Retreat Guides

Julian Davis Reid is a child of God, the husband of Carmen and father of Lydia, a son and brother, and a Black artist-theologian of Chicago who uses words and music to invite us into the restful lives we were created to live. A musician, speaker, and writer, Julian is the founder of the ministry Notes of Rest, which invites the weary into the rest of God practiced in the Bible and Black music.

Julian attended Yale College, where he earned his B.A. in philosophy (2013). Julian matriculated into Candler School of Theology at Emory University as a Woodruff Scholar, where he earned a Master of Divinity with a focus in Scripture, Theology and the Arts (2019). While in seminary, Julian co-founded the band The JuJu Exchange. The JuJu Exchange is an instrumental group that blends acoustic and digital music to cultivate wonder and trust.

Julian is thankful to be back serving the local church in Chicago. He has continually played in church throughout his life, and has directed for a wide array of congregations, from non-denominational to Roman Catholic. Now he serves in the music ministries at Renewal Church of Chicago and First United Methodist Church of Oak Park.

Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor. Aaron recently graduated from General Theological Seminary in NYC and currently serves at St Peter’s Episcopal Church Chelsea. After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), he created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings. He then curated a discipleship-focused, formational, ecumenical, practice-based community called “The Practice”. Aaron released a book called The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Keep Us From Drowning and gives leadership to Pastors, Priests and Guides. But that’s just job stuff.  The best part of his life is his wife Shauna, and their sons Henry and William.

Sara Billups a Seattle-based author and cultural commentator. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Christianity Today, Aspen Ideas, and the BBC.

Her first book, Orphaned Believers, was released from Baker Books in 2023. Part spiritual memoir of an apocalyptic childhood and part commentary on growing up as an evangelical kid during the culture wars, Orphaned Believers follows the journey of a generation of Christian exiles reckoning with the tradition that raised them and searching for a new way to participate in the story of God.

Sara’s second book Nervous Systems just released! Part memoir of caregiving in the sandwich generation and part exploration of the larger reasons why so many of us are carrying pervasive personal and collective worry. I wanted to understand why, instead of a healing refuge, the church has become an anxious one. Nervous Systems explores modern themes of scrupulosity, wellness culture, tradwifery, caregiving, and energy vampires—offering practical, hopeful ways to live well in the very presence of anxiety.

Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ is a retreat director and spiritual director at the Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington.  He holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and a Doctor of Ministry from St Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL. He is the founder of Charis, a national Jesuit retreat ministry for young adults in their 20s and 30s, and has trained spiritual directors at Loyola University-Chicago.  

A prolific writer and speaker, Fr. Michael has published books, CDs, and DVDs on prayer, discernment, and the sacraments with Franciscan Media, Paulist Press, Liturgical Training Publications, Loyola Press, and Heart to Heart. He is seen regularly on Shalom World Catholic Television and is heard regularly on Sacred Heart radio in Cincinnati and WSFI Catholic Radio in greater Chicagoland. 

His latest co-authored book is What’s Your Decision?  An Ignatian Approach to Decision Making and is published by Loyola Press.