Sharon Galgay Ketcham

Dr. Sharon Galgay Ketcham is associate professor of theology and Christian ministries at Gordon College in Massachusetts. She earned her Ph.D. in theology and education from Boston College. Sharon’s two decades of experience in ministry include serving the local church, researching, writing, teaching, and mentoring. As a practical theologian, she is […]

Shane Claiborne

Shane Claiborne is a best-selling author, renowned activist, sought-after speaker, and self-proclaimed “recovering sinner.” Shane writes and speaks around the world about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus, and is the author of numerous books including The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President, and his newest book, Executing Grace (June 2016). He is the visionary founder of The Simple Way in Philadelphia, and director of Red Letter Christians. His work has been featured in Fox News, Esquire, SPIN, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and CNN.

Seth Schoen

Dr. Seth Schoen’s research and teaching interests are in contemplative and spiritual practices, especially the cultivation of compassion. He is currently exploring how the Compassion Practice and critical race and racial formation theories mutually inform each other to create a spiritual path of renewal and transformation. As part of this effort, he has co-created Racial Resilience, anti-racism and anti-bias training program. Racial Resilience seeks, in part, to facilitate conversations about race by grounding them in compassionate, open, non-judgmental, and non-reactive personal and inter-personal spaces. Currently he is also an adjunct professor of Practical Theology at the University of San Diego.

Sarah F. Farmer

Dr. Sarah F. Farmer is Assistant Professor in the Theology and Ministry Department at Indiana Wesleyan University.  A former associate research scholar at Yale Divinity School and Director the Adolescent Faith and Flourishing Program at Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Sarah received her M.Div. and Ph.D from Emory University, where she taught as an adjunct faculty and co-directed a Certificate in Theological Studies Program at a Women’s Prison. Sarah teaches in the areas of psychosocial identity and faith formation, community building, congregational studies, social change and transformative pedagogy.

Rubén Ortiz

Rev. Rubén Ortiz has served in urban ministry for 30 years. His professional emphasis has been in Leadership Development, Youth Ministry, Church Planting, and Community Development.

He is Director of National Programs at Esperanza College, administering a network of mentoring programs, a Bible Engagement effort with the American Bible Society and other initiatives. He oversees the Barrio Youth Initiative which includes the development and management of the the Christian Ministry degree program with an emphasis in Youth Ministry in partnership with Esperanza College of Eastern University. Previous to this he was Director of Hispanic Engagement for the national headquarters of Big […]

Rodger Nishioka

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka became the director of Adult Educational Ministries at Village Presbyterian Church in March of 2016. He is also serving as senior associate. Born in Honolulu and raised in Seattle at the Japanese Presbyterian Church, Rodger is the son of a retired Presbyterian minister. He is one of the most sought-after and inspiring preachers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Previously, Rodger taught at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta for 15 years. In that ministry, he taught pastors to be teachers and leaders in the church’s educational ministry, specializing in particular on youth and young adult ministry. On […]

Robert Emmons

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis where he has taught since 1988. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of over 200 original publications in peer-reviewed journals or chapters and has written or edited eight books, including The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns (Guilford Press), The Psychology of Gratitude (Oxford University Press), Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier (Houghton-Mifflin), Gratitude Works! A Twenty-One Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity (Jossey-Bass) and The Little Book of Gratitude (Hachette). A leader in the positive […]

Patrick B. Reyes

Dr. Patrick B. Reyes, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Doctoral Initiatives at the Forum for Theological Exploration (fteleaders.org), is a Latinx practical theologian, educator, administrator, and institutional strategist. At the Forum for Theological Exploration, he supports scholars of color and works with institutional leaders on a number of inclusive excellence initiatives. His expertise is helping communities, organizations, and individuals excavate their stories to create strategies and practices that promote their thriving. He is the author of the book, Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. Learn more at

Pamela Ebstyne King

Dr. Pamela Ebstyne King is the Peter L. Benson Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Science in the Thrive Center for Human Development in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Nyle Fort

Nyle Fort is a minister, organizer, and scholar based in Newark, NJ. He received a BA in English from Morehouse College and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. Nyle has worked in the fields of education, criminal justice, and youth development for nearly a decade in various capacities including Youth Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, American Friends field worker at the Union County Juvenile Detention Center, and International Fellow at the St. Andrew Centre for Human Development in Southern India.

An activist committed to global transformative justice, Nyle brings his national experience and international lens […]

Nadja Reilly

Nadja Reilly is a licensed psychologist with 20 years of clinical experience specializing in children, adolescents, and families. Dr. Reilly completed her graduate training at the University of Miami, Florida, and her clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. She was a staff psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital for 12 years.

Dr. Reilly is currently the Associate Director of the Freedman Center for Child and Family Development at William James College. At the Freedman Center, Dr. Reilly focuses on prevention, school and community mental health work, consultation, curriculum and program development, and education. She […]

Miroslav Volf

Miroslav Volf is Founder and Director of Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology, at Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, CT.

Miroslav Volf was educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany. He earned doctoral and post-doctoral degrees (with highest honors) from the University of Tübingen, Germany. He has written or edited more than 20 books and over 90 scholarly articles. His most significant books include Exclusion and Embrace (1996); After Our Likeness (1998) in which he explores the Trinitarian nature of ecclesial community; Allah: A Christian Response (2011), on whether […]