“Return to Our Roots” with Veriditas Council’s Virtual Facilitator Renewal Day # 4, January 14, 2023. On ZOOM.
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. PST, United States.
With a firm foundation, we can navigate this unsettled, swiftly changing world. Our theme is based on the Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress’ book Walking a Sacred Path and delves into her four guidelines for spiritual growth in The Sacred Path Companion. To gather us in, Dr. Artress will share her insights. Council and skilled facilitators will guide participants in a series of sharing circles as we explore the guidelines. Dr. Artress will bring our program to a close with a finger labyrinth walk as participants consider and reflect on finding their purpose in life.
Council Biographical Sketches
Tina Christensen
Tasmania, Australia
Tina Christensen joins us from Tasmania having moved from Melbourne last year. She is the outgoing Chair of the Australian Labyrinth Network and initiator of the annual event - World Labyrinth Day in Schools. Tina is also a registered creative arts psychotherapist, speaker and SoulCollage® graduate. She is passionate about the ‘art of being’ and cultivating an ‘artisan’ life. We are excited to welcome her perspective and hope to facilitate more connections with the Labyrinth Community "down under."
Barrie Gibby
Marietta, GA
Barrie Carter Gibby works on that creative edge between the branches of words and movement expression. A long-time educator, community builder, avid traveler and labyrinth facilitator, Barrie entwines her background in design, music, theater production and ritual-making to facilitate workshops and pilgrimages across the nation on a variety of themes. She is especially fascinated by the parallels of Celtic and Native American cultures and their loving embrace of nature centered whole life. Her annual pilgrimage to the 13th c. Chartres Cathedral labyrinth, in Chartres, France, provokes inspired passion for her ongoing labyrinth work. As a Veriditas Advanced Certified Labyrinth facilitator, Barrie finds sacred spaces everywhere.
Betty Lopez-Towey
New York
It was at Silver Bay on Lake George that Betty was first introduced to the labyrinth. This profound experience led to a deepening interest which soon became a passion. She was trained as a labyrinth facilitator by Lauren Artress in 2001 and has helped to build the outdoor labyrinth at Silver Bay Conference Center on Lake George, has painted canvas labyrinths with various communities and has carried her own canvas labyrinth into New York City Schools, Colleges, Medical Schools, Churches and Synagogues. She has continued her study of the labyrinth with Lauren Artress at Chartres Cathedral, the site of the original eleven circuit labyrinth and is now an Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator and member of the Veriditas Faculty. After 20 years of teaching and out-of-the-classroom support roles, Betty was inspired to pursue an administrative position through her own experience on the labyrinth, which led to her starting a New York City Public School. As the principal and founder, an important part of building this new progressive public school was to support adults and children in mind, body and spirit by incorporating the labyrinth in its development. As a life-long seeker, Betty is a trained Spiritual Advisor and Reiki Master. She is both honored and excited to join the Veriditas Council in their mission to support labyrinth Facilitators around the world.
Marion Patterson
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Marion Patterson lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and completed her facilitator training and certification with Lauren Artress in 2013. She routinely hosts labyrinth walks, opening the experiences to varied groups; has facilitated the Circle process and small focus groups for different denominations; practices healing energy work (i.e. Reiki, healing touch spiritual ministry); and teaches adults at Kirkwood Community College. She and her husband, Rich, have a business called “Winding Pathways” that encourages people to transform their yards - from patio decks to acreages - into places of satisfying fun, food, and fascination. She welcomes all to learn more and connects facilitators with the Council.
Mary Ann Wamhoff
Recently of Santa Fe, New Mexico; originally from St. Louis, Missouri
After training with Lauren in Chartres, Mary Ann became a Certified Veriditas Facilitator in 2016. She has walked labyrinths since 1995, has studied with Caroline Myss, and is a Reiki Master. In 2020, Mary Ann completed Advanced Facilitator Training. Using her original poetry, she regularly facilitates public walks sponsored by the Labyrinth Resource Group of Santa Fe. Mary Ann recently spearheaded and helped build a 48-foot Chartres-style labyrinth. As a Council member, she hopes to support facilitators in listening to what people need, as well as allow her labyrinth work to bloom. Coming from a tradition that believes in the unseen, she has both felt and seen the labyrinth's amazing power!
