Rev. Sandra Casey-Martus, MEd, MTS and Carla R. Mancari, MEd
The Reverend Sandra Casey-Martus is the rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. She served as associate rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, 2004–2009, as vicar of St. Francis of the Tetons Episcopal Church, and director of the Alta Retreat Center in Alta, Wyoming, 1994–2005. An adjunct faculty member of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, Sandy spent ten years on Contemplative Outreach Ltd.‘s Formation Training and Retreat Service teams. Her article “Centering Prayer and Priestly Formation” appears in Continuum Press’s publication Centering Prayer in Daily Life and Ministry, 1998. Sandy holds a BS and MEd from Springfield College in Massachusetts, an MTS from Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, and a CITS from the Episcopal Seminary of Southwest in Austin, Texas. Sandy is the cofounder of the Contemplative Invitation Teaching and has studied various forms of contemplative prayer (Eastern and Western) for over thirty years. Presently, in addition to her priestly service, she writes, travels, teaches Christ Centered Prayer to individuals and groups, and leads Christian contemplative prayer retreats.
Carla Mancari, a spiritual guide and teacher, is the author of When Jesus Is the Guru (2010) and Walking on the Grass. She coauthored The Lessons (2008), Concordance (2008), and Best-Kept Secret (2010). She has a BA from the University of South Carolina, an MEd from South Carolina State College, and has studied at Brigham Young University and the School of the Americas in Switzerland. She served as a certified psychologist in 1973 for the protection of minorities’ rights, and she led a class action suit, Morton vs. Mancari, through the United States Supreme Court. The case continues to be discussed and studied in universities and law schools as one of the most important minority law decisions in minority case law history. Carla traveled worldwide for many years, studying with Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist masters. She is the cofounder of the Contemplative Invitation Teaching: Christ Centered Prayer practice. She has guided individuals and taught the Christ Centered Prayer Practice for over thirty years. Presently, Carla writes, promotes published books, travels, and teaches Christ Centered Prayer.