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The Rt. Rev. Br. Mark D’Alessio is a Franciscan friar and the Mentor General in the spiritual society of the Companions of Francis and Clare. He is also a Christian bishop and priest, ordained Buddhist lay minister, spiritual director, chaplain, retreat leader, interspiritual pilgrim, and author. He previously served as President and Executive Director of the Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute, an organization dedicated to integrating the wisdom of psychological care with the spiritual and pastoral traditions of the church.

A graduate of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance—founded by Henri Nouwen and Madeleine L’Engle—Br. Mark now serves as Dean of the Franciscan Circle’s Spiritual Direction and Community-Based Chaplaincy Training Program, sponsored by the Circle’s Institute for Interfaith Understanding and Practice. In this role, he oversees formation programs rooted in contemplative practice, ethical spiritual care, interfaith understanding, and Franciscan values. He is also a faculty member and community leader within the Guild and serves on the faculty of All Faiths Seminary International, training interfaith ministers and spiritual caregivers.

A long-time seeker and practitioner of spiritual wisdom, Br. Mark is ordained within multiple spiritual lineages, both East (Zen Buddhist) and West (Franciscan Christian). He seeks to affirm the Christian Wisdom tradition within a wider interspiritual framework and looks to both science and spirituality—as well as teachers such as Thích Nhat Hanh and St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi—as sources of inspiration, healing, and hope.

Currently residing on Long Island, Bishop Br. Mark recently retired from his work as a crisis counselor and program coordinator at a shelter for men and women experiencing homelessness, as well as from his role as a chaplain at a residential treatment center and school for children with learning and emotional disabilities. After moving to Long Island, he founded the Franciscan Circle, a progressive, interfaith gathering of clergy and lay people committed to journeying in mind and heart with the witness and wisdom of Francis and Clare of Assisi. The Circle is dedicated to developing leaders for thoughtful social action, contemplative practice, and compassionate spiritual care.

As a Franciscan, Br. Mark is committed to serving those who are sidelined, marginalized, and at risk. As a Buddhist, he is mindful that the transformation of the world begins with the transformation of one’s own heart. Embodying both traditions, he seeks to participate in the healing of both self and society through compassion, justice, and understanding. In recognition of his community ministry, the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless honored Br. Mark with its “Unsung Hero” Award.

Br. Mark D’Alessio can be reached at franciscancircle@gmail.com

With thanks and gratitude to all of our listeners. If you would like to get in touch, we can be reached at fromstardusttous@gmail.com.

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In this deeply honest conversation, we sit with Kenneth Wortley. His life journey spans decades of ministry, education, marriage, and fatherhood. Ultimately, it leads to liberation.

Ken was born in 1951 into a blue-collar family in Saginaw, Michigan. His early life led him into theology and pastoral ministry. He served churches across Colorado, Oregon, California, and Washington. For years, he faithfully met the expectations of church, marriage, and vocation. Meanwhile, he quietly carried hidden truths.

Later in life, after divorce and a profound inner reckoning, Ken came out as a gay man. He journaled about his experience of grief, faith, and living authentically. Through this process, he began to tell the story that would eventually become The Gospel of Secrets. This memoir has since reached #1 in new LGBTQ+ memoir releases.

Ken currently lives in Brazil with his partner.

You can find his memoir, "The Gospel of Secrets" at Barnes and Noble.

EPISODE NOTE: During the conversation, the work of biblical scholar Dan McClellan was mentioned. Listeners interested in exploring his academic perspective may do so independently. He can be found on many different social media sites and WordPress.

With thanks and gratitude to all of our listeners. If you would like to get in touch, we can be reached at fromstardusttous@gmail.com.

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In this conversation, we sit with Kara Huntermoon, whose life and work are deeply committed to the Long Tom Watershed and the human and more-than-human communities of the Southern Willamette Valley. Kara shares how her path unfolded into hyper-local, hands-on ecological and community work, teaching permaculture and ancestral skills, living in intentional community, and organizing with neighbors to respond to climate change and the need for collective survival.

Kara speaks from a lived relationship with land, animals, and community. At the heart of her work are two intertwined practices: Liberation Listening, the internal and interpersonal work to heal the trauma carried by humans who have been isolated from one another and from the Earth. and ecological integration, the ongoing process of helping humans rejoin the living ecological community of their watershed.

This conversation is grounded in humility and gratitude for Indigenous stewardship and traditional ecological knowledge; for ancestors; and for the many teachers, scientists, farmers, permaculturists, midwives, herbalists, and earth-based practitioners, who have modeled what it looks like to love land and community.

Find out more about her work at:

https://karahuntermoon.substack.com/

https://karahuntermoon.com/

With thanks and gratitude to all of our listeners. If you would like to get in touch, we can be reached at fromstardusttous@gmail.com.