OUR TEAM
our team
Rob Field
Director
Rob founded Center for Spiritual Wisdom in 2016 after serving 22 years as an ordained minister and following a brief career in journalism. “The idea came, and I couldn’t shake it,” he says. “I kept thinking: this part of North Carolina would be the perfect place for a practice-based spirituality center.” After deep reflection and lengthy conversations with several wise advisors, Rob decided to leave the congregation he served for 18 years: “I finally jumped off the high dive into the deep end of the pool.” Rob especially enjoys teaching, writing, and working with individuals who want to broaden and deepen their spirituality. He also taught World Religions at Brevard College from 2018 to 2022.
Fred Brown
CSW Registrar, Board Treasurer, Associate
Fred was born and raised in Massachusetts, as was his wife Dolores. After obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, he served as a clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist in the Army on active duty for 23 years. Assignments took Fred to various posts in the US, and two 3-year tours in Germany, but 14 of his 23 years were spent at Fort Bragg, NC. In 2012, he graduated with a Master’s in Divinity from Duke University. Fred is a “cradle Episcopalian” and has been active in all levels of parish activity, including work at the diocesan level. Since moving to Brevard in 2015, Fred and Dolores have been active members of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. Together, Fred and Dolores have 5 children and 5 grandchildren who live in Asheville, NC, Massachusetts, and New York.
Fred and Dolores helped facilitate the 2023 CSW Pilgrimage to Turkey and Greece, Following the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul, and will travel to Italy in October 2025 to Follow the Footsteps of St. Francis and St. Clare.
Joni Pavlik
CSW Program Planning Coordinator
Mary Kathryn Craft
CSW Associate of Marketing and Development, Board Secretary
Flora Brooke
Associate
A proud fifth-generation native of Portland, Oregon, Flora has loved living in both the Piedmont and western regions of North Carolina recently. She first encountered Center for Spiritual Wisdom in August of 2021 while a member of the Blue Ridge Service Corps, serving on staff with the Center as Assistant for Communications and Administration.
Having worked with Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopal churches and a Jewish nonprofit, Flora is passionate about interfaith involvement. Religion and spirituality intrigue her on both personal and intellectual planes, with Scriptural studies especially piquing her interest. While in North Carolina, Flora focused on Religious Studies at Davidson College, then finished her degree in the Judaic Studies department at Portland State University.
SoulCollage® holds a central and dear place in Flora’s heart and life. She also loves spending time with her family, friends and dogs; being outdoors; road trips (she’s driven cross-country four times!); music; and reading. Learning about social justice issues is important to Flora, especially those related to elder rights, race, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Brandon Cook
Associate
Brandon is a husband and father, passionate about family and relationships. He’s also a writer, trainer, and business/personal coach.
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Brandon attended Wheaton College (IL) and studied in Jerusalem, Israel before graduating from Brandeis University near Boston. He also received a Master’s degree in ancient Judaism from Oxford University in the UK. After graduate school, Brandon moved to Long Beach, California and had a transformative experience for over 14 years working a pastor, coach, and trainer. He has worked as a professional storyteller, and you can read some of his writing (poetry, fiction, and non-fiction) at storyflight.com. He is also a talented and avid photographer, and you can view some of his photography on Instagram. And finally, Brandon is the Executive Director of the podcast “Naming the Real” and co-chair of the Center’s monthly online series “A Little About a Lot”.
Brandon and his wife Rebecca live in Brevard, North Carolina with their three young children and their dog, Colonel.
Sharad Creasman
Associate
Sharad H. Creasman is the Dean for Spiritual and Religious Life at Brevard College. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Clemson University, a Master of Theology from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, a Master of Divinity from the Morehouse School of Religion, and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Brevard College.
Sharad has had the honor of being the Guest Chaplain for the United States Senate, a Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, and a contributing author to the African American Lectionary, the African American Pulpit Journal, and the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.
Sharad’s interfaith journey began at birth, being born into a Muslim-Christian household. His most incredible honor is being the proud dad of two children, Faith and Amir.
Cindy Decker
Associate
Terry Decker
Associate
Terry refers to himself as “an impious sojourner with a passion to affirm the promise of our diverse humanity and shared experience.” Raised in a liberal Baptist tradition with a pastor father and an English professor mother, Terry gained “an early, and deep appreciation for the sanctity of the human spirit and the power of the written word to inform, enlighten, and transform.” Unanswerable questions from his childhood eventually led to more universal considerations. “Buddhism and Hinduism became like additional chapters in an evolving spirit novel and rounded the more rigid corners of my upbringing,” he says. Today, he is “beyond grateful” for the collective wisdom of the world’s many spiritual traditions. Terry’s career in information technology revealed and reinforced his passion for teaching diverse interest groups. Finding people where they are and leading them to a new place is at the core of his career success. At CSW, Terry is deeply involved in the Reel Spirit Movie Project and the annual Wisdom of World Religions series, and is co-chair of the monthly online series “A Little About a Lot”.
