Our Mission
At Preparing to Finish Well, we seek to educate, equip and empower people with the resources they need to finish life well--spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.
Our Commitment
The Preparing to Finish Well staff salutes the ground-breaking efforts of Ellen Goodman and The Conversation Project to get people talking about end-of-life care. Like TCP, we desire to facilitate open and honest dialogue, and we seek to assist people in getting their healthcare wishes in writing. But we recognize that engaging in the initial conversation and getting documents completed is just one piece of a much larger picture.
PFW actively engages with the spiritual, emotional, and relational aspects of end-of-life care in addition to the everyday, logistical details. As a result, our hands-on, non-threatening, interactive seminars weave together the personal and the practical to encourage a holistic approach to living well and finishing well. PFW is a faith-based organization which believes that every individual has intrinsic value to God and that all life should be honored and respected – most especially at the end-of-life.
Our Team
Cindy Simpson, M.A., M.Div.
Certified Advanced Care Planner
The seeds for the PFW Seminar were first planted in 2012. At that time, Cindy was transitioning from a long career in education into full-time Christian ministry – specifically work as a chaplain. Leaving her home in Texas, she moved to Colorado to attend Denver Seminary. During the past five years, Cindy has served as a chaplain in a variety of healthcare environments including Baylor Medical Center in Dallas; Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, CO; and Clermont Park, and Someren Glen, a continuing care retirement community in Centennial, CO.
Cindy has spent many hours ministering to patients and their families on the oncology, transplant, and trauma floors of the hospital - and in the Emergency Room and Intensive Care Units. As she provided pastoral care in the hospital setting, she witnessed a great deal of pain, suffering, tragedy, sickness, and death. These cumulative experiences made a deep impression on Cindy as she watched some families pull together in crisis, and others implode.
Along the way, one question was always in the back of Cindy’s mind. “What allows some patients and families to act in unity and with peace during a time of crisis, while so many others are ripped apart by anger, division, strife, and unforgiveness?” While listening, observing, and serving, she learned a few things – things she wants to pass along to others. Cindy is passionate about helping educate, equip, and empower individuals and families with the spiritual, emotional, relational, and practical resources they need to facilitate healthy communication – particularly in times of a medical or end-of-life crisis.
Olivia Kershaw, M.Div
A native of Boulder, Olivia has returned to Colorado after living abroad and then in Phoenix for nearly forty years. Olivia’s heartbeat is her family – four adult children: Jessica, Anna, Peter-Ryan, Sara and their spouses, as well as four fantastic grandsons.
A graduate of CU Boulder with a BA in Human Communication, Olivia is fortunate to have graduate experience in Communication (Idaho State), Hospice, and Chaplaincy (Denver Seminary). She earned a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA.
Olivia has been in ministry for most of her adult life. Olivia is relationally oriented and has a heart for walking alongside others—encouraging and developing them into mature Christ followers. Her experiences as a pastor, hospital chaplain, counselor, educator, and mentor have convinced her of the need for families to engage in the challenging work of finishing well.
"The PFW Seminar facilitators were warm, relational, open to questions, and thoroughly professional and knowledgeable."
M. Kwenda