Authors

Aaron M. Bouwens is director of the Vital Congregations ministry within the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. He participated in the Lewis Fellows leadership development program in 2009-10.

Adam B. Snell is pastor of Glenn Dale United Methodist Church in Glenn Dale, Maryland. He received the Doctor of Ministry degree in Church Leadership from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Adam J. Copeland is director of near and long rang digital strategy for Mayo Clinic at the Center for Digital Health. Previously, he served as director of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary. Adam is author of Beyond the Offering Plate: A Holistic Approach to Stewardship (Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Adam Hamilton is pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and is the author of numerous books, most recently Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Alan Roxburgh is a pastor, teacher, writer, and consultant. Through The Missional Network, he leads conferences, seminars and consultations across North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the UK.

Alan R. Rudnick is the author of The Work of the Associate Pastor (Judson Press, 2012). He serves as the executive minister for DeWitt Community Church in DeWitt, NY. He participated in the Lewis Center for Church Leadership’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program for young clergy in 2010–2011.

Alan T. “Blues” Baker is a deeply experienced chaplain who serves as CEO of ChaplainCare. He was the 16th Chaplain of the Marine Corps and his public service culminated in the Presidential nomination and Senate appointment to Rear Admiral. He is the author of Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), available at William B. Eerdmans, Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Albert Shuler currently serves as pastor of Mount Carmel United Methodist Church Bamberg, South Carolina.

Alex Benson serves as Program Assistant and Editorial Fellow for the Center for Stewardship Leaders. She is a 2019 graduate of Luther Seminary.

Alex Joyner is lead pastor of First United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. He previously served as superintendent of the Eastern Shore District of the Virginia Annual Conference.

Alex Shanks serves as the Assistant to Bishop in the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Allen T. Stanton is the executive director of the Turner Center at Martin Methodist College and an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Allison Norton is Faculty Associate in Migration Studies and Congregational Life and Director of the Pastoral Innovation Network at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.

Alyce McKenzie is Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She is also director of the Center for Preaching Excellence.

Amanda Poppei serves as Senior Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA. Amanda is also a certified Ethical Culture Leader, having served over a decade at the Washington Ethical Society, a humanist congregation In Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary and participated in the Lewis Fellows program for young clergy in 2011-2012

Amanda Stein serves as the District Superintendent of the South West District of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church. Amanda earned her M.Div. and D.Min. at Wesley Theological Seminary and is an alum of the Lewis Fellows program.

Amy Butler is an ordained Christian minister and currently leads Community Church of Honolulu as intentional interim Senior Minister. Previously she served as intentional interim Senior Minister at National City Christian Church in Washington, DC, and from 2014 - 2019 as the seventh Senior Minister and first woman at the helm of The Riverside Church in the City of New York. She is an alumna of the Lewis Center’s Lewis Fellows program, a leadership development cohort for outstanding young clergy. She earned her Doctor of Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.

Amy Forbus is Communications Director at the UMC affiliated Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She was previously the editor of the Arkansas United Methodist, a publication of the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Amy Kubichek, Ph.D., is a research associate with the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary. She works primarily on quantitative research for the Religious Workforce Project, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Amy Valdez Barker is the director of global mission connections for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Previously she was lead executive for the Connectional Table, which coordinates the mission, ministries, and programs of The United Methodist Church. She is author of Trust by Design, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Amy Yarnall is the senior pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in the Peninsula-Delaware United Methodist Conference and was a Lewis Fellow.

Andrew Conard is the preacher at First United Methodist Church El Dorado, Kansas.

Andrew Ponder Williams is a Member-in-Discernment in the United Church of Christ and serves as a Youth and Young Adult Minister and a Church Administrator in Scottsdale, Arizona. www.andrewponderwilliams.com.

Andy Langford is senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Concord, North Carolina. He was written over twenty books and is the General Editor of The United Methodist Book of Worship.

Since retiring in 2010, after 43 years in full-time ministry, Andy Lunt has served as the director of Vibrant Communities for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, working to start new faith communities and help existing congregations to grow and be revitalized, and as dean of the Financial Leadership Academy sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation.

Andy Stanton-Henry is associate director of the Quaker Leadership Center at the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana.

Angela Denker is a former sportswriter turned Lutheran pastor, writer, speaker — and full-time mom of two little boys based in Minneapolis, Minn. She blogs at https://agoodchristianwoman.blogspot.com.

Angela Pupino is a Master of Divinity Student at Wesley Theological Seminary and Student Ministries Coordinator at National United Methodist Church in Washington, DC.

Ann A. Michel has served on the staff of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership since early 2005. She currently serves as a Senior Consultant and is co-editor of Leading Ideas e-newsletter. She also teaches at Wesley Theological Seminary in the areas of stewardship and leadership. She is the co-author with Lovett H. Weems Jr. of Generosity, Stewardship, and Abundance: A Transformational Guide to Church Finance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) available at Cokesbury and Amazon. She is also the author of Synergy: A Leadership Guide for Church Staff and Volunteers (Abingdon, 2017), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Anne Mathews-Younes, EdD, D.Min., is the granddaughter of Dr. E. Stanley Jones, one of the great missionary evangelists of the 20th century. Mathews-Younes is President of The Way Consulting Int’l and President of the E. Stanley Jones Foundation. She is also a psychologist who worked for 28 years with the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Anthony B. Robinson is a United Church of Christ pastor, a teacher, consultant, and author of over a dozen books about theology, congregational culture, and church leadership.

Asa Lee is president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Previously, he served as Vice President for Campus Administration and Associate Dean for Community Life at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has served congregations in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Audrey Warren serves as senior pastor at First United Methodist Church of Miami. Since 2013 she has co-convened the Fresh Expressions movement in the Florida Annual Conference. She is co-author (with Kenneth H. Carter, Jr.) of Fresh Expressions: A New Kind of Methodist Church for People Not in Church (Abingdon Press, 2017), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Barry Howard is the retired senior pastor of First Baptist Church Pensacola, Florida, and currently serves as a coach, consultant, and columnist.

Barry Winders is a retired elder of the Missouri Conference and serves part time as Pastor of Adult Discipleship and Care at Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Ben Connelly is the founder of The Equipping Group, which provides resources and training to ministry leaders and church planters. He’s one of the leaders of the Salt and Light Community in Fort Worth, Texas. And he is a contributor the recent book Bivocational and Beyond: Educating for Thriving Multivocational Ministry, Darryl W. Stephens, editor (Atla Open Press, 2022). The book is available as a free PDF and EPUB download at https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.82. It is also available for purchase as a paperback at Amazon.

Ben Ingebretson is Director of New Church Development for the Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church.

Beth Norcross is the founder and executive director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature and an adjunct faculty member at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, where she has developed and taught courses on eco-spirituality and eco-theology.

Beverly Zink-Sawyer is Professor Emerita of Preaching and Worship, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

Rev. William H. Lamar IV is pastor of the historic Metropolitan AME church in downtown Washington, DC. He has previously served churches in Maryland and Florida and as a managing director at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.

Dr. Bill Owen is a Congregational Consultant and Coach for the Center for Healthy Churches. For 32 years, he was pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Cross Plains, TN.

Dr. Bill Wilson is founder and director of the Center for Healthy Churches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was previously President of the Center for Congregational Health at Wake Forest Baptist Health.

Blake Bradford is a United Methodist District Superintendent in Little Rock, Arkansas. His book with coauthor Kay Kotan, Impact! Reclaiming the Call of Lay Ministry (Market Square Publishing Company, 2018), is available at Cokesbury and Amazon. Mission Possible: A Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness (Market Square Publishing Company, 2018), is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Bob Crossman is a New Church Strategist with Path One, General Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Church. He is the author of New Church Handbook: Nuts & Bolts for Planting New Churches in the Wesleyan Tradition.

Bob Farr serves as Bishop of the Missouri Area of The United Methodist Church. He previously served as the Missouri Conference Director of the Center for Congregational Excellence.

A. Robert Jaeger is co-founder and president of Partners for Sacred Places. He is the co-author of Sacred Places at Risk (1998) and Strategies for Stewardship and Active Use of Older and Historic Religious Properties (1996), and author of Sacred Places in Transition (1994).

Bob Whitesel is a leading voice in the church leadership, growth, and health field. He was the founding professor of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. He is the author of over a dozen books helping churches bring about healthy change.

Bonnie Ives Marden is leadership consultant and financial coach. She is the founder of MYTE Ministries and works to equip clergy and laity for leadership development, team building, visioning, stewardship and organizational development. She may be reached at bonnie@myteministries.org.

Brad M. Griffin, MDiv, is the associate director of the Fuller Youth Institute, where he develops research-based training for youth workers and parents. A speaker, blogger, and volunteer youth pastor, Brad is the coauthor with Kara Powell and Jake Mulder of Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church (Baker Books, 2016).

Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted author, activist, and public theologian working at the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social renewal. He currently serves as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.

Brandi Nicole Williams is the Director of the African American Church Evangelism Institute at the Wheaton College-Billy Graham Center. Brandi obtained her Master's in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She is a Ph.D. Candidate (Organizational Leadership) at Eastern University, where her research explores the role of the Black Church in entrepreneurship development. She envisions her research as a catalyst for developing innovative evangelism practices and providing economic development solutions within the African-American community. Brandi has over 15 years of ministry, nonprofit, and consulting experience.

Brandon Cox is pastor, church planter, and blogger who specializes in faith-based and nonprofit communications, social media management, and email marketing. He’s the author of Rewired: How Using Today’s Technology Can Bring Deeper Relationships, Real Conversations, Ways to Share God’s Love.

Brandon J. O’Brien is is Director of Content Development for Redeemer City to City in Manhattan, which recruits, trains, coaches and resources leaders who start new churches and church networks in global cities. His most recent book is Demanding Liberty: An Untold Story of American Religious Freedom.

Bree Mills is an ordained Anglican minister, a director of Micro Churches Australia, and a doctoral student in the area of Missional Leadership. She also works part-time for Exponential as a Leadership Acceleration Catalyst, seeking to help denominations and churches raise up leaders for church planting.

Brett DeHart has pastored United Methodist churches for over 20 years. Churches he has pastored have successfully launched and sustained Messy Church, Recovery Church, Dinner Church, and other Fresh Expressions. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Free resources of his are available at brettdehart.com.

Brian Bauknight is senior minister emeritus of Christ United Methodist Church in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and coordinator of leadership development for the Western Pennsylvania Conference.

