Sunday Assembly Presiders/Homilists
Sally Bowers
Sally is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church since 1986. She worked on the Southside of Chicago with Shalom Ministries & Urban Life Center addressing poverty and educating young adults through justice experiential learning. She served for 20 years in both rural pastoral ministries and director of a faith-based poverty center in Northwest IL. She began her work on prairie restoration during that time. In 2002 she moved to Madison and worked with vulnerable youth populations through Dane County Extension and then as a chaplain with UW Hospital until retirement in 2022. She lives in Madison with her husband, Howard Fenton, with a love for prairie, hiking and birds. They have two young adult daughters.
Nancy Hutchison Enderle
Nancy has served as the Co-Director of the Ecumenical Center for Clergy Spiritual Renewal (ECCSR) at Holy Wisdom Monastery since its founding in 2019 and is currently the Director. An ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) since 1985, she has served congregations in rural Minnesota, suburban New York City, downtown Chicago and interim positions around Madison, WI. Her varied ministry background includes non-profit leadership in areas of social justice and LGBTQIA+ ordination inclusion within the PC (USA). In 2018, Nancy completed two-years of study with the Living School of the Center for Action and Contemplation founded and led by Richard Rohr. She lives with her husband Gordon in Middleton, WI. They have two young adult children and a precious, but needy Cock-a-poo named Maisy.
Roberta Felker
Roberta is a retired educator who served as a teacher and administrator in public and Catholic schools and universities. Her homilies draw on her family’s theology of service, an addiction to poetry, and an appreciation for the contradictions and questions in the lectionary readings. A Fulbright Scholar and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Roberta holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been a member of Sunday Assembly since 1997
Jerry Folk
Jerry is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He and his family moved to Madison in 1992 when he was called as pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church. Later, he served as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches and after retirement taught in the Religious Studies department of Edgewood College as an adjunct faculty member. He and his wife, Kathy, are member of Holy Wisdom’s Sunday Assembly.
Colleen Hartung
Colleen holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Ethics from Chicago Theological Seminary. She has served as a spiritual guide for over 15 years, is currently the chair of the 1000 Women in Religion Wikipedia Project and works with the Ministries for Families and Children team at Holy Wisdom Monastery.
Paul Knitter
Before retiring to Madison with his wife Cathy Cornell in 2013, Paul Knitter taught theology at Xavier University for 28 years and at Union Theological Seminary in New York for seven years. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome in 1966.
Patti LaCross
Patti was raised in the spirit of the 2nd Vatican Council in Milwaukee. Her faith has been shaped by family life and vibrant communities including St. Benedict’s/Holy Wisdom Monastery, La Samaritaine, and her work in education and ministry on Chicago’s southside, with farmworkers in South Florida, and with immigrants/refugees and those homeless in Madison. She has a Master’s in Theological Studies from the Catholic Theological Union.
Terry Larson
Terry, ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, served as a parish pastor for 40 years until his retirement is 2018. Additionally, he was a reserve Air Force chaplain, as well as a volunteer hospital chaplain and care facility chaplain. In retirement he enjoys trying to fix things such as automobiles, snow blowers, lawn mowers, and small appliances. He also enjoys being a library volunteer, League of Women Voters volunteer, gardener (especially of zinnias, zucchini, & kale), and an afternoon napper. He is married to Sue Larson. They have two sons, two grandchildren, and one dog.
Alison Long
Alison holds a Master’s degree in Theological Studies from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC. She’s traveled around the vocation of ministry, serving as minister, youth director, and communications in both United Methodist and Unitarian Universalist churches. She currently serves as the Executive Director for Sun Prairie Public Library Foundation and works with families as a birth doula. Alison and her husband Nelson have been immensely grateful for the hospitality of Holy Wisdom Monastery and the welcome they, and their daughter Isobel, have received in this space.
