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Advisory Board

The Rev. Robert Bruckart, M.Div., Ph.D., LMHC 6496,NCC 55909
    [ Executive Director ]  

Renee' Koenig
[Director, Audire trained Spiritual Director]

The Rev. Al Durrance, STM 

The Rev. Ralph Evans, M. Div.

The Rev. Matthew Linn, S.J.
 
The Rev. George Smodell

Nancy Cartelli, M.D., M.P.S.
[Audire trained spiritual director, member of SDI]

Pat Evans
[Youth Minister, St. Sebastian's by the Sea Episcopal Church]

Sharon Jones, Ph.D.,  LMHC 3439, NCC37405

Kathy Lieffort, M.S.
[Artist Way Program Leader, Audire trained spiritual director, life coach]

 

The Rev. Dr. Bob Bruckart - Executive Director

Fr. Bob Bruckart has been Executive Director of the St. Francis Center since its inception in May of 1999.  Fr. Bob holds a Doctorate of Philosophy from Maimonides University, Winter Park, FL. (2003), a Masters in Counseling from Webster University, St. Louis (1998), a Masters of Divinity from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston (1979) (Episcopal).  In addition to being an ordained Episcopal Priest, he is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida (MH6496) and a National Certified Counselor (NCC 55909).

In addition to his responsibilities at the Center, Fr. Bob is the Director of Pastoral Care for Health First, Inc., a three-hospital health-care system here in Brevard County.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Hospice of Health First and is chair of the Holmes Regional Medical Center/Palm Bay Community Hospital Ethics Committee.  He is past President of both the Episcopal Counseling Center, Inc. (Orlando) and the Space Coast Chapter of the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).  Additionally, he is a Certified Crisis Intervention Counselor with NOVA (National Organization of Victim Assistance).  He presently serves on the crisis intervention teams for both Brevard County Fire-Rescue CISD Team and the Kennedy Space Crisis Response Team.

His favorite author is C.S. Lewis.  In particular, Lewis' 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.  Fr. Bob is married and has three sons, two of which are also married.

 

Renee' Koenig - Director

Renee' is a co-founder and the assistant director of the St. Francis Center.    She is an Audire trained spiritual director and member of Spiritual Director's International.  Renee' is a trained supervisor for the Audire School for Spiritual Director's in Winter Park, FL.She has created and presented parish renewal weekends and has worked establishing lay ministry programs.  Along with her husband, Walt, she was part of team that started Episcopal Marriage Encounter in the Diocese of Chicago and Episcopal Engaged Encounter, nationally.  Renee' and Walt were a presenting couple for both Marriage and Engaged Encounter for several years in the 80's. She facilitates women's groups on spiritual growth.  She and Walt also have a ministry of hospitality and often house the guest speakers at the center.Renee', a native Floridian, returned to Florida in 1993.  She is a Certified Travel Consultant (CTC) and specialized in small group travel especially to Europe and the Holy Land. She holds a Master Gardener certificate in the state of Florida. For fun she likes the beach, swimming, nature, decorating, faux painting, gardening and spending time with her family (three married children & spouses and 6 grandchildren).  She also enjoys free lance travel with her husband, particularly by rail, through wine country, stopping at churches, cathedrals and holy places.   Renee' is available, by appointment, for spiritual direction.

 

The Rev. Al Durrance, STM 

Father Al is a retired Episcopal priest.  He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn University).  He received a bachelor of Divinity from the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.  He left parish ministry in 1989 to pursue a ministry of speaking and teaching in the areas of renewal and healing.  He has served as North American Warden of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician and serves on the board of the Schools of Pastoral Care and The St. Francis Center for Restoration.

As a strong advocate of Christian healing, he sees healing as a normal manifestation of the presence of the kingdom of God.  It is not an option, but an essential element of the kingdom we were sent to proclaim.  He is the author of a book on healing, "Good Lord Deliver Us".

Father Al is a native Floridian and lives in Ocala with his wife, Julia.  He is easily recognized by his trademark of red socks.  He explains his exclusive wearing of red socks by saying that years ago while rearing their four sons, his wife gave each male a different color sock to make sorting of laundry easier.  Father Al chose first and chose red.

 

Sharon Jones, Ph.D.

Sharon is a co-founder of the St. Francis Center.  Sharon received her B.A. from the University of Florida and continued her education by earning an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Stetson University.  In the fall of 2001 she enrolled in a doctoral program.

Since resuming her career after her children were grown, Sharon has had a variety of counseling experiences with both adults and youth.  She has worked at strengthening family units through the position as director of counseling programs for families, her appointment as Parent Educator for the community college Lab School, and teaching parenting skills in the community.  In addition, she has worked with marriages in crisis and as a therapist at a mental health facility.  In January of 1996, Sharon became the Executive Director for the Episcopal Counseling Center from which she retired in 2000.  She is currently the interim Executive Director.  Sharon is also a member of the Brevard County Critical Incident Stress De-briefing team.  Sharon was born in Central Florida and raised in the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Orlando.  She and her husband are long time members of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Melbourne where she has been active in many areas, including Vestry and Altar Guild. 

For relaxation she enjoys long walks in the mountains of North Carolina, reading just about anything, and swimming as the weather permits.  She also enjoys her four grandchildren.

 

Kathy Lieffort M.S.  -  Artist's Way Program Leader

Kathy Lieffort is the founder of Partners in Thinking, a unique consulting firm that specializes in executive coaching, life coaching, and spiritual direction for individuals, small groups, couples, families and organizations.

 Kathy graduated with honors from Rollins College in Orlando, FL with a B.S. in Organizational Communications and attained an M.S. in Healthcare Administration from the University of Central Florida. She has completed certificate training in executive coaching and is a member of the International Coach Federation. She has also completed certificate training from the 3-year Audire Program in Spiritual Direction Formation.

Kathy has participated in the Artist Way program multiple times as a participant including once with Julia Cameron herself. She is an accomplished group leader and looks forward to once again becoming a guide in this fruitful process. 

 

Nancy Cartelli, M.D., M.P.S. 

Nancy is an Audire-trained spiritual director, doing individual and group spiritual direction at St. Francis Center and at Audire-San Pedro Center, Winter Park, FL.  She is currently an assistant at Audire San Pedro, where new spiritual directors are trained and supervised.  She is also a member of Spiritual Director's International. She has a Master's degree in Pastoral Studies with a focus in Christian Spirituality for Ministry from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Nancy is a parishioner at Ascension Catholic Church working on the core team implementing their whole community catechesis program.  She has been involved in ministry at parishes and schools for the last ten years, which has included worship (worship commission, lector, and Eucharistic minister), adult education (women's bible studies), children's education (children's liturgy, character education) and women's spirituality (women's retreats and MOMS ministry).

Nancy was born in New York, but has lived in Florida for the last 17 years. She is the single mother of two teenage daughters.  Before children, she studied medicine at Columbia University and practiced pediatrics at two university teaching hospitals in Cleveland and Baltimore.  After the birth of her daughters and their move to Florida, she continued to work part-time in pediatrics, but has since retired from pediatric practice.  She continues to be interested in supporting the growth and development of children and families in all ways.  In addition to valuing her time with her daughters, extended family and friends, she loves bike riding, dance, film, art, and travel.