Meet our Board of Directors

Tacheria Interfaith Spirituality and Spiritual Direction

Interim Chair of the Board of Directors

Ken Vorndran, Ph.D.

Over the course of forty years, he taught in three high schools, two community colleges, and one university. He retired from Pima Community College, where he spent the last fifteen years of his career as the honors coordinator for the college and teaching the honors research and honors writing courses.

Ken represented Pima on the Arizona State Honors Council, for which he was also chair, as well as on the Western Regional Honors Council and the Arizona English Articulation Taskforce. While at Pima, he served as lead faculty and department chair, and he was also an active member of PCCEA, where he served as a campus rep and om the meet - and - confer team. Prior to running the honors program at Pima, Ken taught writing, creative writing, and literature.

His essays, stories, and poems have been published in various newspapers, magazines, and literacy magazines. He received his BA from the University of Delaware and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Ken is serving this year as the Interim Co-Director of Wisdom's Way.

Former Chair of the Board & Co-Director/Director of Tacheria School

Frank R. Williams

Frank retired in 2017 as the Social Services Director at Casa de la Luz Hospice. Previous to his service with hospice he was in several positions, including Executive Director of Family Counseling Agency (now Our Family Services) and before that served twenty years on the Family Studies faculty at the University of Arizona.

He is a United Methodist minister and served churches in California and Arizona, and was founding pastor of St. Francis in the Foothills UMC.

He received his undergraduate degreee from the University of Arizona, his Masters of Sacred Theology from Boston University School of Theology and his doctorate from Boston University.

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Secretary & Special Events

Cathy Stafford, Ed.D.

Cathy spent over 35 years in the education profession as a teacher, reading specialist, university professor, and public school administrator. In 2012, after serving in Avondale Elementary School District for 20 years, she retired as Superintendent.

Cathy is a 2013 graduate of Tacheria Interfaith School of Spiritual direction where the Spirit stirred the creative longing of remembering being a teacher. With the support of the Tacheria Interfaith Spirituality Center Board in 2014, Cathy became the Director of Wisdom's Way Interfaith School in Phoenix as a 'sister' spiritual direction school.

Cathy's husband, Gil Stafford Ph.D, D.Min, has been her partner in this pilgrimage. Cathy retired from Wisdom's Way in June 2022 and became a Board Member working especially on Tacheria's special events and workshops.

Cathy is a seeker of Wisdom (Sophia) and a pilgrim of compassionate presence. Her passions are her holy grandboys who are her best teachers, spiritual companioning, The Circle way, and being open to the Divine in her journey of growing and learning.

Treasurer

Chuck Kirchner

Chuck is a 2021 graduate of Tacheria, has held a life-long yearning for the spiritual in our lives, especially our creative lives.

An accomplished photographer and photo educator, Chuck has led workshops on photo creativity and it's spiritual components at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and the Grunewald Guild in eastern Washington state.

While an interesting career in environemntal and transportation planning provided a steady source of income over the years, the passion for traveling the world to see first-hand the realm of cultures, rituals and spirit ceased; nor the desire to create photographs of the journeys.

He grew up in a traditional Roman Catholic family and over the years, transitioned to the Episcopal tradition, currently a member of St. Phillips in the Hills in Tucson. He has had, and continues to have, a fascination with religions and rituals world-wide, and finds kernels of truth in all of them. After living in the Puget Sound area most of his life, he and his wife and daughter relocated to the Sonoran desert over three years ago and finds the Spirit alive and well in the open spaces of the desert as he did in the open spaces of the ocean.

Director of Tacheria School

Betty Stauffer

Betty graduated from Tacheria School for Spiritual Direction in 2004.

She was first introduced to spiritual direction through the Church of the Savior in Washington D.C. in 1985. She has been in spiritual direction herself and served as a spiritual director and retreat leader since that time.

Betty is a former Elder in the Presbyterian Church USA and was very active in their Hunger Ministries.

She is a social worker who has served as an Executive Director, first of New Life Community in Cleveland, Ohio from 2002 to 2020 at Literacy Connects in Tucson, AZ.

Betty became a Co-Director of Tacheria with Frank williams in 2018.

She became Director in 2021.

Board Member

Phyllis Winters

Phyllis is a native of Phoenix and has a deep appreciation for the desert that surrounds us. She also has a long-standing love for the Pacific Northwest, and the beauty of its forests, rivers, and ocean.

She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oregon, with a Bachelor's Degree in Romance Language and Secondary Education.

