Associate Faculty

Blaine Allan

CPE Supervisor-Educator

Blaine J Allan, BA, MDiv, is a Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner at Grey Nuns Hospital, Edmonton. He is also a CASC/ACSS Provisional Spiritual Care Supervisor-Educator. Blaine studied Philosophy at the University of Alberta, Theology at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, and Interfaith ministry at All Faiths Seminary in New York. Having a special interest in grief and loss, Blaine also completed multiple grief and loss programs from The Centre of Loss and Life Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado. A lifelong learner, he is currently pursuing doctoral studies at St. Stephen's College.


Gail Allan

MTS and DMin Teaching Faculty

Gail Allan, MA, MTS, ThD, has a doctorate in Ethics from Emmanuel College of the Toronto School of Theology. Her academic and professional interests have included feminist theological and social ethics, ecclesiology, and ecumenical and interfaith relations. From 2004-2020 she was Coordinator for Ecumenical, Interchurch and Interfaith Relations in The United Church of Canada, representing the church in national and international ecumenical and interfaith groups, and supporting people engaged in dialogue and action in their local communities. She is an active member of the North American Interfaith Network. Her doctoral thesis focused on the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women as it was lived out in Canada; she is a member of the World Council of Churches Gender Advisory Group, which has been developing gender justice policy guidelines for the WCC and member churches. A member of the United Church, she has worked for many years on issues of global and social justice, bringing a commitment to integrating theological reflection, critical social analysis, and collaborative models of education and action.


Maryann Amor

MTS Teaching Faculty

Maryann Amor, BA (UBC), MDiv and MATS (VST), MTh and PhD (New College, University of Edinburgh), is an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Edmonton, currently based at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. She holds a PhD in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies and loves studying the Scriptures through a narrative lens that takes into account the social world of the texts. Her research is primarily centered on King David and the roles of biblical women. In addition to her academic work, she is passionate about ministry and enjoys supporting others as they develop their gifts.


Daniel Bogert-O'Brien

MTS Teaching Faculty

Daniel Bogert-O’Brien, MDiv, PhD, has taught, created courses and done Doctoral and Post-Doctoral research with people across faith, culture, and gender divides. As a cleric, teacher and artist he has worked in isolated First Nation Villages as well as large research universities. He has been influenced in his thinking by the wisdom of scholars such as John Cobb, Catherine Keller and Ivan Illich, Elders from two West Coast Peoples, and the insights and penetrating questions of the people he worked with. His research and thinking has been an attempt to understand the often hidden constructs that shape our worldviews and their meanings for the church, human community, eco-systems and cultures we live in.


Gillian Breckenridge

MTS Teaching Faculty and DMin Committee

Gillian Breckenridge has a MA from the University of Edinburgh, an STM from Union Theological Seminary, and a PhD from the University of Virginia. Her work engages the theology of Karl Barth, contemporary Christian conceptions of sin, and critical social theory. Gillian has particular interest in the impact of sin on the practice of theology; the study of feminist thought in an interfaith context; and in critical theological hospitality. Gillian is active in the Anglican Church and works in the graduate school at the University of Lethbridge.


Marie Butler

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Marie Butler is a Creative Arts Psychotherapist who operates her own private practice, The She Shed Studio, in Edmonton, Alberta. Her business motto, 'where soil meets with soul' speaks to Marie's passion in life and work. Nature's ever-present offerings connect her to both the physical and mystical aspects of Creation, where she finds her most authentic expression. Her passion to co-create with the land, especially the willow tree, takes her outside of the studio. For years, she visited schools as the character of 'Grandma Willow' offering story-telling and creative projects with the willow tree. She also performed at The International Children's Festival in St. Albert. Recently she began working for the Northern Counseling and Therapy Services. She is a grateful alumni of St. Stephen's where she completed her MPS-Art Therapy specialization. She began her professional career as an Art Therapist at the Cross Cancer Institute where she supported children and their families who were faced with a cancer diagnosis as well as facilitating the Arts in Medicine Program.


Phillip Carverhill

MPS Teaching Faculty

Philip Carverhill, PhD, is a Registered Doctoral Psychologist and former music therapist in independent practice in Saskatoon. He is an invited member of the International Workgroup on Death, Dying and Bereavement and facilitates a number of grief support groups. Phil has taught at St Stephen's College for 10 years and also in the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. His counselling and assessment practice also focuses on artists, musicians and the religious.


