Please feel free to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Ignatian Spirituality Project
6214 N. Glenwood Ave | Suite Three
Chicago, IL 60660

Contact Us Online (click here)

E-mail: info(at)ignatianspiritualityproject.org

Staff Biographies -- click on the name for a brief biography of our dedicated staff.

Bill Creed
Founder and Chairman of the Board

Tom Drexler
Executive Director

Jordan Skarr
Associate Director

Patricia Crowley, O.S.B.
Prioress, Benedictine Sisters of Chicago and ISP Retreat Team Animator

Wayne Richard
Consultant for Leadership Development and Social Transformation

Cathy Reid
Chicago Coordinator for Retreats and Jesuit Volunteer

 

BILL CREED, SJ | Founder and Chairman of the Board

Bill Creed entered the Jesuits in 1963 after completing a law degree. He has a D.Min, an M.Div, an MTh, an MEd in counseling (awfully dumb to have to go to school that long). As a Jesuit priest he has been involved in establishing three centers for spirituality and has conducted formation/training programs for spiritual directors where he is teacher, supervisor, administrator and colleague. Currently Bill teaches half time in the Institute of Pastoral Studies (a graduate program at Loyola University Chicago) offering "Hearts on Fire - The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola," "Spirituality and the Poor - a Challenge to Personal and Public Discernment," and "Introduction to Spiritual Direction in the Ignatian Tradition." He is chaplain for 45 members of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (Chicago Region) who volunteer two days a week in hands on service of the poor. He assists with the Exercises in Daily Life, an eight-month retreat at Loyola University Chicago where each year 30-36 faculty, staff and grad students make the individual Exercises accompanied by one of 24 directors. He is a spiritual director and supervisor of spiritual directors for an "Internship in the Spiritual Exercises." And he is cheerful or despondent, depending on how well the White Sox baseball team is doing.

TOM DREXLER | Executive Director

Tom became the first, full-time director of the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) in April of 2008.  For over 20 years Tom has been involved in Catholic education and formation on the secondary level, in higher education, and in post-graduate full-time volunteers programs.  In the past, the majority of his work in higher education has been centered on volunteerism and service-learning.  For five years he lived and worked in the Dominican Republic creating and directing Creighton University’s service learning study abroad program.  At DePaul University, Tom coordinated University Ministry’s community service efforts, helped established DePaul’s Office of Community-based Service Learning before and eventually joined the Mission and Identity Office.  For two years Tom was the Executive Director of Jesuit Volunteers International, a two-year post graduate volunteers program with 70 young adults serving in 10 developing nations throughout the world.

Tom and his energetic Labradoodle, Sam, live on the north side of Chicago.

 

JORDAN SKARR| Associate Director

After graduating from Marquette University, Jordan spent a few years in Tacoma, WA as a Jesuit Volunteer at a daytime house of hospitality. Having successfully mastered the art of simultaneously cooking 30 gallons of soup while diffusing an argument and navigating concurrent ontological crises, Jordan moved back to Chicago to complete his Master of Divinity degree at Loyola University where he specialized in social justice, men's spirituality, and the pastoral care of addiction. He is a graduate of the MAGIS fellowship and a trained Spiritual Director in the Ignatian tradition. Jordan has been with ISP since the national organization took new life in 2006. He works with emerging teams throughout the country to successfully deliver the retreat.

Jordan lives in Chicago with his wife Megan. Since their wedding in October 2008, they are rumored to be quite happy.

 

PATRICIA CROWLEY, O.S.B.|
Prioress, Benedictine Sisters of Chicago and ISP Retreat Team Animator

Patricia Crowley is a Chicago native and member of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago since 1958. She has a B.A. in English Literature, an M.A. in Catechetical Theology and two honorary doctorate degrees.

Patricia taught at St. Scholastica Academy, and in 1979 became the Executive Director of the Howard Area Community Center. From 1991 – 2004, she served as Executive Director of Deborah’s Place, an organization that provides shelter, supportive housing, and services to women who are homeless. Under her leadership, Deborah’s Place became the largest provider of housing and shelter for women in Chicago. She then became the Executive Director for the Chicago Continuum of Care – overseeing Chicago’s ten year plan to end homelessness.

In April of 2007, she was elected to leadership in her religious community and serves as the Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. Since 2008, she has served on the National Board for the Leadership Conference for Women Religious (LCWR), and in 2009 became a member of the board of the Chicago Religious Leaders Network.

Her numerous honors include the Call to Action Award (1986), a Distinguished Alumnae Award from Loyola University (1993) and the Outstanding Achievement Award for Community Leadership from the YWCA, Chicago’s most prestigious salute to working women. She has been honored with the Cardinal Bernadin Award for being a visionary, advocate and champion in the fight to end homelessness in Chicago.

Patricia is excited to offer her leadership, wisdom and formation to the ISP retreat team in Chicago.

WAYNE RICHARD|
Consultant for Leadership Development and Social Transformation

Father Bill asked me if I wanted to go on a retreat with him as a team leader, how can you say no to that? Ever since that first retreat some years ago, Wayne has been apart of the Project, a valued resource in both Spiritual Formation of potential leaders, and as a vital link into the world of Social Advocacy as he also works with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. This dual role helps to keep ISP on the cutting edge of information about how to end the injustice of homelessness and model for retreatants about life after addiction. He lives in Chicago.

CATHY REID | Chicago Coordinator

Cathy Reid is a Jesuit Volunteer working with the Ignatian Spirituality Project in Chicago for the 2009-2010 year. She will be co-coordinating local Chicago retreats and reflection and recovery programs.

Cathy received her Bachelor’s in theology from Creighton University, where she was also a Campus Ministry intern. During her time at Creighton, she was introduced to Ignatian spirituality and discernment, which led her to pursue a Masters in theology at Emory University, and then to her year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Cathy lives in Chicago with her JV community, but remains a farm girl at heart.