Chapel Hosts

I reside in suburban Chicago with my husband. I also have two children and one grandson. I am enjoying retirement after a fulfilling career as a Spanish teacher and bilingual school counselor.  

My journey with contemplative prayer was sparked by the transformative experience of attending a Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat. This initial encounter led to attending annual retreats which offered dedicated spaces for reflection and prayer.  

Having entered the fourth quarter of my life, my focus remains on maintaining good health, exploring new places through travel, and reading widely, all in the spirit of lifelong learning. 

 Co-hosting a chapel continues my lifelong learning process when I search for music, poetry, videos, and meditations in hopes of inspiring our participants. 

My cat, Stanley, always joins me on chapel. 

I was blessed with two vocations: ministry and teaching! I am a special education teacher, who paused to work in Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and as a Pastoral Associate at St. Francis Xavier Church in La Grange.  Now, I am following my passion for teaching struggling students to read.

 I also study classical guitar, cantor and play guitar at St. Paul VI Parish in Riverside, take nature walks, exercise and play with my one-year-old nephew.  

The peace of contemplative prayer, enriching reflections, our faith sharing, and praying the Welcoming Prayer keep me grounded. I treasure finding God in everyday life. 

Hosting Saturday morning at 7 am – It’s a commitment, but what a great way to kick off the weekend!  

I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago in a family that formed in me a strong Catholic conscience, a passion for human rights, and a sense that God had a purpose for my life. My whole life has been driven by a yearning for inner peace and for belonging. 

I married Ron Durbin in 1961, just as the whole world was changing. We raised our family, and also were active in our community to address social justice issues. For 27 years I was a social worker, serving people living in poverty in the western suburbs. During the years, my longing for inner peace led me to many contemplative retreats and to meditation. 

When I first heard about Still Point, the online chapel at Old St. Pat’s, I was immediately drawn to it. I remember the first time I went on the chapel, I felt like I was coming home. It has given me so much more than I could have imagined, a welcoming, nonjudgmental community of fellow pilgrims on the journey. 

I’ve served on staff at Old St. Patrick’s Church (Chicago) in various roles since 1994. My wife and I have been married 36 years and have three children. Family life—its gifts and losses—has deeply shaped my vocation and work.

Raised Catholic, I became serious about my spiritual path in college, seeking relief from chronic anxiety. Eastern meditation, the enneagram, and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius were early guides.

Still Point has its origin in the project I had to complete to graduate the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School in 2015. It began as an in-person Christian contemplative community and, reshaped by the pandemic and the Spirit, continues to evolve.

We spend a week every year hiking as a family and as I get older, I can carry less, but our kids carry more. May be a spiritual lesson in there for me!

Having the privilege of journeying with individuals and families as a psychotherapist for many years, I stepped away from practice in 2014. What began with a retreat has turned into a decade plus of Spiritual discovery. I feel certain I was a monk in a previous life, as the contemplative path continues to be the thread that runs through it all.

Helping launch the Chapels in 2019 was a signature moment in this spirit filled adventure. Through the gift of silence and reflection; healing, wisdom and a deeper connection with the Divine continue to emerge. 

Although I love to travel, I find home with my wife Kathy of 30+ years in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago with one daughter close and the other married in the Bay area of California.

I live in suburban Chicago with my wife, where we’ve raised two amazing kids and now enjoy semi-retirement, Cubs games, and the occasional squirrel rescue. My days are filled with healthcare consulting, birdwatching, and wondering why cardinals always get up so early.

Contemplative prayer found me 15 years ago (thanks, persistent friends), and I’ve stayed for the silence, Sacred Sharing, and deep connection. Hosting chapel feels like holding open a door to love.

I think of myself as a noisy contemplative—drawn to both stillness and laughter and  always listening for God in unexpected places.

I grew up on the south side of Chicago but have lived most of my married life in the western suburbs with my husband of 47 years. Since retiring a few years ago, I spend my time: being a Grandma; discovering my own backyard; and reading more poetry than I ever have before. I tried Tai Chi, but I was a bit clumsy.

For a long time, my spiritual life felt very flat even though I was involved in a number of ministries at my Catholic church, so I was intrigued when I read about a session called Adventures in Contemplation being offered there. I signed up. Even though I wasn’t familiar with this ancient Christian practice and some of its language around an inner experience of God, I felt drawn in. I eventually joined Still Point, and found my spiritual home.

This community of people willing to be present, open and vulnerable in sacred sharing, offer acceptance and kinship. They are my “homies.”

Once a De La Salle Christian Brother, I am now married.  We enjoy a sweet life in Oak Park. 

I am winding down my career as an educator and leaning into the contemplative journey that has beckoned me since my younger years.  After beginning Richard Rohr’s Living School, a fellow student invited me to be a chapel host.  Saying “yes” was a gift and way to manifest my learnings. 

