Board of Directors

Our board members work all year to

ensure this fabulous event is an open space where spiritual exploration and transformation can occur with ease and fun!

Philosophy

Mission

In a magnificent setting we provide opportunity for deep discovery of our collective evolution, personal transformation, and heart-to-heart connections.

Vision

The Big Sky Retreat is an anchoring space for remembrance, re-awakening, and renewal.

Board of Directors

Rev. Dr. Charles D Geddes, President

Charles is a founding member and current President on the Board of Directors for the Big Sky Retreat. His steady guidance and profound love for this annual event are evident through his years of dedication to those who volunteer and attend.

In his 50+ years of ministry he served what are now Centers for Spiritual Living, (CSL) in Tucson, AZ, Southern California, and Florida. He received an honorary doctorate for his contributions to New Thought through CSL and the Affiliated New Thought Network (ANTN).

In 2021 Charles moved to Clancy, Montana and launched a new non-profit to honor his latest calling “Mind Your Own Becoming (M.Y.O.B).” It’s primary theme – “Standing for all lives that have not mattered” and addressing key social issues. Its goal is planting seeds for future generations to awaken to a world that honors equality, love, and regard for all, without exception. To learn more, visit https://myobincorporated.org.

Rev. Scott Olson, Vice President

Scott is currently the Senior Minister of the Ahiah Center for Spiritual Living in Pasadena, CA. He is an avid student of Science of Mind and all the world’s religions. He uses this wisdom as the basis of his talks, classes and ceremonies. Rev. Scott is a loving presence who is known for connecting with people at the heart level, allowing love to guide.

He began his spiritual journey with Namaste Center for Spiritual Living in Long Beach, CA where he served as a congregant, two terms on their Board and as a Practitioner. After completing is ministerial studies, he joined Laguna Woods Center for Spiritual Living as their Assistant Minister.

Dr. Katie Levi, Treasurer

Katie began her New Thought journey in 2002 when she entered the Fort Lauderdale Center for Spiritual Living; it was here she knew she was a life-long student of these teachings. Katie started her formal practitioner training with the Rio Grande Center for Spiritual Living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she also served as a member of the Board of Directors. In 2019, she completed her Doctorate in Spiritual Studies and became a Religious Science Certified Practitioner (RScP) from the Emerson Theological Institute in Oakhurst, CA. Katie attended her first Big Sky Retreat in 2017 and was invited on to the Board of Directors in 2020; she currently serves as the Treasurer.

Katie left her home town of Davenport, Iowa and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. In 8 years, she served as an aircraft maintainer, eventually moving into the field of computer networking before separating. She continued working in various government agencies to include the Department of Homeland Security, Postal Service and now the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Senior IT Analyst.

Outside of work, Katie enjoys home improvement projects and pretty much anything outdoors to include hiking, biking, camping and kayaking.

Dawn Balogh, Secretary

Dawn attended her first Big Sky Retreat with her mom in 2006. Feeling an immediate connection with the people in attendance, she volunteered as an Assistant Cashier- eventually moving up to Head Cashier years later. In 2017, Dawn was invited on to the Board of Directors where she currently serves as the Secretary.

Dawn comes to us with a plethora of business administration experience to include: serving as the Secretary of Religious Science International Youth Seminar, creating the ‘Labels for Education’ program in her local school district, and serving as a board member for the Parent Teachers Association and Chamber of Commerce. Recently Dawn sold a small business she owned for nineteen years! Today you will find her working part time as a Chiropractic Assistant.

In her off time, Dawn enjoys being with her husband, Bruce, of 45 years; together they share 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Her hobbies include Pilates, gardening, canning and being outdoors.

Rev. Kim Andrews, Board Member

Kim Andrews’ professional career spans a wide range of industries, from fitness and wellness to training and development and the investigation of federal employment discrimination complaints. In February 2018, she began serving as Spiritual Leader of Unity Sachse in Sachse, Texas. That same year she also realized that for three decades she had been unwittingly crafting a modality of skills which transformed her life, once governed by chaos and feelings of unworthiness, to one of peace and self-mastery. Her ministry then expanded to shepherding others to inner peace through her healing modality and creating the movement called 8945 for Peace.

