A dedicated iconographer with over 24 years of experience, Fromberg is currently working on a commissioned series depicting twenty-six Anglican and Episcopal saints. Paul's research explores the fascinating intersection of liturgy, ritual, and expanded states of consciousness. He teaches liturgical leadership alongside his ministry, emphasizing the vital connection between culture, spirituality, and effective leadership. Paul is also the author of The Art of Transformation (Church Publishing, 2017) and The Art of Disruption (Seabury Books, 2021).

Dr. Gafney is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church and translator of its biblical selections. She is the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne, a commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the Wisdom series; Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel; and co-editor of The Peoples' Bible and The Peoples' Companion to the Bible. She has completed the second volume of Womanist Midrash, focusing on women in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, which is expected in October 2024. She is an Episcopal priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, licensed in the Diocese of Texas, and a former Army chaplain and congregational pastor in the AME Zion Church. A former Dorshei Derekh Reconstructionist Minyan member of the Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia, she has co-taught courses with and for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary in Wyncote, PA. She is a preacher, teacher, activist, published poet, and an amateur watercolorist.

Ekundayo Bandele is a renowned playwright and theater director whose work has significantly impacted the American theater landscape. His play “Judas Hands” premiered at Cleveland’s Karamu House in 1997, and his subsequent works, such as “If Scrooge Was a Brother” and “Take the Soul Train to Christmas,” have been produced at theaters across the country, including Houston’s Ensemble Theatre and Chicago’s ETA Creative Arts Foundation. In 2006, Bandele founded Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis, TN. As its CEO, he curates annual seasons of plays and programs that celebrate Black culture. He successfully raised 10 million dollars to build and expand Hattiloo Theatre, including a state-of-the-art facility and an endowment. He has also led international initiatives, such as a theater management course in Sudan.

Brown is author of the The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he is the winner of the Whiting Award. Brown’s first book, Please (New Issues 2008), won the American Book Award. His second book, The New Testament (Copper Canyon 2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His third collection, The Tradition, won the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His poems have appeared in The Bennington Review, Buzzfeed, Fence, jubilat, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and several volumes of The Best American Poetry.

The Rev. Dr. Craig is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, community development nerd, wannabe poet, and personal photographer for her two-year-old identical twin girls. Growing up in rural Alabama as the only Asian kid other than her brother shaped her curiosity about marginalized places, community, and belonging. She’s most at home in borderland spaces, whether that be leading an arts and literacy youth organization in North Philadelphia, participating in university civic engagement in Camden, New Jersey, or pastoring a Germantown church dedicated to serving their immigrant and Latinx neighbors. With the help of her church, she’s practicing deep loving with folks in the midst of violence, homelessness, and hunger.

Kim-Kort, (she/they) is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Indiana University. She juggles various jobs, including speaking, writing, and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity raising three athletic children who have games all over the DMV. She believes: “In all times, the Church, and especially the local church, gives me hope. Most days, I don’t understand this hope, how it comes from something that seems so fallible, but I know in my cells that it is because God is present in the places I least expect and always the most human. These places and people teach me to keep looking and showing up—that always stays with me.”

Brother Bayakly, also known as Abou Abdulghani, is an asset to the Memphis community as he advocates for social justice and works with a plethora of local organizations that aim to make the Memphis community more welcoming, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable. He shares insight on how his personal background has impacted his current activism and advises this Muslim generation to be headstrong in advocating for justice.

Gordon is a proud Memphian born and raised who started Muddy's Bake Shop, a homestyle American bakery in Memphis, TN. She continually strives for excellence in their baked goods and emphasizes an environment of learning and service. Gordon builds community within and outside Muddy's walls by connecting the dots between mission, vision, strategy, and tactics, developing and supporting the leadership team, and training internal and external groups. She is thrilled to make food she's proud of for people who value it, alongside those she admires, in a city she loves.

Dr. Jemar Tisby is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church’s Complicity in Racism, How to Fight Racism, and How to Fight Racism: Young Reader’s Edition. He is also a history professor at Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville. Tisby has co-hosted the “Pass the Mic” podcast since its inception seven years ago. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN’s New Day program. He speaks nationwide on racial justice, U.S. history, and Christianity. Tisby earned his PhD in history and studies race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century.

