Our Faculty (listed alphabetically)

Please note that this page is currently being revised/updated.

Dr. Raja Bandaru - Introduction to Hinduism

Reverend Janice Billera - Science of Mind

Dr. Moses Biney - African Traditional Religion

Reverend Bill Bloom - Music and Ministry

Rabbi Sigal Dagan Brier - Judaism
Rabbi Brier is the rabbi of Congregation Tzedek v'Shalom in Newtown, PA. She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Wyncote, PA) and also earned a Master degree in Organizational Psychology. Trained as a Chaplain, she is also a musician whose work is available on two CDs. She teaches Kabbalah and Mysticism at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. She teaches at synagogues, retreat centers, and yoga centers around the country.
She is the creator of Integrated Practice: the art of moving through prayer. At her workshops and rituals, she uses integrated spiritual practices of study, movement, yoga, chanting, meditation, and prayer. She has also written and published works on women's careers, and creating community in the workplace.

Reverend Siobhan Comisky - Revived and Reconstructed Traditions; Divine Feminine

Reverend Gary Culp - Orientation, Esoteric Studies and Individual Spirituality
Reverend Culp who was coordinating minister at Pebble Hill Church for seventeen years, comes to serve from a rich background. He attended Drew Theological Seminary, The University of Edinburgh Theological Seminary in Scotland, as well as Princeton Theological Seminary where he completed a Master's Degree in Theology. Gary also taught public school for many years while focusing on alternative education. He served as pastor in several United Methodist Churches until his ministry at Pebble. Reverend Culp has been involved in learning and teaching everything he could about the common thread of spiritual truth that weaves through all the world's religions and he has used this information to guide Pebble into its new role as an Interfaith Celebration Community.

Reverend Denny Daikeler - Home as Sanctuary (the Power of Space); Movement and Ministry
Reverend Daikeler is an interior designer, lecturer and writer along with being an interfaith minister. She was educated in design at Drexel University and has extended her studies and research into psychology and human behavior. She conducts seminars across the country on "creating meaningful spaces from who you are", and is also a trainer in conflict resolution for the American Society of Interior Design. Denny has been featured an AM Philadelphia, Channel 6 News, and the Discovery and House and Garden Channels as well as writing for national and local periodicals. She has recently conducted workshops for the American Cancer Society on creating healing environments. Her book on creating your inner blueprint is soon to be published.

Reverend Teresa Glatthorn - Quakerism; Spiritual Counseling; Divine Feminine

Ron Glick - Hindu Mysticism

Qadir Bibi Hackett - Sufism
Ms. Hackett is originally from Sweden. She was called to the life of the Spirit from an early age. Following this call led her to learn weaving and eventually to become master weaver and teacher. From this learning, she discovered patterns of the spirit and the body, which then led her to seek a purer encounter with the Divine and her place in it. This search led her to a year of meditative solitude in the Canadian wilderness as she worked to discern and uncover the presence of God within her own life. In 1981 on a journey to Sri Lanka, she met Sheik M.R. Bawa Muhaiyadden, and she has studied Bawa's teachings since then. She is Rick Hackett's wife and partner. Qadir is actively teaching the principles of Islam and Sufism to many groups that visit the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, where she also runs the bookstore.

Sarah Halley - Our Religions of Origin
Sarah has been leading trainings and interactive theatre for the past 12 years. Ten years ago she brought Playback Theatre to Philadelphia and since then has led hundreds of performances and workshops for a diverse range of organizations and audiences. She is a graduate of the Multicultural Training and Research Institute (MCTRI) at Temple University, and has trained with The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), Training for Change, and Good Shepherd Mediation House. She has also studied psychodrama, sociodrama, Process Work, Theatre of the Oppressed, group process facilitation, and has a passion for bring together creative methods and social justice work.

Rev. Ellyn Kravette
Rev. Ellyn is an ordained interfaith minister and the co-founder of the Church of the Divine Consciousness in the Pocono's. Her ministry focuses on motivational counseling, and the celebration of sacraments and services with the understanding that all paths are spiritual and that life is a workshop for the nurturing of our souls.

Rev. Ellyn is the president of a personal and professional development organization. Under its umbrella, P.E. Light & Associates provides professional training, workplace substance abuse, CISD and mental health services; and operates Open Door Ministries, which educates and counsels religiously affiliated and non-affiliated clients - promoting the integration of personal ethical, spiritual and material concerns, without imposing religious bias.

