Steve Givens has served as Executive Director of the Bridges Foundation since 2021, leading retreats and programs rooted in Ignatian spirituality for the St. Louis community. A longtime writer, retreat leader, and member of the St. Louis Ignatian community, Steve continues the work begun by the Bridges founders in 1989 — helping everyday people encounter God in the midst of busy lives.
Email: executive.director@bridgesfoundation.org
The Bridges Foundation is governed by a board of lay men and women from across the St. Louis Ignatian community — people who have experienced the Spiritual Exercises and who are committed to making Ignatian spirituality accessible to others.
Deacon Gary Peterson
President
Jill Carnaghi
Vice President and Marketing & Development Chair
Bill Lehmann
Treasurer and Finance Chair
Karen Siebenberger
Secretary and Program Creation & Maintenance Chair
Kate Stroble
Magis Chair
Martha Broyles
Patricia Feder
Fr. Michael Harter, S.J., Jesuit Liaison
Deborah Meister
Alfreda Pulley
Cheryl Rauschenbach
Krista Stokke
Mary White
Steve Givens, Executive Director
Susan Givens, Accountant
Patricia Feder, Magis Coordinator
The history of the Bridges program in St. Louis has two strong roots: one in St. Louis with Marie Schimelfening and Tom Swift, S.J., and the other from Canada with Jim and Joan Felling, who revived the Bridges Retreat in Daily Life in St. Louis in 1989. Under lay leadership since its inception, Bridges carries forward the 500-year-old tradition of St. Ignatius Loyola — offering retreats, prayer companion training, and programs that build communities of reflection, discernment, and action.
