Course Instructor

Rev. Laura moved to the Coachella Valley in 1976. She was co-founder of the first court reporting agency in the desert in 1978. She began her spiritual journey in 1991, which lead her to her home in 1996, Religious Science of the Desert. During her spiritual journey she came to the realization that our sole purpose or soul purpose is our relationships with one another. She believes our relationships are the vehicles through which we experience who we are, which led her to become a certified facilitator through John Gray's Venus and Mars Institute. Through better communications and respect for the individual, Rev. Laura will continue work towards assisting and solidifying the organizations in our church through her outreach ministry.

Rev. Jerry Styner was born and raised in the Los Angeles area where he lived until his move to the desert in 1998. He holds a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and worked for several years at major electronics companies, designing and programming computer systems. He has wide experience in the management of technical personnel and owned his own business that developed and marketed computer systems for physicians.

Always involved in music, he made his living for many years as a composer, arranger, record producer, instrumentalist, and recording engineer. He has over 30 feature film scoring credits, about 300 published and recorded songs, and a nomination for a Golden Globe award. Early in his career, Rev. Jerry composed dozens of songs for the “Beach Party” films starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. He has worked with hundreds of singers and bands including The Osmonds, The Supremes, Ricky Nelson and Eddy Arnold, to name a few.

Rev. Jerry has been a practitioner since 2003 and is a graduate of the RSI ministerial course. He served on the Board of Trustees of the RSCD Spiritual Center, and was recently named a Staff Minister. He is currently assisting Dr. Maxine Kaye with the “Wednesday Night Live” mid-week service. Rev. Jerry often gives the opening prayer at Sunday services and frequently leads the Sunday healing services. He has had several prayer treatments published in Creative Thought magazine.

Although he enjoys all aspects of spiritual work, Rev. Jerry says his most satisfying activity is working one-on-one with clients as a professional practitioner. His personal vision statement is “Awakening the Goodness within us all.”

Our Assistant Minister arrived at the Center for Spiritual Living - Palm Desert in Spring of 2005, after serving two Spiritual Centers in Northern California. Raised in this philosophy in Southern California, she has been a Minister for 32 years and is well-known as an inspiring teacher and facilitator.

Here in Palm Desert, she conducts the Sunrise Service at 7:15am on Sundays, a meditative, contemplative, heart-opening service, then assists Rev. Joe for the 9:00 and 11:00am services. She and Rev. Jerry Styner facilitate a Wednesday Night Live! service from 7:00 to 8:00pm every few weeks. She also teaches classes in our basic and advanced studies throughout the year, including a four-week Meditation Class each summer.

Dr.Maxine's rich background in Practitioner and Chaplaincy training assists those in our Center who do the uplifting spiritual work of guiding and supporting people seeking prayer and healing.

Agreeing with Ernest Holmes that we should "take what we are doing seriously but not take ourselves too seriously while we are doing it," she believes that, "Everything is sacred, and nothing is serious!"

A third-generation native Californian, Rev. Bill grew up in Southern California before heading north to attend college. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in Chemical Engineering, he served five years in the Marine Corps as a fighter pilot.  Returning to civilian life, he spent 33 years with IBM in various marketing and engineering assignments, and got a Masters Degree in Computer Science along the way.

After retirement from IBM in 1994, this agnostic engineer/scientist found Religious Science when a friend took him to the Redondo Beach Center. "What I heard that day just made sense to me," he says of that visit. He became a regular attendee and soon began taking Science of Mind classes with Dr. Frank Richelieu. In 1998, he moved to the desert and continued his studies with Dr. Bill Taliaferro and Dr. Tom Costa, becoming a Minister of Religious Science in 2003.

When he was installed as a Staff Minister, Rev. Bill said, "Reflecting on my professional career, I realize that I have spent my entire adult life teaching in one form or another. It just seems natural that I would choose Education as my Ministry."