Linda Barkwill 

Growing up, my mother took us to the Missouri Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church that all her Czechoslovakian family attended. My dad was a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran who joined the Masonic Order. Mother’s church wouldn’t allow him to receive Communion because the Masonic Order was not accepted by the conservative Missouri Synod. Hence, my mother and father couldn’t go to church together!

Somewhere between the ages of five and eight, I decided that “this God” was too small, and I began looking elsewhere for the truth. Now, I am an ordained interfaith minister who has presided at 248 customized wedding ceremonies in the Wisconsin and greater Chicago area.

At age 19, I felt called to “sisterhood” but learned that Lutherans didn’t have orders of sisters. I feel that I’ve had many lives in religious and wisdom traditions, so I’m not surprised that I felt a call. I passed on it at that time, but retrieved it 22 years later when I met Sister Lucinda Hubing. We went to local meetings in Milwaukee and conferences of the International Institute of Integral Human Sciences (IIIHS) in Montreal with Nancy Clark and other members of our local spiritual community. When I was offered the opportunity to become an associate, I accepted immediately because I wanted to be closer to the Holy, which I feel Sister Lucinda and the School Sisters of St. Francis embody.

Preparation for ministry was an extensive immersion in distance learning, studying the great religions, wisdom traditions, and healing traditions with the IIIHS in Montreal. I received a Ph.D. in therapeutic counseling from the Open International University, a United Nations-affiliated program that accredited the IIIHS coursework. I then invested 10 years in teaching, counseling, and consulting. I was ordained in 2001 by the Spiritual Science Fellowship, which is affiliated with the IIIHS. I also became an ordained minister with the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, a meditative tradition in which I have participated in for over 40 years.

With the realization that I am a soul expressing in a body, I pray daily and live in a waking meditation. My prayers end with “light for the highest good of all concerned” and “the blessings already are.” I am a joyful person because I do not fear death.

I am a retired 78-year-old associate. I minister to Splendido, my life care community in Oro Valley, Arizona, and to Sonora, the wing of our community dedicated to health care (assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory care.) I live in assisted living and walk through a door to enter skilled nursing.

I’ve lived here for 15 years, and I have a caring ministry in which I visit many residents, many of whom are widows. I accompany them so they are not “forgotten.” We live in a loving, caring, highly professional facility, that is one of the best, if not the best, in Arizona. I tell them I feel like I went to heaven, but I didn’t have to die to get there! I am blessed.

I also bring together small groups of women with kind hearts and sparkling eyes for dinner. It allows people to be together and get to know one another. We all came from different places, and this is very meaningful.

My thoughts for those looking to associate with religious life and communities like the School Sisters of St. Francis are that it’s wonderful to be closer to the “Holy.” The School Sisters of St. Francis

Sisters have had such beautiful ministries, and I’ve learned much from them. It has been a top experience in my life.”

We congratulate you, Linda, on the powerful religious experiences in your life and the 25 years of association with our community.