Rev. René hails from Toledo, Ohio where she earned a B.S. in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. Although she was brought up Catholic, her adult spirituality came to life in the rooms of a 12-step program and at Unity Church of Overland Park in Kansas in the mid-nineties. While at Unity of Overland Park, she dove into classes and became a Religious Science Practitioner as well as a Unity Prayer Chaplain. Between 2003 and 2006, Rev. René studied at Agape International in California where she became a licensed Religious Science Practitioner, served in their Prison Ministry, and co-led the Grief Support Team. She returned to Ohio in 2006 to be close to family and, while pursuing a corporate career as a regional and then national director of sales for a healthcare network management company, she earned a master’s degree in Consciousness Studies from the Holmes Institute in 2011 and became a Licensed (and subsequently Ordained) Minister with the Centers for Spiritual Living. During the following few years, while still working in the corporate world, she started a Centers for Spiritual Living Teaching Chapter and began rotating among New Thought Communities delivering Sunday messages.
In 2014, Rev. René made a leap of faith, dedicated herself to full-time ministry, and entered Unity’s Worldwide Ministries’ Field Licensing Program. Since that time, she has served as Senior Minister at Unity of Toledo, Ohio, at the Center for Spiritual Living in Nashville, Tennessee, and at Unity of Naples in Florida. She was officially ordained as a Unity Minister in 2022.
Rev. René loves hiking, and immersing herself in nature is important to her connection with Spirit. This past year, she completed a transformational walking pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago, from France through Spain, and she is currently writing a spiritual book about that experience. Rev. René has told us, “Being a minister for God is my life. I love what I do and I do what I love. Delivering Sunday
messages, teaching, and leading spiritual community is my passion and my gift. I personally thrive in spiritual communityand envision myself serving for many years to come.”