Rev. Ellyn has a Master's Degree in Social Work, Credentials as an Employee Assistance Professional, and is Certified in Addiction Counseling in both New York and Pennsylvania. She was a member of the Transworld Airlines Diversity Council, the NY Women's Agenda Citiwatch Committee's Diversity Project and the NOW Feminist Psychotherapy Committee. Forever a student, she is currently a participant in the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, PA.

Dar Khabbaz - Lakota Traditions
Shirley Khabbaz - Lakota Traditions
Shirley specializes in working with death practices and is of Cherokee descent. She is currently working with Jane Ely in starting a Shamanic School. Shirley has an MS in Education, has taught twenty-six years in the public schools, and was voted one of the top teachers of the gifted in the state of Pennsylvania in 1986. She has worked with Lakota elders on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota for the past twenty years. She has been working with shamanic teachings from South America for the past five years and has studied ancient Egyptian healing practices and Kahuna healing. Shirley is a Ceremonial Leader, a grandmother and is especially interested in empowering abused women.
Dar, Shirley's son, is an expert in the Lakota tradition and is also of Cherokee descent.

Christopher Largent - Foundational Topics for Studying Spirituality
Christopher taught university-level philosophy and comparative religion for twenty years and has lectured on practical spirituality and the interface of science and religion all over the United States, Canada, and England. He was an advisor for interfaith studies and graduate degrees on mysticism and gave seminars at the New York Open Center, the School for Practical Philosophy in New York. Mr. Largent has also lectured at Chicago's Crossroads Center for Faith and Work, the World Business Academy, the Global Structures Convocation in Washington DC, the American Academy of Religion, the Foundation for Global Community in Palo Alto, the Wainwright House in New York, the Global Renaissance Alliance in Seattle, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economies, the American Society for Quality Management, and the Omega Institute. He has also spoken at The Meadows, the famed treatment center in Wickenburg, Arizona.

The author of many articles, he is co-author of The Soul of Economies, The Paradigm Conspiracy, and Love, Soul, and Freedom. He contributed to Georg and Trisha Feuerstein's Voices on the Threshold of Tomorrow, Marianne Williamson's Imagine, and From the Ashes: A Spiritual Response to America's Tragedy.
He is a coach-counselor and runs his own consulting business for management, workforce development, communication, and conflict resolution.

Tom Legere, Ph.D., CAS - Esoteric Christianity; Jungian Implication and Theory; Depression and Suicide; Techniques of Counseling.
Tom is a spectacular teacher of esoteric Christianity and psychotherapy. He has degrees in philosophy, theology and spiritually, in addition to a Ph.D. in psychology. The author of three books and numerous articles; his latest book, "Living an Authentic Life," a book that guides us to better understand who we "really" are, is one of the class texts.

Tom's work is truly holistic. He is a highly regarded speaker on television and in workshops, and is a wonderful spiritual mentor and counselor.

Reverend Ray Mattern - Contemporary Christianity

Scott McBride - Buddhism; Mindfulness
Scott McBride has been practicing Buddhism since 1971 and teaching Buddhist philosophy, psychology and meditation since 1978. He has practiced and studied widely among the major traditions of Theravada, Zen and Vajrayana Buddhism. Since attending the Vajradhatu Buddhist Seminary in 1978, he has studied with many of the greatest living Tibetan masters of our time and under their tutelage has received numerous empowerment and instruction on the highest Buddhist teachings. He is one of the founding members as well as the first director of the Philadelphia Shambhala Center. In 1997, he and his wife completed a traditional three-year retreat during which time they took temporary monastic vows. He previously worked at Graduate Hospital as a core instructor of the Medical Stress Management Program. Scott is currently in private practice as a psychotherapist, healer and teacher of personal/spiritual growth and development.

Lynn Miller - Arts & Spirituality
Lynn is a vocalist, guitarist, dancer and visual artist with a passion for improvisation, "creating in the moment." She is on staff for Music for People, an international music improvisation training program with the belief that we all have music potential. Lynn worked as an adjunct faculty member in Music Therapy at Immaculata University and is co-founder of Expressive Therapy Concepts, a non-profit organization with the mission of bringing the healing power of the arts into the community. Nationally and internationally she builds community through singing workshops, community-built mosaic murals, Giant Puppet builds and parades. She works as an expressive arts therapist with diverse populations and ages empowering people through the arts.

