After many years of effort and planning, it became disappointingly clear that the Waldorf school would not materialize. Around the same time, Sandy LaGrega, a founding Board member and current Board president, discovered the book, "Alison's Gift" by Beth Knox. The possibility of returning to her heritage of home funerals and natural death care because real, and Sandy began speaking  publicly on the topic. In 2008, a Crossing Care group at New Garden Friends Meeting, where Sandy is a member, was started. Later the following year, the group joined  with others from Piedmont NC to offer a weekend workshop entitled, "When Death Knocks," a home funeral symposium.

When a key Board member of The Sophia Center was found to be terminally ill, his wife, also a SCLS Board member, and Sandy sought to ensure that the end of his life and his death care matched the intentionality with which he had lived. Natural death care was provided to him and, some time later, to his wife as well. Eventually, the New Garden Crossing Care group merged with the SCLS group. Out of this, Crossing Care--a natural home funeral  and body care education program--developed as the primary initiative of The Sophia Center for Life Studies.

The belief in the wisdom available to all through an Inner Teacher--common to Quakers and other religious/spiritual practices and found throughout the work of Sardello and Steiner--remains a key motivation in the work done by The Sophia Center for Life Studies and its Crossing Care initiative.

There are a number of books and articles written by Rudolf Steiner and Robert Sardello, as well as a wealth of articles and other resources related to the field of Spiritual Psychology. For specific recommendations on where to begin your research, email Sandy LaGrega, SCLS Board President (sandraclagrega@gmail.com). For general information or specific questions, please Contact Us.