Emeritus Council Members & Staff
KaZ Akers (Council Member, Events Director) is a 10 time certified secular master meditation and Qigong teacher/trainer. She has been a published writer since age 14. Her four published books address self discovery, nature, meditation and self realization. She spent decades in entertainment performance, production and writing: TV, film, stage, music, live, and recorded. KaZ also became a veterinary technician to support her lifelong love of animals- both wild and domesticated. She’s still very involved as an animal welfare steward.
Alex Cheruk (Executive Director and Council Member) is a content creator, activist, and advocate for Spiritual Naturalism. Though he grew up Protestant, his religious beliefs began to unravel during his freshman year of college. He started searching for spiritual answers elsewhere, immersing himself in New Age spirituality, bhakti yoga, Vedanta, psychonautics, ceremonial magic, and neopaganism, before finally arriving at Spiritual Naturalism. Today, he advocates for Spiritual Naturalism on social media under the name ‘The Spiritual Skeptic,’ as part of his effort to promote public awareness of Spiritual Naturalism and bring Spiritual Naturalists together.
Jay N. Forrest (Education Director and Council Member) did his undergraduate work at Central Bible College and Berean University, and holds a Doctorate of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Christian University. Jay has been trained in both Zen and Insight Meditation practices. Jay hosts a podcast called The Way of Wisdom and his blog can be read at www.JayForrest.org.
Aron Gamman (Membership Director and Council Member) is a deeply curious nature lover, husband and parent to two wonderful boys. He is also a sometimes writer, drummer, guitar player and poet (when the muse strikes him) with deep cultural roots in Judaism. He has explored the philosophies of many traditions including Buddhism, neopaganism, etc. to spiritual naturalism he embraces, today. He graduated from Ohio Dominican University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science focusing on environmental issues and recently received a Paralegal Certificate from Columbus State Community College. The Membership Director is responsible for cultivating a healthy, thriving, community within the membership. This includes promoting member inter-communications, activities and events, welcoming new members, the newsletter, and other ideas for encouraging a satisfying social, intellectual, and spiritual experience for members.
Gregory Gronbacher (Executive Director, Council member, and writer) earned his B.A. in philosophy and theology at Franciscan University, his masters in philosophy (M.Phil.) at the International Academy of Philosophy, and did his doctoral work in philosophy (Ph.D.) at the Loyola Institute, Trinity College, Dublin. Gregory’s academic and spiritual interests focus on developing spiritual naturalism into it’s own system of theory and practice. Gregory is also curator of the Christian Naturalism and Humanistic Judaism traditions pages on the SNS website.
Lindsey Halpern-Givens (Administration Assistant) has a professional and personal interest in understanding and caring for the human spirit. For over two decades she has worked as a hospital chaplain, a licensed counselor, and a parish minister. A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University with an M.A in Counseling Arts, as well as an M.Div. from Meadville/Lombard Theological School (Unitarian Universalist) and a D.Min. from Chicago Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ). Lindsey is a lifelong animal lover. She and her husband Bob currently live with 2 dogs and 2 cats and have four grown children.
James Jarrett (Council Member) is a Native Texan and still lives in the DFW area with his partner, Katie. They have 6 children. A licensed attorney and former church planter, James is endorsed by The Humanist Society as a Chaplain and Celebrant supporting people full-time in Hospice care. From backyard bird watching to many canoe trips through the wild and scenic wilderness of the lower canyons of the Rio Grande, James loves the outdoors, most especially the Big Bend country of far West Texas. He finds inspiration from observing the natural processes of life, love, and death as well as inhabiting the wisdom of desert space. James’ account of his spiritual journey was his first article as a guest contributor to SNS (article link here). He also occasionally posts poetry, articles, and random thoughts on his blog Becoming Human. James has found Spiritual Naturalism to be an integrative space for practicing adaptive subjectivity in relationship with reality.
Kyle Kampa (Newsletter Editor, Council member) is a meditator and spiritual-seeker living in Houston, Texas. His first exposure to Buddhist thought was through Tsai Chih Chung’s cartoon adaptations of Zen sutras, which his father would bring home from his visits to Taiwan. Kyle has found meditation and the philosophy of Spiritual Naturalism to be a profound help in navigating life’s ups and downs.
Steve Karafit (Partner Site Liaison) grew up in rural Ohio where he fell in love with the wild places on the family farm. He received an A.S. in Recreation and Wildlife from Hocking College, a B.S. in Field Biology from Ohio University, and an M.S. in Systematics and Evolution from the University of Alberta. His graduate work focused on Cretaceous age fossils, and he has co-authored several scientific papers on new species of fossil plants. He enjoys hiking with his wife and son, cooking, and playing guitar. For the last several years he has been studying and practicing Stoic philosophy. Steve hosts the Sunday Stoic Podcast, where he discusses modern applications of this ancient philosophy. In his free time, Steve is a Biology Lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas.
Michelle L. LeBlanc (Community Facilitator) has been happily married to her husband/best friend (Roger) since 1999. She is a stay-at-home mom of 3 young boys. Her main hobby is gardening (flowers). Her background involves being a spirit-filled, born-again Christian for 33+ years (up until January 2011). She was a worship leader, soloist, and church leader for many of those years. Today Michelle considers herself a Spiritual Agnostic Humanist. Michelle has always had a great desire to inspire people towards finding truth, meaning, and purpose in this life, and says she is very proud to be a part of the Spiritual Naturalist Society.
Daniel Lev (Executive Director) is a psycho-spiritual guide who combines the best of psychology with spiritual traditions from around the globe. He runs StableAwakening.com and providers leadership coaching to help people live meaningfully in the 21st century. Daniel holds a B.A. in sociology from Yale University and is pursuing his Masters in counseling at Loyola University in New Orleans.
B.T. Newberg (Education Director and Council Member) is an author, editor, teacher, and husband. Since 2000, he has been practicing meditation and ritual from a naturalistic perspective. Upon leaving the Lutheranism of his raising, he experimented with Agnosticism, Buddhism, Contemporary Paganism, and Humanism. He now blends all these experiences into his life as a Spiritual Naturalist. After founding the community blog HumanisticPaganism, he currently writes the column Naturalistic Traditions at Patheos and contributes writing and course design to the Spiritual Naturalist Society. Professionally, he holds a master’s degree in education and teaches English as a Second Language. Having lived in England, Malaysia, Japan, and Korea, B. T. Newberg currently resides in the place of his birth, Minnesota, with his wife and cat. As Education Director of the SNS, he is responsible for the Society’s educational programs, such as course design and collection of supporting materials in both the archives and courses. This also includes helping to select and manage mentors.
Eric Steinhart (Writer) grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He received his BS in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University, after which he worked as a software designer. Many of his algorithms have been patented. He earned an MA in Philosophy from Boston College and was awarded a PhD in Philosophy from SUNY at Stony Brook. He has taught at Dartmouth College and William Paterson University. His books have concerned Nietzsche, the logic of metaphor, mathematics, and life after death. He has published several dozen academic articles. He has been interested in using new computational concepts to solve old philosophical problems. He is especially interested in new and emerging religions. He loves New England and the American West, and enjoys all types of hiking and biking, chess, and photography.
Many other volunteers serve in various important capacities within the Society at times, for which we are grateful. If you would like to become a volunteer, please see this page and contact us!
In addition to our writing staff and our Advisory Board, our present and past volunteers include:
- Murtadha Ahmed
- Aminata Mansaray
- Julie Strain
- Darren Bell
- Jeremy Mattocks
- John Klemesrud
- Tony Schlisser
- Jean Schlisser
- Nicholas Johnson
- Jacob Pewitt