Asma'el Ibn Muhaiyaddeen, MSW (Rick Hackett, MSW) - Sufism
Asma'el has traveled extensively around the Middle East, living in Jerusalem and Israel. He has traveled through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. He has a degree in comparative religions and a Masters of Social Work. He studied with his guru, Islamic Sufi Sheik M.R. Muhaiyaddeen since 1972 until his transition. Asma'el has written a number of articles, notably in the "Journal of the Muslim Peace Fellowship". He is also active in work with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and interdenominational group working for peace; and with the Interfaith Voices for Social Justice, sponsored by Jewish Community services and the Ecumenical Interfaith Group of the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Reverend Lesley Tao Mowat - Shamanism
Tao is a Shamanic Healer and teacher of Shamanism, Sacred Sound and Ritual. She uses a mystical form of core shamanism as her spiritual and healing path; her heart aligned with the earth, spirits of nature and the formless energy of All That Is. Since childhood Tao has studied and experienced spirituality in many forms, considering herself truly interfaith. She was named Tao by Osho in 1982. She has studied shamanism extensively with Michael Harner and Sandra Ingerman as well as with other teachers. Tao is also a musician and has done much research using drumming and other sounds for healing and meditation. She will be ordained an Interfaith Minister by The School of Sacred Ministries in December 2004. She is currently a Minister in The Circle of the Sacred Earth and a founding member of The Society of Shamanic Practitioners.

Rabbi Rayzel Raphael - Judaism, Kabbalah, Creativity in Ritual
Rabbi G. Rayzel Raphael was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Currently she is the rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in Woodbury, New Jersey. She is also the Rabbinic Director of InterFaithways: an Interfaith Family Support Network of Greater Philadelphia. She studied Religion at Indiana University, has a Masters degree from Brandeis University and spent two years in Israel studying at Pardes and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Rayzel teaches about spirituality, dreams, kabbalah, the soul, angels and other Jewish mysteries in numerous locations in the Philadelphia area. She is a ritual ceremonialist, performing weddings and other life cycle events.

Rabbi Rayzel is an award winning songwriter/liturgist and sings with MIRAJ, and Shabbat Unplugged. Friday Night Revived is Rayzel's recent recording. Her Bible Babe's a Beltin' cd has received international acclaim. Her web site is www.shechinah.com

Mahan Rishi - Sikhism

Peter Roche-De Coppens, Ph.D. - Esoteric Aspects of Religion
Peter is currently Professor of Sociology/Anthropology at East Stroudsburg University. He has also held teaching positions at Fordham University where he was an Instructor of Sociology. He has served as a spiritual advisor to NATO. He is a well-known author on esoteric Christianity, writing books and numerous articles in professional journals, magazines and newspapers in various countries and languages. He currently has a weekly rubric in Amica and writes for Energies, Il Cittadino Canadese, The Quest, D"Ames & D" Hommes. Peter is also the creator of several television series that have aired in the United States, Canada and Italy and on Swiss Italian National TV.

Susan and Bill Schoonover - Imago Therapy
Susan and Bill are certified in Imago Therapy, which was developed by Harville Hendrix. They are also certified in Social Work and Alcohol and Drug Abuse. They co-founded and now direct the Couples Counseling Center in Watchung, New Jersey. Bill is a private clinician with the NFL.

Tarik Selim - Islam

Reverend Mary Taylor - The 12 Step Program

John Welshons - Death and Dying
John is author of Awakening from Grief, the Road Back to Joy. He is a gifted counselor and teacher, working with his friends Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Pat Rodegast, Judith Stanton, Dale Borglum and many others setting up lecturers, workshops and retreats, many of which have been focused on people who were terminally ill and people in grief.

John holds an MA in History of Religions from Florida State University where he also taught courses including "Death and Dying" and "Religion in America" He has studied in India, the former Soviet Union, England, France and Italy. John is founder and president of Open Heart Seminars, and organization dedicated to enhancing spiritual education and awareness in our society.

Reverend Brian Weis - Revived and Reconstructed Traditions

Dr. James West - Baha'i