Hollis Walker is a veteran professional journalist who has written more than a thousand articles and essays for national and regional media. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and has won dozens of national and regional awards for her writing and editing. She has also worked in radio and as an art curator and gallery director.
Since January 2014 Hollis has volunteered as a chaplain a half-day a week at Pete’s Place, the Interfaith Community Shelter in Santa Fe, and it’s that work she will tell us about in her talk.
“Angel in Disguise” is the name of a song that Rev. Hollis Walker will perform with singer/choir director Christy Conduff for the Oct. 4 service, and it’s also the title of the sermon Rev. Walker will present. And this will be a “sermon”—that is, a heart-filled, inspiring, challenging talk about how we think about the homeless; who they really are; and what our spiritual, moral and ethical obligations are to these members of our community. Come hear the stories of the people Hollis knows and loves through her work at Pete’s Place, the Interfaith Community Shelter for Santa Fe’s homeless.
At age 52, Hollis returned to school to become an interfaith minister, and subsequently trained for a year as a chaplain in a California hospital, working primarily with the critically ill and dying. She has also worked with patients in hospice and nursing home settings. Soon after she completed her clinical training she was diagnosed with cancer. Hollis wrote a book about that experience called The Booby Blog: A Cancer Chronicle.
Now Hollis works as a community minister here in Santa Fe, combining her past career with her new one. She provides one-on-one spiritual counseling; she writes and edits books, especially as a memoir collaborator; she performs weddings and other sacred ceremonies; she teaches workshops on writing and psycho-spiritual topics; and she offers sermons as a guest speaker at various congregations. Hollis also facilitates a free monthly support group for women with breast and reproductive cancer for the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico.
Comments are closed.