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Mother of God House of Prayer is governed by an active Board of Directors who serve two-year renewable term. The Board consists of committed Christian men and women who have themselves benefited from the ministry of the House of Prayer. They attend board meetings and make decisions with hearts attentive to the House of Prayer mission, as well as hearts shaped by their own skills and talents in the business world.
Joan Cabai states “my spiritual life was jump-started at the Mother of God House of Prayer over 25 years ago”. The mother of four grown children and grandmother to four beautiful girls, she makes her home in Fort Myers with her husband Jim. A licensed residential contractor and a certified residential real estate appraiser, Joan brings years of experience in running her own businesses to her position on the board. After serving on numerous professional and non-profit boards, she feels it fitting that life has now brought her full circle back to the Mother of God House of Prayer. “I am honored to be associated with this very holy place.”
Barbara Darling was excited and grateful to discover the oasis of peace and spiritual growth that Mother of God House of Prayer offers to all in SW Florida after she and her husband, Rusty, moved to Pine Island in 2001. Her passion and life's work has been accompanying small Christian communities locally, nationally and globally in her work with Buena Vista, with Latin American/North American Church Concerns at the University of Notre Dame and with the Center for Mission Research and Study at Maryknoll. She believes her own spirituality has been shaped by her personal experiences of sharing faith and life that small groups offer.
Bill Loy is the local director of Young Life, a non-denominational youth ministry. He is a long-time retreatant of Mother of God House of Prayer and has over thirty years of experience in ministry. He is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University and Fuller Theological Seminary and a longtime member of the Presbyterian church. He and his wife have lived in Fort Myers since 1984.
Joanne MacPeek is a wife for 49 years and mother of five wonderful human beings who have taught her about life's changing mystery. She served as a Director of Religious Education for 18 years in Fort Myers and Buffalo and also worked in Campus Ministry. Joanne is a Graduate of the Rice School with an MA in Pastoral Ministry.
Guenn Martin serves as a member of the board. She is a retired college professor, currently writing and gardening. She grew up in Alaska and still spends time there each summer. She is grateful for the opportunities for spiritual growth provided by Mother of God House of Prayer.
Carla Palmer is an ordained minister, a licensed spiritual teacher and a shaman. With over 15 years of apprenticeship to her Native American teacher she has been given permission to carry the message and power of sacred ceremonies out into the world for over 25 years “to help and to heal”.
Maria F. Loffredo Roca, Ph.D. is Program Leader for Communication and Interdisciplinary Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. She holds her doctorate from New York University in Media Ecology and has been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels for more than 30 years. She is a GreenFaith Fellow, serves as a Senior Faculty Associate of the Center for Environmental & Sustainability Education, and is currently working on a series of eco-spiritual video parables. She co-founded the award winning Wings of Hope program, an environmental education initiative that partners college students with school children in Southwest Florida to learn about important local issues. To date this program has reached more than 100,000 children.
Lee Smith serves as Treasurer of the Board and is an accountant with Blacketer & Associates of Fort Myers, FL. She has a MS in Accountancy from The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY and a BA in Sociology and Journalism from Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. She has been married for over 25 years and has 3 girls ranging in age from 24-14 as well as one granddaughter. She has been a volunteer Religious Education Teacher for over 10 year and has been commissioned a Lay Minister after completing a 2-year Formation for Ministry course by the Catholic Albany Diocese. She holds the office of Board Treasurer.
Walter Still serves as the Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church, Ft Myers. He was appointed in 1999 to serve as the Pastor Developer of Peace, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving south Ft Myers and Sanibel Island. God has used his leadership to grow the congregation through ministry, facility and staff development. He previously served two congregations in Pittsburgh. Walter is a graduate of Penn State University, the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, and earned a Ph D in theology from Duquesne University. He is married to Elizabeth Spang. They have two children, Frances, a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, and Carol, who attends Mt Holyoke College.
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