Reverend Ami Papadopulo, Staff Minister
Reverend Ami Papadopulo graduated from The Holmes Leadership Institute in the summer of 2018. Before that, she was a practitioner for 13 years and is currently a member of the Columbus Center for Spiritual Living in Columbus. Currently, she is serving as the Minister of Education, Minister of the Practitioner Core and is facilitating Practitioner training.
Reverend Ami has been part of the New Thought Movement since the late 1990’s. She earned a bachelors degree in history and a graduate degree in secondary social studies education from The Ohio State University. She has a diverse background from serving in the military to teaching inner-city high school kids. She is currently teaching middle school.
For the last ten years, Reverend Ami has brought an open heart and mind and a desire to be of service to Columbus Center for Spiritual Living. She is excited to continue to be part of the community in her new role as minister and is looking forward to doing her part in creating a world that works for everyone.
Rev. Amy currently lives in Upper Arlington with her daughter Sadie and their two dogs.
Reverend Erin Marie Szymanski, Staff Minister
Background. Rev. Erin Marie completed her Master of Divinity in 2004, and then spent a year in chaplaincy residency. For seven years, Erin Marie served as a hospital chaplain in Redding, CA. During that time, she began studying Science of Mind. In 2013 Rev. Erin Marie was licensed as a minster in CSL and was ordained in 2016. Before moving back to Columbus in 2018, she served as staff minister in Bellingham,WA.
Ministerial Focus. Currently, Rev. Erin Marie supports both of the Compassionate Care Teams – one for our community and another for the Earth. She delights in opportunities to lead Sunday Services and hold High Watch. As a Board Certified Chaplain, Rev. Erin Marie cares deeply about supporting people through challenging times. She also spent several years as a Youth Advisor, co-leading the teen program with her wife, and taking numerous youth to CSL teen camps.
Spiritual Practice. Among Rev. Erin Marie’s favorite spiritual practices are affirmative prayer and gratitude. She believes strongly in the power of affirmative prayer (aka Spiritual Mind Treatment) as a way to align with the truth of oneself as Spirit expression and to live that truth in all of life’s experiences. Gratitude practice has also become increasingly vital to Rev. Erin Marie, cultivating joy and beauty in her life.
Fun to Know. Of all the places Rev. Erin Marie has lived, the Pacific Northwest captured her spirit. The only thing strong enough to pull her away from the PNW is her family. So in 2018, Rev. Erin Marie and her wife Ace moved to Columbus in order to support the next generation of little beings as they grow up. In addition to her ministry, Rev. Erin Marie is also a registered nurse, currently working at the James Cancer Hospital. She has begun studies to become a Nurse Practitioner, with the goal of working in Palliative Care.
Reverend Dana Horton, Staff Minister
Reverend Dana is our newest licensed minister on staff, having just completed his ministry training through Centers for Spiritual Living in August 2019. Dana discovered the Science of Mind teachings when he and his wife Mary started attending the Center 12 years ago. One thing led to another until he found himself in class again nearly 40 years after graduating college the first time.
In addition to ministerial duties, Dana works at American Electric Power, where he is Director of Energy Markets Policy. That means he travels a lot and talks with other companies about evolving issues in the energy industry.
Dana’s Vision in Ministry. Dana tries to exhibit the SOM principles in his daily life. The most significant practice he has found in the last 12 years of studying SOM is that spiritual life and ‘real’ life are not separate. Life works the best when we can take the spiritual principles we talk about on Sunday morning and apply them to that first difficult conversation on Monday morning.
Other Vital Stats. Dana and Mary have three children and three grandchildren. They live in Worthington.