Corey Gafnea
Associate
Corey and her family moved to Brevard in 2013. She grew up in New York City and Atlanta and was exposed to and loved learning about diverse cultures, especially their spiritual and cultural traditions. She received a degree in art history from Georgia State University, traveled extensively throughout Europe, and lived and studied Spanish in Barcelona, Spain. She then returned to the U.S. and had a successful career in Atlanta as an art consultant and an ESL teacher to Korean adults.
Since moving to Brevard she has worked with a variety of nonprofits including SAFE, where she taught about healthy relationships, consent, and sexual violence prevention. In 2020 she received a digital marketing certificate from UNC and worked for the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority. In 2024 she completed a 100-hour Mindfulness Meditation teacher training. From 2022-2025, Corey was the Center’s Marketing Communications Specialist.
Corey and her husband Tim have two young adult children, Hiatt and Kate. She is a lifelong learner, avid reader, and loves meditation, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. In 2019, she and her family hiked the Norte route of the Camino de Santiago and in 2024 she walked the Camino Frances from Pamplona to Santiago.
Tony Gillman
Associate
Tony moved to Brevard (actually Pisgah Forest) in 2018 after retiring from an in-house counsel position he held with Verizon for thirty years. Tony has been a spiritual seeker for many years and was so grateful that he could continue his spiritual path with the Center for Spiritual Wisdom. As a “Sendee” from Richard Rohr’s Living School of Action and Contemplation in 2019, Tony has studied under Father Richard, James Finley and Cynthia Bourgeault. He currently facilitates/belongs to a number of contemplative prayer and reflection groups and has a keen interest in Monastic Spirituality. At the Center, Tony is a former board member and current chair of the monthly Reel Spirit Movie Project. Tony has been married for nearly 40 years to his wife Micki, and they have four grown children and six grandchildren.
Mary Ann Iyer
Associate
Mary Ann Iyer, MD recently retired from her Internal Medicine practice. She has taken a uniquely spiritual approach to healing since 1982, when she began to focus on MindBody Medicine. “I realized early on in my career that the beliefs we hold dictate not only our behavior, for better or for worse, but even the chemistry and functioning of our bodies.”
Dr. Iyer moved to North Carolina from Oregon, where she was the Medical Director of the 2-clinic Integrative Medicine Program she created for Samaritan Health Services. Her training and experience include Board Certification in Internal Medicine, a Masters degree in Psychology, certification in Jin Shin Do Acupressure, Vipassana (“Mindfulness”) Meditation, Vision Quests, and many other MindBody-related topics. She is on faculty for the Mindfulness Coaching School of Santa Fe, NM.
Her passion remains the spiritual component of healing and wellbeing, and the personal investigation and inquiry possible through the “wake-up calls” our bodies give us through dis-ease. Her books and CD’s (under author name Mary Ann Wallace, MD) include Mindful Eating: Mindful Life and The Heart of Healing as well as numerous guided imagery and meditation CDs.
Contact Dr. Iyer through her contact page at MaryAnnIyer.com.
Dr. Christine King
Associate
Dr. Christine King lived and worked throughout Asia and Europe, consulting with international teams and global academic programs for the University of Maryland. She directed a Leadership Development graduate program for more than twenty years. Christine now lives in Mills River, NC, on a small farm, the home of her consulting work, Fresh Perceptions.
She is the author of Choosing Compassion: The Enneagram’s Nine Pathways. Christine draws upon the Enneagram to support organizations, teams, and families.
Christine says, “As we navigate the Covid-19 global crisis, the Enneagram can help us access our resilience, intuitive wisdom, and unique strengths. When grounded in our Enneagram ‘home-base’ we have access to the well-being of all the other types. We all need that now, more than ever!”
Contact Christine through her personal web site or Fresh Perceptions.
Tom Lewis
Senior Consultant
Before moving to Brevard, Tom Lewis served as Director of the Spirituality Program at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, where he led a certificate program in Christian Spiritual Formation. While at Columbia, he worked in spiritual growth and renewal with church leaders from a wide spectrum of geography and theology. This experience confirmed for him there is a great hunger for the divine throughout our society. “Folks often don’t know how to ‘Be Still’ long enough to experience the richness of that relationship,” he says. With a background in private industry and ordained ministry, Tom has led seminars, taught spiritual formation, and served as a retreat and conference leader. His passion is for teaching about spiritual formation and the spiritual components of depression. He has led 8 pilgrimages to the Holy Land. At CSW, Tom was a long-time member of the board, a frequent program leader, and continues as the Center’s Senior Consultant.
Mary Marinucci
Associate
Mary has been with the Center since its beginning. She was co-leader with Rob Field for a two-year program on Contemplative Practices and hosted the Second Sunday Series.
