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The Order of Hildegard began to take shape amid a forming vision for community following shared painful experiences in patriarchal religious systems and the resulting awareness of those losses. Those who came together brought vast experience in spiritual communities with some common themes of disillusionment and hope. We combined passion with gifts for rebuilding a vision absent of unchecked oppressive ideologies.

Our founder:

Our founder, Rev. Dr. Frances Jeanne Smathers, is a former UMC pastor who also served in the United Kingdom. Frances, our "Wilderness Abbess," grew up in the wilds of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, studied Theology, Social Work, Leadership and Courage Building, Embodiment and Movement, Healing, Martial Arts, Trauma, Civil Rights, Mysticism, Feminism, Queer Spirituality and even Reconciliation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Emory University.  She later worked more extensively in crisis work and nonprofit leadership while facilitating Dr. Brené Brown's shame research for her Independent Facilitator Team.

All of these pieces provided elements for what was to be important for healthy spiritual community building - the kind that changes the landscape and roots out oppressive institutional frameworks. Then the teamwork began. Please see the bios of our team and wisdom council on the website.

With the additions of a board, networking council, cohorts and now graduates, we have developed a peer leadership team who help guide the work.