Our Educators
Rev. Mary Ann Brody, M.Div.,
ACPE Certified Educator,
Executive Director, Crossroads of Caring, Inc.
Mary Ann is an ACPE Certified Educator and an ordained priest endorsed for chaplaincy by The Episcopal Church. Mary Ann was born in Shelby, NC, but grew up outside of Pittsburgh, PA. She started her professional work as a Child Development Specialist and Special Education teacher at Centennial School in Bethlehem, PA, a laboratory school for children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. After moving to the north country Mary Ann worked as a Wilderness Therapist with the St. Francis Academy Adirondack Experience program in Lake Placid, NY. She then returned to public school education teaching both middle school and high school in special education and general education over the next eight years. She moved to Rochester to attend Bexley Hall Seminary on the campus of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. She completed her first unit of CPE in Sisters of Charity Hospital’s community based program and served at Benedict House, a residence for those living with AIDS. Following seminary graduation, she completed a chaplain residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and continued working as a contract chaplain at URMC, while also beginning parish ministry. She served two urban parishes in the city of Rochester, St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Her Certified Educator program was completed through the Great Lakes Supervisory Consortium as she supervised CPE units at URMC. After her certification as an Associate Educator in May 2017 she began work as a CPE Supervisor at Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo, NY. She left that position in August 2020 to start a community and congregation based CPE program serving the greater Rochester region. Her professional interests include exploring new models for training spiritual care providers in a variety of settings, promoting holistic health and wellbeing, and finding ways to help others intentionally engage their spirituality. At home she can be found in her gardens, knitting hats, biking on the Erie Canalway Trail or learning to play the Scottish Smallpipes.
Rev. William (“Bill”) Reynolds, M.Div., ACPE Certified Educator
Bill is an ACPE Certified Educator, ordained and endorsed for institutional chaplaincy by the American Baptist Churches, USA. Bill was born in Weirsdale, Florida and is the son of a Southern Baptist minister and children's educator . He spent much of his school-age years in Germany and Belgium where his parents ministered to English-speaking Baptist congregations. Bill was a philosophy major at Furman University and received his M.Div. at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. His first unit of CPE was at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, NC in 1986, where he later completed a CPE residency year. After serving with his wife, Debbie Bennett Reynolds, as Co-Ministers for Education, Mission and Youth at Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, he resumed his clinical and supervisory training in 1993 at Egleston Children’s Hospital (now Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta) through the Emory Center for Pastoral Services. Bill was fully certified in 2000 as an ACPE Certified Educator. He served as Associate Director of Pastoral Care at the University of Rochester Medical Center (2004-2017) and Spiritual Care Counselor at CareFirst Hospice in the Southern Tier of NY (2018 - 2020). He currently is the Interim Pastor for First Presbyterian Church in Elmira, NY. His clinical and educational interests are spiritual care with children and adolescents, staff support, death and dying, clinical bioethics, and the theory of living human systems and functional subgrouping (Yvonne Agazarian). His wife Debbie is Pastor at First Baptist Church, Ithaca NY. They have two adult children, Anna and Luke. Bill enjoys cross-country skiing, cycling, hiking and camping.
The Professional Advisory Committee
The Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) works with the Certified Educators to provide input for the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program, to ensure that the CPE program meets the standards set by our accrediting agency, the ACPE, Inc., and to contribute to ongoing program improvement and development.
Suzanne F. Shady, BCC, Hospice and Academic Chaplain, PAC Chair
Sue is a board-certified lay Catholic chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. She has worked on health care teams in hospitals, long term care facilities and hospice programs for more than 24 years. Now retired, she continues to teach others about spirituality and the joy, peace and personal growth it can provide, through several volunteer endeavors.
Zeynab Mancini, M.A.,
Hospital and Academic Chaplain
Zeynab immigrated to the United States from Azerbaijan, where she was born, lived and earned a Master’s degree in Human Physiology. In the United States, she continued her education at Hartford Seminary. She earned a MA degree in Religious Studies with a focus on Islamic Studies and Christian/Muslim Relations. She also earned a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy. Zeynab has completed 6 units of CPE in three hospital settings. She has worked in health care, mental health, university and correctional facility chaplaincy. Zeynab is applying for Professional Board Certification through the Association of Professional Chaplains. Her goal is to become an ACPE certified educator.