Mary is originally from New Jersey, retiring to Brevard, NC in 2005. She is a former member of the Sisters of Charity of NJ and continues a lay affiliation with them. She received her BA in Latin from the College of St. Elizabeth in NJ and taught high school Latin as a member. Mary pursued an MSW in Clinical Social Work from Rutgers University followed by a three-year certificate program at the New York School for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis in Manhattan. This program required personal analysis and many years of continued supervision. She has worked in in- and out-patient psychiatric and mental health settings while also having a private practice for over 37 years.
With her years of monastic and religious training along with her psychological studies and practice she has seen that our interior life and our soul are inseparable. Mental health is soul work. And the soul is always seeking to be free.
Betsy Perry
Associate
Vance Reese
Associate
Vance finds himself curious. Other people find him curious, too. Though the muses of art, words, dreams, and other creative expressions speak to Vance, music carries the most decibels for him. His wife Jean and their son Jonathan are his principal instructors, and occasionally he a-muses them. Vance, originally from Knoxville, TN, has a Doctor of Music from Indiana University and a certificate in Dream Work Training from the Haden Institute in Flat Rock, NC. He continues to facilitate group dream work and is learning to ask the question of Who is dreaming him.
When Harry met Sally is a movie. When Vance met Rob is an actual event not shown in theaters (yet!). In their previous manifestations, they worked as Organist/Choir Director and Rector at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brevard. Vance is happy to reunite with Rob at Center for Spiritual Wisdom, and happy to meet others in this wonderful community. Since 2018, the Reeses have called Brevard home. They continue to work — Jean at Evergreen Community Charter School (Asheville); Vance as college professor (Brevard College), organist, bass player, and collaborative accompanist. They are members of the Brevard Jewish Community.
Jean Woods
Associate
Jean grew up in a coal camp in southwest Virginia. She retired from a career in Information Technology with DuPont and after retirement, had her own company for 15 years helping small businesses with their computer needs. She also worked on the three Skylab missions in Houston, Texas writing programs to calculate mass properties for the space vehicles.
Jean has a BA in Mathematics from the University of Delaware, a Master’s of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, and a certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Shalem Institute. Jean has guided people for spiritual direction for 25 years, and leads and facilitates programs about spiritual growth and transformation. She mentored the four-year Education for Ministry program for 23 years, which is taught in extension by the University of the South. She also did a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
Jean’s passion is creation care, and she has served in many secular capacities to save, protect, and educate about God’s creation. The coal camp where she grew up was strip mined, and as a result, she developed a deep reverence for God’s creation and became involved in organizations and activities where she could speak for the land, which has no voice.
Toni Bentfeld
Board Member
Originally from Ohio, Toni began her career as a speech therapist in Greenwich, Connecticut. She then transitioned to working for-profit and nonprofit organizations in Connecticut and South Carolina, where she currently lives. While at GE she led a large training organization and was selected to coach emerging leaders as well as facilitate cross-functional meetings. In the non-profit arena, she served as the Director of Training for St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Endlessly fascinated by human psychology and communication, Toni earned a BS in Speech Communication and Psychology followed by a graduate level certificate in corporate communications. Wishing to broaden her understanding of how performance can be advanced on a large scale, she then completed her MBA in Organizational Behavior.
Toni has been an active supporter of the Center for Spiritual Wisdom since its inception. This experience has given her a deep appreciation for CSW’s mission, principles and programs and its enduring impact on her own spiritual journey and that of countless others.
Paula Benton
Board Member / Associate
Paula has been a deeply grateful supporter of Center for Spiritual Wisdom since its founding. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina and a B.S. in Interior Design from Western Carolina University. She is a graduate of the Haden Institute and credentialed in Spiritual Direction. She facilitated a large adult Sunday School class, Coffee + Conversation, at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church for 10 years.
As a devotee and teacher of the Enneagram, she understands the Enneagram as a tool for our continuing spiritual journeys, as well as a practical methodology for self-discovery. Paula and CSW Director Rob Field co-lead Enneagram-based learning series, workshops, and retreats.
Paula and her husband have been married for more than five decades. They have an amazing daughter and two amazing sons and 6 gorgeous grandchildren.
Sarah Grace Montgomery
Board Member
Sarah Grace is a multi-faceted faith leader in the areas of Faith Formation, Christian Education and Youth Ministry. She has over 20 years experience in shaping and encouraging faith development of all ages from birth to adult. She is a passionate lover of justice, peace and authenticity. Sarah Grace finds meaning in breaking the cycle of Church-related trauma and encouraging faith formation with inclusivity and wonder. Finding the holy in everyday moments brings her peace and joy. In Brevard, Sarah Grace has worked with Crosstown Youth since it’s inception. Crosstown is an ecumenical Youth Group ministry that is sponsored by Brevard First United Methodist Church, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Bethel A Baptist Church and St. Philips Episcopal Church. Additionally, she is an active part of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina where she supports youth leadership development and serves in the area of Strengthening Congregations.