Big Sky Retreat 2000 - Additional Speakers

Joe Dickey, President of the Big Sky Retreat Board, has also been the Music Director since 1983. His long and varied entertainment career has included many thousands of appearances (for over five million people) in nightclubs, musical theatre, and churches. He has worked in voice-overs, narrations, infomercials, television, and movies for TV. For over eight years he was a lead singer in "Hallelujah Hollywood", the largest production show in the world, at the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas. He has performed for numerous Fortune 500 companies throughout the country. His writing career consists of motivational cassettes, radio spots, lyrics and songs, speeches, special comedy material, scripts for industrial films, grant proposals, and thousands of public television pledge breaks. A member of Equity, AFTRA, and SAG, his career includes several well-known vocal groups including the Ray Charles Singers and the Doodletown Pipers, and he is currently a member of The Crew Cuts (yes, that 50's group whose hits were "Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom" and "Earth Angel"). While serving as a Captain in the Air Force (many, many years ago), he won the USAF World-Wide Talent Contest. Additionally, he has produced, directed, and coordinated talent for benefit concerts; worked as a road manager, lighting designer, and cue caller for main room acts in major hotels in Las Vegas, Reno, Tahoe, and Atlantic City; and has been an on-camera host for telethons.

In demand by New Thought churches throughout Southern California, he was a soloist for the same two Religious Science churches for over 15 years in Whittier and Cypress, California, and served as the Music Director for the La Crescenta Church of Religious Science, in La Crescenta, and One Spirit Center for Conscious Living, in Simi Valley. He is in the process of creating a production show for a Las Vegas hotel and has also completed a major portion of a novel. He has a degree in Business Administration from Emory University and has lived and worked in Southern California since 1972. His hobbies include gardening, furniture construction, poetry writing, and culinary arts. A widower, he resides in Simi Valley, California, with his 16-year-old daughter, Blaine, and his 12-year-old son, Bridges. In October, 2004, he was honored by being named the Single Parent of the Year by the Universal Love Foundation at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. His marital status will change in June of 2007, when he and Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey tie the knot. (He says that she knows about this.)

Rev. Howard Caesar has been the Senior Minister of the Unity Church of Christianity in Houston, Texas since 1983, currently leading three Sunday worship services for over 2,000 attendees. He is a member of the Board of Preachers at the Martin Luther King Chapel at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, a founding member of the Leadership Council of the Association for Global New Thought (AGNT), and recognized as one of the foremost leaders and speakers in New Thought. Howard served on the Board of the International New Thought Alliance (INTA) for eleven years, and the Association of Unity Churches for seven years. In 1997 he received the Voice of Unity award for his excellence in twenty years in radio and television outreach. After first attending in 1985, Howard has served on the Board of this Retreat since 1986. He and his wife, Diane, live in Sugarland, Texas

Dr. Sheldon Deal is the owner-director of the Swan Clinic of Natural Healing in Tucson, Arizona, and has written several popular books on nutrition and natural methods of healing. His innovative views of healing are widely quoted. Sheldon always brings new and fresh ideas on the way we look at our bodies and how we learn to live in them. His knowledge of Applied Kinesiology and his ability to teach new techniques makes him world renowned. He has lectured throughout Europe, Russia, and Australia for twenty-two years. With his wife, Cindy, Sheldon has been a staunch supporter of the Retreat since 1981. He joined the Retreat Board in 1999.

Dr. Charles Geddes is a founding member and current Treasurer of the Big Sky Retreat. This is his 37th year in ministry. He is now Co-Pastor of Religious Science - Fort Lauderdale with Dr. Arleen Bump. For eight years, his ministry included co-founding and serving an HIV support group in California. Charles also established the Phoenix Bridge Program in Religious Science International (RSI) to support ministers in transitional periods of their ministry, and served on the RSI Board of Directors as Chair of Ethics. In 2004 he was voted RSI Minister of the Year and was acknowledged with an Honorary Doctorate for his contributions to RSI.

Donald Graves, Spiritual Leader of the Tucson Center for Spiritual Living, is loved and respected for the fun-loving and dynamic way he challenges all to experience their freedom, power, and magnificence. He has served Religious Science for over twenty years, volunteering for United Church of Religious Science/
United Centers for Spiritual Living in many capacities. Donald co-developed “PeaceMaking Strategies,” whose prime directive is to develop a culture of peace. First attending the Retreat in 1989, Donald has been a member of the Retreat's Board since 2000 and currently serves as Recording Secretary.

Rev. Carmen Brocklehurst is an accredited T'ai Chi Chih, Seijaku and Meditation instructor as well as an Ordained Divine Science Minister. She has a Masters degree in Education from the University of New Mexico. Her 13-part T'ai Chi Chih TV series continues to be shown on PBS stations throughout the country. She was a founding board member of the Albuquerque, New Mexico T'ai Chi Chih Center where she teaches classes for all levels of students. Carmen also teaches for corporations, business seminars, retreats and conferences, including the New Mexico Governors Conference. She has served on the Board of Trustees of the Retreat since 1990, currently as Vice President. She is honored to be among the group of longest attending members of the Retreat, missing only one in 28 years. She and her husband, Brock, a life member of the Retreat, live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Clarke Odden (Former Board member, Salute to the Day, Book Store) has been a practicing chiropractic physician for over forty years. He is certified in Applied Kinesiology and utilizes multiple testing disciplines and treatments for a wide variety of musculoskeletal and internal conditions. Clarke began his metaphysical studies in the 50’s, and was introduced to Science of Mind and Unity School of Christianity in the 60’s. He served for twenty-three years as a founding Board member of this Retreat, and has missed very few years since coming that first year in 1976. Clarke has also served intermittently as interim Minister to the Salt Lake Church of Religious Science for ten years. He enjoys speaking, teaching, and demonstrating chiropractic and metaphysics.