Chapels are never the same; yet, each is an opportunity to connect what is happening in the world with the wisdom of the mystics. My dog, Gracie, is my unofficial co-host.  Her presence brings charm and comfort.

I grew up and still live in the Chicago area. I am a divorced single parent of one son who lives in Atlanta where I spend about eight weeks every year. 

I have been retired for over fifteen years. I am active in various parish ministries although that was not always the case; I had been away from the Church for over twenty years.

I came to contemplation and Centering Prayer eight years ago. Being with God in sacred silence and sacred sharing with others in the Contemplative Chapel helps on my spiritual journey; helping me understand more that we are all one together with God.

I find walking in the quiet of nature in the preserves nearby a good way for me to connect with God.

I’m a retired community organizer, former Jesuit seminarian and chapel host on Tuesday morning.  Community is very important to me. I spent over 50 years building community organizations, motivated by a desire to change unjust systems.

My prayer is a blend of Ignatian spirituality and Centering Prayer.  I volunteer as chapel host because I want to create contemplative opportunities for fellow seekers to be in community. My desire is to combine contemplation with action. 

My other passion is to be connected to nature. I am deeply moved by the story of the evolving universe and often include prayers that connect to that larger reality

I think I was born a contemplative, but growing up in a large family of extroverts, I spent too many years trying to overcome my shyness. Now that I’m in my elder years, I’ve come to appreciate that side of my nature. Meditation came easy for me and that’s been my prayer practice for over 15 years. 

I spent my working years as a communications consultant and specialized in crisis management. Active in my parish, I served as eucharistic minister, lector, CHRP spiritual director and RCIA sponsor.

I’m a widow with 3 granddaughters and I enjoy spending time with them, reading, walking in nature and looking out the window. The contemplative side of me blossomed when I joined our chapel community. The mix of silence, lectio and faith sharing is transformative.

I live just west of Chicago with my husband of 52 years. We have three children, two are living, and four talented grandchildren. My days are spent helping to resettle migrant families as a volunteer for St. Giles in Oak Park.

Things that I love about being part of this ministry include researching and finding reflections, working with my co-host, Kate, and the Sacred Sharing and wisdom shared by the wonderful, welcoming chapel community.

Knitting is a favorite pastime, and I participate with a Prayer Shawl Ministry. We create beautiful items for people suffering locally and beyond the borders, currently making dolls for a mission in Africa. 

Born to a Catholic mother and Jewish father, I was raised within a non-dual framework that I only came to understand more fully later in life. After 18 years at Arthur Andersen, I left a team I loved to follow what I sensed as a deeper calling. Speaking, and eventually writing four books, opened me to a lifelong exploration of integrity—not as compliance, but as wholeness and connection. A journey that continues to this day.

That journey led me into the contemplative path, including the 2020–2022 cohort of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation. Hosting the Monday chapel since its beginning in 2019 has been a natural extension of that unfolding.

My wife Cindy and I recently celebrated 42 years together. We have three children and five grandchildren, who keep teaching me about presence in ways I never expected.

I live in St. Louis, MO where my husband and I are business owners which I view as both my vocation and my work. The question that guided me through my master’s degree and 30+ year career is, “What would business look like if God designed it?”

I was raised Lutheran and became deeply committed to my spiritual journey when I was widowed in my 20’s. I’ve been shaped by ten years of Community Bible Study, Father Thomas Keating’s centering prayer and intensive retreats, along with Father RIchard Rohr’s Living School which I completed in 2018. An emerging passion for me is a deeper connection with nature as my primary prayer form and pathway to embodied peace and inner freedom.

Still Point has become my homebase for spiritual practice and community. I treasure the people who come together to create a true fellowship of contemplatives.

A Michigan gal, I currently live in Chicago. A 34 year financial management and consulting career found me working throughout the US, Europe and Asia. With a desire to give back, I spent 16 years assisting nonprofits in financial/operational management and retired in 2025.

I encountered Eastern spirituality and meditation working in Asia. My contemplative journey began with learning Thomas Keating’s Centering Prayer from Br. Wayne Teasdale, a promoter of inter-spirituality. Ignatian Spirituality programs expanded my contemplative journey. 

My contemplative life is enhanced with mindfulness retreats, 10 day silent retreats with “the father of mindfulness” Thich Nhat Hahn and mindfulness training with Jon Kabat-Zinn and other leading teachers. Accomplishing a goal, I become a certified mindfulness meditation and yoga teacher. 

When appropriate my meditations will weave in Celtic spirituality, poetry and our interconnection with nature and changing seasons. Being contemplative, I seek to see the Divine in all.

As a chapel host, I am privileged to hold sacred space and guide Loving Kindness Meditations and Welcoming Prayer practices.