Pastoral Services Team
Full-time chaplains serve as liaisons to treatment units to assist in integration of spirituality across the Caron continuum of care. A diverse group of full and part-time professionals contibute to the Pastoral Services Team including:
Rev. Jack Abel, Director of Pastoral Services
Rev. Carl Andrews, Spiritual Advisor
Meredith Hardee, Spiritual Advisor
Fr. Bill Hultberg, Spiritual Advisor
Christine Summy, Spiritual Care Counselor
Rabbi Yosef Lipsker, Consultant
Rev. Jack Abel, MDiv, MBA, Director of Pastoral Services
Rev. Jack Abel, MDiv, MBA, joined Caron as Director of Spiritual Care in January of 2008. He provides leadership in the integration of interfaith spirituality with other disciplines across the continuum of treatment, from intake to outpatient and alumni services. Rev. Jack has a long history of involvement in ministry with the 12-Step community, including the development of 12-Step worship services and counseling, lecture, and retreat ministries for recovering persons.
Rev. Jack is ordained as an Interfaith Minister through the Interfaith Temple of the New Seminary in New York. He served previously as an elder of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference of the United Methodist Church, and was endorsed for Substance Abuse ministry by the United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Rev. Jack has a long history of community involvement including service with agencies to combat poverty, protect civil liberties, and provide HIV/AIDS prevention and support. His areas of expertise include interfaith spirituality, 12-Step recovery, Christian theology, ritual studies, and grief recovery.
Rev. Jack received his Master of Divinity summa cum laude from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC in 1998. He pursued doctoral studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, holds an MBA from Wilmington College in Delaware, and is a graduate of the New Seminary for interfaith studies in New York City, New York.
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Rev. Carl Andrews, CAC, Chaplain
Rev. Andrews provides spiritual and addictions counseling to addicts and codependents at Caron. His lectures on addiction and recovery utilize both his rich spiritual background and his intimate knowledge about recovery from addictions of all kinds. In spiritual counseling sessions with individual patients, he is able to walk with patients to help them discover the spiritual strength that stems from their personal relationship with God. He is especially adept at describing the historical roots of the 12 steps and their relationship to scripture.
Pastor Carl is a licensed Minister of the Gospel in the non-denominational protestant church, New Life Christian Fellowship, International. He is also a Certified Addictions Counselor (CAC). He holds a bachelors degree in Biblical Counseling from Lancaster Bible College and is pursuing a Masters Degree in Ministry at the Graduate School of Lancaster Bible College. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Roosevelt University in Chicago.
With 12 years of experience in the addictions treatment field, Pastor Carl started his work at Caron in 1995 in the Men’s Extended Care Program. He went on to work as an Addictions Counselor at an affiliate of the Caron Network, the Naaman Center in Elizabethtown, PA. In 1998 he was named Executive Director of this Christian-oriented Intensive Outpatient Program. After leading the Naaman Center to the point where there were it grew to provide four locations for its outpatient services in Central Pennsylvania, he returned to Caron. In 2005 he was named to the post of Chaplain.
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Meredith Hardee, MS, LPC, Spiritual Advisor
Meredith Hardee, MS, LPC, Spiritual Advisor, has been with Caron treatment centers in Wernersville Pa, since 2000. She brings to campus, knowledge of alternatives to traditional faith traditions, for the recovering community. Meredith, implemented guided meditation for all patients, has created lectures on Buddhism, Taoism, Toltec, and other spiritual beliefs. Meredith started a voluntary spiritual group for the extended care men. Meredith has played a role with the HIV retreats, by providing spiritual activities and support.
Meredith holds a Masters in Pastoral Counseling from Neumann College in Aston Pa. She has been trained through a three year Gestalt therapy program, has her AACII, two units of Clinical Pastoral Education (hospital ministry) and trained in alternative healing methods.
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Father William Hultberg, OSFS, Spiritual Advisor
Father William Hultberg, OSFS, Spiritual Advisor, offers spiritual and religious counseling to recovering addicts and codependents and helps patients at Caron understand the 12-Step spirituality of recovery. He has developed and implemented a spiritual program of support for HIV-positive and AIDS patients and has played an integral role in developing HIV retreat weekends that are hosted by Caron.
Father Bill is a member of The Oblates of St. Francis DeSales and is also a Certified Pastoral Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Counselor. He holds a masters degree in education/guidance from Niagara University and a bachelor’s degree in education and Spanish from LaSalle University. He later pursued his theological studies at DeSales Hall, Hyattsville, MD., and became an ordained priest in 1962. Father Bill is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Institute of Alcoholism Studies, the U.S. Army’s Academy of Health Sciences Alcohol/Drug Counseling program and has done graduate work in the addictive diseases at the University of Virginia.
With 35 years of service with the U.S. Army and Navy, Father Bill retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1991. As a Navy Chaplain, he served with the Marines in the Vietnam War, where he received the Bronze Star Medal with "Combat V" for valor. As an active duty Chaplain with the U.S. Army, he also received four Meritorious Service Medals for his work in developing and implementing alcohol and drug prevention programs.
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Christine Summy, Spiritual Care Counselor
Christine Summy, M.A. joined Caron as a Spiritual Care Counselor in November of 2010. She provides pastoral care and counseling, and spiritual direction for adult, young adult and adolescent women and men across Caron’s continuum of care. Christine has experience in recovery ministry, including the development of a new congregation called “Common Ground” at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, PA, which offers lecture series called “The Healing Power of 12-Step Spirituality,” recovery worship services, sober social events and eighteen 12-Step group meetings.
Christine is a commissioned Associate in the Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and attends The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, where she is finishing her Master of Arts with a specialization in Integrated Theology. She previously served two congregations, Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, PA as Director of Adult Education and Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, PA as Director of Adult Ministries and Spiritual Care. Christine also has a deep interest in social justice issues and has served with agencies to advocate against homelessness, poverty, and racial injustice. She has clinical addiction experience, has served as an Employee Assistance Program Consultant and has a special interest in spirituality, 12-Step Recovery, Christian Liturgy, trauma recovery, and children and adult children of alcoholics.
Christine received her first Masters Degree, magna cum laude, in Industrial and Labor Relations with a specialization in Human Relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1984. She also pursued graduate studies in counseling from Shippensburg University and completed training is a certified Spiritual Director in Ignatian Spirituality at the Kairos School of Spiritual Formation.
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Rabbi Yosef Lipsker, Consultant
In addition to his work as a consultant for Caron, Rabbi Yosef Lipsker serves as the spiritual leader of congregation Shomrei Habrith of Reading, PA. He brings a vibrant, Orthodox viewpoint to everything he does. His presence at Caron since 2000 has provided spiritual support and guidance to Jewish patients and families as they struggle to heal from the consequences of addiction. The centerpiece of his service to Caron families is his hosting of weekly Friday night services and Sabbath dinners for patients. The Rabbi also provides counsel to patients and families prior to and through the course of inpatient treatment.
In addition to his pastoral leadership, Rabbi Lipsker is the host of a weekly radio show, “Mind Over Matter,” broadcast each Thursday to WNWR 1540 AM Radio in Philadelphia from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m.. The Rabbi also offers a weekly class relating Judaism and addiction recovery each Thursday evening in the Philadelphia suburbs.
