Retreat Guides

Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor who lives in Brooklyn, NY. Aaron graduated from General Theological Seminary in 2021. 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 continues to create resources to help others flesh it out.  But that’s just job stuff.  The best part of his life is his wife Shauna, and their sons Henry and William.

Josh Hilburn is the founding and Lead Pastor of Gather Houston - an ecumenical & inclusive Christian Church near downtown Houston. Josh has been teaching & leading in churches for the past 10 years, primarily focusing on inclusion and care for those who have been hurt or excluded by traditional religious spaces.

Josh also serves as the resident optimist, fundraiser, and idea-haver as the Director of Partnerships for Pastors, Priests, and Guides. The best parts of his day are always with his wife Katie and their two young boys Ellis & Henry.

The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers is one of the Episcopal Church’s leading thinkers around 21st-century ministry and mission. The author of several books - including The Church Cracked Open, Radical Welcome, and her latest, Church Tomorrow?: What the 'Nones' and 'Dones' Teach Us About the Future of Faith - she recently wrapped nearly a decade as canon to the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, with responsibility for guiding the entire denomination’s work on evangelism, racial justice, new ministry development, and environmental stewardship. An honorary canon in the Diocese of New York, she currently serves as Canon in Residence at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. 

Spellers graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wake Forest University and went on to earn master’s degrees from both Harvard Divinity School and Episcopal Divinity School. She received an honorary doctorate from the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 2019. A native of Kentucky, today she and her husband make their home in New York. She is passionate about dancing and singing, listening and building bridges, and helping people to fall in love with God and get free.