Margaret Clark

MPS and MTS Teaching Faculty, and DMin Committee

Margaret B Clark, DMin, is an Instructor in Practical Theology at St. Stephen's College. She is a CASC/ACSS certified Spiritual Care Practitioner and former Spiritual Care Supervisor-Educator. Margaret studied Theology at both Newman Theological College (MDiv eq) and St. Stephen's College (DMin) in Edmonton, and has trained in spiritual direction through studies at Creighton University (MChSp) in Omaha, Nebraska. Margaret enjoys opportunities to serve others through teaching, mentoring, spiritual care, and spiritual direction.


Peggy Clarkson

MPS Teaching Faculty

Peggy Clarkson holds an MA in Art Therapy, a BA in Psychology, and is a registered clinical counsellor, approved clinical supervisor, trauma informed therapist and registered art therapist. Peggy has 20 years of direct experience spanning all aspects of care, including both acute and community health contexts. She is currently an art therapy professor at Adler University, St. Stephens College, and the Vancouver Art Therapy Institute, and a consultant, specializing in resilience and vicarious trauma. Peggy worked in an Indigenous health leadership capacity for over a decade, and utilized a variety of trauma-informed clinical care support and art therapy paradigms in both urban and rural contexts. In her capacity as clinical supervisor, Peggy has specialized in training and supporting staff, teams and survivors of relational violence, sexual abuse, and critical incidents-including those in recovery from addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder. Peggy studied art and art history and works out of her art studio in North Vancouver, BC, where she strives to ensure balance through an active painting practice.


Colleen Deatherage

MTS Teaching Faculty

Colleen Deatherage, DMin MSW RSW calls the unceded Ktunaxa Territory (aka the BC Kootenays) home. Her interests span diverse topics including: folklore/religious folklife (especially Northern European spiritualities), material culture (especially textiles), ethnography, social work, critical reflection, and cræft. Those interests are reflected in her dissertation, her ongoing research, and the classes she teaches. When not teaching or researching, she works as a medical social worker primarily in oncology and palliative care.


Megan England

MPS Teaching Faculty

Megan England, M.A. is a doctoral candidate at the University of Alberta. She graduated with her MA in Counselling Psychology from Trinity Western in 2018. Over the past eight years, Megan has supported children, teens, and adults in individual, couples, and group therapy. In more recent years, Megan has worked in private practice in Edmonton. Megan’s main areas of foci are trauma, shame, anxiety, interpersonal issues, life transition and depression, working from a strengths-based and emotion focused lens. Megan is passionate about multicultural counselling, especially understanding how therapists can approach their work with cultural humility.   


David Fekete

MPS and MTS Teaching Faculty, and DMin Committee

Rev Dave Fekete, received his PhD from the University of Virginia in Religion and Literature; MTS from Harvard Divinity School in Religion and Culture; and BA summa cum laude, from Urbana College in Philosophy of Science. His academic interests are in spiritual and literary articulations of love, having published a scholarly work on it, A Rhapsody of Love and Spirituality (Algora 2002), and academic articles on the subject.  Currently, Rev Dr Fekete is expanding on his literature background in writing and publishing poetry. His personal interests include music as a performer and avid listener, and Chinese Internal Alchemy.


Leslie Gardner

MPS and MTS Teaching Faculty, and DMin Committee

Leslie Gardner, PhD, is on the Doctor of Ministry Program Committee at St Stephen's College, and teaches the course 'Inquiry, Research and Evaluation'. She has over 20 years experience in program evaluation, assisting public sector and voluntary organizations in process and outcome evaluation. 


David J. Goa

MTS Teaching Faculty

David Goa is the Director of the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life. He studied history, philosophy and the history of religions in Chicago. He counts the eminent philosophical theologian Paul Tillich, the scholar of religion Mircea Eliade, the historian Zenos Hawkinson, the political philosopher Hannah Arendt, and Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor of History, Yale University, among the scholars who have most influenced his work. David has been involved in various research and documentation and communications projects in Canada and abroad. He built the program for the study of culture through his field research work over 30 years at the Royal Alberta Museum. He lectures widely and is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles and is a regular contributor to the media. His work focuses on religious tradition and modern culture, culture and the civil life, and on public institutions in service to cultural communities and modern civil society.


