Cultivating Seeds of Liberation – Prayer Cycle Launch and 20th anniversary celebration!
with with Christine Valters Paintner, Betsey Beckman, Cassidhe Hart, Claudia Love Mair, Jo-ed Tome, Melinda Thomas, Richard Bruxvoort Collingan, Simon de Voil, Soyinka Rahim, and Te Martin
Friday, May 2, 2025
4-5:30pm Ireland
11am – 12:30pmEastern
8-10:30am Pacific
Program Description
We will turn on closed captioning during the live Zoom session (which you are able to turn off in your settings if you find distracting) as well as provide a video recording with closed captioning available and a text transcript of the session.
The program will be recorded for those who pre-register but are unable to attend at the scheduled time or who want to view again. You will be sent a notification when this is ready to view.
You have lifetime access to all online programs.
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner
Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess and director of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery exploring contemplative practice, creative expression, and ways to nourish an earth-cherishing consciousness. She is a spiritual director, teacher, pilgrimage guide, Benedictine oblate, and author of numerous books on spirituality and the arts. Her deepest belief is that the earth is the original monastery–a wisdom guide and mentor in living a soulful and vibrant life. Visit the “About Christine” page for more information.
Betsey Beckman
Betsey Beckman, MM is nationally acclaimed as a spirited dancer, storyteller, teacher of SpiritPlay and dancing Spiritual Director. With her extensive repertory of sacred storydances, she is regularly featured as artist/presenter at national conventions as well as local churches. She earned her Masters in Ministry degree from Seattle University, her certificate in Movement Therapy from the Institute for Transformational Movement, and is a certified InterPlay leader. As dancer, choreographer, author, mother, wife, teacher and spiritual director, she is passionate about living life fully and fostering creativity in all those with whom she shares life and ministry. Betsey’s publications include books (she is co-author ofAwakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction), recordings – including producing the Abbey of the Arts CD collections, and The Dancing Word series of DVDs on embodied prayer, many of which companion the Abbey CDs. She offers the gift of playful improvisation whenever possible. Visit Betsey’s website here>>
Cassidhe Hart
Cassidhe Hart, MDiv., wrote her first poem as a toddler with her mother’s help, dictating words onto a scrap of construction paper. She’s been writing ever since. As a poet and liturgist, she writes at the intersection of faith, ecology, community, and ritual to explore the ways we tell stories about our inner and outer worlds. She comes from a long line of settler-colonists and is committed to listening to systematically oppressed voices and to growing an anti-racist, decolonizing ethic in all her work. She has been commissioned to write prayers, liturgies, and songs for various worship and retreat contexts. In all her writing and facilitating, she seeks to cultivate a tender and radical attention to God’s presence among us. Her list of favorite things includes sunlight through tree leaves, children’s novels, jasmine tea, and her nephew’s drawings of rainbow narwhals.
You can visit her website here: CassidheHart.wordpress.com
Claudia Love Mair
Claudia Love Mair, MFA is a writer, artist, and Ringmistress of the Beautiful Soul Circus, a private Facebook group for creatives, queers, and tender souls. She’s an Inspirationalista who, when she’s not creating something herself, helps other creatives tap into their deepest intuition and longings through writing and painting. Claudia is the author of the God Alone is Enough, the critically acclaimed novel, Zora and Nicky, and her memoir, Don’t You Fall Now. She is a Certified Intuitive Painting and Expressive Arts Facilitator and the Coordinator for the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative. Claudia lives in Lexington, with two of her adult children, and three cats, including one who thinks he’s a dog.
Jo-ed Tome
Melinda Thomas
Melinda Thomas, E-RYT 500 is the Program Coordinator for Abbey of the Arts providing program and logistical support, forum facilitation, and yoga. She also offer prayers and other content contributions to the Prayer Cycles and retreats. Melinda is an experienced yoga teacher and has been studying and practicing yoga for more than twenty-five years. In each of her classes and workshops Melinda weaves spiritual and contemplative themes into accessible, alignment based movement practice. Her aim is to honor the spiritual foundation of yoga in conversation with monastic and contemplative wisdom that offers participants a safe, inclusive, and integrated experience. Melinda is a writer and the author of Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit Through Yoga and the Benedictine Way. She lives in North Carolina with her son and their cat. She writes The Journal of Elements and Seasons on Substack. Visit her website.
Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, MA is a Psalmist, spiritual director and freelance musician. He enjoys all manner of projects in theology and the arts. Through his company, Worldmaking.net, he is publishing imaginative and adventurous songs for the ever-evolving church. Raised in the Midwestern United States, he is a husband to Trish and a dad to Sam. Faves: discovery, music, Star Wars, bosc pears, blue, laughter, naps.
Simon de Voil
Reverend Simon Ruth de Voil is an interfaith-interspiritual minister, sacred musician, spiritual counsellor, and chaplain. His sacred work—both musical and interpersonal—explores themes of the inner landscape of the soul, the enchantment of the natural world, and the healing power of spiritual practice. As a chaplain and counsellor, Simon helps individuals and groups connect sacred presence with everyday life. Simon is also a transgender activist and a luthier in training. Visit Simon’s website here>>
Soyinka Rahim
Soyinka Rahim (GSP) is a grassroots spiritual practitioner who is the founder and artistic director of BIBOLOVE – breathe in breathe out love. She was also the founder of OurThing Performing arts company, where she created the modern-day folk dance play An Altar Piece to Alter Peace, a multimedia, intergenerational performance piece for peace.
Her work BIBOLOVE taps into the power of sound, movement and visual art, raising the love vibration of peace, love, joy, happiness, health, grace and ease. BIBOLOVE supports our personal and collective life challenges by feeding the love frequencies for generational, cultural, racial, body and economic unity.
Soyinka has brought her wisdom as a spiritual director, conference weaver and workshop leader to InterPlay Certified Life practice, Facing Race, National Association for Independent Schools for teachers of color, Boys and Girl Clubs, Spiritual Directors International Conference, and the Parliament of World Religions. Visit Soyinka’s website here.
Te Martin
Theresa “Te” Martin (they/them), has been studying and leading community singing since 2017. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in san francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. Lately, some of the questions they have been asking are: “How can I offer song + ritual arts that are in service to healing?” and, “What are the sounds and stories of my Celtic ancestors?” Te holds a B.A. in Theology from St. Louis University and lives at the cross-section of spiritual practice, earth-connection, social justice, and artistic expression. Check out their EP, “Water & Bones”, and music video. Visit Te’s Patreon Page.
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