Brian K. Brown serves as Senior Pastor at Woodlawn United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. He has earned degrees from Virginia Union University, Howard University, Samuel DeWitt School of Theology, and United Theological Seminary. Rev. Brown has served as an ordained elder in the Virginia Conference since 2000, and he was recognized in 2021 by Volunteer Fairfax as a Community Champion.

Brian Hehn is Director of the Center for Congregational Song for the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. A drumming clinician, worship leader, and song enlivener, he has taught at Wingate University and Perkins School of Theology. His book, All Hands In: Drumming the Biblical Narrative, was published by Choristers Guild.

Brian Leander, Ph.D., is Managing Director of Leander & Associates, LLC and Associate Professor and Director of Intercultural Leadership at Berkeley School of Theology. Previously he was manager of training and development at Adelphi University School of Social Work.

Brian William served as pastor of Burlington United Methodist Church in Burlington, Illinois.

Bryan L. Champion is professor of public sector leadership at American University.

Bryan Collier is founding pastor of The Orchard in Tupelo, Mississippi. He is author of The Go-To Church: Post MegaChurch Growth (Abingdon, 2013.)

The Rev. Dr. Byoung Sam Kim is Senior Pastor of Manna Church near Seoul, South Korea. He is also CEO of World Human Bridge (NGO), and an Adjunct Professor at Methodist Theological Seminary, Seoul, South Korea.

C. Kavin Rowe is the Vice Dean of the Faculty and the George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. The first of three volumes of his collected essays was published as Leading Christian Communities (Eerdmans, 2023).

Callie Picardo, an author, preacher, teacher, and encourager, serves as the Vice President for Development at United Theological Seminary. She is the founder of Deep Roots Financial Coaching and serves on the preaching team and in the prayer ministry of Mosaic, a multiethnic United Methodist Church planted by her husband, Rosario. Callie and Rosario co-authored Money Talks: A Biblical Take on Earning, Saving, Spending, and Giving (Market Square Publishing, 2021) to encourage others as they walk with God in their finances. The book is available at Market Square Books, Cokesbury, and Amazon. They also co-host The Better Together Podcast with Callie and Rosario Picardo.

Camille Cook is senior pastor of Georgetown Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. She has led congregations in Oxford, London, Johannesburg, and New York City. Rev. Dr. Cook serves on the board of trustees of Princeton Theological Seminary and on the board of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. She is a Lewis Fellow alum.

Candace M. Lewis is a District Superintendent in the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church serving the Gulf Central area.

Carey Nieuwhof is founding and teaching pastor of Connexus Community Church in Barrie, Ontario, Canada; a popular blogger and podcaster; and author of bestselling books. Visit his website at CareyNieuwhof.com.

Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Carol Howard Merritt is a popular speaker, writer, and blogger, especially on the topic of ministering in a new generation. She is the author of Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation (Alban, 2010) and Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation (Alban, 2007).

The Rev. Cary S. “Buddy” Miller is the founder of Stewardship Consulting Services, LLC, which helps churches through capital stewardship campaigns and stewardship enhancement initiatives.

Catherine Malotky is on the staff of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary. Ordained in the ELCA, she has served congregations, edited and written for church audiences, coached pre-retirees, raised money, and helped people discover the joy of generosity.

Cathy Abbott is superintendent of the Arlington District in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Cathy Bien is the Lead Director of PR, Media, and Special Projects at Resurrection, a United Methodist Church with multiple locations in the Kansas City area. With a background in journalism and public relations, she is passionate about using communication tools to bring people together, make meaningful connections, and build relationships in the community.

Cesie Delve Scheuermann is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing and a lay leader in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She blogs at Inspiring Generosity, and you may connect with Cesie at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com.

Dr. Charles A. Parker was for a decade the Senior Pastor at National United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. He also served as executive director of Bread for the City and Emmaus Services for the Aging, two non-profit organizations in Washington, DC.

Charles Arn teaches Christian Ministry and Outreach at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is a past president of the American Society of Church Growth, which is dedicated to the study of evangelism and congregational outreach. He has authored 15 books, edited five others, and is a popular speaker nationally and overseas.

Charles (Chick) Lane is a retired pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Previously he served as Director of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary, Director for Stewardship Key Leader in the ELCA, Assistant to the Bishop in the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA, and pastor of four congregations, one in Pennsylvania and three in Minnesota.

Charles Cloughen Jr. is an Episcopal priest who has served as pastor for churches in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Texas, and Maryland. He has led 34 stewardship campaigns during his time as pastor and has also served as Director of Stewardship, Planned Giving, and Development for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. His book One-Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk about Money in Church (Church Publishing Incorporated: 2018) is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Charles Pillsbury, who goes by Charlie, is an attorney, mediator and co-director of the Center on Dispute Resolution at Quinnipiac University School of Law. He was a founding Board member of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), and a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders International. He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Yale University and is a member of Shalom United Church of Christ in New Haven, CT.  He has authored several “Sacred Stories” about dispute resolution in the Bible.

Charles R. "Chick" Lane is Pastor for Stewardship and Generosity at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Maple Grove, MN, and a consultant with Kairos and Associates. He is also the author of Ask, Thank, Tell and coauthor of Embracing Stewardship.

Charles Stone is Lead Pastor at West Park Church in London, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of several books including People Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval Motivated Leadership.

Charley Reeb is pastor of John’s Creek United Methodist Church near Atlanta. He is the author of two books on preaching: That’ll Preach! 5 Simple Steps to Your Best Sermon Ever (Abingdon Press, 2017), available at Cokesbury and Amazon; and Say Something: Simple Ways to Make Your Sermons Matter (Abingdon Press, 2019), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Chris Duckworth is pastor of New Joy Lutheran Church in Westfield, Indiana. He is also a Chaplain in the Indiana Army National Guard. His blog is The Lutheran Zephyr.

Chris Folmsbee is Director of Discipleship Ministries at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.

Chris Holmes is founder of the Holmes Couching Group. He was previously a pastor and superintendent in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, and he is a past president of the Maryland Chapter of the International Coaching Federation. He also serves on the coach training faculty of Auburn Seminary.

Chris Ruddell participated in the Lewis Center for Church Leadership’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program for young clergy in 2011-2012. He currently works as a mobile application developer for the Museum of the Bible. Previously he was associate pastor at Bixby First United Methodist Church in Morris, Oklahoma.

Chris Sonksen is founding and lead pastor of South Hills Church in Orange County, California, and founder of Church Boom, an organization that provides personal coaching to leader and churches.

Chris Willard is the director of generosity initiatives and premium service for Leadership Network. He is coauthor, with Jim Sheppard, of Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture of Giving in Your Church (Zondervan, 2012).

Chris Wilterdink is director of Young People’s Ministries at Discipleship Ministries, the agency of the United Methodist Church that helps churches and church leaders fulfil their mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world.

Christian Coon is co-founder of Urban Village Church in Chicago and author of Failing Boldly: How Falling Down in Ministry Can Be the Start of Rising Up (Discipleship Resources, 2017), [Cokesbury | Amazon | Upper Room Books].

Christian Smith is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at Notre Dame University. His extensive body of work addresses issues ranging from race and religion to evangelicalism, from giving and generosity to the spiritual lives of young adults and youth. His most recent work with coauthor Amy Adamchyk is Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass their Religion to the Next Generation, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Christie Latona is director of connectional ministries for the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is co-author of Connecting for a Change: How to Engage People, Churches, and Partners to Inspire Hope in Your Community (Abingdon, 2019) with Joe Daniels, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Christina Wichert specializes in church conflict resolution, helping teams navigate the dynamics of multicultural environments. She has served with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.

Christine Chakoian is vice president for seminary advancement Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Moveable Feast preaching colloquium, as well as a trustee at Presbyterian Publishing Corp.

Christine Lawton is a lifelong Christian educator who has served as youth and family minister in various churches, teacher in Christian schools, and professor/director of the Christian education program at Concordia University Irvine.

Christopher Bennett is an associate consultant and facilitator with The Spark Mill, working with faith communities and non-profits on strategic planning and innovation. An ordained elder in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, he has served in variety of congregational settings. He participated in the Lewis Center’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program outstanding young clergy in 2007-8.

Christopher F. Poch is author of "Managing Your Wealth: A Must-Read for Affluent Families." He is a private wealth advisor for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.

Chuck Lawless is Dean of Doctoral Studies, Vice President for Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers, and Professor of Evangelism and Missions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Church Fuel is a professional development community providing practical tools and coaching to help strengthen the basic work of churches. www.churchfuel.com

Claudia Greer is Assistant to the Deans at Montgomery College in Maryland. She worked for many years as a resource editor at the Alban Institute.

Claudia McIvor is the Director of Faith Formation at Saint Mary Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Her desire to adapt existing and new ministries to reach online audiences inspired her to train and collaborate with like-minded co-ministers in the field of Digital Discipleship.

Clay Scroggins is the lead pastor of Buckhead Church, one of the largest campuses of North Point Ministries. His books include How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge, available at Cokesbury and Amazon, and How to Lead in a World of Distraction, also available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Clayton L. Smith is a United Methodist elder who serves in retirement as an author, conference speaker, webinar facilitator, and workshop leader. His most recent book (with Matt Schoenfeld) is Growing Through Disaster: Tools for Financial and Trauma Recovery in Your Faith Community (Abingdon Press, 2019), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. Rev. Dr. Smith holds degrees from Central Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, and McCormick Theological Seminary.

J. Clif Christopher is founder and CEO the Horizons Stewardship Company that consults with churches, conferences, synods, and dioceses about building, finance, and church growth. Christopher is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and past recipient of the UMC National Circuit Rider Award for outstanding leadership in developing vital congregations.

Dr. Connie J. Cole Jeske is executive minister at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Cory Seibel is a pastor at Central Baptist Church in Edmonton, Alberta. He also serves as an online tutor for Ridley College in Australia and as a research fellow with the University of the Free State in South Africa. He edited The Generative Church and Engage All Generations and chairs the InterGenerate conference leadership team.

Craig C. Hill is dean and professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology and author of the recent Servant of All: Status, Ambition, and the Way of Jesus (Eerdmans, 2016), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. W. Craig Gilliam is the Founder and Director of Gilliam & Associates, LLC. that works with organizations, teams, and religious communities of various faith traditions. He is also the director of the Center for Pastoral Excellence of the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church and adjunct instructor at SMU.

Cristin Cooper is owner of Coop’s Soups and a licensed local pastor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, focusing on Fresh Expressions. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. Coop’s Soups is soup to share and an awesome way to make friends and fight off loneliness. For Cristin, in getting to know our neighbors, we get to know more of who God is and how God is calling us to live in that moment.

