Maggie Hover

Maggie (Margot) Hover is a clinical pastoral educator and spiritual director. She grew up in Ohio, and earned a bachelor's degree at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, master's degrees from Notre Dame University and Seattle University, and a doctorate in ministry from the Consortium for Higher Education in Religious Studies. She began her career as high school English, speech and drama teacher, and wrote a number of books and articles on family spirituality and religious education.

In her “second career” as pastoral educator for nearly 30 years, Maggie supervised clinical pastoral education units at Columbus Children’s, the University of Mississippi, Dallas Parkland, and Duke University Hospitals, Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and BJC Health Care in St. Louis. In that role, she also created innovative programs  to promote compassionate decedent care, research competency, and community health, particularly among chaplains and other congregational leadership.

For 25 years, Maggie played in the New York Scottish Pipes and Drums and then in the St. Louis John Ford Highland Pipe Band. She also plays the bowed psaltery in local jam groups, and is a member of the local weavers’ guild. She is currently semi-retired at Pilgrim Place, an intentional community of “church folk” actively working for social justice and the environment.