Dr. Charles M. Olsen,
Founder of Worshipful-Work

Dr. Olsen is an ordained Presbyterian minister. A native Nebraskan, Chuck is a graduate of Sterling College, Sterling, Kansas and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Hastings College honored him with a Doctor of Divinity in 1981. His experience includes serving in three pastorates in Pennsylvania, California and Nebraska; Staff member of the PCUS Board of National Ministries in Atlanta, and as Director of two ecumenical ministry projects. Chuck's special interests have been in church renewal and revitalization of faith both in national and local churches. He identifies his calling as an "Apostle in the ecumenical church." Chuck has authored books on leadership in church revitalization.

Donald E. Zimmer,
Facilitator of the Board of Discerning Overseers

Don Zimmer is the Facilitator of the Board of Discerning Overseers of Worshipful Work. He is the President of OakSpring, Inc, a company dedicated to helping people and organizations discern and live out their calling and develop leadership around that core. He also serves as the Executive Director of Grace Lutheran Church and School in La Plata, MD. He has also served as the Interim Executive of Congregational Services for the Southeastern District of the LCMS and as the Coordinator of WellSpring, Inc, a non-profit corporation formed to develop leadership within the Lutheran community. He is an associate in a new venture, Conversations That Matter, and an adjunct staff member with the College of Southern Maryland. Don is a graduate of a wide array of leadership programs through the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC, the Robert K Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership in Indianapolis, IN, the Courage to Teach, and Hartwick College. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Editors for Leadership Network. Don is a certified Spiritual Director through Oasis Ministries, Camp Hill, PA. In 1999 Don was awarded the Servant of Christ Award by Concordia University, Bronxville, NY for his work in developing leadership within the Lutheran church and school communities. A life-long learner and a professional artist, he is currently a student and author at the confluence of learnings in the world of business, vocation, entrepreneurship, education, spirituality, science, and leadership.

Tara Hornbacker

Tara Hornbacker is the Assistant Professor of Ministry Formation at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Indiana. In this position she gives overall direction to the seminary’s program of preparing people for the ministry through experiential education, spiritual formation, and theological reflection on the practice of ministry. Tara is a coordinator for the Association for the Arts in the Church of the Brethren and serves on the Ministry Advisory Counsel for the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. She currently serves on the Board of Discerning Overseers for Worshipful Work.

Tara is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and served the Pleasant Hill Church of the Brethren in the Southern Ohio District from 1989 until August of 1998 when she accepted the call to teach at the seminary. She has served as adjunct faculty in ministry studies for Bethany, supervised student ministers-in-training from several institutions and served as a mentor for licensed ministers in southern Ohio.

Tara did her undergraduate work at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with a major in Speech and Theatre. She holds a Masters in Divinity from Earlham School of Religion and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.

Carl E. Horton

Carl Horton is the Coordinator for Church Leader Support in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He oversees a team of staff who resource congregational leaders in ministries with children through adults. His work is primarily with elders, deacons and educators. His doctoral work pertains to spiritual practices in the life and work of congregations and their leaders.

Eileen Goor

Rev Eileen Goor founded New World Unity Church in 1996. She was moved to open the way for a different way of 'doing church' but unsure what that might look like. A colleague gave her a copy of Chuck Olsen's Discerning God's Will Together. A group of dedicated individuals attended weekly sessions where the concept of discernment was explored (and used) to co-create a structure quite different from the traditional Board-By-laws-Budget format. This structure is based on Participating in God's Unfolding, a spiritual discernment process used for every facet of decision-making in the church. It has been a joyful, successful experience, and we know it is our mission to share the joy of this new perspective.

Eileen sits on the advisory boards of the Association of Global New Thought and Worshipful Work as part of living this mission

Kathryn Damiano

Kathryn Damiano is a member of the religious Society of Friends (Quaker) and brings to her ministry more than 20 years of commitment to a life of prayer. She has been a spiritual director for over 20 years. She is cofounder of the School of the Spirit ministry that offers in-depth spiritual life studies out of Philadelphia. Kathryn moved to Wichita four years ago to join the Friends of Jesus Community. Their ministry is living in a low-income area of the city to be a presence to promote interracial reconciliation. Her formal training consists of a Masters of Divinity from United Theological Seminary (United Methodist), a Masters in counseling psychology, an internship in spiritual direction at the Jesuit Renewal Center and a Ph.D. in spiritual theology.

Stephen Doughty

Stephen Doughty is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). His service in ministry has included nine years as pastor of a two-church field north of the Adirondak Mountains, six years as pastor of a congregation in a mining town in the Black Hills, and eight years as the one full-time minister for a cluster of six congregations in Appalachia. From 1991 too 2001 he served as Executive Presbyter for Lake Michigan Presbytery, providing pastoral support for the clergy and lay leaders of 71 congreagations. He is currently engaged in a full-time ministry of retreat leadership and writing. Steve's articles and essays have appeared in such publications as Weavings, Catholic Digest, Review for Religious, Congreagtios - The Alban Journal, and have been anthologized in The Best Spiritual Writings series and Ruben Job's A Guide to Spiritual Discernment. He is the author of Discovering Community: A Mediation on Community in Christ (Upper Room Books, 1999) and To Walk in Integrity: Spiritual Leadership in Times of Crisis which will be publishedby Upper Room Books, November 2004. He and his wife Jean live in Otsego, Michigan and are the parents of two grown children.