Curtiss Paul DeYoung is CEO of Minnesota Council of Churches. An ordained minister in the Church of God, he was previously the executive director at Community Renewal Society, a faith-based civil rights organization in Chicago, and a professor of Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul.

Dr. Cynthia D. Weems is the Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Mission in The Florida Conference of the UMC. She participated in the Lewis Center's Lewis Fellows program for outstanding young clergy in 2005-2006.

Cynthia Woolever is research director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, coeditor of The Parish Paper, and formerly a professor of sociology of religious organizations at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary.

Rev. Dr. Dale M. Weatherspoon is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He received his MDiv and DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary. Pastor Dale has served four cross-racial-cross-cultural appointments and is currently appointed to Easter Hill UMC, a predominately Black congregation. An interculturalist, he has facilitated trainings in Europe and in the United States for churches and non-profits.

Dan Hotchkiss, long-time senior consultant for the Alban Institute, now consults independently on strategic planning, board governance, and staff development. He can be reached through his website or the Congregational Consulting Group. Dan’s most recent book is Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership, Second Edition.

Dan Jackson is Director of The Vital Church Initiative in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dan Pezet is an ordained elder serving as the Superintendent of the Metro District in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dan Reiland is Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He is described as one of the nation’s most innovative church thinkers, and his passion is developing and empowering leaders who want to grow, are willing to take risks, and enjoy the journey.

Dan Turner is pastor of Northwest Community Church in Washington, DC, and a graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program in church leadership. He is co-author, with Greg Wiens, of Dying to Restart: Churches Choosing a Strategic Death for a Resurrected Life (2018), available at Amazon.

Rev. Dan Wunderlich is an extension minister focused on worship, communication, and creativity with the goal of helping ministries and their leaders better connect with their communities. Find out more about his work and his podcast "Art of the Sermon" at DefiningGrace.com.

Daniel Hilty is Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Daniel Kerlin is pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Mifflin, Pennsylvania. He is a student in Wesley Seminary’s Course of Study.

Daniel M. Cash is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Columbus, Indiana. He is author of several books most recently The Changing Church: Finding Your Way to God's New Thing (Judson Press, 2019), cowritten with Willian H. Griffith. Available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

From 1998 to 2017, Dan Aleshire was executive director of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). He began work with ATS in 1990. Previously, he taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dave Barnhart is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and pastor of Saint Junia, a house church network in Birmingham, Alabama. He is author of Church Comes Home: Start a House Church Network Anywhere (Abingdon Press, 2020). The book is also available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dave Ferguson (daveferguson.org) is lead pastor of Chicago’s Community Christian Church, a multisite missional community. He is also the visionary for New Thing, an international church-planting movement, and president of the Exponential Conference.

Dave Harder is Principal Consultant at Parish Properties in Ontario, Canada.

David Ponting is an Anglican priest who formerly served as Director of Stewardship and Financial Development for the Anglican Diocese of Niagara in Canada.

David Abbott is Director of Stewardship for the United Methodist Foundation of New England. Previously he was District Supeintendent of the New Hampshire District of the United Methodist Church in New England.

David Bowers is vice president and mid-Atlantic market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. He also serves as the senior advisor for Enterprise’s Faith-Based development Initiative. He is an ordained minister and a founding member of the Greater Washington chapter of 100 Black Men.

David E. Woolverton currently serves as Lead Pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and as affiliate professor of leadership studies at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. His most recent book is Mission Rift: Leading Through Church Conflict (Fortress Press: 2021).

David Gilmore is superintendent of the Heartland District of the Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Previously, he served as pastor to three historically Black congregations in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as four years as Director of Congregational Development in the New York Conference. Gilmore began ministry after a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy.

David Gray is pastor of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and a graduate of Wesley Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program in Church Leadership.

After pastoring Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, for 37 years, David Horner now serves as the Executive Director for Equipped for Life, a ministry established to equip men and women to grow in Christ and learn to excel in their ministry callings.

David L. Heetland is Senior Vice President for Planned Giving at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of Happy Surprises: Help Others Discover the Joy of Giving (2019) and Creating Generous Congregations (Wipf and Stock, 2020.)

David M. Boan is Director of Humanitarian Advocacy & Service for the World Evangelical Alliance. He co-founded and co-directed the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, the first faith-based academic disaster research center. He is author, with Jamie D. Aten, of “Disaster Ministry Handbook” (Intervarsity Press, 2016).

David M. Csinos is associate professor of practical theology at Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia. David is a sought-after speaker in the areas of children’s and youth ministry, intergenerational faith formation, homiletics, culture, and ministry innovation. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto.

David McAllister-Wilson is president of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. He is author of A New Church and A New Seminary: Theological Education Is the Solution (Abingdon Press, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

David P. King, Ph.D., is Karen Lake Buttrey Director of Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and Assistant Professor, Philanthropic Studies at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of God's Internationalists: World Vision and the Age of Evangelical Humanitarianism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), available on Amazon and University of Pennsylvania Press.

David Putman is founding leader of Planting the Gospel and serves as a Lead Navigator with Auxano, which provides resources for vision clarity. Previously, he served as executive pastor of Mountain Lake Church and co-founded churchplanters.com. He is author of several books including I Woke Up In Heaven and The Gospel Disciple.

David Brubaker is Director of the MBA and OLS Programs and Associate Professor of Organizational Studies at Eastern Mennonite University. He has trained or consulted with over 100 organizations around the world, and wrote Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations.

David R. Ray has pastored small United Church of Christ churches for decades and he has written extensively about the small church. His most recent book is Smaller Churches: Real Possibilities for Hard Times.

David Rich (1937-2022) served as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister and then became the director of the PCUSA's Retirement Planning Program for the Board of Pensions where he was a consultant on transitioning into retirement. He then served part time for a decade as a Synod Regional Representative and Area Facilitator for the Presbyterian Foundation's Theological Education Fund.

David W. Manner is executive director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. He is author of Better Sundays Begin on Monday: 52 Exercises for Evaluating Weekly Worship (Abingdon Press, 2020), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

David A. Weesner is a retired pastor and former superintendent of the Central District of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dawn Darwin Weaks is co-pastor of Connection Christian Church in Texas' Permian Basin. She is a contributor to the Unbinding the Gospel series, a popular church transformation resource, and author of Breakthrough: Trusting God for Big Change in Your Church (Chalice Press, 2022), available at Chalice Press, Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Debi Nixon is the Executive Director of Donor Development and ShareChurch at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection — the largest United Methodist Church in the United States. Her most recent book, with Yvonne Gentile, is The Art of Hospitality available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Deborah Bruce was research manager for the Research Services office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and project manager for the monumental U.S. Congregational Life Surveys conducted in 2001 and 2008. She passed away in 2012.

Deborah Ike is the president and founder of Velocity Ministry Management: a company dedicated to helping church leaders grow their churches and create a life with healthy margins. Deborah launched VMM to serve the church. She is the author of three books and writes for several church-related publications.

Denise Dombkowski Hopkins is Woodrow W. and Mildred B. Miller Professor of Biblical Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Her writings include A Commentary on Books 2 and 3 of the Psalms (42-89) in the Wisdom Commentary Series (Liturgical Press, 2016), available at Cokesbury and Amazon, and Journey Through the Psalms (Chalice Press, 2002), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. She is also co-author with Michael Koppel of Bridging the Divide between Bible and Practical Theology (2018), available at Amazon, and Grounded in the Living Word: The Old Testament and Pastoral Care Practices (2010), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Denise Janssen is Associate Professor of Christian Education at Virginia Union University. An ordained Baptist minister, she has written numerous books and is the executive director of The Resource Center of the VUU School of Theology and a staff pastor at Laurel Park United Methodist Church. She recently coauthored Pressing Forward: Faith, Culture, and African American Youth (Judson Press, 2022), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Deanna G. Bartalini, M.Ed., M.P.A., is a certified spiritual director, speaker, and content creator. She is the founder of the LiveNotLukewarm.com online community, a place to inform, engage, and inspire your faith through live, interactive faith studies and retreats. Her weekly Not Lukewarm Podcast gives you tips and tools to live out your faith in your daily life.

Diane Owen is the Area Director of Clergy Well-being for the Dakotas-Minnesota Area of the United Methodist Church supporting the clergy in the tri-state area by embedding the value of wholistic well-being into the culture thus strengthening the resiliency of clergy in ministry. Diane has a background in human resources management and organizational development and is also a certified health coach. Diane strives to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle as a model for clergy and others. Sometimes she is successful.

Formerly retired, Dianne Cochran returned to serve as Pastor of Discipleship at St. Stephen UMC of Troy, Missouri. She was formerly pastor of Union United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dietrich “Deech” Kirk is executive director of the Center for Youth Ministry Training. He is the author of  Raising Teens in an Almost Christian World: A Parent’s Guide  and one of the coauthors of  Now What? Next Steps in Your New Life with Christ.

Domenic Dutra is founder and CEO of 3D Strategies, an organization committed to helping churches and non-profits become more fiscally sustainable by optimizing the use of their property. He has also served as president and CEO of Dutra Realty and as a two-term member of the Fremont City Council. He is author of Closing Costs: Reimagining Church Real Estate for Missional Purposes (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2022), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. Don Nations, a former pastor and church planter, is founder of DNA Coaching, which provides consulting and coaching to business and churches.

Donald W. Haynes is a retired pastor and district superintendent in the Western North Carolina Conference. For many years he wrote the “Wesleyan Wisdom” column for the United Methodist Reporter and taught United Methodist studies at Hood Theological Seminary. His books are available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Donna Claycomb Sokol is pastor of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, a diverse, thriving church in downtown Washington, DC. She is coauthor of A New Day in the City (Abingdon Press, 2017), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dottie Escobedo Frank is a United Methodist bishop serving the California-Pacific Annual Conference. She was previously a pastor and district superintendent in the Desert Southwest Conference. She is also a speaker and writer, and her work has centered on church revitalization, worship and preaching, and multicultural ministry. Her books are available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dottie Yunger, a marine biologist, was senior pastor of Solomons United Methodist Church in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. Since then, she has worked for Calver Maritime Museum in Solomon, Maryland, and as Executive Director of Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, which works with area congregations to protect the Chesapeake watershed. In 2021, she became the Marine Resource Education Coordinator for Maine's Department of Marine Resources.

Doug Anderson is a retired Indiana elder who led the Dakota Wesleyan University-based Rueben Job Center for Leadership Development. He is a well-known consultant in North Central Jurisdiction. His books are available on Cokesbury and Abingdon Press.

