The Member Board consists of five to twelve member-servant leaders of good standing. The President-Minister serves as Trustees and are selected by the Board of Directors. The remaining trustees were elected by the Awakening Together membership. The Member Board is subordinate to the Board of Directors. The primary purpose of the Member Board is to manage the assembly’s day-to-day affairs in accordance with the Awakening Together purpose and values.
Our Member Board Trustees are:
Rev. Rhoda Makled
Rhoda Makled is Awakening Together’s President-Minister. Rhoda followed the traditional path of the American dream. She worked hard, got married, had a family, bought a house, got divorced, ended her career and started over. By following the American dream, she found that she was also an expert in human suffering. Watching the world search for meaning and using “stuff” to fill the void. Then came the second act. Rhoda’s second act has been completely focused on remembering the Truth. Before leaving her career she found many teachers. But finding the amazing Awakening Together Community was a real gift. This community is the cornerstone for healing in her life. It has given her clarity about her beliefs and brought her to real faith in Life. For this reason, Rhoda has jumped in with both feet without looking back. It is with great gratitude that Rhoda humbly serves this community.
Rev. Marisol Landin is our Awakening Together Sanctuary Director. Marisol’s search for something beyond the world began at the age of 19 when she read “A Return to Love” by Marianne Williamson. Years later she found ACIM which brought on an experience of awakening. It did not last long, but something had opened. From that moment on she knew there was something more. Around the same time, she came across “The Power of Now” by Eckert Tolle. which opened her heart and desire for the Truth even further. The desire for Truth became alive again when she found Regina’s teachings and Awakening Together. Marisol knew this was her way back home and what she truly longed for. Marisol is grateful to have gone through the Ministerial Preparation Program and for doing three years of Gentle Healing and sees the Awakening Together community and all the teachings offered as a beacon of light. Marisol was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2023.
Rev. Shawna Summers
Rev. Shawna Summers is our Sanctuary Director Admin Assistant. Shawna fell in love with Regina’s teachings in 2015 and knew Regina was her next teacher. Shawna took the first Gentle Healing class in January 2017. She completed the MPP courses and was ordained in June 2019. In April of 2018, Regina invited Shawna to “teach” in the sanctuary. She was scared, but it turned into a huge blessing that Shawna is still enjoying through speaking what is here to say, listening to Inner Wisdom. In January of 2019, Shawna moved from Northern California to La Veta, Colorado. She took every retreat offered that year, drinking in the honest & inspired depth of the teachings by Regina and the gorgeous beauty of the Rocky Mountains. She still lives in La Veta and is deeply in love with the Awakening Together online community as a safe and supportive space to share everything! Shawna was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2023.
Rev. Anne Blanchard
Rev. Anne Blanchard grew up in a family where EST training was a part of daily life. Many years later, in 2016, she began attending the Center for Conscious Living in Moorestown, New Jersey, where she refamiliarized herself with various New Thought and nondual teachings. Anne jumped with both feet into sincere and dedicated full-time spiritual practice when she joined Awakening Together on an India Pilgrimage in 2017. Anne teaches regularly in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. In her weekly program, Unfiltered, Anne shares her experience of purification and awakening, unfiltered and as it happens. Raw, reflective, brave, and infused with clarity, Anne’s open honesty inspires us all to dive deep into the spiritual journey instead of simply skimming the surface. Anne also facilitates a weekly Freedom Practice Sangha discussion group and leads morning awareness-based meditations. Anne was reelected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2024.
Rev. Melody Brauninger
Rev. Melody Brauninger has been graced with a smattering of mystical experiences throughout her life beginning with early childhood. She honors these as divine phone calls from the Beloved reminding her to come Home. She was a seeker most of her life, studying metaphysics in adolescence, trying different churches, pursuing a family and career, alcohol, relationships, “helping others,” and so on, attempting to find true happiness, until a revelation in 2015 which led her to A Course In Miracles. In 2018 Melody was led to Awakening Together and is continually awed by the perfection of each path. Her only true desire now is perfect devotion to the Beloved, and she is profoundly grateful to have the Mighty Companions who comprise Awakening Together.
Melody was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2024.
Rev. Cyndi Krupp has spent time as a chemist, an engineer, and a project manager. She has 2 adult”ish” children whom she adores and shares her apartment with Mistress Maeve (a feline), a few fish and frogs, and many plants. Cyndi’s spiritual path began about 23 years ago as a search to heal panic anxiety and recently she realized she is not seeking anymore – it is more like she is simply saying yes to life and all that it asks of her. Cyndi leads a 30 minute program in the Sanctuary on Wednesdays and she facilitates a Gentle Healing Group on Thursday evenings. She also teaches MPP Classes and leads retreats for Awakening Together. Cyndi was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2023.
Rev. George Maddox is an ordained minister and has been an AT member for several years. George has been a student of the Realization of Self for over 20 years. Raised in traditional churches, he was led to Unity and A Course in Miracles, where he has been active in many awakening groups throughout the years. He is a University of Missouri graduate and resides in Nashville, TN, with his wife and life partner, Liz. He’s been active in all of the churches he’s attended, serving on Boards and Committees. George was reelected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2022.
Rev. Yolanda Mapes
Licensed Minister, Rev. Yolanda Mapes was born as Roger Anthony Mapes in 1956 in Muscle Shoals Alabama. She is now and has always been an artist in the disciplines of painting/ drawing/ performance art and music (singer-songwriter). She has been interested in spirituality from a very young age. Her first experience of “knowing God’ occurred when she was a toddler just learning to walk. As she has traveled through her life, she has gravitated towards being very involved in many different spiritual communities. She says that Awakening Together is the first church/spiritual community where she has ever felt completely welcomed, nurtured, and loved for exactly who she is and the expression she chooses to present. Yolanda was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in July 2022.
In his search for answers to some of life’s questions, as well as a desire to end his own internal struggles,Licensed Minister, Rev. Joseph Schmitz, investigated various spiritual teachings and traditions for many years. Sometime around 2004 he was introduced to A Course in Miracles, which was unlike anything he had studied up to that point. The course offered an entirely new way to view life and the world. He was a student of the course for around 10 years, before moving on to other non-dual teachings, including those of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Michael Langford, and others. Joe lives in Shawnee, Kansas with his wife Teresa. Joe was elected to the Member Board of Trustees in 2023.