Leslie Wright
Stratford, Ontario, Canada
In 1999 Leslie Wright walked her first labyrinth in a church basement in her native Toronto and it sparked something in her. She received her Facilitator Certification in 2014 and Advanced training in 2020. She participated in a Chartres Pilgrimage in 2018. Leslie enjoys sharing the labyrinth with her community in a variety of settings including churches, seniors’ homes, Parliament of World Religions in Toronto and on her backyard labyrinth. Leslie has been described as a passionate and welcoming facilitator.
Since 1995 Leslie has been active in various church congregations including leading workshops exploring spirituality. She currently serves on the worship team at her church. When she isn’t exploring the labyrinth, she loves experiencing the various arts. She looks forward to helping labyrinth facilitators connect to find ways to support each other.
Karen Knight
Port Austin, Michigan
Karen Knight immediately resonated with the labyrinth as a spiritual tool almost 25 years ago. Since then, it has become a meaningful core in her pilgrimage. She received her facilitator training from Lauren Artress in 2000 and advanced training in 2020. In 2001, a trip to Chartres galvanized Karen’s passion for labyrinth work.
As a former pastor with advanced studies in spiritual formation, Karen has worked with the labyrinth in many settings with a variety of groups and individuals.
Karen lives on a small hobby farm at the very tip of Michigan’s thumb. Animals have a central role in keeping Karen happy and life harmonious.
Also, on the farm, is the Willow Labyrinth, open to the community and the place of Karen’s spiritual nurture. Writing and speaking opportunities are one of the avenues of inviting others to the labyrinth.
Creativity is a powerful directive for Karen. Creativity is what feeds the soul – whether it is creating a mess, a beautiful meal, or a quilt – the need to create is central to how Karen lives her life.
Peter Valles
The Woodlands, Texas
Peter completed his advanced facilitator training with Veriditas in 2017. As a geologist and naturalist, in conjunction with his deep connection with nature, Peter discovered sacred spaces in unlikely places. In January of 2018, he and several volunteers constructed a 7-circuit Classical labyrinth deep in the forest near his home. The labyrinth is constructed from all-natural materials. It has been a source of healing, renewal and joy to the many sojourners who have chosen to walk it. From these small beginnings Peter has cultivated a following of interested and curious labyrinth walkers in his community. In 2018 Peter founded the Center for Full Permission. All things labyrinth and leadership coaching are brought together there. Peter is a trained executive leadership coach with over 15 years of experience in the corporate world. The He uses the labyrinth in many coaching sessions, thus providing the spaciousness many need to process their life challenges. Through his work in building a community of practice with the labyrinth as the centerpiece, Peter has been able to reach a richly diverse segment of the population in his area. He has a strong conviction that those who walk the labyrinth are able to access a part of themselves that lurk in the shadow of the psyche and discover what lay beyond the veil of what is known.
Chuck Hunner
The labyrinth found Chuck on a beach in Florida in 1998. Over the next few months, he developed a line of labyrinth jewelry. He completed facilitator training with Lauren Artress in 2005 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Walks that he hosts focus on moments in Nature such as full and new moons, equinoxes and solstices, and on the transformative power of partnering with Nature. He led many of Robert Ferre's labyrinth construction projects to success and continues to complete new permanent labyrinths each year. His focus is to bring labyrinths to an ever widening audience in order to share the magic and enhancement of labyrinth consciousness.
Vicki Longhofer
When Vicki walked a labyrinth for the first time in Grace Cathedral, she knew this form of meditation would become consequential for her. Since 2001 she has shared this special path with walkers of all ages. Vicki received facilitator training from Lauren Artress in 2000 and joined a Veriditas Pilgrimage to Chartres in 2002. From personal practice she sees the heart-opening experience of the labyrinth walk as a means to foster peace, individually and communally.
An artist and educator, Vicki finds delight in helping participants to connect with their inherent creativity as the labyrinth nurtures the creative process. She has facilitated walks, workshops and retreats in diverse settings: hospitals, parks, youth camps, retreat centers and other community-based venues. Labyrinth meditations are also woven into her SoulCollage® groups. In 2020 Vicki became a Veriditas Advanced Certified facilitator. She is grateful to share with fellow Council members in the joyful mission of growing and supporting the Veriditas world community.
