My faith journey started in a small rural non-denominational Bible church. I loved Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Christian Summer Camp. My grandma read her King James Bible daily and prayed regularly for us all. When my family moved away, Grandma hosted us kids for VBS and camp.

In college (Washington University in St. Louis) , I was part of the leadership team of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in charge of evangelization and I led some Bible studies. I was introduced to Catholicism by my small group leader in InterVarsity (thank you, Celeste!). When I studied for a semester abroad in Seville, Spain, I lived with a Catholic grandmother (R.I.P. Josefina!) and her granddaughter who was also studying in Seville (Hi, Maria!). They gave me my first Catholic book: The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva. 

Then, in my senior year of college, I met Mike, my Catholic husband (to be) and I had to decide if the Catholic Church was for me. I could look back and see how God had been working in my life to prepare me for that decision. The strong pro-life stance of the Church was the main reason I chose to convert. The stability of the Church was another important factor in my decision and I saw it as a good place to raise a family. The Presbyterian church I attended in college had split once before I arrived as a freshman (I don't remember why, but I had friends in the new Presbyterian church formed by people who had left and started their own "branch"), then it split again during my college years (due to differing interpretations of St. Paul's advise that women should wear head coverings), and it split again my senior year (due to differing opinions on the issue of abortion). 

I met with a couple priests for catechesis before I was married and then went through RCIA and was received into the Church on Easter Sunday in 1984 (in the parish where 17 years later I would  work on staff in charge of youth ministry, Confirmation, and middle school ministry for 19 years—St. Charles Church! —and all six of our children went through these programs.)

When I was first married, I became involved in Community Bible Study (considered "non-denominational") and later became a core leader, the Prayer Chairman, and finally was asked to be the Associate Teaching Director. I decided to leave that study, though, due to a deeper conversion to the Catholic faith that gave me a hunger for a Catholic Bible Study (but none was to be found).

Finally, my friend Terry Fenwick (R.I.P. dear friend!) found out about (newly formed) Catholic Scripture Study, International (and Terry was part of the reason the "International" part was added as she helped start Bible studies all around the world). Terry was the Teaching Director of Community Bible Study who had asked me years before to be the Associate Teaching Director. After much prayer and hours of conversation, the ministry of EWTN, and Scott and Kimberly Hahn's book, Rome Sweet Home, Terry and her husband Tom also converted to Catholicism. She was known to often exclaim, "I LOVE being Catholic!" 

Terry and I became regional directors for Catholic Scripture Study International, and later I became the Director of Content and Terry became International Director. (Good times working with Gail!) 

After many years of involvement in our parish women's retreat where the other retreatants and I would often would say to one another: "We've got to start a Catholic Bible study!", Terry and I started Women's Catholic Scripture Study at St. Mark Church in 2003. 

We soon discovered that there was a Catholic Scripture Study group in Iowa with an amazing woman giving the lectures each week who also had extensive experience as a writer/editor. Jennifer Phelps introduced herself to us after finding that our studies were in need of editing and she felt led to offer her services. The rest, as they say, is history! Jennifer and I became fast friends and after years of working together for Catholic Scripture Study, International, we started our own Bible study ministry: Turning to God's Word. Jennifer came with an extra bonus, a son (Matthew!) who is a Bible scholar and can also read the Bible in the original Greek. Jennifer has worked tirelessly, in a labor of love, to produce many Bible studies and online resources for serious Catholics who hunger for serious Bible study. 

In 2019, I retired as the Teaching Director of Women's Catholic Scripture Study in Belmont, CA. Janet Shurz and Martha Rubio stepped up and led the group for seven years. Now, I feel God is calling me back to lead the study. I'm thankful to Janet and Martha for their years at the helm and I look forward to what God has planned for us in the years ahead. 

-Tami