G. Douglass Lewis, for whom the Lewis Center for Church Leadership is named, was president of Wesley Theological Seminary from 1982-2002. Since retirement, he has consulted widely with seminaries in the areas of governance, leadership, strategic planning, and development.

F. Douglas Powe, Jr., is director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and holds the James C. Logan Chair in Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship) at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. He is also co-editor with Jessica Anschutz of Healing Fractured Communities (Palmetto, 2024) and coauthor with Lovett H. Weems Jr. of Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation (Fortress, 2022). His previous books include The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Abingdon Press, 2020); Not Safe for Church: Ten Commandments for Reaching New Generations; New Wine, New Wineskins: How African American Congregations Can Reach New Generations; Transforming Evangelism: The Wesleyan Way of Sharing Faith; and Transforming Community: The Wesleyan Way to Missional Congregations.

The Rev. Dr. Douglas D. Tzan is the Director of the Doctor of Ministry and Course of Study programs at Wesley. He is also an Assistant Professor of Church History, Mission, and Methodist Studies. An ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference and serves as the Vice President of the United Methodist Historical Society, and his research interests include the history of Christian mission, Methodist history, and world Christianity.

Douglas J. Brouwer retired after serving more than 40 years as a Presbyterian pastor, most recently as pastor of the International Protestant Church in Zurich, Switzerland. He is author of five books. Since retiring, he wrote The Truth About Who We Are and Chasing after Wind: A Pastor’s Life, available on Presbyterian Outlook and Amazon.

Rev. Douglas W. Ruffle, Ph.D., is Mission Interpreter for Encounter with Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean. He retired as Discipleship Ministries as General Editor of Wesleyan Resources in 2021. He is author of Roadmap to Renewal: Rediscovering the Church's Mission and A Missionary Mindset. Spanish and English versions of his work are available on Amazon.

Dustin D. Benac (ThD, Duke University) teaches at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary as the Director and co-founder for the Program for the Future Church. His latest book, Adaptive Church: Collaboration and Community in a Changing World, explores what it takes for communities of faith and leaders to navigate organizational change. He is the co-editor of Crisis and Care: Meditations on Faith and Philanthropy, co-editor of The Air We Breathe: Mediations on Belonging (forthcoming) and the Editor of Practical Theology, an international and interdisciplinary journal.

Dwayne Bruce is pastor of Beulah African Methodist Episcopal Church in Sumter, South Carolina.

Dwight J. Friesen is a professor at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. He also serves with Parish Collective, an organization that helps leaders and their groups recover their neighborhoods and participate in whole-life discipleship in the Jesus-Way. His most recent book is 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change (Fortress Press, 2020), available at Fortress Press.

Dwight J. Zscheile is the Vice President of Innovation and Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership at Luther Seminary.

Dr. Earl Creps is the founding director of Northwest University’s Center for Leadership Studies. He is author of Off Road Discipline: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders and Reverse Mentoring: How Young Leaders Can Transform the Church and Why We Should Let Them, both in the Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series. More information can be found on his website, earlcreps.com.

Ebonie Johnson Cooper is founder and executive director of Young, Black & Giving Back Institute. She also serves as an associate clínical professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. She has been recognized as one of the nation’s top leaders for her innovation around NextGen African-American philanthropy.

Ed Brandt currently serves as pastor of Lely Presbyterian Church in Naples, Florida. He recently retired as chief of chaplains for the U.S. National Guard, having achieved the rank of Brigadier General.

Ed Stetzer is the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism and the executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, He previously directed LifeWay Research. Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches and trained pastors and church planters on six continents.

Eddie Pipkin has 30 years in ministry experience at churches in Georgia and Florida, primarily in the United Methodist Church. His ministry leadership includes stints in youth and children’s ministry, creative worship design, outreach and missions, communications, special event coordination, and leadership development.

Eileen Campbell-Reed (she/hers) co-directs the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project, a national, ecumenical, and longitudinal study of ministry. She is visiting associate professor of Pastoral Theology and Care at Union Theological Seminary, New York City. She is founder and host of Three Minute Ministry Mentor featuring weekly episodes to inform and inspire the practice of ministry.

Eileen Guenther is Faculty Emerita of Church Music at Wesley Theological Seminary, former president of the American Guild of Organists. For many years she hosted "The Royal Instrument," heard on Washington's WGMS radio station. She is a national and international organ recitalist and has performed in recordings with Etherea Records, the US Air Force Orchestra, Vista Records (London) and Foundry Records. Her books, In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals (MorningStar Music Publishers, 2016) and Rivals or a Team? Clergy-Musician Relationships in the Twenty-First Century (MorningStar Music Publishers, 2012) are available on her website, www.eileenguenther.com, and Amazon.

Elaine Robinson is Professor of Methodist Studies and Christian Theology at St Paul School of Theology, Oklahoma City campus. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and serves as pastor of Villages UMC in Oklahoma City. She is the author of several books, most recently Leading with Love: Spiritual Disciplines for Practical Leadership (Fortress Press, 2023)

Rabbi Elan Babchuck serves as the Executive Vice President at Clal, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and the Founding Executive Director of Glean Network, which partners with Columbia Business School. He is also the co-author of Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership After Empire (2023, Fortress Press), and contributed to Meaning Making – 8 Values That Drive America’s Newest Generations (2020, St. Mary’s Press).

Elizabeth Hurd is an Elder in the Michigan Conference, and serves as the pastor of West Bloomfield United Methodist Church in West Bloomfield, Michigan. She is passionate about ministry with young people, equipping leaders for the future, and pushing for the church to be in the world in new and bold ways. Outside the office, she enjoys spending time with her dog, reading a good book, and performing improv in the Detroit area with her troupe, Good Hair Day.

Elizabeth Evans Hagan, ordained Baptist minister, most recently served as senior minister of the Palisades Community Church in Washington, D.C. She is the author of Brave Church: Tackling Tough Topics Together (Upper Room Books, 2021) and Birthed: Finding Grace Through Infertility (Chalice Press, 2016). Hagan is the executive director of Our Courageous Kids, a foundation that serves young adults who grew up in international orphanages. She is an alumna of the Lewis Center’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program.

Elizabeth Mae Magill (elizabethmaemagill.com) is the pastor of the Small Church Collaborative in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and Rindge, New Hampshire. She is a missioner to the affiliates of Ecclesia Ministries (the network of outdoor churches in the United States). Her books are available on through her website and Amazon.

Elizabeth Mitchell Clement is Interim Pastor of UCC Church of the Isles at Indian Rocks Beach, Florida clergy in the United Church of Christ. She has also served as regional director of Calling Congregations at The Fund for Theological Education.

Elizabeth Shulman (elizabethshulman.com) is a pastor, university researcher, healthcare chaplain, and author of Finding Sanctuary in the Midst of Alzheimer’s (Morgan James Faith, 2021), available from the publisher and at Amazon.

Emanuel Cleaver III has served as the senior pastor at St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri, since 2009. He participated in the Lewis Center's Lewis Fellows program for outstanding young clergy in 2008-2009. His most recent book, Feed My Sheep: Preaching God’s Word (Market Square Publishing, 2023), is available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. Emily Peck is the Visiting Professor of Christian Formation and Young Adult Ministries at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. She is also an ordained elder in the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Her recent publications include Arm in Arm with Adolescent Girls: Educating into the New Creation (Pickwick, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon, and We Pray with Her: Encouragement for All Women Who Lead (Abingdon, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Eric Daniel serves as Senior Pastor of Hillside Church in Napa, CA, since 2002. Eric has served as Executive and Sectional Presbyter for the Northern California and Nevada District Council of the Assemblies of God and holds a position as adjunct professor for the School of Urban Missions, teaching principles of leadership, homiletics, and hermeneutics.

Eric Geiger is Senior Pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, California, and previously served as a senior vice-president of LifeWay Christian Resources. He is author or coauthor of several books, recently Unfolded: The Story of God (Lifeway Press, 2018), available on Amazon.

Eric Hernandez is pastor at Iglesia Metodista de Puerto Rico. He is also an organizational industrial psychologist, husband, dad, musician, and a fan of the New York Knicks and Arecibo Captains.

Eric Seiberling has over twenty years of marketing and consulting experience. He is a partner in Broken Sheep, which helps churches grow through new technology, skills, and trends. His work includes screencasts, speaking, and articles available on United Methodist Communications.

Rev. Erika Gara is a United Methoidst Elder in the United Methodist Church with over 25 years of experience currently serving Los Altos UMC in Long Beach, California. She was a Lewis Fellow at Wesley Seminary and graduated from the Upper Room’s Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation.

From 2009 - 2012, Eugene A. Blair served as superintendent of the Flint District in the Detroit Conference of the United Methodist Church. He currently is a youth counselor and educator in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Faith Communities Today is a series of ongoing research surveys and practical reports about congregational life, conducted and published by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, a multi-faith group of religious researchers and faith leaders from 25+ different faith groups, working in conjunction with Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Faith Fowler is the pastor of Cass Community United Methodist Church and has served since 1994 as executive director of Cass Community Social Services (CCSS), a Detroit nonprofit agency that responds to poverty with programs for food, health care, housing and employment. She also publishes books through Cass Community Publishing House.

Fiona Haworth, former Director of Talent for Southwest Airlines, has been a United Methodist for 16 years, during which she has held several leadership roles both in the local church and serving the North Texas Conference. She is coauthor of Clip In: Risking Hospitality in Your Church (Abingdon Press, 2014), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

G. Jeffrey MacDonald is a freelance religion journalist and author who, as an ordained United Church of Christ minister and a Certified Transitional Ministry Leader, serves as an interim or part-time pastor in New England UCC churches. He currently is the interim pastor of Kensington Congregational Church in Kensington, NH. He maintains a website, jeffreymacdonald.com. His book Part-Time is Plenty: Thriving without Full-Time Clergy (Westminster John Knox Press, 2020), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Gary Alan Shockley worked as a pastor in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church who became a certified grief counselor through the American Institute of Healthcare Professionals (AIHCP). He is also a member of Spiritual Directors International (SDI) as well as a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). His books include The Meandering Way: Leading by Following the Spirit (Alban, 2007) and Imagining Church: Seeing Hope in a World of Change (Alban, 2009). He operates HopeSpring Creative Solutions.

