Three People Who Might Be Exactly Who You've Been Looking For
A few days ago I introduced you to Scott, Cedar, Helena, and Mysti — four of the student practitioners in Cherry Hill Seminary's Spiritual Direction Certification Program who are offering free, supervised companioning this year.
Today I want you to meet three more.
They're in their second year of the Cherry Hill Seminary Spiritual Direction Certification Program, which means they've completed 170–200 hours of formation studying contemplative practice, multi-religious frameworks, justice-rooted practice, ethics, and the sacred art of deep listening. They've done their own inner work. They're receiving monthly supervision. And they're ready.
For April '26 to February '27, each of them is offering free, supervised spiritual companioning to a small number of seekers. Maybe one of them is exactly who you've been looking for.
Lisa Lake has over 20 years of experience in counseling, mentoring, 12-step work, and community facilitation. She is an ordained community minister, and as a queer person herself, she brings both professional skill and personal understanding to her work with the LGBTQIA2S+ community — creating safer space for queer and questioning individuals and caring for their allies.
Lisa is also a deeply committed companion for activists and for the spiritual and health care workers — nurses, therapists, chaplains, social workers, who spend their days holding space for everyone else and rarely have anyone holding space for them. Her approach is rooted in compassion and the conviction that your path is yours: she's dedicated to walking with you on it, not directing you down hers.
You can find her at spiritlightsorg.wixsite.com/lady-lake-spidir.
Tracy Bleakney spent decades as a psychiatric and mental health nurse, in hospitals, then in the community, walking alongside people during some of the most vulnerable and courageous moments of their lives. She later became a certified school nurse, and her Master of Education deepened her understanding of how profoundly people of all ages need safety, presence, and gentle understanding.
She's also a Unitarian Universalist who discovered spiritual direction almost by accident and found it transformed her own spiritual life. She's a single mother and grandmother who knows what it is to push forward when weary, and how love can anchor us through every season. She retired early from nursing due to a physical disability, and that experience of navigating life's unexpected turns with grace runs quietly through everything she offers.
Tracy is a beautiful match for UUs and spiritual independents, for people carrying complicated family systems, and for anyone navigating illness, limitation, or the kind of transition that asks you to reimagine who you are. Her invitation says it all: "Your journey is sacred. You do not need to travel alone."
Find her at tracybleakneyspiritualcare.com.
NO VACANCIES Gail Livesay Renfrow grew up curious about God, and discovered that God shows up with many names and in many ways. Her own path took her from the Southern Baptist church, through the United Church of Christ, into Paganism, and eventually into the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Along the way she became a Tarot reader and Reiki practitioner, a teacher and coach, and now a student spiritual director. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and two sons, and when she isn't pondering the big questions, she's playing board games, oil painting, or collaging.
All of that, the breadth of tradition she's moved through, the creative practices she lives inside, the grounded ordinariness of her life, makes her a wonderful companion. Gail describes Spirit Care as something that can be a mirror, a mentor, or a midwife, depending on where you are on your path. Sometimes you need to see your own wisdom reflected back. Sometimes you need a more experienced guide. Sometimes something new needs to be born.
She's a particularly good fit for working professionals whose inner life keeps getting crowded out, for moms who give and give and rarely have an hour of sacred space for themselves, and for anyone who has a spiritual practice they love but wants to tend it more intentionally, to fan the flames, as she puts it, rather than let it quietly dim.
Find her at spiritcareforyou.org.
These three companions, along with Scott, Cedar, Helena, and Mysti, are all available now. You can read everyone's bios, get a feel for who resonates, and book a brief get-to-know-you conversation before you commit to anything. You're welcome to reach out to two or three of them. This is meant to be a good fit for both of you.
👉 Meet Gail, Tracy, Lisa, Scott, Cedar, Helena, Mysti! and book a free exploratory session
Questions? Reach me at abeltaine@uuma.org
Beloved, you are whole, holy, and worthy. — Rev. Amy
