Founding Members
The Divine Office draws freelancers, creatives, digital nomads and entrepreneurs who come from a variety of faith backgrounds. Regardless of occupation (screenwriter or life coach, recruiter or chef) we're all working with WiFi and card tables in our scrappy early start-up phase.
Meet a few of our early members.
Karen Brightly
Development Strategy, Founding Member
Karen Brightly co-conspires—that is, consults—with people and organizations whose missions make the world better. With her clients she develops funding streams as well as vision-driven, strategic change plans and action maps. Several of her clients have been either individual Episcopal parishes or close affiliates of the larger Episcopal Church.
Karen is grateful for opportunities for deeply integrated learning and is currently a student in the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School. She is also is training as a teacher in Kundalini, a spiritual yoga.
Karen especially loved partnering this summer with a small team from The Divine Office to begin writing a living document of our shared spiritual life and practice, following the “Growing a Rule of Life” course offered by the Society of St. John the Evangelist.
Joshua Chamberlain
Founding Member
Joshua Chamberlain is a writer, director, and visual artist. A masterful craftsman of original creative content, Josh's strengths include dramatic storytelling, theatre and film production, and visual media. An associate artist of Pacific Resident Theatre, Josh has assistant directed a variety of productions for both PRT and Rogue Machine Theatre. He has also stage managed several high-profile events, including the Producers Guild of America's Produced By Conference. Originally hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Josh graduated from the University of Dayton and is an alumnus of the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation. He has also served as a member of the Episcopal Service Corps, working as a grant writer for the Diocese of Southern Ohio.
Laurie Davis Edwards (Star)
Founding Member
Laurie Davis Edwards, also known as Star, is the founder of The Worthy One.
Star heals hearts. With over a decade of experience as a relationship guide and dating coach, Star helps women find clarity and direction through trusting their own intuition.
Like her namesake, Star brings a warm, radiant glow to the Divine Office. Her readiness to share her wins—and celebrate the successes of others—is contagious.
Dennis Doherty
Communication, Founding Member
Dennis Doherty helps restaurant owners comply with environmental regulations and is the sole consultant and distributor in Southern California for the GOSLYN AGRD (automatic grease removal device). The GOSLYN is a nifty and necessary device which separates fats, oils, grease and solids (FOGS) from a restaurant kitchen’s washing water. Dennis became an independent FOGS consultant in 2010, following years in manufacturing management, operations, sales, and customer service.
"The Divine Office is an important community for me as a solo practitioner," he says. “I now approach my work as an important ministry.” Dennis manages our internal communication and we can always count on him to get a strong pot of coffee brewing at The Divine Office.
Cassidy Hall
Founding Member
Cassidy Hall is an author, photographer, filmmaker, podcaster, and counselor. An early contributor to The Divine Office, Cassidy is currently in her second year of study at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
In much of her work, Cassidy explores the connections between silence and spirituality. Her interest has led her on a pilgrimage to visit all 17 Trappist / Cistercian monasteries in the U.S.; drew her to work on the production team for the 2015 documentary film IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE; and now inspires the conversations on her podcast, Encountering Silence. In her directorial debut, DAY OF A STRANGER, will share an intimate portrait of Thomas Merton’s final years.
We have Cassidy to thank for giving The Divine Office its name.
Deborah Kaufman
Liturgist, Founding Member
Deborah Kaufman founded Healthcare Recruiting, an executive search firm, in 2008. As CEO and lead recruiter, Deb finds top talent for healthcare industry leaders, helping them match with the best candidate for their marketing, PR and digital needs. Her keen intuition serves her well both in her professional role as a recruiter and her avocation as a spiritual director. Trained by Stillpoint in spiritual direction, Deb guides both individuals and groups toward a deeper relationship with God.
At The Divine Office, Deb is our liturgist and has created short prayer services for opening, noonday, and closing prayer. Her Binder of TDO Common Prayer is inclusive and ecumenical, following the seasons of the Church year. A faithful disciple of ergonomics, Deb will stack as many hymnals as needed in order to raise her keyboard to the appropriate height.