Paul Markquart
Paul was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1991. Paul is married to Melissa who has been an Oblate at Holy Wisdom for about 20 years. When Paul retired, Melissa’s time as an Oblate was how they became part of the Sunday Assembly. Paul most recently served at St. John’s Lutheran in Oregon, WI. They now live between Oregon and Stoughton on a hobby farm they have created. Paul is a conservationist and outdoorsman. He designed and helped build their home and has restored 15 acres of short grass prairie. In addition to habitat restoration Paul is working on restoring the once abundant wild Bobwhite quail in the area. They have three adult children and three birddogs.
David McKee
David and his wife, Alison, have been members of Sunday Assembly since 2012. He is an oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery, as well as a member of the Midwest Soto Zen Community, affectionately known as The Stray Dog Sangha. He is the proud father of a daughter, Georgina, and a son, Christian. He is the even prouder grandfather of Zadie Rosemary McKee. David is a haiku poet and a psychotherapist in private practice in Madison.
Jim Penczykowski
Jim’s educational background focuses on pastoral theology. His careers include pastoral ministry, substance abuse counseling, clinical supervision, and program and facilities management. He takes joy from preparing homilies that proclaim “good news”.
Rex Piercy
Rex retired in 2016 after 40+ plus years of parish ministry, first in the United Methodist Church and then in the United Church of Christ. Rex and his husband Lee Johnsen moved to Madison that same year, after being married in a “pop-up wedding” during Rex’s retirement party. Rex is also an attorney and a former seminary administrator and professor. He has been serving as the intentional interim minister at a UCC congregation on Kauai (HI) the past two years. Rex and Lee enjoy travel. They have two adult children and five grandchildren.
Pam Shellberg
Pam is, happily and gratefully, the Director of Spiritual Nourishment at Holy Wisdom Monastery. She has been a public school educator, the scholar-in-residence for a non-profit religious organization in Maine, the director of lifelong learning and Christian Education at several ELCA Lutheran churches, and the assistant professor of New Testament at Bangor Theological Seminary and Andover Newtown Theological School. She completed her graduate work in Theology and Religious Studies at Marquette University, has written curriculum for Augsburg Fortress, leads retreats and is currently in a spiritual direction certification program.
Wayne Sigelko
Wayne’s experience of Christianity has largely been shaped by his participation in three communities: the Capuchin-Franciscans with whom he studied in the 1970s and early 80s, La Samaritaine ecumenical community of Madison where he and his wife and children lived in the late 80s and early 90s, and the Sunday Assembly of Holy Wisdom Monastery which has been a spiritual home for nearly 30 years. Wayne pursued graduate studies in Biblical Theology at Marquette University and holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin. He teaches undergraduate mathematics at the Madison Area Technical College and has been preaching regularly for Sunday Assembly for more than 20 years.
Lynne Smith, OSB
Lynne was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1982. She has been a Benedictine sister at Holy Wisdom Monastery since 2000.
Mary David Walgenbach, OSB
Sister Mary David is the Prioress of Benedictine Women of Madison. She made her first profession as a Benedictine sister on January 6, 1961.
Leora Weitzman, PhD
An oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery since 2000, Leora is also inspired by the Ignatian tradition and by wisdom from around the world. Nature, animals, and music are lifelong loves and influences. A former philosophy professor, she later practiced and taught massage and yoga and currently works as a freelance editor. She shares a desire to hear and follow the Spirit as it speaks in body, mind, and heart.
Steve Zwettler
Steve was ordained in the Catholic Church and shares 45 years of pastoral experience as a pastor, hospital chaplain, teacher, Hospice chaplain, and spiritual director– with a special affinity for ministry to the sick and dying. Steve is married to Barbara Brummer and together they enjoy reading, gardening, biking, traveling, Wisconsin Athletics, and gathering with friends and family.
The sisters, members of Sunday Assembly and the communities of Holy Wisdom Monastery value welcome, inclusion and belonging for all persons. The monastery has a long-time commitment to welcoming LGBTQIA+ persons.
