Dr. Youjung Choi

Dr. Youjung Choi is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she directs the Social Cognitive Development Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Missouri under the mentorship of Dr. Yuyan Luo, and completed postdoctoral training at Yale University with Drs. Yarrow Dunham, Laurie Santos, and Karen Wynn, and at Harvard University with Dr. Elizabeth Spelke. Her research focuses, first, on how infants and young children understand others’ minds, and second, on how this understanding and other social capacities (e.g., moral reasoning, intergroup cognition, and language […]

Jyrekis B. Collins

Rev. Jyrekis B. Collins is a native of The Historic Classic City: Athens, Georgia and the son of Ms. Lolita Smith and Mr. Bryant Collins Sr. As a young boy, he attended Faith Temple Church Of God In Christ in Athens under the leadership of Bishop Walter Fleming. At age 11, he publicly accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized at The Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Stephens, Ga under the leadership of Bishop Calvin C. Turner. He was educated in the Clarke County Public School System and is a 2015 graduate of Clarke Central High […]

Brandy McDonald

Brandy McDonald is the Director of Children’s Ministries at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Manhattan, Kansas. Children’s ministry has been a lifelong passion for Brandy- she likes to joke that she’s been in children’s ministry since birth because as soon as she aged out in 7th grade she started volunteering and has been involved ever since. Brandy has a passion for making church a place where children feel loved, welcomed, and valued for exactly the person God created them to be. Brandy holds a BS in Family Studies and Human Services from Kansas State University. She and her […]

Dr. Thema Bryant

Dr. Thema Bryant is a psychologist, author, professor, sacred artist, and minister who is leading the way in creating healthy relationships, healing traumas, and overcoming stress and oppression. Dr. Thema is the author of recently released book Matters of the Heart (February 4, 2025; Penguin Random House), which aims to empower readers to connect with themselves and to others, delving into topics such as: control issues, emotional unavailability, practical activation activities, case studies, and teaching how to shift mindset and patterns around romance. Dr. Thema Bryant completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Duke University and her post-doctoral training at […]

Rev. Dr. Jia Starr Brown

Rev. Dr. Jia Starr Brown is an African American queer pastor, educator, and activist in the Twin Cities, MN with more than two decades of experience advocating for underrepresented communities. With a heart for community and access for all, she stands – and activates – as a truth-teller at the intersection of faith, education, and justice.

Her personal philosophy being “I give what I need”, Dr. Starr Brown’s work is fueled by her lived experience – and lack – at the convergence of three vulnerable populations.

Equipped with a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry from United […]

Sarah Drummond

Sarah Drummond writes about ministerial leadership with a special emphasis on how it is taught and learned. She is the author of five books, most recently, Intentional Leadership In Between Seasons, published by the Pilgrim Press. She serves as Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School.

Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund

The Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund is Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice on the national staff of the United Church of Christ and is the senior pastor of First Congregational UCC of Indianapolis, IN. Sarah is the author of several books on the topic of faith and mental health: Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family, and Church; Blessed Union: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness and Marriage; Blessed Youth: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness with Children and Teens, and Blessed Youth Survival Guide.

Daneen Akers

Daneen Akers loves the gloaming, that time of day when it’s starting to grow dark and there’s magic in the air. She’s also very fond of books, walks in the woods, songs around a campfire, snuggles with her daughters, and large pots of hot beverages enjoyed with friends. Her works include Dear Mama God, a children’s prayer book filled with simple gratitudes addressed to the divine in feminine form, and Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints, a middle-grades anthology with original portraits and profiles of diverse faith leaders who worked for more love and justice in their corner […]

Wendy Claire Barrie

Wendy Claire Barrie is Canon for intergenerational Ministries at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington and a nationally recognized leader in Christian Formation. A writer, editor, speaker, and educator, she has served eight Episcopal congregations small and large on both coasts since 1989, including All Saints Church in Pasadena, California and Trinity Church New York City. She is the author of Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents (2016) and the forthcoming The Church Post-Sunday School: How to be Intergenerational and Why it Matters.

Talitha Amadea Aho

Rev. Talitha Amadea Aho is a chaplain at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and a minister member of the Presbytery of San Francisco. Recently, she served as a pastor at Montclair Presbyterian Church, the largest Presbyterian congregation in Oakland, where she was responsible for children and youth programs. She has been in ministry to the young since she was old enough to qualify as a chaperone—both at church camps and churches on the East coast, and with the nonprofit organization Children of Uganda.

Whitney Baisden-Bond

Rev. Whitney Baisden-Bond a Ph.D. candidate in the field of theology, ethics, and the human sciences at Chicago Theological Seminary. Her research centers on womanist approaches to bridging gaps between pastoral care and practical theology within spiritual spaces, primarily Black churches, for queer-identifying individuals. She is a graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and Spelman College and serves as a program coordinator for Spelman College’s WISDOM Center.

Dr. Kishundra King, Ph.D.

Dr. Kishundra King, Ph.D. holds a Ph.D. degree in Religion, Psychology, and Culture from Vanderbilt University, where she was a Theology and Practice Program fellow. She has also earned an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and an M.S. in Counseling from Creighton University. Dr. King’s research focuses on Womanist pastoral theology grounded in Black girlhood experiences where she draws on her clinical counseling experiences and employs a Womanist approach to ethnography. In her classroom, Dr. King aims to create a formative learning environment where students develop their own identity and practice in Black religious thought and life.

Dr. King […]