Maisie Sparks

Maisie Sparks is an author, workshop facilitator, and editorial director of The Sparks Group, a marketing communications firm she formed more than 25 years ago. Maisie earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., and a master’s degree in religious leadership and spiritual formation from Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. She also holds a certificate in the art of spiritual direction from the Christos Center in Minneapolis, Minn. In her role as editorial director of The Sparks Group, Maisie has overseen the development of editorial content and visual design for annual reports, magazines, print and online newsletters, as well as provided communication plans and executive speeches for companies such as Allstate Insurance, McCormick Theological Seminary, Trinity Health, Kellogg, Northwestern Medicine, T. Rowe Price, Urban Ministries, and Walgreens.

She is a frequent contributor to the Christian Science Monitor. During the past five years, her works, Christmas Quiet, 151 Things God Can’t Do, and Holy Shakespeare! were published by FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, the third-largest publisher in the world. She’s also been a contributor to two groundbreaking anthologies, Embodied Spirits, Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color, and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn MeAround, Stories of Contemplation and Justice. Most recently, her composition, “Feast of Losses,” was published in Kaleidoscope: Broadening the Palette in the Art of Spiritual Direction. Maisie has lectured at Duke University Divinity School, McCormick Theological Seminary, and facilitated spiritual formation workshops for Children’s Relief International in India, ministries in St. Petersburg, Russia, and churches and other organizations in the U.S. Maisie has two adult sons and lives in Central Illinois.