Gary L. McIntosh is President of the Church Growth Network and Distinguished Affiliate Professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is a church growth expert who has written or coauthored 25 books. His recent book is The Solo Pastor (Baker Books, 2023), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

The General Commission on Religion and Race challenges, leads and equips the people of The United Methodist Church to become interculturally competent, to ensure institutional equity and to facilitate vital conversations about religion, race, and culture.

The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women advocates for full participation of women in the total life of The United Methodist Church. One of the commission's roles is to provide resources to respond to and prevent sexual misconduct in the church by educating church leaders and seminarians on sexual ethics and policies and by supporting victims/survivors of sexual harassment or abuse.

George Bullard is the retired executive director of Columbia Metro Baptist Association. He was formerly the President and Strategic Coordinator with The Columbia Partnership and the General Secretary of the North American Baptist Fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance.

Gerald W. Keucher is the priest-in-charge of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY. Previously he wasa Controller & Chief Financial Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. He is the author of three books on church leadership and finances. As a priest, he has helped lead parishes from the brink of collapse.

Rev. Dr. Gil Rendle is a board member of Wesley Impact Partners. He is a retired senior vice President and part-time consultant with the Texas Methodist Foundation. He spent 12 years with the Alban Institute and has been named as a Distinguished Alumni of the Boston University School of Theology. The most recent of his 10 books is Countercultural: Subversive Resistance and the Neighborhood Congregation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Ginger Anderson-Larson has served as pastor of several Lutheran Churches in Iowa, most recently St. John Lutheran Church in Preston, Iowa. She has also served as Coordinator of Contextual Education and taught spiritual formation at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.

Ginger Gaines-Cirelli is senior pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC, and author of Sacred Resistance: A Practical Guide to Christian Witness and Dissent (Abingdon, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. She participated in the Lewis Fellows program for outstanding young clergy in 2007-2008.

Glorymar Rivera Báez serve as the executive director of REHACE (Rehaciendo Comunidades con Esperanz, Inc.). She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico and a doctorate in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. She is also a Certified Professional Coach.

Rev. Glynis LaBarre led the Missional Church Learning Experience as a transformation strategist for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. She was certified as a ministry coach by Valwood Christian Leadership Coaching.

Grace Pomroy is the director of the Stewardship Leaders Program at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and co-owner of Embracing Stewardship, LLC. She is a Certified Financial Education Instructor. She blogs on her website, gracepomroy.com.

Graham Standish is the executive director of Samaritan Counseling, Guidance, Consulting that provides services to Greater Pittsburgh. He also directs the organization's Caring for Clergy and Congregations program. He has been an adjunct professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Tyndale Theological Seminary as well as the pastor, for 22 years, the pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. He was written several books,most recently Preaching to Those Walking Away (Fortress Press, 2022), available on Cokesbury and Amazon. More information is available on www.ngrahamstandish.org.

Greg Atkinson is an author, leadership coach, and consultant who works with churches of all sizes. His website is gregatkinson.com. His secret shopper website is WorshipImpressions.com, and his book website is SecretShopperBook.com.

Greg Moore is the senior pastor of Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC. Previously, he was the director of New Faith Communities for the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Greg Rogers retired from his 35-year tenure as Senior Pastor at Oakmont Baptist Church in Greenville, North Carolina. Through the Center for Healthy Churches, he coaches individuals, congregations, and businesses. He also serves as a mentor to mentors and has developed and led initiatives for helping pastors and churches thrive in a changing culture. Rogers is currently the interim senior pastor and transition coach at Wake Forest Baptist Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Bishop Gretchen Rehberg, Ph.D., D.Min. was ordained and consecrated March 18, 2017 as ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. She is passionate about proclaiming the inclusive love of God and equipping the people of God for transformation and growth. Christian formation for all ages is of vital importance to Gretchen, and she stresses the need for both rigorous engagement and the need for openness and humility in learning.

Guy M. Williams is pastor of First Methodist Church in Dayton, Texas. He blogs at substack.com/@guymwilliams.

Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner is the director of The Wesley Foundation at the University of Arizona, Tucson. The campus ministry is nicknamed Frontera Wesley. She previously was on staff at St. John’s Downtown UMC in Houston where she founded The Shout poetry collective. In 2016, she was recognized nationally as one of the “16 Faith Leaders to Watch in 2016” and given the Prathia Hall Social Justice Award by Woman Preach, Inc. She is the author The Shout: Finding the Prophetic Voice in Unexpected Places./em> (Abingdon Press, 2016), available on Amazon.

Nicole Baker Fulgham is Schusterman Family Philanthropies’ Chief Impact Officer, leading our work to understand and deepen the impact of our grantmaking and to ensure that our processes effectively support our grantmaking and programs, as well as reflect our commitment to racial, gender and economic equity. She was the founder and president of The Expectations Project and a Teach for America vice president, policy analyst, and public school teacher. She is the author of Educating All God’s Children: What Christians Can & Should Do to Help Improve Low-income Public Schools for Kids (Brazos Press, 2013) available on Amazon.

Nicole Reilley is a life and ministry coach who focuses on working with pastors to help them achieve their best lives while living out their calling. A United Methodist pastor with over 30 years of experience, she is passionate about reaching new people for Christ and developing disciples through digital ministry, leadership development and spiritual practices. She is coauthor of Expanding the Expedition Through Digital Ministry (Market Square Publishing, 2021), available at Market Square Books, Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Olu Brown is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC Level) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and has transitioned from pastoral leadership to coaching business leaders, church leaders and church teams. He founded Impact Church in Metropolitan Atlanta with 25 volunteers and served as pastor for 15 years. When he retired in June 2022, the church had a weekly multicultural attendance of 5,000. His website is https://www.olubrown.com/.

Partners for Sacred Places, founded in 1989, is the only national, non-sectarian, nonprofit organization focused on building the capacity of congregations of historic sacred places to better serve their communities as anchor institutions for nurturing transformation and shaping vibrant, creative communities.

Patricia Riggs is Senior Pastor at Trinity UMC in Poquoson, VA. She previously served as pastor at Foundry UMC at Virginia Beach and the Evangelical Charge in Elkton, Virginia.

Patricia Farris is senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California. Rev. Farris is Chair of Claremont School of Theology's Board of Trustees and is a member of the UMC Committee on Faith and Order and the Episcopal/UMC Dialogue. She has served as a director of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and has participated in three Assemblies of the World Council of Churches. Her book Five Faces of Ministry: Pastor, Parson, Healer, Prophet, Pilgrim (Abingdon Press, 2015) is available on Amazon. Her Advent Study Guide, Shine! Light for All People (Abingdon Press, 2011) is also on Amazon.

Patrick Scriven serves as Director of Communications and Young People’s Ministry for the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church. He blogs regularly at After.Church.

Paul Erickson is Bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Previously, he served as Assistant to the Bishop for Evangelical Mission in the Saint Paul Area Synod of the ELCA and director of Agora, a ministry that works to develop lay leaders for immigrant and multicultural congregations.

Paul K.-K. Cho is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and the Director of the Master of Theological Studies program at Wesley Theological Seminary. His research interests center on the literary and theological interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. He has recently written Willingness to Die and the Gift of Life: Suicide and Martyrdom in the Hebrew Bible (Eerdmans, 2022), available on Cokesbury and Amazon. He previously wrote Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge University Press, 2019), available on Cokesbury and Amazon. Cho is Presbyterian and served local congregations in New Haven and Toronto.

Paul Nixon is founder and CEO of The Epicenter Group, a coaching and leadership development organization. He has written multiple books on Christian leadership and recently coauthored Launching a New Worship Community: A Practical Guide for the 2020s (Discipleship Resources, 2021), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Perry Chang is a research associate with Research Services for the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PCUSA). He serves as Moderator of the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery and as member of the Religious Research Association.

Prior to his death in 2020, Peter L. Steinke was an internationally recognized leadership consultant who served as a parish pastor, therapist, director of a counseling center, educator and executive director of Healthy Congregations. His books include Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What and Uproar: Calm Leadership in Anxious Times (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019), available at Amazon.

Peter M. Moon is lead pastor at Reveille UMC in Richmond, VA. He has served multiple appointments in Richmond, Fairfax, Farmville, Woodlake, and most recently as the district superintendent of the Richmond District. He has also completed his DMin at Wesley Theological Seminary.

The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

Phil Cooke is a filmmaker, media consultant, and founder of Cooke Media Group in Los Angeles, California. His newest book is Ideas on a Deadline: How to Be Creative When the Clock is Ticking (Inspire, 2022), available at philcooke.com and Amazon. He is also the author of Maximizing Your Influence: Making Digital Media Work for Your Church, Your Ministry, and You (Insight International, 2020), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. Phil Maynard serves as Director of Excellence in Ministry Coaching and Director of Coach Training for Leaders. Before taking an early retirement to enter a full-time ministry of coaching, consulting, and training, Phil served as Director of Congregational Excellence for the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Phil is a Certified (ICF) and Endorsed (UMEA) Coach. He is the author of eight books and a wide variety of training guides.

Dr. Phil Schroeder is senior pastor at Dunwoody UMC in Dunwoody, GA. Previously, Phil spent seven years on the Bishop’s Cabinet, where he served as the Director of the Center for Congregational Excellence. Phil taught Religious Leadership and Church Administration, as well as Evangelism, Preaching, and New Church Development as adjunct faculty at the Candler School of Theology. An author of several books, his most recent is his second with Kay Kotan, Launching Leader: Taking leadership development to new heights (Market Square Publishing, 2019), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Rev. Philip D. Jamieson, Ph.D. is president and CEO of the United Methodist Foundation for the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences. Previously he was assistant professor of pastoral theology at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. He wrote The Face of Forgiveness: A Pastoral Theology of Shame and Redemption (IVP Academic, 2016) available on Amazon. He also coauthored theUnited Methodist Guidelines for Finance Committees (Abingdon, 2012 and 2016).

Philip J. Brooks is a writer/content developer on the leader communications team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Phill Martin is a consultant and coach with the Center for Healthy Churches and the retired chief executive officer of The Church Network. His articles can be found on https://chchurches.org/author/phillmartin.

Priscilla Pope-Levison is Associate Dean for External Programs and Professor of Ministerial Studies at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. Her most recent book is Models of Evangelism (Baker Publishing Group, 2020), available at Cokesbury and  Amazon.