After teaching briefly, life brought her back to Phoenix and the business world. She loved her work, first in training and development, then in human resources and executiver management.

After retirement, Phyllis wanted to focus more on her spiritual self, which led her to become a 2021 graduate of Wisdom's Way.

She continues to learn and grow, and is now discerning where her path will lead her.

Board Member

Anndrea Terry MA

Anndrea is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Master’s degree in Community Counseling and a postgraduate specialization in Wellness Counseling. She is also a trained yoga teacher, meditation instructor, breathwork facilitator, along with multiple certifications in ecotherapy.

She has worked for a non‑profit crisis center, private practice and has led multiple retreats focused on wellbeing in Northern Michigan and Arizona. Her professional background combines therapy, leadership, creativity and program development with a deep commitment to accessible, inclusive care.

Her interests and studies center on spiritual direction, eco‑spirituality, and myth‑informed guidance, where she integrates contemplative practices with nature‑based wisdom. She is dedicated to practicing curiosity and establishing ways of being in the world informed by nature’s rhythms of rest, growth, and balance. Anndrea’s vision is to support individuals and communities in cultivating resilience, meaning, and soulful connection.

Originally from Michigan, Anndrea has made her home in Arizona since 2016. She is a current student at Tacheria and will graduate in the summer of 2026.

Reverand

Mike Wilkerson

Rev. Mike Wilkerson was born in Ocala, Florida and moved around while growing up, mostly in the southeast part of the country.

Upon graduation from high school, he enlisted in the Navy, attended the University of Florida through an ROTC scholarship, then served as an officer in submarines. After thirteen years of military service, Mike left the Navy, got a master's degree, and then moved to the Phoenix area where he worked as a computer design engineer at Intel Corporation for twenty years. After serving in various roles at Song of Life UMC in Queeen Creek, Arizona, Rev. Mike discerned a call to serve as an ordained elder in the United Methodist tradition.

In 2018, he attended Garrett - Evangelical Theological Seminary for three years, serving in Yuma, AZ. Mike met his wife Brooke, and they were married in September of 2022.

Mike is very grateful for the opportunity to serve now at St. Francis in the Foothills, Tucson, together with his wife and stepson. In his spare time, Mike enjoys racquetball, hiking, and playing board games.

The Rev

The Rev. Philip Shaw

Rev. Philip Shaw served at St. Luke's Episcopal Interim Rector from February of 2022 - 2023 has returned serving St. Luke's Episcopal, Prescott, as Assisting Priest.

Rev. Deborah Christine

Born in 1955 in Greeley CO, my family moved in 1960 to Tempe, AZ so that my father could teach at the Tempe Normal School. Tempe was my home, and my father continued his education and employment at ASU and became a Professor of Elementary Education. My first college degree was from ASU, a Bachelor of Arts in Education. I taught one year in Phoenix and then moved to Tucson to help open a brand-new school in Catalina Foothills District, Manzanita Elementary School. While teaching I completed my Masters of Art in Education at the UofA.

I married in 1989 and soon had a set of twins, Katherine and Matthew. In 2002 we purchased a small in town ranch on the far east edge of Tucson and the twins started school in the Tanque Verde School District. We lived there until 2008 sharing our home with all kinds of animals, horses, dogs, cats, and birds.

It was in 2008, when both of my children were in college, that I answered my call to ordained ministry and moved to Denver, CO to start a three-year Master of Divinity program. After graduating I was appointed to Westcliffe, CO to serve a 115-member church; Community UMC. Then I was appointed to Bozeman UMC in MT, as a two year Intentional Interim.

In those two years I became acquainted with our Bishop, Karen Oliveto, and she requested that when I finished at Bozeman I serve as the District Superintendent of Montana East. I moved to Billings and served 40 churches that covered 400 miles.

In 2021 when I decide to retire, I knew that I would come home to Tucson. My daughter, who lives in Tucson, works at Roche Pharmaceuticals in cancer research. My son lives in Boston where he consults with numerous non-profits in arts and cultural formation and development.

I loved retirement! One of the first things I did was enter the Tachira Spiritual Direction program, graduating in June of 2024. After 15 months of retirement, I accepted a six-month interim position at Vista De La Montana UMC. Currently I am the halftime Associate Pastor of Discipleship at St. Marks UMC.

I am called by my faith to be in service to the church and the world. I desire to be the face of the Divine that is inclusive, welcoming, loving and committed to others. I believe that it is through social, community and ecumenical work that the Divine can be fully present in the world.