Bio Overview
My name is Stefanie Etzbach-Dale, and I am founder of TendingSpirit.
I have over thirty years of experience leading support groups, retreats, and rituals, doing public speaking, making art, and companioning individuals through private pastoral counseling, mentoring, chaplaincy, and coaching sessions.
An ordained Interfaith and Unitarian Universalist minister with specialized training in spiritual psychology, I am deeply committed both to “the sacred ground of the present and to the creative power of the human imagination.” I received Final Fellowship from the Unitarian Universalist Minister's Association in 2008, have been affiliated with the UU Congregation of Palo Alto as Community Minister since 2018, am member in good standing of the Unitarian Universalist Association and Spiritual Directors International, and, as of June 2021, the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association.
My approach is both pastoral and prophetic, focused on a deep reverence for life, the complexity of human experience, and the possibility of personal and societal transformation. As an artist, a mystic, and student of the esoteric on the path to conversion into Judaism, I weave holy curiosity, expressive arts, magic and energy work into all that I do. I bring both reverence and humor, honoring the deeply personal work of creating a life of empowered, courageous compassion and joyful integrity.
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Originally from Queens, New York, I live on unceded Ohlone land in Redwood City, CA with my beloved, George, and our cats, dogs, and chickens. Together, we are lovingly renovating a nearby piece of land situated under redwood trees and overlooking Half Moon Bay. The property, named The Treehouse, includes a ceremonial circle, and will soon be available as a setting for my retreats, workshops, and rituals.
Email: TendingSpirit@gmail.com
Visual Arts History: Stefanie pent over 20 years weaving together words, music, and ritual as an ordained minister. Her vision deteriorated significantly after she was infected with Lyme disease in 2015, necessitating early retirement. As her health improved and vision returned, she took up painting as a way to celebrate the gift of sight. As a way to inspire neighbors during Covid 2020 Stefanie started displaying her paintings on the fence around her home. In September 2021 she will display her paintings for the first time as a Resident Artist at the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA. She considers painting “a form of prayer, a way to transcend the limitations of time and space, and to connect deeply with the sacred ground of the present.” Most recently she has delighted in collecting soil from distant beloved places, grinding and mixing it with linseed oil, and using that to paint those very places.
Unitarian Universalist Ministry:
Stefanie was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 2000; received her M.Div through Meadville Lombard Theological School (Chicago, ILL); was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister by the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, CA in 2005; and was granted Final Fellowship by the UUA in 2008. In 2018 she completed the Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute's programs for Spiritual Direction and Spiritual Psychology. In 2019 she completed her 4th unit of Clinical Pastoral Education. In 2020, just before lockdown, she completed a Supervisor's Training program through Spiritual Directors International.
Stefanie served the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City as settled minister from 2014-2017. Prior to that she served various congregations in the Pacific Southwest District (including the UU Church of Santa Clarita Valley, the UU Fellowship of Kern County, the UU Fellowship of Laguna Beach, the UU Church of Verdugo Hills, the Sepuleda UU Society, Monte Vista UU Church, the UU Community Church of Santa Monica, First UU Church Los Angeles and others). While in the Pacific Southwest District she served as Unitarian Universalist Minister’s Association Vice President, Good Officer, and Retreat Planner. She was cofounder of the Pacific Southwest District Addictions and Recovery Ministry Team and active in the San Fernando Valley Cluster.
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This website provides a small glimpse into my background and my approach to fostering resilience through attentiveness to the sacred amidst the mundane, and through consciously developing spiritual courage, compassion, and creativity.
Please contact me at TendingSpirit@gmail.com if you feel drawn to working with me as your Spiritual Director, or are interested in having me speak, lead worship or ritual or a retreat for your community. Or if you're interested in my art work.
You can also follow my FaceBook page TendingSpirit, which offers daily original reflections and memes.
I have over thirty years of experience leading support groups, retreats, and rituals, doing public speaking, making art, and companioning individuals through private pastoral counseling, mentoring, chaplaincy, and coaching sessions.
An ordained Interfaith and Unitarian Universalist minister with specialized training in spiritual psychology, I am deeply committed both to “the sacred ground of the present and to the creative power of the human imagination.” I received Final Fellowship from the Unitarian Universalist Minister's Association in 2008, have been affiliated with the UU Congregation of Palo Alto as Community Minister since 2018, am member in good standing of the Unitarian Universalist Association and Spiritual Directors International, and, as of June 2021, the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association.
My approach is both pastoral and prophetic, focused on a deep reverence for life, the complexity of human experience, and the possibility of personal and societal transformation. As an artist, a mystic, and student of the esoteric on the path to conversion into Judaism, I weave holy curiosity, expressive arts, magic and energy work into all that I do. I bring both reverence and humor, honoring the deeply personal work of creating a life of empowered, courageous compassion and joyful integrity.
*
Originally from Queens, New York, I live on unceded Ohlone land in Redwood City, CA with my beloved, George, and our cats, dogs, and chickens. Together, we are lovingly renovating a nearby piece of land situated under redwood trees and overlooking Half Moon Bay. The property, named The Treehouse, includes a ceremonial circle, and will soon be available as a setting for my retreats, workshops, and rituals.
Email: TendingSpirit@gmail.com
Visual Arts History: Stefanie pent over 20 years weaving together words, music, and ritual as an ordained minister. Her vision deteriorated significantly after she was infected with Lyme disease in 2015, necessitating early retirement. As her health improved and vision returned, she took up painting as a way to celebrate the gift of sight. As a way to inspire neighbors during Covid 2020 Stefanie started displaying her paintings on the fence around her home. In September 2021 she will display her paintings for the first time as a Resident Artist at the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA. She considers painting “a form of prayer, a way to transcend the limitations of time and space, and to connect deeply with the sacred ground of the present.” Most recently she has delighted in collecting soil from distant beloved places, grinding and mixing it with linseed oil, and using that to paint those very places.
Unitarian Universalist Ministry:
Stefanie was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 2000; received her M.Div through Meadville Lombard Theological School (Chicago, ILL); was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist Minister by the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, CA in 2005; and was granted Final Fellowship by the UUA in 2008. In 2018 she completed the Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute's programs for Spiritual Direction and Spiritual Psychology. In 2019 she completed her 4th unit of Clinical Pastoral Education. In 2020, just before lockdown, she completed a Supervisor's Training program through Spiritual Directors International.
Stefanie served the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City as settled minister from 2014-2017. Prior to that she served various congregations in the Pacific Southwest District (including the UU Church of Santa Clarita Valley, the UU Fellowship of Kern County, the UU Fellowship of Laguna Beach, the UU Church of Verdugo Hills, the Sepuleda UU Society, Monte Vista UU Church, the UU Community Church of Santa Monica, First UU Church Los Angeles and others). While in the Pacific Southwest District she served as Unitarian Universalist Minister’s Association Vice President, Good Officer, and Retreat Planner. She was cofounder of the Pacific Southwest District Addictions and Recovery Ministry Team and active in the San Fernando Valley Cluster.
*
This website provides a small glimpse into my background and my approach to fostering resilience through attentiveness to the sacred amidst the mundane, and through consciously developing spiritual courage, compassion, and creativity.
Please contact me at TendingSpirit@gmail.com if you feel drawn to working with me as your Spiritual Director, or are interested in having me speak, lead worship or ritual or a retreat for your community. Or if you're interested in my art work.
You can also follow my FaceBook page TendingSpirit, which offers daily original reflections and memes.