The Rev. Dr. Quincy D. Brown is the senior pastor of Snellville United Methodist Church and member of LaGrange College’s Board of Trustees. He has nearly 30 years of ordained ministry experience as a pastor, a church planter, and a college chaplain and vice president, a district superintendent and missional specialist. He is the author of three books, including Discipleship Path: Guiding Congregations to Connect with Jesus (Market Square Publishing, 2020), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Rachel directs the National Fund for Sacred Places and has played a key role in Partners' economic impact research, which focuses on congregations across the United States that are stewarding older and historic properties. She co-authored a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities as well as Partners’ guide to transitioning property, Transitioning Older and Historic Sacred Places: Community-Minded Approaches for Congregations and Judicatories.

Dr. Ralph C. Watkins is Peachtree Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He was the executive producer and host of the television show Religion Roundtable with Dr. Ralph Basui Watkins on the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasting Network. He was the seventh pastor of historic Wheat Street Baptist Church of Atlanta. The author of several books, he coauthored The Future of the African American Church: An Invitation to Dialogue (Judson Press, 2014), available at Amazon and Judson Press.

Randy Casey-Rutland is president of Town Management in Williamsburg, Virginia. He has a Ph.D. in ethics from Emory University and an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology. He is a member of Wesley Theological Seminary’s Board of Governors.

Randy Scrivener is a retired pastor in the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has served congregations in England, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Central Texas.

Rebekah Simon-Peter is the author of several books. Her most recent book is Forging a New Path: Moving the Church Forward in a Post-Pandemic World (Market Square Publishing, 2022), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. For more information, visit www.rebekahsimonpeter.com.

Dr. Reggie Blount is the Murray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He teaches in the fields of Christian Education, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and congregational leadership. He also serves the seminary as director of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience. He is also the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Oikos Institute for Social Impact and an Advisory Board Member for the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving.

Reggie McNeal serves as City Coach for GoodCities of Minneapolis, MN. Before that, he served for ten years as Missional Leadership Specialist for Leadership Network of Dallas, TX. His latest book is Kingdom Collaborators: 8 Signature Themes of Leaders Who Turn the World Upside Down (IVP, 2018), available at Amazon.

Dr. Rhonda Van Dyke was Vice President for Student Life. Prior to that, she was Dean of Spiritual Life and co-director of the Institute for Church Professions. She previously served as senior pastor of Bon Air United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia.

Rich Birch is a consultant and founder of the unSeminary resource website. He helped develop multisite churches: The Meeting House in Toronto, Connexus Church in Georgia, and Liquid Church of New Jersey. His most recent book is Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church (2018).

Rich Sider’s consulting service, Church Management Services, offers administrative and management support to congregations. For nine years, Rich was Director of Administration at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, Virginia; and he is currently President of the Association of UU Administrators.

Richard A. Kauffman is a Mennonite minister and retired book review editor for The Christian Century.

Richard Hunter is executive director of new church development in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. Previously, he served large-membership churches in the North Georgia Conference, including Hillside United Methodist Church in Woodstock, Georgia.

Rick Ezell is Managing Partner of Employee Care of America, a workplace chaplaincy business. Previously, he pastored churches in Indiana, Illinois, and South Carolina. He is the author of eight books, including Forgiveness: A Lovely Idea Until. . . (2017). He blogs at rickevell.com.

Reinhard is principal of Niagara Consulting, Niagara Consulting Group, which works on reuse and redevelopment of houses of worship, as well as local economic development. He led economic-development organizations in the U.S. and United Kingdom for 30 years before working as an administrator for the United Methodist Church. Reinhard’s previous positions include serving as chief administrative officer of the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society, president of Central Atlanta Progress, chief executive of the Ilex Urban Regeneration Co. in Derry, Northern Ireland, and chief of staff to the mayor of Buffalo, N.Y.

The Reverend Rick Uhls is pastor of First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach, California, and a Doctor of Ministry student in church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Rob Blezard works as web content editor for the Stewardship of Life Institute (www.stewardshipoflife.org). He is also assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod (ELCA) specializing in congregational stewardship. He blogs at The Stewardship Guy.

Rob Mueller is the pastor of Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas, a bilingual inner-city congregation. He is coauthor with Krin Van Tatenhove of Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission (Westminster John Knox, 2019), available at The PC(USA) Store.

Robert A. Harris was part of the Presbyterian Coach Network and author of Entering Wonderland: A Toolkit for Pastors New to a Church (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014) available through Amazon.

Dr. Robert C. Crosby is the President and CEO of Emerge Counseling Ministries, which trains and counsels pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. The organization also offers group and marriage counselling. He has written several books.

Robert Howard was pastor of First United Methodist Church in Joplin, Missouri.

Robert K. Martin is Professor of Christian Formation and Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary. He was Dean of Wesley Theological Seminary from 2013 to 2017.

Robert Moon is Wealth Manager and COO with Heritage Financial Wealth Management. He is the author of Two Sons and Forty Years—A Novel, and My Pastor, My Money and Why We’re Not Talking: Bridging the Gap Between Pastors and Those with Wealth.

Robert Schnase became Bishop of the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church beginning September 1, 2016, after serving as Bishop of the Missouri Conference. On January 1, 2022, Bishop Schnase became the Interim Bishop for the New Mexico Area also. He has written many books, most recently, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Revised and Updated (Abingdon Press, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Before retiring in 2023, Rock Jones served 15 years as the 16th president of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Previously, he was executive vice president and dean of advancement at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He has degrees from the University of Texas, Duke Divinity School, and Hendrix College. He is a member of Wesley Theological Seminary’s board of directors.

Dr. Rodney Thomas Smothers serves as a leadership coach and consultant in the areas of new church development and congregational revitalization. He recently coauthored Cry from the Pew: A Call to Action for The United Methodist Church (Market Square Publishing, 2022) available at Amazon. His book with coauthors Lia McIntosh and Jasmine Smothers, Blank Slate: Write Your Own Rules for a 22nd-Century Church Movement (Abingdon Press, 2019), is available at Cokesbury and Amazon. The three coauthors also founded the The Smothers Group. He previously served as lead pastor for Grace United Methodist Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, and the director of leadership and congregational development on the UMC Baltimore-Washington Conference Executive Leadership Team.

Roger Lovette is an author and retired Baptist pastor who lives in Clemson, South Carolina. His blog, Head and Heart is at https://rogerlovette.blogspot.com/. He served as pastor of six churches and as interim pastor for seven churches. He is the author of five books and a multitude of articles.

Roger Ross is a congregational consultant and coach for pastors and ministry leaders. He has been involved in church starts, spend a decade as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Springfield, Illinois, and has also been the director of congregational excellence in the Missouri Conference of the UMC. He wrote Come Back: Returning to the Life You Were Made For and Meet the Goodpeople: Wesley’s 7 Ways to Share Faith.

Ron Edmondson is a church and organizational leadership consultant. He served as CEO of the Leadership Network, planted two churches, and successfully revitalized three churches. Ron currently serves as lead pastor (for a second time) at the historic Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, KY.

Dr. Ron Bell serves as Director of Healing and Resilience for Discipleship Ministries and The Upper room. He has been a senior pastor, a church plant pastor, and a UMC conference director over congregational development. His webinar series on Trauma and Empathy has been used by colleges and seminaries, nonprofit organizations, and county agencies. He is a board member of the Minnesota Coalition for Death Education and Support and the National Social Justice Clinical Pastoral Education. Three of his books deal with his work with grief and trauma, including The Four Promises: A Journey of Healing past and Present Trauma (Space for Me L.L.C., 2021), available at Space for Me and Amazon.

Ronald Slaughter is the youngest pastor in history to serve as Senior Pastor of Saint James African American Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. He earned his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Pastor Slaughter serves on several boards, including Wesley Theological Seminary, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Turner Theological Seminary, Chair of St. Michael’s Medical Center Board, and the deputy director of Community Relations for the City Newark’s Public Safety Department.

Rosario Picardo is a pastor and church planter currently serving Mosaic Church, a new multiethnic congregation he helped to birth in Dayton, Ohio. He also serves in a number of different capacities at United Theological Seminary, also in Dayton, Ohio. He is author of Funding Ministry with Five Loaves and Two Fishes (Abingdon, 2016), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. He recently coauthored Dynamite Prayer: A 28 Day Experiment.

Dr. Ross Peterson was Executive Director of Midwest Ministry Development Service and Southwest Ministry Development Service for 12 years before retiring in 2017. He was ordinated in the Evangelical Covenant Church and licensed as a clinical professional counselor. He has worked as coach and pastoral counselor for 23 years in church-related settings and taught in Chicago-area seminaries. He coauthored Health, Holiness, and Wholeness for Ministry Leaders, (Judson Press, 2020) available online at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Roy L. Spore is an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church. Currently, in retirement, he is serving part-time at Friendship UMC in Sherman, Texas. He is author of Productive Leadership: A Guide for Ministry in the Small Church (Wipf and Stock, 2021), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. Cooper R. (Rudy) Guess is senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Tuscumbia, Alabama. He was previously pastor at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon UMC in Gardendale, Alabama.

In 2023, Dr. Rudy became Executive Director of Bread of Life, Inc., which he and his wife, Rev. Juanita Rasmus, founded in 1992 to feed Houston's homeless. The Bread of Life works in the area of homeless outreach, health outcomes, hunger relief, and the community radio station KMAZ. In 2023, Dr. Rudy also was made Pastor Emeritus of Houston's St. John’s Downtown United Methodist Church, which Dr. Rudy and Pastor Juanita founded and co-pastored for thirty years, beginning with nine members. In 2020, he was editor and author of the audiobook, I'm Black. I'm Christian. I'm Methodist, available online at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Ruth Everhart is a Presbyterian pastor, an author, a Christian feminist, and one of the leading voices on the need to address issues of sexual abuse in the church. She’s the author of several books, most recently The #Me Too Reckoning: Facing the Church's Complicity in Sexual Abuse and Misconduct, available at IVP, Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Ryan Burge is assistant professor of Political Science at Eastern Illinois University. He is an academically trained researcher and the pastor of an American Baptist Church with a special interest in using data to understand trends in American religious and political life.

Ryan Holck is the founder of RAD Ideas. He works with churches to increase their impact through effective communications. You can find him at RAD-Ideas.com.

Ryan Stigile is co-founder and Executive Pastor of Nuvo Church in Columbus, Ohio. He previously served as Executive Pastor of Ministry at the six-campus Rock Bridge Community Church in North Georgia and the Tennessee Valley, and he has also worked with the Unstuck Group. He coauthored Vital Signs: Why Church Health Matters and 14 Ways to Measure It, available on Amazon.