Ross Gordon

DMin Teaching Faculty and DMin Committee

Ross Gordon, PhD (Cultural Anthropology, University of Alberta 2013) is on the St. Stephen’s College Doctor of Ministry Program Committee and facilitates the course ‘DMin Online Collegium 2’. Inclusive of a fellowship at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, his research vitalizing an oral Indonesian language through an ecological lens blends ancient and modern spiritual perspectives. Research outputs include academic publishing, film, and community education resources. Ross also works as a business process consultant facilitating organizational efficiencies and improvements in team member and client experiences.   


Brian Greenwood

CPE Provisional Supervisor-Educator

Brian Greenwood, BTh, MDiv, is Certified as a Spiritual Health Practitioner with the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care (CASC). He currently serves patients, their families, and staff at Grey Nuns Hospital, Edmonton.  Brian studied Pastoral Theology at Vanguard College before moving on to complete his Master of Divinity Degree at Taylor Seminary. Half his career was as clergy serving churches in the US, and the other half was as a Spiritual Health Practitioner in the palliative care, hospice, and acute care settings. While appreciating the contributions of formal spirituality to society, he endeavored a study of the human spirit in earnest during a year-long residency in Spiritual Care at St Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho. Brian is passionate about spiritual care, the art of the Story, the interconnectedness of the human experience, and all things fly fishing. 


Sherri Guenther Trautwein

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Sherri Guenther Trautwein, BTh, MTS, ThD Cand, currently serves as a pastor in the Anabaptist tradition. Her academic studies have focused on social memory theory and the challenges of reading the stories of women in ancient texts. Sherri has taught in both academic and congregational contexts, with experience in Introductory Greek and a wide range of New Testament literature. She has published in the areas of feminist biblical criticism and recovering the obscured voices of women scholars of the 19th century.


Nicole Imgrund

MPS Teaching Faculty

Nicole Imgrund, MPS, MDiv, teaches and supervises practicum students in the MPS Program. She is the Founding Director of River's Edge Counselling Centre in St Albert. In her psychotherapy practice, she works primarily from a psychodynamic perspective with adults and couples. As an ordained minister with the United Church of Canada, Nicole has worked as a hospital chaplain and congregational minister. As past-president and longstanding board member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association's AB/NWT Chapter, she has devoted her efforts to promoting the counselling profession in Alberta and supporting colleagues in practice. She is also an active member of the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care.


Kristy Johnson

MPS Teaching Faculty

Kristy L. Johnson, PhD, is a Registered Psychologist with a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of Alberta. Previously, she earned her Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology at Trinity Western University. She has over ten years of experience providing individual, couples, family, and group counselling to children, adolescents, and adults. Kristy has also been engaging in in-depth Existential Analysis psychotherapy training and specializes in working with trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, interpersonal relationships, and in conducting psychoeducational assessments with children and adults. She currently works in an in-patient and specialized clinic pediatric psychiatry unit and also has a private therapy practice in Edmonton, Alberta.


Rakshanda Khan

MPS Teaching Faculty

Rakshanda Khan, MA, DTATI, RP is an Art Therapist and Registered Psychotherapist practicing in Tkaronto Kanata (Toronto, Canada) on the traditional territories of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe peoples. She strives to maintain a critical self-consciousness in her work, practising from a client-centered, strengths-based, anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework that recognizes that we all embody creative resources that we can access for personal growth. Her scholarly interests include graphic medicine, digital and online creative processes, as well as traditional arts practices to guide healing. 


Sheila Killoran

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Sheila Killoran, MA, MTA, FAMI, is a Certified Music Therapist and educator with a Masters in Creative Arts Therapies (Music) from Concordia University in Montreal, QU. She provides clinical music therapy services to patients and families at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton, where she specializes in palliative care and bereavement. She is a trained Fellow with the Association of Music and Imagery and has a special interest in the use of guided imagery and music at end-of-life.


Norbert Krumins

MPS and MTS Teaching Faculty

Norbert Krumins, DMin, is the former Chair of the Department of Theological Studies at St. Stephen's College. His background includes prison chaplaincy, social service project management, and journalism. Norbert is passionate about the arts and is interested in the relationship between creativity and spirituality. His arts-based doctoral dissertation was in the field of contemplative education.


