David Anderson Hooker
Dr. David Anderson Hooker is Professor of the Practice of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is also a mediator and peace builder with over 30 years of experience including serving as Senior Program Associate for the National Institute for Dispute Resolution (NIDR) in Washington, DC and Senior Fellow for Community Engagement Strategies at the JW Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia. Hooker is a PhD graduate of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, a graduate of Emory University’s School of Law (J.D.) and […]
Dave Rahn
Dave Rahn is a youth ministry researcher, author, futurist and missional leadership strategist. After beginning his ministry with Fort Wayne Area YFC in 1972, he joined the faculty of Huntington University in 1985 and served there full-time for 22 years before rejoining the mission of Youth for Christ/USA in 2007. In his current capacity he leverages his influence as founder of the Symmetry Series™ – a mixed method tribe-building strategy – to advocate for the surprising contributions to be made by young, urban, indigenous leaders who have overcome considerable adversity through their faith in Christ. His passion is to invigorate […]
Courtney Goto
Courtney T. Goto is an Associate Professor of Religious Education and a co-Director of the Center for Practical Theology at Boston University’s School of Theology. Her research interests include aesthetic teaching and learning; imagination, creativity, and embodied knowing in adult religious education; and intersections of power, privilege, and culture in practical theology. Her most recent book is The Grace of Playing: Pedagogies for Leaning into God’s New Creation (2016). Her current book (in progress) is a moral project on dynamics of power and oppression in discourse, research, and teaching in practical theology. Goto is a third generation Japanese American United […]
Christopher Carter
Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter’s teaching, research, and activist interests are in Black, Womanist, and Environmental ethics, with a particular focus on race, food, and nonhuman animals. He is the co-creator of Racial Resilience, an anti-racism and anti-bias program that utilizes the combined insights of contemplative practices and critical race theories. His academic publications include The Spirit of Soul Food (University of Illinois Press, forthcoming), and “Blood in the Soil: The Racial, Racist, and Religious Dimensions of Environmentalism” in The Bloomsbury Handbook on Religion and Nature (Bloomsbury, 2018).
The passion that informs all of his work evolves out of his family’s struggle […]
Christian Gonzalez
Christian Gonzalez is the Young Adult Ministries Coordinator for the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Department of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America. A graduate of Wheaton College, Azusa Pacific University, & Luther Seminary, Christian is a Licensed Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Arizona committed to the upbuilding of the Church as a family that facilitates the formation of youth & young adults into the image of Christ.
Areas of Focus: development and articulation of ministry vision, ministry training, young adult development
Charles Edward Atkins, Jr.
Charles Edward Atkins, Jr.’s work focuses on religious practice in incarcerated communities. Charles is an ordained minister who currently works as a full-time Chaplain with the N.J. Department of Corrections at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, where, over the last 20 years, he has developed and maintained programs that teach incarcerated youth and young adults methods of overcoming inner and outer violence through the practical application of spiritual principles. His work in prison was featured by the World Vision Report in November 2007 and in the nationally distributed Haverford College Alumni magazine (Fall 2009).In 2015, with a working group […]
Chap Clark
Chap Clark (PhD, University of Denver) is professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Seminary, President of ParenTeen, Inc., and co-interim preaching pastor at St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA. Chap is also chair of Christian Discipleship department. Formerly the senior editor of YouthWorker Journal, an administrative and senior pastor, a Sojourner contributing writer and “Red Letter Communicator,” and currently president of ParenTeen™, he’s also a speaker, trainer, consultant, as well as the author or co-author of 24 books, including the award-winning Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers, Sticky Faith, Deep Justice in a Broken […]
Anne E. Streaty Wimberly
Dr. Anne E. Streaty Wimberly is Professor Emerita of Christian Education at the Interdenominational Theological Center and Executive Director of the Youth Hope-Builders Academy, a youth theology program funded by the Lilly Endowment. Her publications include In Search of Wisdom: Faith Formation in the Black Church and Soul Stories: African American Christian Education.
Angela Gorrell
Rev. Dr. Angela Williams Gorrell is a speaker, author, and consultant. She has taught at several schools including Yale University, Baylor University, and Fuller and McCormick Seminary. Media sources such as the New York Times, NPR, and the Washington Post have highlighted her research. Dr. Angela is the author of always on: practicing faith in a new media landscape and The Gravity of Joy, and a new book, Braving Difficult Decisions: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do. She has 14 years of ministry experience and is ordained in the Mennonite Church USA.
Andrew Root
Dr. Andrew Root is the Carrie Olson Baalson Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, USA. He writes and researches in areas of theology and youth ministry. His most recent books are The Grace of Dogs (Convergent, 2017), Faith Formation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2017), and Exploding Stars, Dead Dinosaurs, and Zombies: Youth Ministry in the Age of Science (Fortress Press, 2018).
Amanda Drury
Rev. Dr. Amanda Drury is Assistant Professor of Theology at Indiana Wesleyan University and her teaching interests include Youth Ministry, Christian Education, Homiletics, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Formation. Rev. Beck serves as the Family Ministries Pastor of College Wesleyan Church.
Almeda M. Wright
Professor Almeda M. Wright’s research focuses on African American religion, adolescent spiritual development, and the intersections of religion and public life. Prior to her arrival at Yale, she served for four years as assistant professor of religion and youth ministry at Pfeiffer University and, before that, from 2004 to 2009, was an adjunct faculty member and teaching assistant at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. At Candler, she also served as program director of the Wisdom of Youth Project for one year and in various positions over four years with the Youth Theological Initiative. She has served as […]