Dr. Ryan T. Hartwig is Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of Vanguard University. Dr. Previously, he served as the dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Communication at Colorado Christian University. He was a coauthor of his most recent book, The Resilience Factor: A Step-by-Step Guide to Catalyze an Unbreakable Team, available online at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Sally Dyck is a retired bishop of The United Methodist Church. She served as bishop to the Northern Illinois Conference and was president of the President of the General Board on Church and Society. She wrote A Hopeful Earth: Faith, Science and the Message of Jesus, available online at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. Sam Marullo served as director of Wesley’s Center for the Missional Church. He joined the Wesley faculty in 2010 after serving more than nine years as Chair and Professor of the Department of Sociology at Georgetown University.

Sam Rainer is the lead pastor of West Bradenton Baptist Church in Bradenton, Florida and also serves as president of Church Answers.

Sandra Peoples, ( sandrapeoples.com) is a leading voice in the special-needs community, a special-needs ministry consultant of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and adjunct professor in Liberty University’s School of Divinity. She is a monthly cohost for Key Ministry: The Podcast where she shares her perspective on family aspects of disability ministry and inclusion. She has written three books, including Unexpected Blessings: The Joys and Possibilities of Life in a Special-Needs Family, available online at Amazon.

Sarah B. Dorrance is lead pastor at Middletown United Methodist Church in Middletown, Maryland. She is an International Coaching Federation Certified Coach and co-author of Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition: John Wesley's Sermons for Today, available online at Cokesbury and Amazon. In 2019, she published a book about her spiritual experiences, One Pilgrim of Many on the Camino de Santiago: In Search of Spiritual Renewal available online at Amazon. She received her DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Sarah Bereza, PhD, is music director at Grace United Methodist Church in St. Louis She is author of Professional Christian: Being Fully Yourself in the Spotlight of Public Ministry (Westminster John Knox, 2022), and she shares resources for church staff, including a podcast and newsletter, at sarah-bereza.com.

The Rev. Sarai Schnucker Rice is a graduate of Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman University) and Yale Divinity School. A consultant for 15 years with congregations in the United States and Canada in the areas of staffing and strategic planning, she has also served as interim senior minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in Des Moines IA, as a nonprofit executive with the Des Moines Area Religious Council and Ecumenical Ministries of Iowa, and as an interim presbytery executive with the Presbyteries of North Central Iowa and the Presbytery of the Twin Cities. Earlier in her career, she also served as co-pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Ames, IA, and taught for six years at Memphis Theological Seminary.

Saving Grace is a partnership between Wespath and Abingdon Press providing resources for financial well-being for use by churches, individual Christians, and clergy.

Scott Chrostek is a pastor of Resurrection Downtown in Kansas City, Missouri, a campus of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. His most recent book is Advent — a Season of Surprises: An Advent Study for Individuals and Groups, (Market Square Publishing, 2023), available online at Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Scott Cormode is the Hugh De Pree Professor of Leadership Development at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. He is a senior fellow at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership and the Fuller Youth Institute. He founded the Academy of Religious Leadership and the Journal of Religious Leadership. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he was previously on the faculty of Claremont School of Theology.

Scott Dixon is a web designer and website consultant with ACS Technologies (https://www.acstechnologies.com), a leading provider of church management software. He has worked with many churches in developing their websites.

Scott Glysson is Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Studies at California Polytechnic State University. His conducting engagements include the Mozart Requiem with the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Dan Forrest Requiem with members of the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, Ireland, the Vivaldi Gloria with the Bel Canto Chorus and Nairobi Conservatory Orchestra in Kenya, and the Haydn Te Deum with the New England Symphonic Orchestra. He was previously the director of choral activities at West Liberty University in West Virginia and music director at Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia.

Scott Holthaus has spent the last 17 years in ministry overseeing worship, creative, and communications in a variety of contexts from church plants to mega-churches. He now creates content at Ministry Brands (including co-hosting the Church Leadership Lab podcast) and helps church leaders embrace tech to grow healthy churches.

Scott Hughes is the Associate General Secretary (World Service) of Discipleship Ministries. Previously he served as Executive Director, Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship and helped create the “Small Groups in the Wesleyan Way” podcast and several online courses, including “Basics of Faith Formation,” “Courageous Conversations,” and “Courageous Conversations: Racism.”

Scott McKenzie is a senior vice president and partner with Horizons Stewardship, which has helped more than 10,000 churches and faith-based nonprofits grow disciples and fund ministry with consultants, workshops, and resources. McKenzie has 25 years of fundraising experience with churches and nonprofits. He has coauthored several books with Kristine Miller, the most recent being The Generosity Challenge: 28 Days of Gratitude, Prayer, and Faith, (Abingdon Press, 2019), along with supplementary products. These are available online at Cokesbury, Abingdon Press, and Amazon.

Scott Thumma is Director of Hartford Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program and the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. He codirects the Insights into Religion Portal and is the coauthor of The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church’s Spectators into Active Participants (Jossey-Bass, 2011), available at Amazon and Jossey-Bass.

Sheila M. Beckford is the Senior Pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, New York, and coauthor with E. Michelle Ledder of Anti-Racism 4Reals: Real Talk with Real Strategies in Real Time for Real Change (Chalice Press, 2021). The book is also available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Sidney S. Williams is President/CEO of Crossing Capital Group, Inc., a consulting firm that assists for-profit social enterprises, seminaries and colleges, and communities of faith to re-imagine their existing facilities, or land, to include mixed-used and mixed-income development projects.

Sondra Jones previously pastored several churches, most recently at St. Paul UMC in Gainesville, GA. She has also served in the North Georgia Conference's Center for Clergy Excellence. She earned a church leadership Doctor of Ministry student at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Stacey Cole Wilson is Executive Minister of Beloved Community for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. She previously served there as Executive Minister of Justice and Service. She participated in the Lewis Center for Church Leadership’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program for young clergy in 2008-2009.

From 1996 to 2017, Dr. J. Stanley Justice was pastor of Greater Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Trenton, New Jersey. He was extremely involved in Trenton community organizations, serving as CEO of the New Jersey HDC-State Commission on HIV/AIDS; Chairman of the Mt. Zion Neighborhood Development and Economic Corporation; member and Vice-Chairman of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, New Jersey Annual Conference Board Of Trustees; President of the Camden Trenton District Ministers Alliance; and Chairperson of the South Jersey Political Council and Chairman of the Education Committee of the New Jersey Black Ministers Council. He received the NAACP’s Religion Award and the Mercer County consortium HIV/AIDS Award. He and received his DMin in church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Stephanie Moore Hand serves as a Vitality Specialist in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Stephanie Remington is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has more than 15 years of pastoral leadership experience in the local church. She served as research manager for the Lewis Center for Church leadership in 2017 and 2018.

Stephen Chapin Garner is the senior pastor of The Congregational Church of New Canaan, Connecticut, and adjunct faculty member in homiletics at Boston University School of Theology and General Theological Seminary. He is the author and coauthor of several books. He recently wrote Practicing What Jesus Preached: A Month-Long Journey of Reflection, Practice, and Prayer available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Steve Wende is a consultant with the UMC Texas Annual Conference's Ministry Specialist Initiative that helps churches assess needs and meet goals. He also participates in clergy mentorship. His contribution is focused on leadership development, organizational growth, and role effectiveness. Previously, Wende was pastor of University UMC of San Antonio for 21 years and First UMC of Houston for 15 years. He has been a contributing editor for Preaching magazine.

Steve Willis is a Presbyterian (USA) pastor who has served small churches in rural, town, and urban settings. He wrote Imagining the Small Church: Celebrating a Simpler Path (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012), available on Amazon and Rowan & Littlefield.

Steven C. Van Ostran, an ordained Baptist pastor, has served as Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains since March, 2008. He was a church pastor for 18 years, and he has also served as an adjunct professor, a member of the Planning Commission of the City of Ottawa, and a board member for numerous non-profits and seminaries.

Stewart Perry is Senior Pastor of New Life Community Church in Burlingame, California. Previously, he was pastor of the International Church of Bangkok and he has served Baptist churches in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, Virginia.

Sue Nilson Kibbey is the inaugural director of the Bishop Bruce Ough Innovation Center at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Previously, she served as Director of the Office of Missional Church Development for the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. Since writing Ultimately Responsible: When You’re in Charge of Igniting a Ministry in 2006 (available at Cokesbury and Amazon), she has coauthored several more books, most recently Dynamite Prayer.

Susan Beaumont is a consultant, author, coach, and spiritual director with Susan Beaumont and Associates (susanbeaumont.com), which provides consulting and online resources for leaders who serve large congregations. She is author of several books, most recently How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), available at Amazon and Rowman & Littlefield.

Susan Cox-Johnson is a retired ordained elder of the United Methodist Church and has served in many capacities including as a district superintendent of the Heartland North District in the Missouri Conference. She wrote about her experiences in ministry on her blog, A United Methodist Emerging ....

Susan E. Gillies spent more than twenty years in leadership positions with American Baptist Churches USA, including directing the Ministry of the Laity in the Workplace program for National Ministries (now the American Baptist Home Mission Societies) and serving as Executive Minister of American Baptist Churches of Nebraska. She is co-author of Empowering Laity, Engaging Leaders: Taping the Root for Ministry (Judson Press, 2012.) In retirement, she now is a public speaker, newspaper columnist, consultant, and silversmith in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Susan Nienaber is a licensed marriage and family therapist, consultant, mediator, ordained clergyperson and District Superintendent in the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She consults with congregations on issues of conflict, crisis, personnel matters, professional misconduct, leadership, and interpersonal dynamics.

Rev. Dr. Tanya Campen is an ordained deacon in the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church and currently serves as Director, Intergenerational Discipleship for the Rio Texas Conference Office. Her book, Holy Work with Children: Making Meaning Together (Pickwick Publications, 2021), celebrates children as theologians and invites those who journey with children (parents, caregivers, ministry leaders) to consider how they support and encourage children in their meaning making process as they grow in and develop a lifelong faith. The book is available at Pickwick Publications, Cokesbury, and Amazon.

Ted is a retired executive from a large multinational company, serving in executive management roles and consulting roles in strategy and improvement. He has been a coach/facilitator for twenty-five churches as part of the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation Financial Leadership Academy.

Rev. Dr. Teresa L. Fry Brown is the Bandy Professor of Preaching and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Candler School of the Theology. She is the author of African American History & Devotions: Readings and Activities for Individuals, Families, and Communities (available at Abingdon Press, Cokesbury, and Amazon) , Delivering the Sermon: Voice, Body, and Animation in Proclamation (available at Fortress Press and Amazon), as well as several other publications.

