, and soul’s purpose. She is passionate about trauma-informed care to reclaim resiliency in mind, body, and spirit. She serves seekers at her spiritual direction practice, Root Grow Thrive, where she offers mind-body-soul care and dreamwork for women in ministry and caregiving professions. She is also a psychotherapist in private practice at Rooted Growth Counseling, offering psychotherapy and integrative mental resiliency support for helpers and healers in PA and beyond. You can find her at www.rootgrowthrive.com and www.alliekochert.com.
Allie Kochert, MA, LPC, CSD holds space for others to grow into their resiliency, authenticity, and soul’s purpose. She is passionate about trauma-informed care to reclaim resiliency in mind, body, and spirit. She serves seekers at her spiritual direction practice, Root Grow Thrive, where she offers mind-body-soul care and dreamwork for women in ministry and caregiving professions. She is also a psychotherapist in private practice at Rooted Growth Counseling, offering psychotherapy and integrative mental resiliency support for helpers and healers in PA and beyond. You can find her at www.rootgrowthrive.com and www.alliekochert.com.
3/9. Season 1. Episode 4. Stephanie Rupert.
Rev. Stephanie Rupert graduated from Messiah University with a degree in Biblical and Religious Studies with a concentration in religion and double minor in Bible and Global Ministries. She then graduated from Wesley Seminary with my Master of Divinity.
Stephanie is an Ordained Elder in the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church and have served as a pastor for 12 years.
Most importantly she has a loving husband Victor and two wonderful children, Gemma and August. And she is beloved by God!
3/2. Season 1. Episode 3. Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor is an ordained elder in the Susquehanna Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Elizabeth is currently on personal leave from ministry and is a special education teacher in Jersey Shore, PA. Elizabeth lives in Jersey Shore with her husband, Andrew, and her two children, Isaac and Hannah.
Elizabeth Taylor is an ordained elder in the Susquehanna Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Elizabeth is currently on personal leave from ministry and is a special education teacher in Jersey Shore, PA. Elizabeth lives in Jersey Shore with her husband, Andrew, and her two children, Isaac and Hannah.
2/23. Season 1. Episode 2. Melissa Madara
Melissa Madara is the founder and director of Sacred SoulScapes. An ordained United Methodist clergyperson, Melissa first began sensing a call to ministry when she was in high school, while backpacking the trails of the Pecos Wilderness of northern New Mexico. Since that time, Melissa has encountered the presence of God in many ways and places, both traditional and nontraditional: in the tones of a pipe organ; in the prickles of a cactus; in the presence of the gathered community; in a heart-to-heart conversation with a "soul friend."
Throughout her life of faith, Melissa has discovered that worship, for her, feels most authentic when it is "embodied" and "experiential" - when she can bring the fullness of who she is (body, mind, and soul) into relationship and connection with other people and with God. Melissa founded Sacred SoulScapes in 2022 as a way to invite all people into an embodied, sacred conversation with the divine.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Religion from McMurry University and Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School. She holds her 225-hour yoga teacher certification from Holy Yoga Global, with specialty certifications in kids' yoga and senior/adaptive yoga; a Spiritual Director certification from the Center for Spiritual Formation in Carlisle, PA, and a Wilderness First Responder certification from Wilderness Medical Associates.
Melissa currently resides in central Pennsylvania with her husband, two children, and two cats.
2/16. Season 1. Episode 1. Hannah Pratt Sledge.
Rev. Hannah Pratt Sledge was born and raised in Western, PA near Grove City. She felt called to ministry at 16 years
old and this led her to attend Messiah University. While at Messiah, Hannah majored in Christian Ministries and minored in music. Upon graduating from Messiah, Hannah attended Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. for a Masters of Divinity. While in seminary, Hannah served as a pastor at Oakdale Church, a large United Methodist Church outside of D.C.
Also, while in seminary, Hannah started dating her now husband Rev. Kristopher Sledge. Hannah and Kris are the proud parents of Lydia. Hannah has served congregations of various sizes and traditions and currently serves as the lead pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, PA.
Rev. Hannah Pratt Sledge was born and raised in Western, PA near Grove City. She felt called to ministry at 16 years
old and this led her to attend Messiah University. While at Messiah, Hannah majored in Christian Ministries and minored in music. Upon graduating from Messiah, Hannah attended Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. for a Masters of Divinity. While in seminary, Hannah served as a pastor at Oakdale Church, a large United Methodist Church outside of D.C.
Also, while in seminary, Hannah started dating her now husband Rev. Kristopher Sledge. Hannah and Kris are the proud parents of Lydia. Hannah has served congregations of various sizes and traditions and currently serves as the lead pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg, PA.