Kathy Marshall-Spate

CPE Supervisor-Educator

Kathy Marshall-Spate is a Certified Spiritual Health Practitioner and Certified Supervisor-Educator who educates Clinical Psychospiritual Education Students towards Certification as Spiritual Health Practitioners. She is also a Senior Practice Consultant, Spiritual Care. Kathy has worked in the field of spiritual care in several Community settings, Long Term Care and Acute Care for the past 17 years. Presently she is in a Provincial role as a Certified Supervisor Educator, and as Senior Practice Consultant, Spiritual Care with Allied Health Professional Practice and Education. Kathy is working on a Doctor of Ministry, Specialized Ministry, with a focus on competency-based education as the model of experiential learning applied in clinical psychospiritual education. When not available in the classroom/hospital you can find her in the mountains hiking or on a lake in her kayak.


Jenny McAlister

MPS Teaching Faculty

Jenny McAlister is a registered psychologist in Alberta. She provides therapy to individuals, couples and families in her private practice in Edmonton, AB. Jenny also enjoys the opportunity to provide clinical supervision to Registered provisional psychologists as they complete the requirements of registration in Alberta. She is an active member of the mental health community and sits as a public member on the province's Mental Health Review Panel and is a past member of the Oral Ethics Committee of the College of Alberta Psychologists.


Cayley McConaghy

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Cayley McConaghy, MA, is a Certified Canadian Counsellor and a Creative Arts Therapist specializing in Drama Therapy. She has been practicing in the Edmonton Area working in school settings with the full range of K - 12 students as well as with Alberta Health Services supporting parents and caregivers. Cayley is also the current practicum supervisor for Drama Therapy master’s students interning at the Centre for Arts in Human Development which offers services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Cayley has a special interest in trauma work and trauma informed care and offers professional development sessions on these and related topics through her work with Alberta Health Services. She also has extensive performance experience in the roles of actor, writer, director, and/or technical consult in dramatic performances. 


Jasmine Nathoo

MPS Teaching Faculty

Jasmine Nathoo, MSc, is a registered psychologist in Alberta. She works in post-secondary counselling and private practice settings, providing therapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups. She is also a doctoral candidate in the Counselling Psychology program at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on integration experiences of newcomer youth in Canada, and includes the use of arts-based participatory research methods.


Joanne Neal

DMin Committee

Joanne Neal, PhD (Theological Studies), PhD (Education, Curriculum Studies), MS (Educational Policy & Management), BEd (Elementary Education) was ordained to the Vocational Diaconate of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2007. She serves on Stephen’s College Doctor of Ministry Program Committee. She also supervises graduate students and teaches online courses with the Graduate Theological Foundation. Her current parish life is  with the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.


Kim Penner

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Kim Penner is a settler living in Kitchener, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. She holds a PhD in Theology from St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology, and a Master of Theological Studies from Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo. Kim’s research interests focus especially on the intersections of power, sexuality, and gender for a life-giving theological sexual ethic. She works as a pastor of a church, an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, and as an adjunct instructor. She highly values building bridges of peace across difference and has appreciated being able to teach theological ethics in both multi-faith and Christian specific contexts.


Zinia Pritchard

MPS and MTS Teaching Faculty

Zinia Pritchard, DMin, is a Contemplative Practical Theologian and leads the profession of Spiritual Care at Alberta Health Services as Practice Director, Provincial Spiritual Care. She is committed to building capacity for spiritual health care across health professions. Zinia is a CASC certified spiritual care practitioner, a seasoned palliative practitioner, and a medical educator with a prior appointment as a Research Associate within Medicine. Her specialty area is the spiritual suffering of Dark Night within the palliative and end of life population.


Amanda Radil

MPS Teaching Faculty

Amanda Radil holds an MEd and PhD in School and Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Alberta. Her research focus is on motivation and emotion in educational environments while her clinical focus is on using a strengths-based perspective to work with youth. Additional areas of interest include evaluation, mixed methodology, neurodevelopmental disorders, and positive psychology. Amanda brings over seven years of experience in a variety of research and applied settings to her work at St. Stephen's College. 