Chelsea Ambrose, LCSW, Senior Director of Clinical Services and Mission Engagement, CareFirst Hospice
Chelsea Ambrose is the Senior Director of Clinical Services and Mission Engagement at CareFirstNY; the Hospice, Palliative Care, and Grief Support agency that serves Chemung, Steuben, and Schuyler counties in NY. She has a Master of Social Work degree from Boston College, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who also has a Certificate of Thanatology (the study of death, dying, and bereavement), and is a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker. Chelsea has extensive clinical and administrative experience specializing in those coping with advanced illness management, death and dying, sudden loss, and anticipated loss. She also brings to her work experience in program development; focusing on the creation of a vision and implementation of new services to benefit this population. Chelsea is part of the CareFirstNY Executive Leadership team which provides guidance and direction for the overall functioning of the organization. Her role oversees the clinical operations of the Hospice, Palliative Care, Counseling, and Grief Services departments. Chelsea is passionate about her work and is committed to providing the best care possible to those coping with serious illness and grief.
Marcus Ebenhoe, M.Div.,
Dir. of Advocacy and Social Ministry, Catholic Charities Family and Community Services
Marcus is the director of advocacy and parish social ministry at Catholic Family Center. He has worked with those on the margins of society in a variety of positions through the years. He has over five years of experience as a chaplain before moving to his current position.
Rev. Jacqueline J. Nelson, M.Div., Th.M., Director for Student Support Services & Coordinator for Spiritual Care, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (CRCDS).
Jackie is an ordained National Baptist Minister with a B.A. in Africana Studies from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and both an M.Div. and Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary. She received a Certificate in Black Church Studies, and Women, Theology & gender and in 2016 was awarded the Bryant M. Kirkland Award for Excellence in Practical Theology. After graduating she began serving on the staff of Asbury First United Methodist Church. In September of 2021, Jackie added a new role at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Rev. Jackie’s passions are centered on engaging difficult conversations and fostering safe space to center the voices and stories of the disenfranchised. When she’s not studying or working, Jackie enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with loved ones.
Rev. Deven Hubert, M.Div,
Chaplain, Episcopal SeniorLife Communities
Deven is the chaplain at Episcopal SeniorLife Communities, one of the host sites for this CPE Program. She has an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and has been ordained in the Episcopal Church for over 30 years. She has ministered in congregational, school and senior living settings during her career.
Sanjay Mathur, Hindu Chaplain, University of Rochester & Rochester Institute of Technology
Sanjay immigrated to the United States from India, where he was born, lived and earned a Bachelor's degree in Commerce. In the United States, Sanjay is a business analyst, has been the President and is currently a Board of Trustee at the Hindu Temple of Rochester, New York. Sanjay has completed 4 units of CPE in two hospital settings and a drug and alcohol addiction facility. Sanjay is Hindu Chaplain at The Interfaith Chapel at University of Rochester, Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University and Spirituality & Religious Life at Rochester Institute of Technology. Sanjay is also Membership Co-Chair at the North American Hindu Chaplains Association (NAHCA). Sanjay serves as a Board of Director at Heritage Christian Services, Rochester, NY a thriving human services agency in Upstate New York that works to make sure everyone - including children, older adults and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - feel valued and respected.
Maureen Tuite, RN, Arnot Health, Staff Chaplain
Maureen was born in Rochester, NY and spent the first twenty-one years of her life there. After nursing school, she lived in Syracuse and then moved to Elmira with her husband and children. During those years she received her Master’s Degree as a Nurse Practitioner from Syracuse University. Maureen has spent most of her career in healthcare. This time has primarily been spent in critical care nursing and nurse education. The last twenty years of fulltime work was spent as a Nurse Practitioner in the hospital setting. In 2017 she began volunteering in the Spiritual Care Department at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira as she participated in a local Spiritual Care Program focused on hospital chaplaincy.
In 2019- 2020, she felt a call to learn more about chaplaincy and participated in the CPE program offered through the CareFirst Hospice CPE program. She has felt privileged to work as a hospital chaplain for Arnot Health since 2019 which has included serving as a preceptor for newly hired chaplains.