Kim Andrews believes in the power of transformational storytelling, deep sharing, and fully mourning our losses. She knows from experience that we can avoid emotional earthquakes, transcend whatever crises we encounter, and reap the treasures hidden beneath the pain. Since 2013, Kim has led sacred sharing groups, coached men and women in the art of transformational storytelling and has spoken to groups both large and small about grief and loss. She also conducts a bi-monthly ongoing, online grief support group.

Through transformational storytelling, sacred sharing groups, spiritual community, workshops, and public speaking, Kim shepherds those ready to get off the emotional rollercoaster and create lives overflowing with grace and ease. You can find out more about Kim at www.thecalltopeace.com.

Lysa Allman-Baldwin, Board Member

Lysa’s New Thought journey began in 2001 at a Sunday service at Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City, MO. She was immediately drawn into these teachings that were so inclusive and different from the “fire and brimstone” upbringing of her youth. She was soon attending classes, co-leading discussion groups, working in the children’s program, and serving on the Board of Directors. Her journey continued at Unity Worldwide Headquarters in the Communications Department writing articles for Unity.org, writing and working behind the scenes for Daily Word Magazine and La Palabra Diaria, and as part of the teams creating the bi-monthly prayer letters and facilitating the weekday 11:00 a.m. chapel prayer services. She later became a member and presider at the Center for Spiritual Living Kansas City.

Lysa has been a feature and travel writer for over 25 years and is a dynamic, gifted, sought-after international speaker, workshop facilitator, and author. Her first Big Sky Retreat experience was as a workshop presenter in 2022, after which she was asked to become a Board member. In 2019, after both of her sons went off to college, she sold all of her possessions and became a “home-free” Digital Nomad, traveling the world with two suitcases, a backpack, and her laptop as her desk! Her primary loves are eating, exercise, and travel. Lysa’s mission—through the written and spoken word—is to inspire others to live full of passion, authenticity, and purpose.

Our Past Board Members

We are eternally grateful to all of our past Board Members for their dedication and guidance.

Bette Bogart 1977-98 (Secretary 1977-98)

Rev. Helen Brungardt-Pope 1977-94 (Vice President 1977-84, interim President 1984)

Dr. Roy Graves 1977-89 (President 1984-88)

Rev. Al Heard 1977-84 (President 1977-84)

Dr. Clarke Odden 1977-99 (Vice President 1984-86)

Joseph Richards 1977-78 (Treasurer 1977-78)

Dr. Fred Vogt 1977-99 (President 1988-99)

Gladys Wright 1977-97 (Treasurer 1978-96)

Mansfield Davis 1978-82

Dr. Otis Thomas 1982-88

Joe Dickey 1984-2017 (Vice President 1986-99, President 1999-2017)

Howard Caesar 1988-2017

Dr. Roger Teel 1994-98 and 2005-06

Barbara Resendez 1997-2015 (Retreat Coordinator 1998-2015, Executive Director 2015-18)

Connee Chandler 1998-2005 (Secretary 1998-2005)

Rev. Donald Graves 1999-2013 (Secretary 2005-2011)

Rev. Kathy Vogt 1999-2007

Dr. Ron Masters 2007-16 (Secretary 2012-16)

Rev. Ruth Fatur 2008-13

Rev. Carmen Brocklehurst 1990-2018 (Vice President 1999-2017)

Joan Hansen 2013-20 (Registrar 2011-19, Secretary 2016-20)

John Moore 2015-20 (President 2017-20)

Dr. Sheldon Deal, Emeritus Board Member (1999-2020)

Gail Courville 2016-20 (Vice President 2017-2020)

Rev. Kathy Young 2019 -21 (Co-Spiritual Director 2021)

Rev. Michael Gott 2013- 21 (Music Director)

Rev. Alison Benjamin 2017-22 (Vice President 2021-2022)

Board of Directors

Philosophy

Mission

Vision

Board of Directors

Our Past Board Members

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