Jonathan Schmidt

DMin Teaching Faculty

Jonathan Schmidt DMin, MDiv, is the Canadian Council of Churches Associate Secretary: Intercultural Leadership; Justice and Peace. At the Council, he staffs the Forum for Intercultural Leadership and Learning (FILL) and the Commission on Justice and Peace. He also staffs and facilitates FILL’s core 5-day intensive program, “Engage Difference! Deepening Understanding for Intercultural Ministry.” Previously, he was the director of the Canadian Churches Forum for Global Ministries. Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, he has also served in parish and campus ministry. His areas of expertise include intercultural ministry and interculturality, justice, anti-racism and privilege, missiology, pedagogy, and overseas cross-cultural travel and relationship.


Aaron Smith

MPS Teaching Faculty

Dr. Aaron Smith (PhD, Wilfrid Laurier University) has taught in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, and social work programs at universities across Canada for more than ten years. He is also a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) and has worked for numerous primary health care clinics, mental health institutions, and community-based organizations. He has received advanced training in Clinical Supervision, Sex Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, Compassion Fatigue, and various forms of Couples Therapy. Woven throughout Dr. Smith’s research is an emphasis on relationships and relational engagement. He has been interviewed by news outlets, published articles in academic journals, and presented at organizations and conferences throughout North America on various subjects related to spirituality and psychotherapy.


Susan Spyker

UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Susan Spyker, MPS, began her path dancing in nature and still does. In her class, you will be guided to reflect on words, feelings, theory in a whole-bodied way. Susan is a creative arts therapist who has learned widely through academia, experience, workshops and personal practice. As a professional art therapist, she completed the MPS in Art Therapy at St Stephen’s College and a BA in Recreation Administration with a focus on arts, culture and special populations at the University of Alberta. Susan has connected to a diversity of people via a variety of pathways regularly including holistic therapeutic movement.


David St. Arnault

MPS Teaching Faculty

David St. Arnault, PhD, teaches two courses, Professional Ethics for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Care and Systems Psychotherapy Skills, in the MPS Program. He holds a PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of Alberta, an MEd in Counselling Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, BEd (secondary) and BA degrees from the University of Alberta, and works as a Registered Psychologist in private practice. Dr St. Arnault maintains a diverse clinical practice, providing psychotherapy and formal assessment to various populations with a specialized focus on the healing and growing with trauma and working systemically: with couples, families and groups. He has also been a teaching assistant and sessional instructor for several undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Alberta. Dr. St. Arnault enjoys sharing his passion for social justice and his appreciation of human development and resilience through his teaching.


Elizabeth Stolte

MPS Teaching Faculty

Elizabeth Stolte, MPS, BMT, BA, MTA, CCC, is a Master Level Canadian Certified Counsellor and Certified Music Therapist.  She has over 20 years experience working with children, adolescents, adults and seniors in both medical and mental health settings. Supporting individuals in times of duress has taught Elizabeth the beauty of human resiliency – we are all stronger than we believe. Elizabeth works with individuals in a number of key areas: anxiety; depression; life transitions; stress management; navigating difficult relationships; gender-questioning; sexuality; conflict resolution; emotion management; grief and loss, and development of mindfulness. Currently Elizabeth works in private practice, and for the Kids with Cancer Society. In her non-working hours, Elizabeth is either hanging out with her family or friends, or you can find her singing in a choir.


Roger Thiessen

MPS, MTS, and UAlberta Teaching Faculty

Roger Thiessen, MPS, MDiv, teaches the Introduction to Psychotherapy and Spirituality course for University of Alberta undergraduates. He is a co-director of Community Counselling Centre, a trauma-informed and spiritually-integrated practice in downtown Edmonton. In his psychotherapy practice, he works primarily from client-centred and mindfulness-based perspectives with adults and couples. As a former pastor, Roger appreciates the integration of psychotherapy and spirituality. He loves exploring the rich histories of contemplative traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism and First Nations spirituality.


Brent Watts

CPE Supervisor-Educator

Geoffrey Wilfong-Pritchard

MPS, MTS, and UAlberta Teaching Faculty, and DMin Committee

Geoffrey Wilfong-Pritchard is a graduate of St. Stephen's College and has special interests in Narrative Theology, Interreligious Wisdom traditions, New Testament Studies, and Community Development methodologies. An adaptation of his dissertation, "Cloven Hoof, The Trials of James Evans" was mounted at the 2014  Edmonton International Fringe Festival, and he has presented his research at both national and international conferences.