Retreat Leaders
Retreat Leader
John Weit
John Weit facilitates the Leading Well Training Experience in November, 2022 and February, 2023 at Spirit in the Desert.
Retreat Leader
abby mohaupt
abby mohaupt facilitates the retreat, Cultivating Climate Justice: Tools, Hope, Theology, and Spirit in March, 2023 at Spirit in the Desert.
Retreat Leader
Lisa Dahill
Lisa Dahill facilitates the retreat, Cultivating Climate Justice: Tools, Hope, Theology, and Spirit in March, 2023 at Spirit in the Desert.
Founder of Healing of Memories
Fr. Michael Lapsley SSM
Father Michael Lapsley is an Anglican missionary priest who was active in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. In 1990, after being ejected from South Africa, he suffered the loss of his hands and the sight in one eye from a letter-bomb that was sent to him in Zimbabwe by a supporter of the pro-apartheid government in South Africa. After a long recovery from the bombing, Father Lapsley decided to dedicate his life to helping victims of emotional, psychological, and…
Retreat Leader
Ruth Ivory-Moore
Ruth Ivory-Moore facilitates the retreat, Cultivating Climate Justice: Tools, Hope, Theology, and Spirit in March, 2023 at Spirit in the Desert.
Lead Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Sheila Laughton
Sheila Laughton (USAF, Ret.) was a career Intelligence and Force Management officer who served from the Vietnam Era to 2000. She deployed to Saudi Arabia for the first Gulf War. After her military retirement, Sheila founded Welcome Home for veterans of all eras and their families, at the Loyola Spirituality Center in Minnesota. This unique program addressed challenging reintegration issues such as trauma, moral injury, life purpose, from a spiritual perspective. She has worked with men and women who have experienced or witnessed trauma…
Retreat Leader
Christopher Njunge
Christopher Njunge facilitates the Executive Skills for Church Leaders retreat by California Lutheran University in January, 2023 at Spirit in the Desert.
Retreat Leader
Cyndy Warnier
Cyndy Warnier has worn many hats in her life, paramedic, dental hygienist, music/worship leader, author, and National Parks chaplain. Recently retired from Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center, she and her husband Al are now full-time RV’ers and camp hosts, which provides Cyndy opportunities for outdoor ministry. In her spare time, she creates retreats of all kinds, including adult VBS programs and limited hospice chaplaincy. Cyndy loves teaching and reaching people with the love God and love for one another, including…
Retreat Leader
Ron Rude
Pastor Ron Rude (M.Div) lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Nancy. He has taught courses on the life-giving interplay between science and theology at Holden Village, Chicago Theological Seminary, Glacier National Park, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Diakonia, and various conferences and congregations. He is an avid hiker exploring God’s teaching wilderness, and an amateur church musician (piano, drums).
Retreat Leader
Dave Ellingson
Dave Ellingson, the Paddle Pilgrim, is leader for a Spirit in the Desert retreat adventure in Spring 2022 titled Go Outside at Play.
Retreat Leader
Sharon Reinbott
Together with Pastor Ron Rude, Sharon Reinbott co-facilitates Living into a New Story: A Spirited Assessment of the Christian Story in the Light of Today’s Scientific Knowledge and Earth-based Wisdom, a retreat in January, 2025.
Lead Facilitator, Healing of Memories
Audrey Lukasak
Rev. Audrey Lukasak is a highly experienced lead facilitator who received her facilitator training in South Africa from Father Michael Lapsley, the founder of the Institute for Healing of Memories. Audrey first learned about Healing of Memories while studying the culture context of leadership in South Africa; she returned the following year for facilitator training at HOM after leaving a toxic ministry. She knew how important it is to heal before entering a new ministry in order not to hurt others.…