Festival Presenters
Rev. Rob Shearer (he/him)
As co-founder of the neo-monastic Emmaus Community and The AbbeyChurch, Rob serves as Regional Minister for Church Planting with the United Church of Canada in the BC/Yukon area. He lives on the stolen lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples (Songhees and Esquimalt Nations). An active podcaster and preacher, Rob currently nurtures over a dozen emerging communities of faith across the region. Standing at the crossroads of prayer and protest, he invites us to explore how ancient rhythms of embodied song and contemplative practice fuel the liturgy of resistance.
United Church of CanadA
Clare (Cal) Morgan is a queer nonbinary Anglican priest and Celtic harpist. Active in the Inayati Sufi community as a mutrib (musician), they also play the Persian tar, mandolin, and dulcimer. Clare’s deepest calling is "the sacramental hearth,” creating space and solace for the spiritually exhausted through art, music, and soul friendship, drawing upon shared traditions of the mystics across religions. They live and work on unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, and səlilwətaʔɬ land.
Anglican church of CanadaRev. Clare Morgan (they/them)
Rev. Carol Baumgartner (she/her)
Rev. Carol Baumgartner specializes in the intersection of mental wellness and spiritual practice, with a diverse background in Spiritual Guidance, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and Emotional Intelligence. Her ministry is deeply informed by her work in burnout prevention; she has trained ICU nursing staff in Mindfulness Meditation and now brings that focus on mindful leadership to congregations in transition. A seasoned practitioner of Taizé prayer, Carol has introduced this contemplative tradition to congregations from California to Wisconsin, and has led workshops at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She currently serves as Intentional Transition Minister accompanying the people of Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church in DeForest, Wisconsin.
Evangelical lutheran church in AMericA
Rev. Michael Mueller (he/him)
Inspired by the embodied grace he has encountered among Benedictine communities, Michael's work seeks to cultivate a generous spirit of community rooted in contemplative depth and actively engaged with the suffering of the world. Currently serving as lead pastor at First Lutheran Church in Janesville, Wisconsin, he brings nearly a decade of experience as an interfaith community organizer with the WISDOM/Gamaliel network. Michael is a graduate of the Shalem Institute's Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership Program: Going Deeper. He lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Hocąk Wazijacira (Ho-Chunk People of the Pines).
Evangelical lutheran church in AMericA
Deacon Sherry Coman (she/her)
Sherry’s specialized call as a Deacon is to spirituality and online ministry. She is the Founding Director of the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College, where she also teaches, and is the creator and curator of the Lutherans Connect online devotional community. Her current passion lies in the praxis of screens in worship, specifically exploring how they can engage architecture to create a sense of spatial belonging. She teaches courses on the intersections of faith, spirituality, and film, as well as feminist theologies, queer studies, and media.
Evangelical lutheran church in canada
Rev. Dr. Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero (he/him)
Originally from Minnesota and having ministered on the west and east coasts of the United States, Kyle serves as the Grace Professor of Leadership at the Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon. His work focuses on preparing ministry leaders to engage the diverse contexts in which they locate themselves, bringing the historical tradition and contemporary contexts into constructive conversation and mutual critique. As a scholar and practitioner, Kyle helps leaders to embrace the symbiotic relationship of belief and embodiment, especially in worship and preaching. Kyle splits his time between Saskatoon, on Treaty 6 Territory, and the San Francisco Bay Area, on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ohlone peoples.
Evangelical lutheran church in canadaAdditional Clinicians
Rev. Erin Thomas (she/her)
LiturgistA pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Pr. Erin Thomas is a liturgical innovator passionate about creating new bodies of worship that celebrate all people. She is a contributor to an upcoming hymnal addendum and a voice for inclusive, embodied spirituality. Erin will be leading the festival’s premiere of her work In the Gloaming, In the Dawning, a new rite of healing and hope.
Rev. Dr. Beverly Brazier (she/her)
festival chaplainAn ordained United Church minister and gifted biblical storyteller, Rev. Dr. Beverly Brazier believes in the power of a story well told to heal individuals and systems. Born in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Bev is rooted in the Precambrian Shield, yet even more deeply grounded in the grace of the Holy One. Serving from the Maritimes to the Arctic since 1984, she strives to be deeply attentive to the needs of the places she inhabits, nurturing the church to be a centre point of peace and action. Now moving into a deepening practice of silence and gratitude, she brings a listening heart to her role as Festival Chaplain and workshop leader. Beverly invites us to explore alternative forms of "ecclesia"—reimagining together what it means to gather in the Spirit, both inside our buildings and beyond their walls.
Please check back regularly as we confirm more festival presenters in the coming weeks!