Peter Panagore, MDiv >> Peter Panagore, author of the best-selling, Heaven Is Beautiful: How Dying Taught Me That Death Is Just the Beginning, experienced two transformative near-death encounters. Following a BA in English Literature, he changed careers from architecture to theology and completed a Master of Divinity at Yale University, specializing in the Classics of Western Mysticism. For more than two decades, Panagore served progressive New England churches. His first book, Two Minutes for God, a best-seller in Maine and now available worldwide, was based on his 15 years as an NBC-TV writer for a daily Maine and New Hampshire broadcast viewed annually by 30 million people. He currently hosts “Not Church: Mysticism No Doctrine No Dogma No Bravo Sierra” on his YouTube channel, offers spiritual counseling through Zoom, and teaches meditation and yoga to a global community.
Kristen Adams, MA >> After all her schooling, Kristen was fulfilled — balancing the obligations of her young family with her calling: working with traumatized kids. But when an epically ugly-messy divorce came to her own household, she took an unsatisfying government desk job that provided ample leave time to invest in her own children — but which only barely paid the bills. During the ensuing two decades, she lost all belief in a Benevolent Cause but had convinced herself it was better that way. Finally, after years as a front-line functionary, she was finally promoted and then quickly promoted yet again. Things were finally going right. She finally had room to breathe! A routine X-ray found a space-occupying lesion in the right upper lobe of her lung, and she feared this was the end of her difficult, sad, and disappointing life. It was time to look for answers.
Ellen Corson, BA >> Ellen Corson was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1964 and moved to Hanover, NH, in 1974. She graduated from Hanover High School and attended Brown University. Ellen’s favorite class at Brown was Religious Studies. However, since that was not an acceptable field of study in her family, she went on to work at numerous non-profit organizations and social assistance organizations, later founding an Improvisational Comedy group while volunteering around Greater Portland, Maine. She is currently a hospice volunteer who is giving herself a course in mystical studies, wherever it leads. Her 21-year-old son remains skeptical.
Kendall (Ken) Gilligan, MD >> Dr. Kendall Gilligan was an emergency department physician for almost 40 years before he retired in 2018. His spiritual insights were shaped by a study of Edgar Cayce, Paramahansa Yogananda, and especially by Al Miner/Lama Sing. The insights that he will share come from his personal experiences that arose from contemplation that he began as a teenager.
Kacy Kelly >> Scholar, gas station clerk, mother, wife, and meditator. Kacy had an STE that happened from self-destructive tendencies, and there came the point when she fell to her knees in pain. I quickly got back to my feet. It took a week to heal, at which point she found myself stopped in my tracks with a knowing that I was saved by the light that goes and comes back again. I don’t really know what that means. I didn’t see heaven or hell, just this knowing and a real empty feeling. It was like it took her two years to get her soul back! She moved, changed my life, got married, and had a daughter.
Shelly Liedtke, BMSc >> Shelly is a lifelong perpetual student of Self-Empowerment and a Spiritual Life Coach who is here to lovingly help her students and clients shift the stresses of day-to-day living from mystery to mastery, steadily center in the Sacred Intentions of their Soul and open the doorway to consciously creating miracles in their life. Throughout all of her mentoring and coaching services, she offers loving, gentle support for welcoming her clients and students back home to being their True Self; to open the space for really loving and appreciating who they are deep down inside – the One they came here on earth to experience and BE – so they can thrive and be healthy, well and happy in their life…all through the lens of Love grounded in Gratitude.
Françoise E. Netter, MA>> Françoise E. Netter, MA, renowned author, educator, presenter, and performer, has innovatively contributed to Yoga, Dance Therapy, and Stress Management for over four decades. She has instructed at prestigious institutions like Stanford University and the University of Colorado and trained professionals in her specialty. Françoise has garnered international attention through TV, radio, podcasts, and print media. Her book, “Movement For The Mind,” empowers individuals to integrate and apply their creativity holistically. Drawing from her mystical experiences and trauma, Françoise aims to inspire transformation. Her current focus revolves around Resiliency and trauma, serving as the theme of her upcoming book and Ted X talk.
Lynne Seymour, RN >> Lynne had a life transforming NDE in 1970 at the age of 24 following the traumatic birth of her first child. She came close to death when her vital signs plummeted. She left her body, went to a heavenly realm, and was convinced by spiritual beings to return to complete her work on earth. She returned with a distorted sense of reality, a feeling of disconnection, no one with whom she could safely share her story, and a longing to return to her true home. In 1980 she had a profound, life-changing STE in which she experienced the all-encompassing love of God. She retired after 40-plus years in nursing but has been haunted by a desire to gain a deeper spiritual understanding of her own NDE and to complete her work in this world.
David Ulrich >> Raised in 1960s Detroit, David’s early experiences of faith were shaped by the Methodist Church he attended with his family. His grandmother’s role as the church secretary deepened his exposure to the church, particularly to its minister, whom he respected greatly. However, his perception was jolted upon discovering the minister indulged in questionable habits. As a teenager, David explored various religious paths, including the Church of God, the Catholic Church, and the Church of the Nazarene, seeking authenticity but finding hypocrisy instead. As he matured, he chose to step away from organized religion to formulate his unique understanding of God. His spiritual journey took a significant turn at age 25, when a Detroit Unity Temple radio broadcast resonated with him, leading him to a community that nurtured his spiritual quest, a journey still in progress today.
