Member Spotlight
Gil Braun:
Gil and his wife, Mayree, have been members of Christ Church Glendale for over 10 years, bringing many facets of spiritual leadership and expansion to our community.
Gil was born and raised on Long Island in Hempstead, New York. He came to Cincinnati as a college freshman and his life changed forever! For one thing, he met Mayree his freshman year and they recently celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary. In addition, he became Episcopalian in college. With a degree in Music Education from the College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati (still separate institutions at that time), Gil and Mayree both enjoyed a variety of musical work (organist, cantor, choir director) in local Episcopal churches, including St. Stephens and, prior to that, St. Michael and All Angels. For example, Mayree became the organist and Gil was the choir director at St. Stephens (then located in Winton Place).
The first phase of Gil’s career was spent as a music teacher, teaching in public schools and giving private piano lessons for several years. He then went on to obtain an MA from Xavier in counseling and became a guidance counselor at Princeton High School. He found that he greatly enjoyed the counseling role and continued his education with a Doctorate in Clinical Counseling from UC, with a concentration in hypnosis. He continues to provide private counseling and psychotherapy.
Gil and Mayree were instrumental in bringing the Healing Intercessors ministry to Christ Church Glendale in 2002, being among the first commissioned by Bishop Price. As members of the Worship Commission, they continue to foster this and other programs. Gil encourages all of us to make use of the Healing Intercessors, not only for physical concerns but also for their help in enriching all aspects of spiritual life.
Gil continues to expand his spiritual background through reading and discussion and has a deep interest in finding additional insight into scripture through applying recent biblical scholarship and new information from philosophy, psychology and science, while emphasizing Jesus' stress on loving one another. He enjoys asking questions and testing his opinions against those of others in lively discussion.
Gil and Mayree make their home in Mason and enjoy their family in states from New York to Washington, including 4 children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. (Their daughter, Kris Mader, and her family are also part of the Christ Church Glendale community.) They are now working on expanding Gil’s extensive model train display to include a wonderful and detailed model of Hogwarts, Harry Potter’s school.
List of Past Member Spotlights