Teresa Stewart is a pastor, educator, speaker, and consultant who has worked about 20 years creating worship resources for small churches. She is the creator of the website Paper Bag Cathedrals and blogs at Small Church, Big God, a free, online resource for small congregations.

Terry Bookman is Chief Spiritual Officer for Eitzah: The Center for Congregational Leadership, which he cofounded with William Kahn. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Mastery foundation, an interfaith organization. He has written about Jewish spirituality, synagogue life, and contemporary Jewish music. He recently wrote Beyond Survival: How Judaism Can Thrive in the 21st Century (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019), available at Amazon and Rowan & Littlefield.

Terry Bradfield is an ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, retired member of the West Virginia Conference, and retired U.S. Army Chaplain.

Tessa Pinkstaff is a project manager and grant writer at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Unstuck Group helps pastors grow healthy churches by guiding them through experiences to align vision, strategy, team and action. Their core services include ministry health assessments, strategic planning, staffing and structure reviews, multisite and merger planning.

Following a long career as a executive in media, entertainment and technology, Theodore May now teaches communication to executives and business students. He is active in his local Episcopal congregation with a particular interest in the ministry of lay reading. And he is a Christianity columnist for Beliefnet.com and tweets at @GospelHear.

Theresa S. Thames is the Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. An ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Theresa is a graduate of Howard University, Duke University Divinity School, and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is passionate about the intersections of theology, gender, organizational development, and social justice. Dean Thames is involved with the Princeton community through student engagement, pastoral care, overseeing religious programs, and regularly preaching at the University Chapel.

Thom S. Rainer serves as founder and CEO of Church Answers. Dr. Rainer publishes a daily article and podcast at ChurchAnswers.com and has written more than two dozen books. He previously served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources.

The Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Bandy (Tom) is an author, consultant, and leadership coach for Christian organizations and faith-based non-profits. Tom has published over 25 books including Sideline Church: Bridging the Chasm Between Churches and Cultures (Abingdon Press, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon. He is the president of Thriving Church Consulting and can be contacted using the website's contact page.

Rev. Thomas G. James is the Owner and Founder of Ekklesia Financial Services and an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He participated in the Lewis Community Leadership Fellows program in 2015-16 and completed the Lewis Center’s Leadership Certificate Program in 2023.

Thomas Risager is a district superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Denmark, a member of their Central Conference Committe on Theological Education of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and a pastor in Odense. He completed the Doctor of Ministry in Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary.

Tiffany Deluccia is Director of Sales & Marketing for TheUnstuckGroup.com, where she has also written articles. Before joining The Unstuck Group, she worked in public relations with major national retail brands, nonprofits and churches on content creation, strategic planning, communication consulting and social media.

Dr. Timothy K. Snyder is Associate Dean of Digital Learning and Assistant Professor of Contemporary Spirituality at General Theological Seminary. Previously he was a senior researcher for the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and visiting assistant professor of practical theology at Wesley Theological Seminary. At Wesley he was the principal investigator of the Religious Workforce Project, a national study funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Tim Welch recently retired from over 40 years of journeying with others in parish and diocesan ministries. One of his greatest joys was, and continues to be, exploring ways of employing media and technology in our call to make real the Reign of God. Tim is a graduate of Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Brief, practical discussion starters for church leaders. That’s “To the Point.”

Tom Berlin is bishop of the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church. Previously, for over 25 years, he was senior pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia. He was written several books. Most recently, he coathored The Third Day: Living the Resurrection (Abingdon Press, 2023), available on Cokesbury and Amazon.

Tom Corcoran is associate to Father Michael White at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland, near Baltimore. He is co-author of Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter. His books are available on Amazon.

Thomas Nees, 83, of Arnold, Maryland, passed away 24 January 2021. Nees served the Church of the Nazarene in many capacities, including as director of the USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism department (now USA/Canada Region) and as Nazarene Compassionate Ministries director for the USA and Canada. Early in his ministry he was the founding director of Community of Hope, a low-income neighborhood organization in Washington, DC.

Tom Pruski, RN, MAPS, DMin, is Director of the Heal the Sick program, part of the seminary’s Community Engagement Institute, which coordinates and develops faith community health networks as well as institutional and congregational partnerships. He has over 22 years of health ministry experience, training health advocates and working with congregations, congregational health ministry networks, hospitals, universities, public health, local, state, and national government agencies.

Tom Sine has been a foresight consultant for numerous faith-based organizations and denominations. He is the author of ten books, most recently 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change (Fortress Press, 2020), available at Fortress Press.

Dr. Thomas F. Tumblin is Professor of Leadership and associate provost for global initiatives and academic affairs at Asbury Theological Seminary. He was previously a pastor and district superintendent in the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. His book AdMinistry: The Nuts and Bolts of Church Administration (Abingdon Press, 2017) is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Dr. C. Anthony Hunt is pastor of Epworth United Methodist Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the Supervising Pastor of the Beloved Community Cooperative Parish and the founder and project director for Hope for the City: Transforming Urban Leaders, both in Baltimore. He is also Professor of Systematic, Moral and Practical Theology, and Dunning Permanent Distinguished Lecturer at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore. Dr. Hunt also teaches on the adjunct faculties at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, and United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

Prior to his untimely death in 2024, Tony Morgan was founder and chief strategist for The Unstuck Group which provides consulting and leadership coaching services to over 100 congregations annually. Previously, he served on the leadership teams at several churches, including Granger Community Church in Indiana, NewSpring Church in South Carolina, and West Ridge Church in the Atlanta area.

Tracy McNeil Wines is pastor of Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia. Previously, she served 19 years at Vale UMC in Oakton, VA.

G. Travis Norvell is the pastor of Judson Memorial Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and an adjunct faculty member at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. He is author of Church on the Move: A Practical Guide for Ministry in the Community (Judson Press: 2022). The book is also available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Trey Hall is a Methodist pioneer, church planting strategist, and evangelist serving as the Director of Evangelism and Growth for The Methodist Church in Britain.

Tricia K. Brown is a speaker, Bible teacher, author of Seen, Heard, Beloved and A Year of Yearning: A 12-Month Devotional to Help You Study God’s Word More, and blogger at The Girls Get Together.

Tyler Kleeberg is a church leader, writer, teacher, and community leader in Metamora, Ohio.

Tyler Sit is the church planter of New City Church, a community in Minneapolis that focuses on environmental justice and is led mostly by queer people of color. Tyler is a United Methodist pastor and the author of Staying Awake: The Gospel for Change Makers, available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

United Methodist Communications partners with local churches and other church entities to enhance communications and ministry opportunities. The agency’s work focuses on church members, church leaders, and spiritual seekers.

Valerie M. Grissom (MDiv, DWS) has served as a worship leader and pastor for over 20 years in a variety of denominations and ecumenical settings, her passions are intergenerational and intercultural worship. She is certified for ordination as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Northwest Coast Presbytery (PCUSA), near Seattle, Washington. She often collaborates with other worship leaders to incorporate intergenerational story-telling and Scripture presentation in worship. Valerie is the editor of All Ages Becoming: Intergenerational Practice in the Formation of God's People (2023), the book from the 2021 InterGenerate Conference. She currently serves as the Chair of the Intergenerate Team.

Victoria Atkinson White is the director of grants at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. In this role, she encourages traditioned innovation among Christian institutions and their leaders. For eight years, Victoria was a chaplain at the 900-resident Westminster Canterbury Community in Richmond, Virginia. Before that, she worked as minister to alumni at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Victoria is a graduate of Duke Divinity School, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and Rhodes College. She is an ordained minister affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Vincent W. Howell is pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Clemmons, NC, and Director at the Congregational Faith and Learning Center at Hood Theological Seminary. He is author of "Managing Projects in Ministry," Judson Press, 2017. The book is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Virginia Callegary is Director of Christian Education of First Presbyterian Church of Howard County in Columbia, Maryland. She is on the leadership council of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators and manages the social media presence of the organization.

Wade Griffith is pastor of Grace United Methodist Church, formerly Liberty Crossing UMC, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Warren Bird is Senior Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, former Research Director at Leadership Network, and the author or co-author of over 30 books.

Prior to his death in 2022, Wayne Day retired in 2009 from the position of Vice President of the Texas Methodist Foundation Institute for Clergy and Congregational Excellence.

Will Rice is director of communications and media support for the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Will Rowan is youth ministry coordinator at St. Theresa’s Roman Catholic Parish in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

William Brosend is an Episcopal priest and Professor of New Testament and Preaching for the School of Theology at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. His most recent book is Preaching Truth in the Age of Alternative Facts (Abingdon Press, 2018), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

William G. Davidson is a retired elder in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Churches. His pastoral appointments include Duncan Memorial UMC in Ashland and Warwick Memorial UMC in Newport News, Virginia.

William H. Griffith is a retired minister and hospice chaplain with 35 years of experience in pastoral ministry. He is author of several books, most recently The Changing Church: Finding Your Way to God's New Thing (Judson Press, 2019), cowritten with Daniel M. Cash. Available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

William Kahn is Professor of Management and Organizations at the Boston University School of Management. His books include Holding Fast: The Creation of Resilient Caregiving Organizations and The Ostrich Effect: Solving Destructive Patterns at Work.

Rev. William T. Chaney Jr. is Senior Pastor at Chesterbrook UMC in McLean, VA. He has planted and revitalized churches and served as a Discipleship Adventure Guide, District Superintendent, and a New Church Strategist for Discipleship Ministries. He has also coached and trained leaders in churches, business and nonprofit organizations.

William Willimon became Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School after retiring as bishop in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is author of over 70 books and is an editor-at-large for The Christian Century. He previously served as Duke Divinity professor and the dean of Duke Chapel.

Rev. Motoe Yamada Foor is Director of Adult Discipleship at Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

Yvi Martin is Lead Pastor at Platte Woods UMC in Platte Woods, Missouri. Following missionary work in the Philippines and Mozambique, she entered ministry and has served at King’s Way UMC in Springfield, MO, and the Gathering UMC in St. Louis. She participated in the Lewis Center’s Lewis Fellows leadership development program for young clergy in 2013-2014.

Yvonne Gentile is Guest Experience & Event Management Lead Director of Share Church, a ministry of the Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist Church in the United States, which has five locations in the Kansas City metro area. She is coauthor of four books, including The Art of Hospitality (Abingdon Press, 2020), available at Cokesbury and Amazon.

Zach Lambert is Lead Pastor and the founder of Restore Austin, an urban church in Austin, Texas. He serves on the boards of Restore Houston, Louder than Silence (a non-profit for survivors of sexual violence), and the Austin Church Planting Network.