Meet our Staff
Robert Hurteau, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Hurteau is the Director of LMU’s Center for Religion and Spirituality and a former missionary. He holds a doctorate in Pastoral Counseling/Practical Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Michael McNaught
Assistant Director
Mr. McNaught is involved with curriculum and communication needs at the Center, as well as additional special projects. Prior to joining the Center, he worked with with the Campus Ministry department at LMU, as well as a variety of companies in the entertainment industry, including Disney, ABC and New York-based Scholastic, Inc. He is an alumnus of LMU’s School of Film and Television and is completing this M.A. in Theology.
Marie Acosta
Coordinator, Catholic Bible Institute, San Bernardino
Cynthie Bond
Coordinator, Spirituality and Ministry Courses
Carmen Cisneros
Coordinator, Instituto Bíblico Católico, San Bernardino
Amparo Denney
Yoga Studies Coordinator
Ms. Denney has been a student of Yoga for the past 13 years and a registered Yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance since 2004. She has continued her Yoga studies at LMU Extension, and has completed Yoga Therapy Rx I and the Vinyasa Krama Certificate programs.
John Flaherty
Coordinator, Pastoral Liturgy
Mr. Flaherty has been involved in music and educational ministry for over twenty years as an educator, elementary school principal, music director, liturgy director, and composer. He has taught on the elementary, secondary, and college levels and is presently on the Campus Ministry Team at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he serves as the Director of Liturgy and Music. John has served as the Chairperson of the Liturgy Committee and Music Director for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress since 1991. He is also a contributing writer for Modern Liturgy, Pastoral Music, Our Family, and Hosanna magazines. He sits on the Editorial Board of Table. His compositions and recordings are published by World Library Publications and GIA Publications. His credits include scoring soundtracks for Lorimar and ABC. He has worked extensively with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. John has been married to his wife, Kathleen, for 15 years and they have five children.
Gail Gresser
Coordinator, Christian Initiation
Ms. Gresser is Director of Campus Ministry at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. She has extensive experience in the area of Christian Initiation and liturgy. For many years she was a member of the Initiation Committee of the Office for Worship in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. She is currently also the Coordinator of the Ministry Leadership program for the Center for Religion and Spirituality at LMU Extension. She holds a Masters in Psychological Anthropology from UCLA and a Masters in Theology from Loyola Marymount University.
Reverend Brett Hoover, C.S.P., Ph.D. (Cand.)
Coordinator, Cultural Orientation Program for International Ministers
Father Hoover is a doctoral candidate in culture, mission, and theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Ordained for the Paulist Fathers, he has taught on the intersection of church and cultures in the United States at the seminary, parish, and diocesan levels. Fr. Brett was also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of BustedHalo.com, an award-winning spirituality web site for young adults. He has served as a parish priest in New York City, ministering in English and in Spanish to diverse cultural communities. He has written for magazines, journals, and the Web, and he is the author of Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith: Spirituality for Young Adults (Paulist, 1998), and co-author of Soundbyte Spirituality (Paulist, 2002).
Ann Karner
Coordinator, Pastoral Care
Ms. Karner is the Director of Stephen Ministry at American Martyrs Parish in Manhattan Beach, CA. She has extensive experience in pastoral ministry at various parishes, as well as experience with hospice care and domestic violence. With two Master's degrees, in Religious Studies and Gerontology, her areas of expertise include death and dying, bereavement, aging and eldercare, and separation and divorce.
Sister Cecilia Magladry, C.S.J.
Coordinator, Art of Spiritual Direction
Reverend Ken McGuire, C.S.P., Ph.D.
Coordinator, Cultural Orientation Program for International Ministers
Father McGuire is an anthropologist and the director of the Paulist Foundation for Values in Ministry. He co-founded COPIM in 1992.
Barbara Murphy
Coordinator, Catholic Bible Institute, Los Angeles
Ms. Murphy holds a Masters Degree from Loyola Marymount University with a concentration in scripture. She is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association.
Carlos Obando
Coordinator, Estudios ministeriales en español
LeRoy Titus
Coordinator, African American Ministry
Mr. Titus is a current member of the Holy Name of Jesus Parish Finance Council and immediate past Chairman of the Parish Council. He serves on the Archdiocesan Synod Implementation Commission and is Chairman of Bishop Edward Clark's African American Advisory Council. Mr. Titus is active with the Knights of Peter Claver, holding offices at the Council and District levels.
Bill Vondrasek
Coordinator, Parish Business Administration
Mr. Vondrasek has been a Parish Business Manager for over 15 years at St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Westwood, and was instrumental in the development of the Parish Budget Manual for the Archdiocese. He has presented many workshops for the Pastoral Councils Office on Budgeting and Management, and has extensive business and human resource experience for a major retailer.
Nancy Vondrasek
Coordinator, Parish Business Administration
Ms. Vondrasek is the Parish Business Manager for Holy Spirit Parish and St. Paul's Parish in mid-city Los Angeles for more than 13 years. She has also been a presenter at Budget Workshops and is a member of the Together in Mission Advisory Board of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Horace Williams, Ph.D.
Coordinator, African American Ministry
Dr. Williams is a Past President of the Los Angeles Black Lay Catholic Ministry and of the Catholic Human Relations Council of Los Angeles. In 1973 he was made a Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Paul VI, and in 1997 he received the Individual Achievement Award from the California Black Health Network. He earned his doctorate in Public Administration (Health Services Administration and Epidemiology) from the University of Southern California and he currently serves as Director of Pharmacy at East Valley Hospital Medical Center in Glendora, California.
Ernesto Zamora, M.Div.
Coordinator, Cuidado Pastoral
El Capellán Zamora sirve a pacientes en su etapa terminal en los condados de Los Angeles y Orange. El también ha servido a presos en el sistema carcelario. El trabajo pastoral que Ernesto ha ofrecido es también extenso en las parroquias, en las misiones, en experiencias de inmersión con jóvenes y en ministerios con los inmigrantes. Ernesto ha logrado la Maestría en Divinidad y está cursando una Maestría en Bioética en la Universidad de Loyola Marymount.
Edin Barrera
Graduate Assistant