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Lammers (she/her) is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a third-generation clergy after her mother and grandfather – a fact that still surprises her more than anyone else! She has been a local church pastor, a divinity school administrator and adjunct faculty member, a hospital chaplain specializing in trauma and palliative medicine, and a student affairs administrator at several colleges and universities. Her professional and theological interests include the practice of public theology, social justice and radical inclusion, and encouraging individuals to use their theological imaginations to better connect with God. She has a passion for making church relevant and fun! She resides in East Memphis with her spouse, Phil, and three fabulous daughters, ages 7, 6, and 5.

The Rev. Earle J. Fisher, Ph.D., serves as the Senior Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Memphis, where he embraces the church's deep-rooted legacy in the community. With a background in computer science and theology, he founded #UPTheVote901 to empower voters and elevate political engagement. Faith is a guiding force in his life, inspiring him to champion justice and inclusivity. Earle finds joy in family, sharing life with his wife Denise, son Jalen, and granddaughter Karter Ann. Currently, he is exploring new avenues to inspire others and foster meaningful connections within the community.

The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. After serving three congregations—two in downtown Atlanta and one in rural Clarkesville, Georgia—she became the first Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College, where she taught until 2017. Since then, she has spoken at events with wonderful names like Wild Goose, Evolving Faith, Awakening Soul, and Gladdening Light, but her favorite gig is being the full-time caretaker of a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians with her husband Ed and very many animals. Her new book, Coming Down to Earth, from Convergent Books, will be out in 2026.

Jeff Chu is serves as an editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure, teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina, and parish associate for storytelling and witness at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley in California. Chu is the author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America (Harper, 2013) and the forthcoming Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand (to be published by Convergent/Penguin Random House in March 2025). He is also the co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times bestseller Wholehearted Faith. Jeff is a former Time staff writer and Fast Company editor whose work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Modern Farmer. In his weekly newsletter, “Notes of a Make-Believe Farmer,” Jeff writes about spirituality, gardening, food, travel, and culture. An ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, he lives with his husband, Tristan, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Prior to her election and ordination as bishop of Mississippi, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells served as rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Germantown, Tennessee, from 2013 until arriving in Mississippi in May 2024. Wells is committed to the work of community dialogue, racial healing, and justice and equity for all of God's people. She is an award-winning freelance essayist, and many of her works--most of which are centered around issues of justice and equity--can be found at muckrack.com/dorothy-wells.

As Temple Israel’s eighth senior rabbi, Greenstein’s tenure and legacy live through intergenerational engagement and relevance of Reform Jewish values. In addition to serving as a pastoral anchor for his congregation, Greenstein is pouring his energy into innovating the pipeline for the next generation of Reform Jewish rabbis as well as building a healthy future for the religious and cultural fabric of post-October 7 Israel.

Dr. Christopher B. Davis is the 14th president of LeMoyne-Owen College. For the past 25 years, Davis has had the honor of pastoring St. Paul Baptist Church, Holmes Road, where he has witnessed the transformative power of faith in action. Alongside his pastoral work, he served for 17 years as both a faculty member and administrator at Memphis Theological Seminary, experiences that deepened his understanding of ministry within both church and academic contexts. In 2024, he was named the 14th president of LeMoyne-Owen College, a role he believes to be a divinely appointed extension of his calling. For Davis, faith is not confined to Sunday worship—it is a way of life, a guiding force in every season and every role he has held. Whether in the pulpit, the classroom, or now on the campus of a historically Black college, he has always viewed his work as ministry.

Pádraig Ó Tuama’s interests lie in language, violence, and religion. Growing up in a place with a long history of all three (Ireland, yes, but also Europe), he finds that language might be the most redeeming. In language, there is the possibility of vulnerability, of surprise, of the creative movement towards something as yet unseen. Any artist of words inspires him: from Krista Tippett to Lucille Clifton, Patrick Kavanagh to Emily Dickinson, Lorna Goodison to Arundhati Roy. Ó Tuama loves words — words that open up the mind, the heart, the life. For instance — poem: a created thing.