Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa

My feelings about cooking for the Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa food for the shelterless group run deep and with a lot of gratitude. Having to back away due to the Coronavirus has been very difficult for me as I get so much joy from the service we do. Cooking is fun for me, and I know that I can do a lot to help out.  Taking the time to go to the food bank and pick up food because I have a truck is just another opportunity to be in service. The place is just a mass of human movement, striving together to get food to all those in need in our community! Our little group when it started and the St. Vincent kitchen was so much fun. With all the wonderful donations we received through the community during the Joe Rodota trail time, it was simply amazing what great meals we were able to provide for the people.

We all came together every week to work, to make a ton of good food in high spirits. When the virus hit, we all hung in there and kept it going, and so many of you are still …

Having been an occasional visitor to our center, I finally joined in 2017 and began volunteering as an usher and greeter in 2018. My volunteering then extended to serving as grief support once a month and joining the Heart-in-Hand team. In January this year I attended the Welcoming Committee Workshop and would have begun serving in late March, but, well, we all know why that didn't happen.

With not being able to do welcoming, grief support, or ushering and greeting, I have been able to continue with Heart-in-Hand support, which is very rewarding to me, as well as to our clients. But wanting to do more, I am now staffing the Telephone Prayer Ministry line two nights a week and this is a tremendous honor. I am grateful for the opportunities we have for connecting through service. Namaste!  Sheri Pool

I’ve been attending the Center since 2008 and have been a Practitioner since 2015. My full-time day job is as an Information Techology Coordinator with the County of Sonoma. When the Center was closed to the public due to the pandemic in March, I was called into service combining my professional and spiritual worlds. Within a couple of weeks of transitioning to a completely online service, Rev. Tara Steele approached me with an idea—can we find a way to create a virtual prayer chapel modeled after our After-Service Prayer offering in Grinton Chapel in person. 
I went to work exploring the features of Zoom and within a matter of days, Tara and I had a draft concept plan, conducted a few tests, and determined our concept was viable. After a few training sessions teaching the Practitioner Body to use Zoom, we launched our After-Service Prayer Online Room in mid-April. 
Each Sunday one of the ASP Hosts facilitates those seeking prayer to connect in a one-on-one confidential online 5-min…

I had been attending our Center for about 7 years and felt like I was getting to know a few people from attending classes and the Women in Spirit monthly group. Being sort of an introvert, I still didn’t hang out in the Social Hall, preferring to meet with my own little group.

That all changed when I was asked to participate in the Welcoming Team. I donned a red lanyard and started welcoming people at the back door, in the Social Hall, and helped facilitate Welcoming Team orientations. My feeling of being a part of this Center exploded. I was immersed and when my mother passed away in January 2020, I was embraced by a sweet love. I experienced belonging at the Center, something I cherish.

And then the pandemic came… I was suddenly disconnected from my Center, so I began to welcome folks on Facebook and then started to meet with the “Virtual Welcoming Team Core Group.” Lots of meetings and learnings about what it takes to support the Sunday services. Eventually I was brought in to he…

I found the Center for Spiritual Living in 2007 on a blustery Thanksgiving eve. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Over the years I’ve grown to know many of our congregants and traveled through all the classes. I became a practitioner in 2015.I am active With the CSL jail ministry team where we create a weekly class for those people with whom we cannot sit at present due to COVID. That work keeps my heart open and my mind elevated. I have been with the Heart and Hand Ministry since 2009. Besides the joy visiting people weekly, I am a monthly Coordinator.I love how it makes me feel as it keeps me involved and connected. And the wonderful people that I get to pray with is such a gift. Presently, that is just phone visits and phone prayer. But there still is a wonderful connection.

"Being a member of the Heart in Hand Ministry is a joy in my life. I have been to homes, hospitals and so many different environments for visits. Some people I have visited for many years and others a single time. Each visit brings a new opportunity for me and for the person I am visiting. It is always a treasured time to listen and pray with someone and this ministry offers that to me."


Thank you, Rosalie, for your many years of pastoral service to our community.

Heart in Hand Spiritual Care – Visits and Calls – (707) 546-4543 x 370

The Mission of the Heart in Hand Spiritual Care Ministry is to bring a presence and message of love to congregants during times of health challenges, transition, and grieving.

If you would like spiritual support during a time of health challenge, please contact us. We are happy to visit you in person or speak with you over the phone, to provide loving listening and prayer (spiritual mind treatment). Your requests and conversations are held in sacr…